The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life | Alice Schroeder

The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life | Alice Schroeder | It Is As It Is

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The Snowball: Warr...

	The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life Alice Schroeder Random House Audio, 2008 average customer review:based on 132 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Thought-provoking and entertaining!

True confessions first - the only reason I bought this book was because the author is an old friend. So I sat down to read it with some trepidation because it's so long, and I was afraid it would get really technical and I would get lost. But the book is actually very easy to read and never stays too long in one place. Schroeder's writing style is clever and entertaining and some of her analogies are just hilarious. There is quite a bit of humor in this book. And I came away sincerely admiring Warren Buffet - he's a billionaire who got there without stealing from other people, unlike the bad guys who are bringing down Wall Street today. I would recommend this book to anyone who is discouraged about the financial industry's greed and corruption. It doesn't have to be that way, and I hope Mr. Buffet will be assisting in the clean up.

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It Is As It Is

This is a complete re-tale of the story of Warren Buffet from beginning to almost end. If you are fascinated by him or consider him a wonderful American treasure, read it. I did and I enjoyed it. BUT it is a commitment bordering 900 pages so if you process information quickly and can't make a full time commitment, take a pass.

Rather than recount the book, let me just add facts I found of interest that I did not know. First, we all know his extreme belief in value investing. But what's interesting is that initially his money comes as a stock picker who is getting a percentage of the increase, think hedge fund type sharing. This "leverage" exponentially allowed his wealth to build greatly. Don't get me wrong, he did a great job for his investors of which I wish I were one. But the fallacy that a great stock picker can build great wealth is not totally true. At some point leverage is generally the driver allowing the massive jumps and I was surprised to see that applied to the most basic American capitalist who preaches against debt.

A substantial amount of time is spent on his personal life and I enjoyed this as great background. It's like my bartender brother says, "EVERY family is screwed up" and this book does nothing to rebut that statement.

Reading further, there are many stories of Buffett's bad picks, newspapers, Coke for a while, Solomon Brothers. You get the feel that he's not the greatest stock picker, and some of his quick decisions seem to bear that out, but that once he was large, he received special deals when capital was needed and has the liquidity to allow companies to grow. In fact that is what is stated by him, we are looking for companies that can grow our equity at 20% plus. NOT necessarily stock picking of value businesses. I would add to this that he has always been more of a market timer which many people preach against.

If you enjoy stocks and investing and you want the ultimate bible on a renowned investor, this is the book for you. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it highly. BUT be prepared for the time commitment. This is not what I would call a "beach read" unless you have quite a while and lots of suntan oil.

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A Teacher Of Capital Allocation More Than Relationship Management.

I read this biography as a business management person who has not closely followed Buffet. My objective was to glean some sense of the man and apply it to my life and work. To that end, the book provided a summary-level treatment of his investment methods and provides an ongoing trickle of his widely quoted aphorisms. But more notably this book weaves the historical narrative of his personal relationships and his emotional underpinnings in, around, and between his business life. The book is about Warren the person. It's also a chronicle of business events viewed through his eyes.

You do get a general sense of Buffet's worldview from this book. You also see philosophically how he views senior management and senior executive performance in his companies. But it does not provide the rigor to change tactically how you live, work, manage, or invest.

Read this book to capture the carefully-crafted, insider-authorized, image of the man and his motivations. I found Buffet's image nicely summarized in the book's afterword: "Warren Buffet was a timid man who shied from confrontation and needed people to cushion him from life's rougher edges. His fears were personal, not financial; he was never timid when it came to money". The 900 pages tenderly lay foundation around that image.

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Introspective, fasinating biography

Not much for the Holy Grail secrets of investing, but it is very interesting for Buffet fans who want to know more about his life, his fundamentals and insights. It was a bit over the top with the the high finance dealings, corporate structuring, taking apart in exhaustive detail, without a big picture analysis. Also at 960 pages it felt several hundred pages too long.

But Buffet is definitely an eccentric, so it fits his profile. It's very interesting reading how his life and investment strategies evolved, although hard to relate to him ignoring his own billions. His ability to be selective and disciplined and his sense of timing have no peers.

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Incomplete Snowball

The book is very good and the reader excellent. So why only three stars? The abridgement is too severe. True, the book would probably take 50 hours to read in its entirety, but to boil it down to just eight hours takes too much away from the original work. On balance very good, but it could be better.

reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

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