The Ledger, every show

“On the convertible debt side of the market, I think it's terribly toxic and about as undisciplined as it could possibly be.”

“And I also think this checklist of five things that McCallum gave us, if they are good at those five things, they are in the Pathetic indictment of the state of general management that it's that easy to be exceptional, but it really is.”

“That personal exceptionalism, that sense that they are special, that they are destined for really unique outcomes relative to their peer group, I think that shows up early in somebody's life. And it's independent, quite independent of pedigree or brand name wo…”

“I would say, though, that if you start with the premise that timing is always slightly wrong, I mean, listen, what are the odds that we invent something, we productize it, and we turn it into a company at exactly the right moment? It's practically impossible. …”

“One of the biggest problems with internal capital allocation inside a company is, Very rarely do CEOs have access to true opportunity cost-based prices. And the market's really good at that. The market's really good at saying, well, if you're going to use my f…”

“And listen, this is what we pay people for is to make judgments. We don't pay people to run AB tests. We don't pay people to do boil the ocean analytics on what is the quote right answer. We pay people for their judgment.”

“The decision you're taking can be a difficult and inherently negative one, but the wrapper, the container that you put it in doesn't have to be barbed wire covered with dog poop.”

“It would be about Cultivating those options while you go so that you are never stuck. You never want to be stuck realizing, okay, I work for the wrong person. She or he treats me like garbage. I don't have other options. I have to start cold start cultivating …”

“Now I use it on other people and I have a robust filter system in my email.”

“Every human is walking around with two processors running in parallel. One processor is that gut instinct, that intuitive perception of the world, and the other is the analytic, more rational, and reasonable one. Now, the gut perception of how the world works …”

“How fast do they release prototypes? How many days a week do they push new software to production? How quickly do they start sketching an idea versus just talking about it in very macro terms? And how quickly does a pen go to paper? Those are markers of people…”

“So that checklist of five things is the same today as it was in 1855 when he first wrote that treatise.”

“Pricing is the way that we manage our risk. It's the primary tool I have to manage my own risk in the situation. And so as my risk goes up, my price should go down and vice versa.”

“So I would say on the equity side of the market, I believe for the most part, companies are priced reasonably.”

“Over time, the way I've funded the reserves pool is varied between taking that ratio all the way up to two to one, back down to now I reserve about a buck 50 for every initial dollar.”

“I've rarely come into a situation where I've completely pulled out. I mean, it has happened, but usually for real values violations, you know, dishonesty, and thank God that's only happened, like, you know, two times out of more than a hundred cases.”

“I don't consider it a bulk part of the strategy because let's be honest, my numbers call it on a fund are driven by my initial investment picking. So picking is the primary thing I do. If I pick really well, I should generate great multiples and liquidity for …”

“And so I think a shock absorber for managers is when you know that it sounds like what you're saying might be a little unreasonable. Just give a two sentence explanation for the context.”