Max Koh Profile picture
Dec 6, 2021 11 tweets 4 min read Read on X
This is value investor, Allan Mecham.

He dropped out of college at age 22 to start his fund, Arlington Value.

From 2008-2016, they did a CAGR of 30% over 8.5 years!

And in his fund letters, he shared his best frameworks for investing in companies.

Here's a breakdown of each:
1. Adopt a mindset for longevity

He focuses on variables that affect a business' durability.

Stuff like valuation doesn't matter if the business quality is misjudged.

Since a company's value is determined by its future cash flows...

Hence evaluating its future is key
2. Stay within your circle of competence

Allan is aware that his CoC is tiny!

Thus, he rarely buys companies that he:

• Hasn't researched
• Hasn't followed for at least a few years.

Because the best way to study a business is to observe its execution overtime.
3. Embrace volatility as a gift

Public markets offer you amazing deals you will never get in the private markets!

It's all about being patient.

The underlying value of a business is much more stable than the stock.

So you can buy great businesses that are mispriced!
4. Avoid noise and news

More information can give you a false sense of confidence.

It can create an illusion of "knowledge", and make you think many things are important.

The key is to know what are the 3-5 main variables in the company, and focus on those.

Ignore the rest.
5. Extend your time horizon to see what's truly important

When you look years out, instead of next quarter:

• You place less emphasis on hiccups and fluctuations.

• You don't focus on what 99% of other analysts look at (guidance, beats).

This helps you think more clearly.
6. Dig below the numbers

Not everything that is in numbers gives you the full story.

The real returns are made from great business quality.

Many factors like psychology and customer love are what determines the longevity of the business.

Look beyond the financial statements!
7. Mentally prepare for speed bumps and ugly numbers

Learn to discern between:

Short term speed bumps VS. fundamental problems in the business.

Franchise value can still be firmly intact, even if the company is going through a rough patch.
8. Pick the easy fights

He looks for layup type of investments, basically those that are easy.

Simple to understand.

In this business, there are no bonus points for doing backflips and somersaults in the air.

K.I.S.S!!!
RECAP:

1. Adopt a mindset for longevity
2. Stay within your circle of competence
3. Embrace volatility as a gift
4. Avoid noise and news
5. Extend your time horizon
6. Dig below the numbers
7. Mentally prepare for speed bumps
8. Pick the easy fights
If you like this, follow me here at @heymaxkoh

I share how I crossed 7 figures before age 30, and achieved my own version of financial freedom.

Stuff I tweet about:

• My investing strategy
• Books that inspire me
• How I built high income skills i.e. public speaking

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More from @heyamaxkoh

Jan 20, 2023
This is value investor, Allan Mecham.

He dropped out of college at age 22 to start his fund, Arlington Value.

From 2008-2016, they did a CAGR of 30% over 8.5 years!

And in his fund letters, he shared his best frameworks for investing in companies.

Here's a breakdown of each:
1. Adopt a mindset for longevity

He focuses on variables that affect a business' durability.

Stuff like valuation doesn't matter if the business quality is misjudged.

Since a company's value is determined by its future cash flows...

Hence evaluating its future is key
2. Stay within your circle of competence

Allan is aware that his CoC is tiny!

Thus, he rarely buys companies that he:

• Hasn't researched
• Hasn't followed for at least a few years.

Because the best way to study a business is to observe its execution overtime.
Read 12 tweets
Jan 17, 2023
One of the great investors of our time: Li Lu

During his talks at CBS and Peking Uni, he’s shared many of his thoughts on:

- Researching a stock
- Thinking like an owner
- Behaviours of a good investor

Here’s a breakdown of 15 of his investing mental models:
1. Think Like a Business Owner

Your fortunes go up and down with the nature of the business.

You don’t think of yourself as a paper shuffler.

But instead, as a real owner.

And because you only own a small piece, you need a margin of safety before buying in.
2. You Are a Researcher More Than an Investor

Most of your time is spent reading.

You operate more like a field detective and journalist.

This helps you understand a business well so you can own it with conviction.
Read 21 tweets
Jan 11, 2023
How to read an Annual Report in 1 hour.

A step by step guide for busy people:

(also for investing newbies)
1. For me, reading a 10k is purely to understand one thing:

A company's business model.

That's it.

This includes:

- what products they sell
- how they make $$
- basic unit economics

Fine tune your antenna to look for that.
2. Limit your time.

I find that 45-60 mins is a typical duration before I start feeling sleepy.

With this in mind, it creates urgency for me to move fast before steam runs out.

I become more selective of what I read in the 10K.

Which helps me remember the best ideas I need.
Read 13 tweets
Jan 6, 2023
17 life-changing lessons from "Fooled by Randomness" by Nassim Taleb that gave me a mindf**k.

I hope it does the same for you too:
1. Hard work and work ethic is BS

Those who merely work hard generally lose their focus and intellectual energy.

Work ethics draw people to focus on noise rather than the signal.
2. Lucky fools do not think they are lucky fools.

Be careful who you listen to or take advice from.
Read 20 tweets
Nov 2, 2022
Secrets on how to find 10-100 baggers

My top 8 tweets:
1. Turning $3.6k into $1M

Someone else shared this, but their account went private.

I don't take any credit for this.

But it's a good lesson.

This guy from Reddit bought 300 shares of $AMZN at $12.50 in 2001. It has now become a 280 bagger.

Read his thought process here:
2. Real life 100 baggers by @mrjivraj

I love this.

What makes it awesome is seeing retail investors like you and me buy shares of $AAPL and $MSFT in the early days.

Is there luck? Yes.

But a good reminder that the real $$ is made in the holding.

Read 13 tweets
Oct 17, 2022
90% of business acquisitions fail.

But there are exceptions:

Mark Leonard, Founder of Constellation Software $CSU, is one of them.

He's acquired over 500 companies in the last 2 decades...

Turning $25 Million into $39 Billion.

Here's his "Growth by Acquisition" playbook: Image
Okay I'm a jerk.

This is the real photo of Mark Leonard.

Now let's get to the serious stuff...

5 lessons from Mark's "Growth by Acquisition" Playbook:

1. Focus on niche players
2. Focus on sticky softwares
3. Buy founder led companies
4. Decentralization
5. Keep teams small Image
To put things in context:

Every $1 you invested in Constellation Software in 2006...

Would have turned into $100 in 2022.

Over the last 16 years, its stock has compounded at over 30% a year.

What's the secret? Image
Read 25 tweets

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