Simply put, this is a book about what to do when you dont have enough money! And then, what to do when you think you have too much! Duh!!
What makes it read-worthy is the story of Andrew Wilkinson, the author and a Canadian tech investor who likes to style himself ala Buffet-Munger, which happens in between!
Born in a middle-class family, Andrew goes through childhood with the knowledge that he and his family (are not poor) just dont have enough money to enjoy the privileges of life that they’d want to. He sees his hard-working father’s internal and external struggles between desires and financial ability contrasted with his mother’s strong constitution - meticulous to a fault when it comes to managing the family’s finances.
Someone told me recently that the ‘feeling of denial’ is a much more powerful motivator than the desire for achievement. It is that ‘feeling of denial’ combined with a fear that he may end up like his father / family - just not having enough - that drive Andrew as he traverses from a $6.5 / hour barista to a web-developer to a business owner and then owner of many businesses (from nothing to too-much!).
As successful entrepreneurs, Andrew (and his accidental yet permanent partner, Chris) realise that the key to any business is a certain amount of laziness - i.e. figuring out a better (more efficient) way to deliver on a customer’s need!
“A business, even one run by a twelve-year-old, is at its core about solving problems for other people.”
As Andrew struggles with managing his venture, he is miserable as CEO doing the same things that he abhors, day after day, including wining and dining with clients, following up on project delivery, ensuring clients pay up on time, and so on.
A forced vacation leads Andrew to an epiphany:
“…there is always somebody else who loves the job you hate.”
You just gotta find them!!
As he makes more and more money, Andrew finds himself on the ‘hedonic treadmill’ (love the phrase!!) - one that you get on when you start seeing more money than your immediate needs are! He tries to buy his way to happiness, but ends up with the empty stomach feeling constantly!
Faced with the vagaries of business, he realises the need to learn about saving and investing, marking the entry of Munger and Buffet (their books and writings initially) into his life!
Even before Andrew meets Munger, Munger’s advice changes their life - “invert, always invert!” Munger said “problems are often easiest solved in reverse” and explained that it’s much easier to think about what you don’t want than what you do. So they follow Munger’s advice and remove (reduce) things from their life that they hate. When I say remove, i just mean they find someone else who ‘loves’ to do those things!
“It’s not enough to do what you love. You also have to stop doing what you hate.”
And then they meet Munger! This is truly the twist in the plot though not in the manner Andrew would have ever imagined! They follow-through on the process of inversion and decide to decline Munger’s business proposition. Who does that!!!
The story starts with his childhood anxiety of ‘not having enough’. The story ends when Andrew loses this anxiety and realises that he finally has more than enough.
Herein comes the guilt-trip - of having made it while others along the road didn’t!
This is when Bill Ackman, a well-known hedge-fund investor and their friend, introduces Andrew to Warren Buffet. And with Ackman and Buffet’s guidance, Andrew decides what to do with his ‘more than enough’ wealth!
Overall, the book is quite fast paced and very engaging. Andrew paints a vivid picture of his early life and of key moments in his journey to ‘more-than-enough’. He brings out his own shortcomings and naïveté through the process. Every chapter has some insight and learning for the reader.
The book falters a bit in the last chapter when it becomes prescriptive on what one should do when they have ‘more-than-enough’. Maybe that’s because one is not in the shoes of Andrew Wilkinson or maybe one has different views of these matters.
But let that not take away from an absolutely delightful read for people in the world of business, finance or otherwise.