Brian Feroldi Profile picture
Aug 9, 2023 16 tweets 5 min read Read on X
Jeff Bezos is worth $162 billion.

He shared all of his core principles in 24 letters to shareholders.

I've read them all.

Here are 12 powerful lesson everyone in business should memorize: Image
• One way doors vs Two way doors

One-way doors: Decisions that can't be reversed.
Make these decisions slowly and carefully.

Two-way doors: Decisions that are reversible.
Make these decisions quickly.

Confuse the two and your organization will move far too slowly. Image
• Wandering vs efficiency

Efficiency can be great. But, it makes you fragile.

Without a counterbalance, there’s a world of missed opportunities.

The solution: encourage wandering Image
• Customers, not competition

Obsess over your customers. Focus on offering value and efficiency.

Work backwards from customer needs to know what to build next. Image
• Dreamy Businesses

Bezos looks for dreamy business has four characteristics:

• customers love it
• it can grow to a large size
• it has strong returns on capital
• it can endure long-term - decades

When you find these, go all-in.
• Be afraid

Not of your competition, of your customers. Image
• Only hire the best

Ask yourself these 3 questions:

1) Will you admire this person?

2) Will this person raise the average level of effectiveness of the group they're entering?

3) Along what dimension might this person be a superstar?

Hire people that raise the bar.
• Pay to Quit

You want people on the team who WANT to be on the team.

If they don't want to be on the team, encourage them to leave.

Amazon pays up to $5,000 to get people to quit.

This removes people who don't want to be there.
• Standards are contagious

Bring a new person to a high standards team and they quickly adapt.

The opposite is also true.

The longer low standards survive, the deeper the infection.
• Disagree and Commit

If you have conviction with no consensus, ask:

"I know we disagree on this but will you gamble with me on it? Disagree and commit?"

This gets you to a 'Yes' and keeps decision velocity high.
• Think long term

Your success will be measured over the long term.

The longer your horizon, the better the decision you will make.

Don’t get fixated on short-term numbers Image
• Plant seeds and wait

Make a lot of small bets that could grow into meaningful new businesses.

It takes discipline, patience, and a willingness to look stupid, but the long-term rewards can be huge. Image
• Always Day 1

A Day 1 mindset is always about growth & progress.

A Day 2 mindset allows stasis, irrelevance, decline, and ultimately death. Image
I keep a Google Sheet that links to the best books, tools, shareholder letters, podcasts, and youtube channels I've ever found.

Want to access it (for free)?

Check it out here:

https://t.co/Z106cfXFWibrianferoldi.com/resources
Image
Like this thread? Follow me @BrianFeroldi.

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If you liked this post, you'll love my free ebook.

I organized 50 of the most powerful investing images I've ever seen.

Want a free copy? Get it here:

brianferoldi.com/50visuals

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More from @BrianFeroldi

Sep 6, 2025
Tangible vs Intangible Assets.

What's the difference?

Here's everything you need to know: Image
They confused me until I discovered an easy way to distinguish them:

𝗧𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗕𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝗻'𝘁 Image
Another major difference.

- Tangible assets are depreciated

- Intangible assets are amortized Image
Read 6 tweets
Aug 31, 2025
How to analyze an Income Statement, FAST.

Warren Buffett’s 8 Income Statement 'Rules of Thumb': Image
1: Gross Margin

🧮 Equation: Gross Profit / Revenue

👍 Rule of Thumb: 40% or higher

🤔 Buffett's Logic: A consistently high gross margin signals that the company isn’t competing exclusively on price. Image
2: SG&A Margin

🧮 Equation: SG&A Expense / Gross Profit

👍 Rule of Thumb: 30% or lower

🤔 Buffett's Logic: Wide-moat companies don’t need to spend a lot on overhead to operate & convince consumers to buy. Image
Read 11 tweets
Aug 30, 2025
Some stocks are STRONG BUYS when they fall

Other stocks are SELLS when they fall

How can you tell the difference?

Watch for these 5 financial yellow flags: Image
1) GOODWILL WRITEDOWN

This represents the premium a company pays for an acquisition above its fair market value.

If there’s a major goodwill write-down on the Income Statement, it means management has wasted a TON of capital. Image
2) GROSS MARGIN DECLINING

1: The competition is forcing me to lower prices
2: Demand is weak
3: My suppliers are raising prices

Either way, it can be a thesis-busting development Image
Read 9 tweets
Aug 29, 2025
Capitalism is brutal.

If you invest, you MUST know how to identify a moat.

Here are 9 financial “rules of thumb” that Warren Buffett uses to tell if a company has one: Image
1: Gross Margin

Found: Income Statement

Formula: Gross Profit / Revenue

Moat: Consistently above 40%

No Moat: Under 40% & volatile Image
Buffett’s logic:

A consistently high gross margin signals that the company isn’t competing exclusively on price.

A high gross margin also provides ample gross profit to pay expenses and leaves money for shareholders.
Read 22 tweets
Aug 27, 2025
How to analyze an income statement in less than 2 minutes: Image
The income sheet is one of the three major financial statements.

It shows a company’s:
▪️Revenue (Sales)
▪️Expenditures (Costs / Expenses)
▪️Net Income (Earnings, Profits)

Over a period of time. Image
Management teams have leeway in categorizing their income statement.

This means that not all income statements look the same.

Here is a typical layout and the meaning of the most commonly used terms: Image
Read 11 tweets
Aug 26, 2025
Financial Statements For Beginners

Want to learn accounting?

Study these 9 simple infographics (a visual thread) ↓ Image
Image
Financial Statements DO NOT have a universal layout

Here are some other balance sheet terms you might see: Image
Read 9 tweets

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