How to Invest: Masters on the Craft

by David M. Rubenstein

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A master class on investing featuring conversations with the biggest names in finance, from the legendary cofounder of The Carlyle Group, David M. Rubenstein.

What do the most successful investors have in common? David M. Rubenstein, cofounder of one of the world’s largest investment firms, has spent years interviewing the greatest investors in the world to discover the time-tested principles, hard-earned wisdom, and indispensable tools that guide their practice.​

Rubenstein, who has spent more than three decades in the hypercompetitive world of private equity, now distills everything he’s learned about the art and craft of investing, from venture capital, real estate, private equity, hedge funds, to crypto, endowments, SPACs, ESG, and more.

-How did Stan Druckenmiller short the British pound in one trade for a profit of $1 billion dollars?
-What made Sam Zell the smartest, toughest investor the world of real estate has ever seen?
-How did Mike Novogratz make $250 million off crypto in one year?
-How did Larry Fink build BlackRock from scratch into a firm that manages more than $10 trillion?
-How did Mary Callahan Erdoes rise to the top of J.P. Morgan’s wealth management division to manage more than $4 trillion for individuals and families all over the world?
-How did Seth Klarman perfect value investing to consistently deliver net returns of nearly 20 percent?

With unprecedented access to global leaders in finance, Rubenstein has assembled the most authoritative book of its kind. How to Invest reveals the thinking of the most successful investors in the world, many of whom rarely speak publicly. Whether you’re brand-new to investing or a seasoned professional, this book will transform the way you approach investing forever.

Genres: Finance, Business, Nonfiction, Economics, Personal Finance, Money, Leadership

410 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 13, 2022

About the author

David Mark Rubenstein is an American billionaire lawyer, businessman, investor, philanthropist and sports team owner. A former government official, he is a co-founder and co-chairman of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group, a global private equity investment company based in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he is the owner of the Baltimore Orioles.

Reviews

[Sanford Chee · Rating 3 out of 5]

92nd Street Interview by Ray Dalio Sep 2022
https://youtu.be/1TSXuGSxZyY

Forbes interview Apr 2023
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexlaza...

“Purchase price matters” -Marc Rowan

Larry Fink, BlackRock Letter to shareholders & CEOs
https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/i...
https://ir.blackrock.com/financials/a...

Ron Baron simple (but not easy) check list:
1/ does this biz have a competitive advantage?
2/ is mgmt excellent?
3/ does it have a huge opportunity & a long runway?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_...
Ron Baron's Hampton Home feat. on Vanity Fair Aug 2008
https://dcwarchitects.com/wp-content/...

John Rogers Jr, Ariel
How to develop ability to execute value investing during "crunch time"?
1/ have dry powder ready =>tradeoff not being fully invested during frothy mkts
2/ preplan your trade eg price alerts, watchlists, trading plan w/ tgt, levels to scale in & stops etc
Focus & prioritise long shelf life reading eg books vs short shelf life "noise" eg email/"news"
Build a network of investors you respect & admire

Jon Gray, Blackstone
"The best thing is to be a high conviction investor. When you dabble & just put a bunch of $ on things you don't know or understand, it tends to work out badly." E.g for me #biomanufacturing, macro bets etc. =>fewer bets but bigger bets
"You have to always be leaning into the future. If you're leaning away from the future, the future is gonna win every time." -Jeff Bezos

Sam Zell, Grave Dancer
https://www.samzell.com/wp-content/up...
Interview by David Rubenstein - Jul 2022
https://youtu.be/ryn5nXFEE8w

Mary Callahan Erdoes, JPM Wealth Mgmt
3 rules of $ mgmt:
1/ Don’t lose $. Try to figure out what sum of $ tt, if u were to ‘ve it, you wouldn’t change your lifestyle. Everything else beyond tt, there’s rm to be >aggressive.
2/ Diversify: asset class, geographies, sectors, macro environment (growth/recession/inflation/deflation/stagflation). Stress test portfolio.
3/ Have realistic expectations abt what rate of return you’re seeking. If it sounds too good to be true, there’s a high likelihood tt it is.
Never invest in something tt can’t be simplistically explained.

Dawn Fitzpatrick, Soros Fund Mgmt
Managing to a specific return each yr is dangerous, coz it can lead u to take outsized risks @exactly the wrong moment in time eg reach for yield in low i/r environment, TINA etc
You can’t take an answer as given. You’ve to ask why & keep asking why & go down the rabbit holes.
Cut losses: you’ve to have the discipline & humility to recognise when you’re wrong, cut the position & move on.

Paula Volent, Rockefeller University Endowment
Cut losses: I don’t believe in waiting out mistakes. Once you make a decision tt you’ve made a mistake, or you’ve lost conviction, you need to act.
Why does this opportunity exist? What is the market inefficiency being exploited here?

Kim Lew, Columbia Investment Mgmt Co
Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results =>think abt what it takes for a $ manager to be successful going fwd then look at the track record to see if they’ve those skills ie track record is not the starting point. The starting point is what type of skills are best suited for the future mkt environment.
Foundation vs endowment: liquidity vs volatility coz there’s no inflows of k. Need to keep your fixed outflows as low as possible.
Opportunities in tech & biotech.

Seth Klarman, Baupost
Margin of safety. Patience & discipline. Contrarianism. Few bets & infrequent but larger bets when 7 moons line up. Opportunities beyond just traditional stocks & bonds but also in pte equity, real assets, structured credits & derivatives.
Allocate resources by where there might be the most mispricing rather than by industry sectors.
Defensive posture: shorten duration (event trades w/ catalysts); credit
Capital Allocators interview 17 Jul 2023
https://podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast...
Annual letters
https://www.safalniveshak.com/wp-cont...

Ray Dalio, Bridgewater
Principle: pain + reflection = progress i.e. painful mistakes lead to reflections that produce progress =>look at problems as puzzles tt could offer gems = timeless & universal principles => algorithmic decision rules tt can be back-tested to see how they would’ve worked in the past (timeless) & in different countries & mkts (universal). These decision rules produced track records aka return streams.
Goal = meaningful work & meaningful relationships. Meaningful work = learning & understanding what's going on in the world, predicting what's going to happen next & betting on it to create great upside w/ ltd downside (Mohnish Pabrai's Dhando principle: "Heads I win Big, tails I lose only a little"). Diversify across uncorrelated return streams to reduce risk while keeping superior returns.
Meaningful relationships w/ the smartest people on the subject matter that can help stress test your thinking. High-quality independent thinking, humility, working well with others, and resilience. You have to be an independent thinker because you can’t make money in the markets betting with the consensus, because the consensus is built into the price. You have to have humility to have the healthy fear of being wrong that pushes you to do things that raise your chances of being right. You have to work well with others because they bring you what you don’t have and they stress-test you. And you have to have resilience because you will have losses which will hurt sometimes, which is OK if you limit them to acceptable losses.
Meditation as a technique for obtaining equanimity (begin w/ a calm & quiet mind. Tranquil mind) to think clearly and to think imaginatively.
https://youtu.be/zL7bo-Dhf9c
Current investment thesis: money as we know it will become less valuable and less used relative to alternative forms of money that will compete to be the currency of choice.
Interview w/ Angela Duckworth May 2021
https://youtu.be/SKXUeIk9QMg

Stan Druckenmiller, Duquesne
Sohn 2023
https://youtu.be/bMAm2S1M_IU
USC Marshall keynote May 2023
https://youtu.be/SRPMHinrFKQ
Willingness to admit mistakes, change his mind, cut loss & course correct. “My performance is > a matter of having an open mind or a thesis & taking the losses than it is on being right a greater % of time… I can ‘be total conviction in an idea &, if the circumstances change, ‘ve total conviction the o/r way in 2 weeks.” -Stan Druckenmiller
Position sizing: every great investor is a big concentrator. It’s not whether you’re right or wrong but how much you make when you’re right & how much will you lose when you’re wrong. It takes courage to be a pig.
In Good Company Nov 2024
https://youtu.be/-5Weeox0Xus?si=fNql2...

Jim Simons, Renaissance Technologies
Surround yourself w/ good people
Ref: Gregory Zuckerman, 'The Man who Solved the Market'
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

John Paulson, Paulson & Co
Find asymmetric trades
Ref: Gregory Zuckerman, 'The Greatest Trade Ever: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street and Made Financial History'
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
"Asymmetry is the essence of investment excellence" -Howard Marks
https://www.oaktreecapital.com/insigh...
eg 1 Stan Druckenmiller breaking the Bank of England in 1992
eg 2 John Paulson bet on default of "investment grade" tranche of subprime MBS during GFC. Risks 2% of portfolio to short subprime MBS via CDS worth 200% of AUM => 1:100 asymmetry. So if E(return on fund in a typical year) = 10-12% then downside if subprime bet fails = 8-10% but upside if trade works = 110% (if subprime MBS fell 50%) to 212% (if subprime MBS defaulted).
eg 3 Bill Ackman hedge w/ index CDS (US & EU investment grade bonds, US high yield) against the risks of COVID-19 in Feb 2020. Paid $27m for CDS (notional exposure of $71b) & realised upside of $2.6b.
eg 4 Bill Ackman 2021 bet via interest rate swaption that zero interest rates not sustainable if inflation wasn't "transitory". Invested $157m (1.4% of portfolio) for profit of $1.25b (1:8 asymmetric risk/reward).
"I’ve tried to make my life simpler so I can work less and enjoy other aspects of life."

Sandra Horbach, Carlyle
The right leader can totally change the direction of a company
Value add in PE: oftentimes bringing in a new CEO & team is part of the value creation plan

Orlando Bravo, Thoma Bravo
Investing in a niche (circle of competence): Enterprise Software buyouts
//Mark Leonard, Constellation Software ($CSU)
https://www.csisoftware.com/investor-...
Hg Capital Trust
https://hgcapital.com/investors


Bruce Karsh, Oaktree
”I will tell you the secret to getting rich on Wall Street. You try to be greedy when others are fearful. And you try to be fearful when others are greedy.” -Warren Buffett
You've to be unemotional & contrarian coz your job is to buy at the height of fear & panic.
How do you know if others are fearful or greedy? =>Howard Marks ‘Master the Market Cycle’
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
Being a contrarian or just being right in of itself is insufficient. You need to be right + contrarian to make $.

Marc Andreessen, Andreessen Horowitz
Are people going to find it inconceivable to live without this product?
Vitamin or painkiller?
VC is a game of outliers. The $ is made on the aberrations. In VC mistakes of omission are >critical than mistakes of commission ie cannot afford to miss winners rather than avoiding the losers.
Biotech & computer science/engineering are merging =>confluence of biology + engineering + software + data + AI = biotech eg MRNA = engineering vaccine implemented w/ computer code

Michael Moritz, Sequoia
Distill everything to its raw essence
3 legs of the tripod: (1) mgmt quality; (2) biz prospects/mkt opportunity; (3) distinctiveness of the product (impt part of moat)
Try to imagine: can I be a shareholder in this biz for 20yrs? 20:20 can we be an investor in the company for 20yrs & compound at 20% IRR? 38x
Sequoia Capital to split into three parts, separating its China and India businesses
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/06/sequo...

Mike Novogratz, Galaxy Digital
$GLXY
https://www.galaxy.com/team/michael-n...
When you've a unique asset - the leading crypto or the leading e-commerce company - its value can keep going up
PS - $GLXY +78% $5.22 24 Oct 2023 to $9.30 18 Dec 2023
'Galaxy Digital targets more crypto bankruptcy asset sales after FTX deal' -FT 18 Dec 2023
https://www.ft.com/content/6279dd10-6...

Betsy Cohen, Fintech Masala
https://twitter.com/FT/status/1728156...

Adebayo Ogunlesi, Global Infrastructure Partners
'How the $12.5bn BlackRock-GIP deal is set to shake up investment management' -FT 13 Jan 2024
https://www.ft.com/content/8f1c7825-4...
How Adebayo Ogunlesi’s contrarian bet led to $12.5bn BlackRock tie-up
https://www.ft.com/content/d1c65335-8...
"I love to read. I read something like 100 books a year." -Adebayo Ogunlesi
Retail exposure: $BPIC
https://bip.brookfield.com/bipc
'Infrastructure: from investment backwater to a $1tn asset class' -FT 25 Mar 2024
https://www.ft.com/content/fb0f710c-c...

David Blood, Generation Investment Mgmt ESG focussed
Why would you not consider ESG at least qualitatively in your investments? Concentrated portfolio so investments should be aligned w/ your values & mission.

'The 10 Greatest US Investors and the Virtues That Made Them' -Mark J. Higgins CFA May 2023
https://blogs.cfainstitute.org/invest...

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I do admit i like listening occasionally to Rubenstein on Bloomberg News on the weekends, once in a while, but he seems a bit too much like a cookie-cutter sort of Larry King. If you take it for what it is, 'neat low-key curiosity' by Business Tycooons, it's sorta neat, but it just doesn't have an insightful feel like Charlie Rose would. But Charlie is a very intense type of breezy interviewer, where manners come first to the 'hard-questions', or at least charlie goes for as 'hard as is diplomatically possible with his questions'

[my criterion is this....]
[I like Rubenstein's books enough that i plan to get the whole series of these, because as interviews with no expectations, they are fine.]

[I totally dock off 20% for this trying to be pushed as a how to invest book, or that one can always get that much usefulness out of great investors, who deal in a work that's slightly different than the ordinary investor... But yes, you can learn from Buffett in a lot of ways, but do his techniques work for non-billionaires, who like to hold onto stocks forever, and you covet voting rights?]

[but yes you can get out of Buffet why he picks good companies in most cases, though his picks might be more risky in some cases [he's holding onto them much longer than most would] and more conservative in other cases]

[Seeing how great investors invest, yes, i probably would have given this a two-star rating]

[My biggest gripe is that Rubenstein's style is more of a fascinated soul, who is a neat charmer, but asks some really softball questions, or silly stuff about who they are as 'human beings'.]

It's like high marks on charm
low marks on getting a lot out of it

I would say that, maybe actually there IS something to learn from investors where you really 'dislike' their style, like some of the cryptocurrency guys he'll interview. And i guess that is a learning experience.

---

I'll be generous

Rubenstein: Reading a book about these great investors will hopefully provide the read with insight, perspectives, and inspiration - but, the truth be told, a book will not by itself make the reader a great investor any more than reading a book about Tiger Woods's secrets will make one a great golfer (as I have learned). This book is designed to provide a glimpse into the investment thoughts and practices of many of Americans leading investors.

So, true be told, his series has been a hard one to review, I've vacillated between 1-2-3 stars for his books. As Larry King style interviewing definately 3 star, my views that these types of books aren't too useless, drops it a star, and though i feel he should be a star added for charisma and charm and a wonderful way of 'interacting with people' (better live than in a book) his softball questions that sometimes almost seem bonehead, just drop it another star for me.

So i think i'm going to rate his books a 3.8, and change my 1 star reviews to two star ones... in the future... maybe

[i recommend his books]
[i like his interviews]

[do i think highly of them - no]
[do i like half the investors - no]
[do i like half his questions - no]

his set of three books are a 3.8
for me.

---

Now that the book is soon to be on the press, with the ability to peek, i'll show you the good side of this book

---

Rubenstein in his Introduction

I thought Mark Zuckerberg's company, created while he was in college, would not outgrow its college campus roots and thus would not be an attractive investment for me when presents by my future son-in-law. Bad prediction.

I thought Jeff Bezoz's startup books-over-the-internet company could not possibly overcome Barnes and Noble, and told him that in our initial meeting at his cluttered first office space in Seattle, and thus later decided to sell our Amazon stock as soon as possible. Bad predictino.

Whether someone has predicted well or poorly about life events can be gauged differently by different people. In truth there is no single, universally accepted standard to gauge how successful someone has been in predicting and acting on teh future.

In that respect at least, the investment world is wholly different. The skill of predicting the future, and taking prepatory actions, is quite measureable. In the investment world, achieving a profit - to a lesser or greater degree depending on the type of investement - is the essence of investing.

In working to acheuev a profit, an investor is really making a prediction about the future - the desireability of owning a particular asset (stock, bond, house, currency, etc.) in the future, because on the likely future performance of the asset. Will the company attract new customers or invent a desired product? Will the economy at the time the investment is realized be strong or weak? Will interest rates be higher? Will climate change affect the value of assets? Will competition be less than might be expected?

Stated differently, are there risks that will possibly arise that could upset the investor's belief that an investment will work out and thus produce the desired outcome? And how great are those risks?

In life, there are always risks to be assessed, but the consequences may not always be measured precisely. In investing, the consequences can be measured quite precisely.

---

[now onto my sorta-harsh original]


If you want to know how to invest, look at quality
and find some numbers to assess risk, profitabilty etc

don't listen to engaging stories
by a bunch of lucky bozos

---

Now if someone didn't have such an atrocious title
and the people interviewed were interesting to me
i would say, yes it's a decent enough interview book

honestly none of the companies got me excited
and if did, would I learn anything about how to invest better?

---

further musings

well, I think Rubenstein is fine for doing friendly low-pressure interviews, never putting his guests in an uncomfortable situation with his questions. He's funny and friendly and works better on television than in book form, but I still think there's going to be a real lack of substance, if you're going to sell these interviews as 'How to Invest'.

He's got a cookie cutter strategy

15% of his questions are humorous, like asking the head of GM if he pumps his own gas, or if Bill Gates ever carries any money.

30% will be personal questions about their life

40% about their career

and 10% on current events

As fun fluffy interviews i give him a 6, and as insights for investing, maybe a 2.
Charlie Rose can interview the same people and you get a lot more out of it.

I've looked as deep as one can with a pre-release and i actually hesitated in doing a review last month, but I did look into who he was interviewing and what questions he was asking them, and this book isn't much different than his previous interview books, but a lot of my judgement goes on 'who' they are interviewing.

Klarman for example, feels that there isn't a big difficulty in getting the technical information for value investing, but like a poker player it is the psychologicals of things which are the real challenge to him. Buying is easy, but selling might be trickier.

Rubenstein's books are fine as low-key interviews, and their appeal is universal, but i dont believe any of the hype about any valuable lessons, or any of that bunk. At least you'll hear about their successes and their failures.

Now if people like to hear personal stories of how people attain a lot in life, and you hear what their stresses and struggles and unique challenges are, then you'll totally love this stuff.

---

I'm not all that interested in a guy doing one currency trade making someone a billion dollars

or who someone makes a quarter of a billion off cryptocurrency madness in a year

so i don't think it's all that useful.

---

I'd suggest someone watch David doing some interviewing though

I came up with the idea that he's 80% Larry King, trying never to be boring, and always curious
with a 20% Jay Leno amusement factor

and 0.02% investment insight, which i think is the masterful and crafty part of it all

---

[more thoughts on the book/book series]

so 25% of people feel a little blah about this one....

and a third of people say, fun read or fun list

Funny how I agree with the extremes of both.....

a. the Interviews were fascinating in a Larry King sorta way
b. I kept thinking one third of the time he was doing something weird like Barbara Walters, asking the guests what color of cotton candy would they like to be!
c. I never really saw a lot of great insights with 80% of the guests at ALL
d. If the guy wasn't boring, it was awesome biography, see Larry King above

----

I think I figured it out

a. Imagine if Larry King had a boring guest half the time
b. Imagine Larry King can't think of any good questions
c. Everything else is pretty fun storytelling, when it works 17% of the time!

David: Tell me Mister Buffet, exactly how much of your Pet Rock Collection are Ladybugs?
Warren: Well, I mostly bought green ones, because I can't resist a very good value

[Dao Le · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appreciate the diversity in the type of asset classes / investing styles (equity, hedge fund, PE/VC, distressed, endowment, real estate, crypto, SPACs, ESG, infrastructure). The investors interviewed are of world-class caliber, as expected, but I think many interviews are too short to cover any substantive investment philosophy, though understandable given the format. I do enjoy learning about the personal background and upbringing of these investors, which helps me make sense of their decisions later in life. A small thing that irks me is David’s incessant questions / focus on pedigree – maybe he should check out Gladwell’s “Why I Hate the Ivy League.” Overall a decent book, would recommend the audiobook version over paperback since you can listen to the live interviews.

[James W · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book should be retitled “Interviews with people who have made it in the world of investing”. I know that’s not catchy, but the current title is a massive misnomer. Rather than teaching people how to invest, Rubenstein spends multiple chapters interviewing people who have succeeded in various types of investing, and then compiles his interviews into different chapters with a few paragraphs before each one providing the barest of details.

It is a lazy way to write a book and doesn’t really provide any substantive advice on how to invest. Sure, there are a few golden nuggets throughout the interviews, but one needs to slog through questions about why someone chose a specific school or decided to get into investing. Besides providing some context about SPACs and cryptocurrencies (which I could have easily read about online), this book provided very little information I could takeaway.

[Chuck And Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

Excellent sampling of investing in all asset classes. The book is humbling in that it shows the reader that investing requires way more experience and effort than most are willing to do.

[Kalyani Iyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable, learn a lot and accessible information through a series of interviews with the best investors across various asset classes

[Ferhat Elmas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good sampling on investors and domains, provides not bad breadth on their bios and thinking. However, questions are generally easy and author doesn't intelligently force them to expand on their implicit withdrawals so the expected/desired depth is greatly missing.

[Robert Iacampo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strong 2.5, was okay, had some good interviews with good questions, more of a jack all of trades master of none book, didn’t get too deep on anything, more of a how this person got into investing rather than how to invest yourself

[Marc Palucci · Rating 2 out of 5]

David consistently impresses me with his interviews and humble demeanor. Despite being the founder of one of the most successful private equity companies and a participant in the Giving Pledge, he poses questions that are approachable for novices, seemingly simple, yet insightful. This book compiles some of his most significant interviews, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the conversations, a departure from the usual audio interviews.

Larry Finks approach is grounded in the belief that continuous learning is crucial for success in finance. Drawing from Larry Fink's wisdom, he emphasizes the necessity of being a perpetual student in an ever-changing market. This perspective reinforces the idea that success in finance requires adaptability and a commitment to staying informed.

“If you’re going to be successful in finance and investing, and if you want to have a long career, you have to be a student you entire life. You have to be reeducating yourself every day about what’s going on in the ecosystem. I love markets, because they are constantly changing. I may not look it, but I feel young. I’m challenging myself every day. That’s why I said it’s not right for everybody. A lot of people don’t want to continue to grow, and they want to just enjoy. But those who love the challenge of change, it’s a remarkable career.” -Larry Fink pg. 43

The book incorporates diverse voices, including Sam Zell, who underscores the significance of motivation and energy over raw intelligence. Zell's perspective challenges the conventional notion that intelligence alone guarantees success in the field. Instead, he highlights the importance of an individual's drive and passion, asserting that motivation is a more reliable predictor of success.

"I want them to have an above average intelligence quotient, but not to be too smart. I’m much more interested in energy level and motivation. The most successful people who have worked for me have had the highest degree of motivation." -Sam Zell pg. 105

"DR: If you were to summarize what you would say to somebody who wants to be a successful investor, what would your advice be in a couple of sentences?
sz: Good investors focus on risk. Risk is the downside. Bernard Baruch said it well when he said nobody ever went broke taking a profit. Those who focus on containment ultimately have a greater percentage of succeeding. My own orientation is that if I wanted to be an investor today, I would be an observer. I'd study. I'd think. I'd see. But I'd ultimately look at the world and say, "What could go wrong?" And deal with that rather than take a positive attitude and get disappointed or be unprepared." -Sam Zell pg. 107

Rubenstein further explores the mindset of successful investors through interviews with industry giants like Dawn Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick stresses the importance of curiosity, independent thinking, and self-awareness. These qualities, according to her, are essential for developing a unique perspective that can lead to profitable investment decisions. The emphasis on being an independent thinker aligns with Sam Zell's advice on focusing on risk and being prepared for potential challenges.

“DR: What's required to be an outstanding investor? Are there certain qualities that you think are essential to being an excellent investor?
DF: I talked about being curious. You can't take an answer as a given. You always have to ask why and keep asking why and go down rabbit holes. I also think you have to be self-aware about what you're good at and what you're not good at, and willing to surround yourself and develop teams and talents that can make up for your shortfalls. In this industry, you make money by having a view that's not the consensus and, over time, becomes the consensus view. You have to have the confidence to have opinions and be an independent thinker and then be willing to bet on them.” -pg. 130 Dawn Fitzpatrick

The book also delves into the evolving landscape of finance, touching upon the rise of cryptocurrencies. Rubenstein presents diverse viewpoints, acknowledging the growing interest in non-traditional assets.

“My own view is that there is now so much interest around the world that I believe it will be too difficult for Western governments to eliminate or measurably restrain these currencies. Too many individuals and investors seem to feel that government-issued currencies are increasingly being devalued and are not as readily transferrable around the world-without government intelligence or knowledge-as cryptocurrencies. And that is appealing to many individuals and investors. I suspect the effort of the US and other NATO governments to seize Russian oligarch assets during the Russia-Ukraine war will accelerate the appetite of wealthy individuals to have non-traceable assets. But time will tell. The decline in crypto values in mid-2022 certainly does give one some pause for reflection and renewed analysis; the losses for many investors in cryptocurrencies in mid-2022 may well douse the crypto flame for a while.” Pg. 323

In summary, "How to Invest" by David Rubenstein is a comprehensive finance book offering insights from leaders in the field. While I didn't acquire significant new knowledge from these conversations, the book remains thought-provoking. It serves as a valuable lesson on effectively answering questions without divulging trade secrets.

[Greg Schrock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rubenstein provides insight into the minds of top investors through a series of interviews. I found their perspectives enlightening as they present a view of the world at such a scale that seldom comes to my mind - capital sufficient to alter markets. Each is thoughtful and intentional about their approach to life and investing. Some provided an introduction to investment arenas of which I was previously unaware.

What is not included in this book is practical advice on "how to invest". Each interviewee is asked briefly how one should invest $100k. (Almost) every one said their funds or approaches are not accessible to the average investor and investments at that scale are better made into appropriate index funds etc.

So, as a view into the minds of successful people, I found the book useful and enjoyable. But as a tool to learn investing, I would not recommend it.

[Heng · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up How to Invest by David Rubenstein with high expectations, hoping for wisdom to help me become a better investor. Instead, I found it to be little more than a rehash of interviews he’s conducted over the years, with minimal new depth or context and many I had already listened to. Further, the conversations here felt superficial in the age of extended discussions on podcasts and YouTube. What’s most disappointing is that there’s almost no analysis or synthesis of their ideas into a coherent, educational framework—leaving the reader wishing for more of Rubenstein’s own perspective and actionable takeaways.

[Ben Hicks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Simply constitutes Rubenstein’s recollections and transcripts of conversations with notable investors. Gained little form reading it that can’t be found elsewhere

[Timi Okoya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compilation of interviews with foremost investors and some not-so-famous investors who have done very well and blazed a trail. It is an eye opener on the options within the investing world and how money is made. Some insights on what it takes to be successful and recruiting staff that would be successful. Good notes by David too. Good read!

[Jared Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many interviews with other big name investors that it's like reading multiple books at once.

[Joe Carbonaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars! I found the authors invterview questions to be very vanilla. There were many investors profiled who had great insights but I felt he didn’t ask the tough questions to go deeper. Overall, a great read to understand the success behind different Asset Classes.

[Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of overall assets available (including real estate, family office, private equity, VC, SpACs and crypto) and some sharing of best practices from the best incestors in the world

[Roosevelt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well rounded knowledge of the investment world.

[Christopher Obert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to read to give you the background on some top level investors.

[Hitendra mathur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best insight into different investment mindsets

This was very crispy book to understand the FLOW part of investing mastery. The prejudices, prides of great investors presented the way they exist.

[Samuel Clasby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extremely valuable book and I highly recommend it to anyone who is either looking to start or in the early stages of their finance career.

Going into this book I was unsure of its unique format. Each chapter consists of a short introduction to a successful investor and their area of expertise, followed by a transcription of David Rubenstein’s interview of them. I have already seen a lot of David Rubenstein’s interviews and was unsure of what value reading these would be. However, I was pleasantly surprised as I progressed through the book and realized that I was getting a bunch of mini autobiographies for the price of one book. As someone who received my BA of Business Economics almost 2 years ago, passed my CFA level 1 last December but still hasn’t broken in to finance, I found this format extremely helpful. By reading about so many successful people I began to see a formula for success in the profession. It really gives you an idea of the road to come. Additionally, by reading these interviews the information just sticks better for me and is that much more valuable.

[Ioannis Neris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mediocre but love Rubestein and the way he interviews

David Rubenstein’s way of interviewing people is amazing and I think he is very insightful but basically this book is a collection of interviews he has done for Bloomberg. Not very useful insights. Overall pleasantly read but not too much info on the actual subject of how to invest.

[Marc Cozzarelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, interesting and worth the read for those intrigued in Wall Street and investing. I would not necessarily say this gives an average, non-billionaire, person a simple blueprint for how to invest. Mostly just expresses how CEOs or senior members of investment firms see the horizons and what has worked for them in the past in growing their firm. Enjoyed seeing how their perspectives were given on the environment during Covid and with certain investments such as ESG throughout 2022. Cool to see how their projections and views have changed/played out differently in late 2023.

[Charles Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

89%

This is an interesting look into the interviewing process and successful stats of people that have done and are doing incredibly well financially.

Some of the investors in here are complete Legends, I really enjoyed hearing about some of the business people from that, one big thing that I've really had pressed into me is you need to be doing something that you love, never be chasing the dollar. And that's how you make money.

[Keven Wang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a good book for people wanting to get a basic understanding of investing. Great for sampling

[Kanakvi · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot to learn for young investors from this book

[Joe Michalak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent read. Rubenstein clearly has a knack for interviewing his peers. Furthermore, everytime I picked up the book I felt pushed and inspired to do better in my own role.

[Thanh Nhàn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cuốn này rất đầy đủ về đầu tư, bạn nào chưa đọc nhiều sách về đầu tư mà muốn có mindset chuẩn ngay từ đầu thì mình highly recommend ạ 👍 sách khái quát mọi khía cạnh của đầu tư: cổ phiếu, trái phiếu, bất động sản, tiền điện tử,…

Nội dung cuốn sách được trình bày một cách logic và dễ hiểu. Tác giả đưa ra những lý thuyết cơ bản, sau đó minh họa bằng ví dụ thực tế và bài học rút ra từ các nhà đầu tư lớn. Điều này giúp người đọc dễ nắm bắt các khái niệm phức tạp về đầu tư.

A master class on investing featuring conversations with the biggest names in finance, from the legendary cofounder of The Carlyle Group, David M. Rubenstein.

What do the most successful investors have in common? David M. Rubenstein, cofounder of one of the world’s largest investment firms, has spent years interviewing the greatest investors in the world to discover the time-tested principles, hard-earned wisdom, and indispensable tools that guide their practice.​

Rubenstein, who has spent more than three decades in the hypercompetitive world of private equity, now distills everything he’s learned about the art and craft of investing, from venture capital, real estate, private equity, hedge funds, to crypto, endowments, SPACs, ESG, and more.

-How did Stan Druckenmiller short the British pound in one trade for a profit of $1 billion dollars?
-What made Sam Zell the smartest, toughest investor the world of real estate has ever seen?
-How did Mike Novogratz make $250 million off crypto in one year?
-How did Larry Fink build BlackRock from scratch into a firm that manages more than $10 trillion?
-How did Mary Callahan Erdoes rise to the top of J.P. Morgan’s wealth management division to manage more than $4 trillion for individuals and families all over the world?
-How did Seth Klarman perfect value investing to consistently deliver net returns of nearly 20 percent?

With unprecedented access to global leaders in finance, Rubenstein has assembled the most authoritative book of its kind. How to Invest reveals the thinking of the most successful investors in the world, many of whom rarely speak publicly. Whether you’re brand-new to investing or a seasoned professional, this book will transform the way you approach investing forever.

Ở Việt Nam, Bookee bán cuốn này giá khá là tốt, bạn tham khảo ở đây nhé: https://bookee.store

[Eduardo Kredensir]

Great book by one of the most succesful entreprenuers in the investment world. As a PE professional myself, I have great appreciation of what Rubenstein has achieved in the Private Equity/Alternative Asset Management space by building a world class management firm. But I didn't know about his passion about journalism and writing.
I found the format of the book, displayed as a series of interviews of several successful investors in each investment field, to be very interesting and different from other finance related books that I have read in the last several years. It does not provide deep knowledge about the different types of asset classes but gives a good overall picture of each one of them. For me, this was not very much helpful since I am a professional on the field.
However, there are precious insights of what makes an investor successful, despite their field. I can see three major traits that are common to every single investor David interviewed in this book:(i) they are all long term investors, that care about the value generation of their invested assets in the long run. They are not high frequency traders that buy and sell their assets daily; (ii) they are very knwledgeable of their fields (asset class, geography, sector, etc) and they are aware that the skills that they built to be succesful on their fields does not translate to other investment areas; and (iii) most of their success come from placing big bets when they were confident about their thesis, and these bets often came in times when the environment was not in their favor. They had to be couragious enough to be contrarian, and this courage often paid off over time.
If you are looking for a book to answer your question of what separates a good professional investors from the average, this is the book to read.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The definition of “how to” is providing detailed and practical advice. How to Invest instead offers a series of interviews with investment masters at the top of their game, reflecting on how they entered their careers and their most astounding deals and track records. As such, they began their careers in the ‘70s and ‘80s – a golden time when a young person with no experience could step into a major bank or investment firm and anticipate attention, mentoring and training. And now they manage funds that are worth billions.

Many attended Ivy League schools: “if [Harvard Business School] doesn’t teach you anything else, it teaches you to convince people to let you do a job that you arguably are not qualified to do, notes Kim Lew, president and CEO of Columbia Investment Management Company.

But such degrees are not essential. Most of the investors are humble, crediting mentors and clients for early support. Adebayo Ogunlesi, chairman and managing partner of Global Infrastructure Partners, concedes “the only thing required is you have to be lucky, because we raised money at a time when people were giving money to people who are not experienced. I hate to think what reception we’d have gotten if we tried to do it today.”

David Rubenstein poses solid questions, prompting each investor to reflect and analyze their success and a market that has evolved over the decades. The book offers insights into the mindsets behind financial careers ranging from public equities and endowments to hedge funds, venture capital, cryptocurrencies, SPACSs and more. The investors describe their hiring preferences: Some prefer physicists and computer scientists; others seek the “hungry” ambitious and even the blank slates of liberal arts degrees.

A better title for the book would have been Careers in Investment: A nostalgic look back.

[Greg Talbot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Investment as a single word signals prudence, care , due diligence and rewards. For anyone looking for intimate conversations with some of the masters, this is well worth your time.

Here Rubenstein interviews legends in the investing world with a diversity of investment types (private equity, leveraged buyouts, alterantive investments). The view of investing is largely aspiration and from a summary level view. Retail investors looking for strategy would probably be better off watching technical vidoes. But there is something to be said for conversations with those who exceled. There's a lot to learn about risk, honesty, humulity, luck, and hunger.

There's certainly a lot of ground covered here. Legendary stories about Soros taking on the pound, Buffett's shadow across fundamental analysis, the growth of private equity and leveraged buyouts, adjusting to the pandemic, the 2008 housing market crash. Patterns emerge of course, but it truly is inspiring to consider all the ways people analyze and approach financial investments.

My only real complaint is the lack of fintech discussion. Technology has played a massive role in changing the interactions between investors and advisors. High frequency trading, apps like Robinhood, meme stocks, and educational tutorials to wider audiences has changed retail investing.

Great interviews here - woudl recommend continuing these conversations. Ray Dailio has some wonderful content on youtube, along with his conversations/book about "Principals". Many others here Jon Gray, Dawn Fitzpatrick, John Paulson (huge get!) and Ron Baron