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Even Buffett Isn't Perfect: What You Can---and Can't---Learn from the World's Greatest Investor
Warren Buffett is the most successful and revered investor of all time. His ability to consistently find undervalued companies has made him one of the world's richest men.
Despite many previous books about him, it's rare to find an objective assessment—one that praises him when appropriate but also recognizes that even Buffett makes mistakes. For instance, is he right to call for higher taxes and an end to earnings guidance? Should Buffett fans copy his avoidance of technology stocks?
In this penetrating look at how Buffett thinks, Vahan Janjigian shows listeners how to learn from the master's best moves while avoiding strategies that don't apply to small investors. And he explains Buffett's favorite valuation methodology, the discounted cash flow model, and how it can significantly reduce the odds of overpaying for a stock.
Despite many previous books about him, it's rare to find an objective assessment—one that praises him when appropriate but also recognizes that even Buffett makes mistakes. For instance, is he right to call for higher taxes and an end to earnings guidance? Should Buffett fans copy his avoidance of technology stocks?
In this penetrating look at how Buffett thinks, Vahan Janjigian shows listeners how to learn from the master's best moves while avoiding strategies that don't apply to small investors. And he explains Buffett's favorite valuation methodology, the discounted cash flow model, and how it can significantly reduce the odds of overpaying for a stock.
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First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
January 6, 2013
A broken record of a book essentially arguing that:
1. Buffett isn’t 100% consistent
2. You can’t be Buffett, and you probably shouldn’t try
The first point is somewhat ridiculous, and seems more like an attempted hatchet job on Buffett. Essentially the author tries to point out inconsistencies in Buffett, then dig into them further. For example, Buffett likes to hold forever, but he does sell on occasion. Really.. how illuminating.. Buffett doesn’t stupidly stick to something he said? It seems like an objection that a Republican would make, that sticking to ideals are more important than doing what’s in your best interests. Another example that comes up over and over is how Buffett is an advocate for taxes on the rich, yet avoided paying taxes by giving away half his fortune to the Gates Foundation. This seems like a somewhat ridiculous attack, as it’s not exactly like Buffett shuttled the money away to some secret tax shelter - he gave it away to charity! This is hardly what I would call “avoiding taxes”, especially compared to the extents the rich go through to avoid paying taxes.
The second point is that ordinary people shouldn’t try to invest like Buffett, for two primary reasons. First, most people are not adept in the kind of financial analysis (discounted cash flow) that Buffett uses to determine if a company is underpriced. The second is that anytime Buffett invests, he invests so much that he has sway over the company’s operations. No normal investor would ever have this.
Other than that, the book is a broken record, repeating verbatim phrases and sentences throughout the book. It repeats certain ones so often my eyes were getting sore from constantly rolling back.
1. Buffett isn’t 100% consistent
2. You can’t be Buffett, and you probably shouldn’t try
The first point is somewhat ridiculous, and seems more like an attempted hatchet job on Buffett. Essentially the author tries to point out inconsistencies in Buffett, then dig into them further. For example, Buffett likes to hold forever, but he does sell on occasion. Really.. how illuminating.. Buffett doesn’t stupidly stick to something he said? It seems like an objection that a Republican would make, that sticking to ideals are more important than doing what’s in your best interests. Another example that comes up over and over is how Buffett is an advocate for taxes on the rich, yet avoided paying taxes by giving away half his fortune to the Gates Foundation. This seems like a somewhat ridiculous attack, as it’s not exactly like Buffett shuttled the money away to some secret tax shelter - he gave it away to charity! This is hardly what I would call “avoiding taxes”, especially compared to the extents the rich go through to avoid paying taxes.
The second point is that ordinary people shouldn’t try to invest like Buffett, for two primary reasons. First, most people are not adept in the kind of financial analysis (discounted cash flow) that Buffett uses to determine if a company is underpriced. The second is that anytime Buffett invests, he invests so much that he has sway over the company’s operations. No normal investor would ever have this.
Other than that, the book is a broken record, repeating verbatim phrases and sentences throughout the book. It repeats certain ones so often my eyes were getting sore from constantly rolling back.
October 20, 2020
This guy repeats his ideas over and over again, I suppose it is ok reading it but in an audio book you might get annoyed.
I disagree with this guy that low corporate taxes as well as low taxes on the rich will lead to economic growth, that maybe the case but this has shown not to generate jobs in the US
if I were a corporation I would outsource as many jobs as I could, use every law I could to maximize profits, stuff like that, it is not a corporations job to generate jobs nor should we expect them to
I suppose this book is cool in that he does provide both sides of an argument kind of except for the one mentioned above.
The author is clearly a wall street person for whatever it is worth (it is good to listen to people on the other side)
I found this review from Amazon to be hilarious, kind of mean though:
" Hard words indeed for Mr. Forbes, who inherited his fortune from his father (who in turn inherited it from his). And these ideas are flowing from a person who is at the top of the Forbesist hierarchy. Imagine how the French nobility might have felt if Louis the 14th started talking up liberty, equality and fraternity. This book seems like an attempt to point out Mr. Buffett's "errors", but even on that level the book fails. The essays are not well argued, with most items of dogma presented as fact and no deep discussion of the issues.
If you are Forbesist style neocon who feels that Warren Buffett's dangerous influence needs to be moderated, you might enjoy this book. If you are not and/or you read less than 200 books a year, this one doesn't deserve your time."
I disagree with this guy that low corporate taxes as well as low taxes on the rich will lead to economic growth, that maybe the case but this has shown not to generate jobs in the US
if I were a corporation I would outsource as many jobs as I could, use every law I could to maximize profits, stuff like that, it is not a corporations job to generate jobs nor should we expect them to
I suppose this book is cool in that he does provide both sides of an argument kind of except for the one mentioned above.
The author is clearly a wall street person for whatever it is worth (it is good to listen to people on the other side)
I found this review from Amazon to be hilarious, kind of mean though:
" Hard words indeed for Mr. Forbes, who inherited his fortune from his father (who in turn inherited it from his). And these ideas are flowing from a person who is at the top of the Forbesist hierarchy. Imagine how the French nobility might have felt if Louis the 14th started talking up liberty, equality and fraternity. This book seems like an attempt to point out Mr. Buffett's "errors", but even on that level the book fails. The essays are not well argued, with most items of dogma presented as fact and no deep discussion of the issues.
If you are Forbesist style neocon who feels that Warren Buffett's dangerous influence needs to be moderated, you might enjoy this book. If you are not and/or you read less than 200 books a year, this one doesn't deserve your time."
March 20, 2014
If you want a critique of Buffet's investing techniques and style, you might read just the chapter summaries in this book. Otherwise, skip it!
The book's title is wrong; it's not so much about "what you can and can't learn" from Buffett, so much as "why you can't be Buffett", and Janjigian's pronouncements on some bad Buffett choices".
I found the book to be painfully repetitive, and often vague. Janjigian's style is targeted to the experienced investor and the inexperienced investor- pleasing neither. He raises strategies and techniques like momentum investing and PIPEs (private investments in public entities) without defining them to the point of being useful. PIPEs are mentioned only because it's something that the average investor can't do that Buffet can. (I guess it's okay to vaguely bring PIPEs up if you can't use them anyways.)
About the only thing I learned from the book were about a couple of poor choices by Buffett. These are better documented in other works (Try Buffett Step by Step: an investor's workbook by Richard Simmons) and not worth the effort in this treatment.
The book's title is wrong; it's not so much about "what you can and can't learn" from Buffett, so much as "why you can't be Buffett", and Janjigian's pronouncements on some bad Buffett choices".
I found the book to be painfully repetitive, and often vague. Janjigian's style is targeted to the experienced investor and the inexperienced investor- pleasing neither. He raises strategies and techniques like momentum investing and PIPEs (private investments in public entities) without defining them to the point of being useful. PIPEs are mentioned only because it's something that the average investor can't do that Buffet can. (I guess it's okay to vaguely bring PIPEs up if you can't use them anyways.)
About the only thing I learned from the book were about a couple of poor choices by Buffett. These are better documented in other works (Try Buffett Step by Step: an investor's workbook by Richard Simmons) and not worth the effort in this treatment.
January 4, 2019
The books describes how buffet thinks, his ideologies on investment and finance.
How he is exclusive at the same time opposing in some aspects to standard finance methods or investment ways.
There are little details about each of his characteristics but more on a holistic level about his ideas and methodologies.
How is good he is and at the same time how "normal" as an investor he is
It is a good read if you are buffett fan and aware about his life. There are some specific details about him in the book as well.
How he is exclusive at the same time opposing in some aspects to standard finance methods or investment ways.
There are little details about each of his characteristics but more on a holistic level about his ideas and methodologies.
How is good he is and at the same time how "normal" as an investor he is
It is a good read if you are buffett fan and aware about his life. There are some specific details about him in the book as well.
September 20, 2008
and neither is Janjigian. This is a pretty decent book, nonetheless.
Janjigian makes some good points especially about how Buffett is diffferent from, well, everyone else. Even the above average investor is not going to have the same level of resources, or the same clout, as Buffett. Is there anyone else who is going to get the same level of access to management as a minority stockholder? So it makes sense that most of us have to approach investing differently than Buffett.
I would cite two main weaknesses in the book:
1. He just doesn't have that much insight into Buffett's thinking. For instance, the chapter "When 'good' investments go bad", which is supposedly about mistakes made, does not have anything special to say about the 4 companies discussed, other than at some point or another Buffett probably regretted the purchases. The author doesn't have special access to Buffett, and so is reduced to repeating Buffett's own (brief) analysis of the purchases -- "I was dead wrong." No particular effort shown to fathom why he made the pick, or what was wrong about it, just four picks that weren't the best, and only one of those clearly a money-losing proposition for Berkshire.
2. The Forbes anti-tax mania. The author devotes a chapter, and Mr. Forbes most of his introduction, to railing against Buffett's non-opposition to income and estate taxes. Not that I, personally, want to pay higher taxes -- few do. But the tax burden of the US citizen is very low by most standards, and frankly the concern of the government for the individual's personal advancement is aided by making the government's revenue depend upon the taxation of that individual. And if you have an estate large enough to be subject to the "death tax", you have enough to afford an estate attorney, and no-one feels sorry for you.
Janjigian makes some good points especially about how Buffett is diffferent from, well, everyone else. Even the above average investor is not going to have the same level of resources, or the same clout, as Buffett. Is there anyone else who is going to get the same level of access to management as a minority stockholder? So it makes sense that most of us have to approach investing differently than Buffett.
I would cite two main weaknesses in the book:
1. He just doesn't have that much insight into Buffett's thinking. For instance, the chapter "When 'good' investments go bad", which is supposedly about mistakes made, does not have anything special to say about the 4 companies discussed, other than at some point or another Buffett probably regretted the purchases. The author doesn't have special access to Buffett, and so is reduced to repeating Buffett's own (brief) analysis of the purchases -- "I was dead wrong." No particular effort shown to fathom why he made the pick, or what was wrong about it, just four picks that weren't the best, and only one of those clearly a money-losing proposition for Berkshire.
2. The Forbes anti-tax mania. The author devotes a chapter, and Mr. Forbes most of his introduction, to railing against Buffett's non-opposition to income and estate taxes. Not that I, personally, want to pay higher taxes -- few do. But the tax burden of the US citizen is very low by most standards, and frankly the concern of the government for the individual's personal advancement is aided by making the government's revenue depend upon the taxation of that individual. And if you have an estate large enough to be subject to the "death tax", you have enough to afford an estate attorney, and no-one feels sorry for you.
November 21, 2011
I had high hopes for this 200page book, but i was disappointed. Each chapter simply highlights a point that is well known about Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway, but it takes pages and pages just to come to point.
It doesn't tell me anything i don't already know about Buffett, and what it does tell me, it isn't convincing. More charts could have easily illustrated what they were trying to say. Better to read Hagstrom's The Buffett Way.
It doesn't tell me anything i don't already know about Buffett, and what it does tell me, it isn't convincing. More charts could have easily illustrated what they were trying to say. Better to read Hagstrom's The Buffett Way.
March 23, 2016
Don't bother. Just a book explaining that Buffet was good for his generation, but ultimately wouldn't succeed if he started today. It goes on to attack Buffet's philosophy on value investing, taxes, and suggestions for mitigating business corruption and shady accounting.
September 1, 2017
I haven't finished the book yet, but I thought I'd still leave a comment.
Interesting content, and easy read but the author tends to repeat himself way too much. It doesn't go into much depth too, so I'm a little disappointed in that sense, but overall okay book.
Interesting content, and easy read but the author tends to repeat himself way too much. It doesn't go into much depth too, so I'm a little disappointed in that sense, but overall okay book.
August 16, 2012
Just finished reading "Buffett isn't Perfect." so very true in fact we learn that just like any human we make wrong choices too but through it all we learn to be better n wiser. A great read ;)
March 23, 2022
If you have read any books about Warren Buffett this one is pretty boring. If you haven't read many books about Warren Buffett this one is a poor place to start.
April 5, 2022
I read /Even Buffett Isn't Perfect: What You Can--and Can't--Learn from the World's Greatest Investor/, by Vahan Janjigian:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...
I'm a huge Buffett fan and thought I had read all the books about him. Somehow I had missed this one.
One interesting observation: the book highlights his 1993 shareholder letter, in which Buffett states: "The strategy we've adopted precludes our following standard diversification agenda."
I hadn't really thought about this one Buffett point before. He (Berkshire) buys good companies with great management and holds them; buys great stocks usually based on the same factors including growth and a DCF analysis, but will sell equities, of course, from time to time.
Nevertheless, Buffett essentially ignores diversification methodologies and has gotten away with it for 60 years. This is because Buffett believes that another way to reduce risk is to do your homework and allocate even more capital to the winners you're most sure about. He's done that, and for the most part, he and Charlie Munger have been right.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...
I'm a huge Buffett fan and thought I had read all the books about him. Somehow I had missed this one.
One interesting observation: the book highlights his 1993 shareholder letter, in which Buffett states: "The strategy we've adopted precludes our following standard diversification agenda."
I hadn't really thought about this one Buffett point before. He (Berkshire) buys good companies with great management and holds them; buys great stocks usually based on the same factors including growth and a DCF analysis, but will sell equities, of course, from time to time.
Nevertheless, Buffett essentially ignores diversification methodologies and has gotten away with it for 60 years. This is because Buffett believes that another way to reduce risk is to do your homework and allocate even more capital to the winners you're most sure about. He's done that, and for the most part, he and Charlie Munger have been right.
April 20, 2018
This isn’t “really” a book about Buffett. It's really just a general investing book talking about broad topics at a high level. Buffett is just a MacGuffin. It allows the author to introduce the topics of each chapter and discuss the complexities of the issues. Each chapter can be summarized as ”Buffett does/thinks this, but...” I'm not saying the topics weren't interesting or the discussion wasn't relevant. I'm saying you don't need to use Buffett as your foil, just tell it straight. But I guess that wouldn't sell as many books as one with ”Buffett” in the title. (I certainly wouldn't have borrowed it from the library.)
September 11, 2021
This book consists of practical wisdom on how an average investor can implement Buffett's strategies at a moderate scale. Considering the average Joe cannot call up the CEO of Coca Cola and influence his business strategies, the doable tips at the end of each chapter are helpful.
It also presents sound arguments about few claims by Buffet, that are not super logical in today's world. The deep-dive into his failed investments also provide an enriching view.
I would've liked to read more about how he manages his personal expenses, and lives frugally, but that wasn't part of this book's scope.
Overall, this was a decent read.
It also presents sound arguments about few claims by Buffet, that are not super logical in today's world. The deep-dive into his failed investments also provide an enriching view.
I would've liked to read more about how he manages his personal expenses, and lives frugally, but that wasn't part of this book's scope.
Overall, this was a decent read.
September 6, 2022
did not finish, could not make it past chapter 1 (half of chapter 1)
full of half-truths
awful, embarrassingly awful
picks passages out of context from Buffett's vast repertory of quotes to make him say imaginary things to support whatever author decides to write, including many imaginary mistakes
boils down to a shameless attempt to sell books on the back of Buffett's name
single-handedly manages to illustrate what is so wrong with the entire finance academic world: they just cannot bear to see one man with basic common sense destroying the house of cards they have built around the completely irrational definition of 'risk'
full of half-truths
awful, embarrassingly awful
picks passages out of context from Buffett's vast repertory of quotes to make him say imaginary things to support whatever author decides to write, including many imaginary mistakes
boils down to a shameless attempt to sell books on the back of Buffett's name
single-handedly manages to illustrate what is so wrong with the entire finance academic world: they just cannot bear to see one man with basic common sense destroying the house of cards they have built around the completely irrational definition of 'risk'
May 6, 2020
another greats book about Warren but more details is a great overview of Berkshire Hathaway, the great company.
I really took a lot from this book, it 's well written with a deep understanding about the BH company. I also read about another books about WB but intentionally try to understand about how his company focus on, which a gotcha in this book!
If you want to have an great overview about Berkshire Hathaway, this is a great book to start with!
I really took a lot from this book, it 's well written with a deep understanding about the BH company. I also read about another books about WB but intentionally try to understand about how his company focus on, which a gotcha in this book!
If you want to have an great overview about Berkshire Hathaway, this is a great book to start with!
July 26, 2025
Found the book to be very repetitive. Like it seemed I kept reading the same sentences. It has some interesting information, but it's now outdated which should be expected since it was published in 2008. There's a chapter going over who might replace Buffet at Berkshire and now 17 years after this book was released, we have the answer because Buffet is going to step down from being the CEO at the end of 2025.
December 12, 2018
Đối với tôi đó là một trong những cuốn sách về tài chính nên đọc nhất, với sự phân tích rõ ràng và cụ thể cũng như các điểm mù trong phong cách suy nghĩ và đầu tư của warren buffett, cộng với những lời khuyên bổ ích và dẫn chứng hướng dẫn cụ thể dành cho các nhà đầu tư từ cơ bản đến nâng cao, cuốn sách này xứng đáng được đánh giá 5 sao !!!
July 13, 2018
I have read upon Buffett since don't remember days. This book is mostly facts, don't care to read it if you looking for insights into his investment strategy. A simple 20 mins video on youtube will be enough to cover the strategies in the book.
January 31, 2018
The book contains interesting information about Buffett and his ideas on investing. There is a lot of repetition of information. Book is somewhat dated in 2018.
November 29, 2019
A thorough look at Buffet's investment philosophy and how it has evolved over time. Interesting although a little technical at times. Interesting discussion on Buffet's few mistakes.
May 13, 2020
An easy to read book but the ideas are repetitive
November 3, 2021
Just another book on Warren
October 22, 2023
Good perspective on Buffet - he's not perfect.
August 15, 2023
I liked this book. It was friendly to the beginner investor, like me.
I learned that Buffett likes to invest in undervalued stocks, with a preference of value stocks over growth stocks. I also learned the importance he places on good management and his opinion on reporting earnings.
Nevertheless, because of his straightforward and repetitive style, there were times I caught myself being bored and forcing myself to continue reading.
Overall, I would give this book 3 stars -- helpful but nothing mind-blowing.
I learned that Buffett likes to invest in undervalued stocks, with a preference of value stocks over growth stocks. I also learned the importance he places on good management and his opinion on reporting earnings.
Nevertheless, because of his straightforward and repetitive style, there were times I caught myself being bored and forcing myself to continue reading.
Overall, I would give this book 3 stars -- helpful but nothing mind-blowing.
February 23, 2017
Being the only book that offers a comprehensive look at Buffett's work, this is certainly an interesting read. Nonetheless, I am no longer the Buffett enthusiast that I once was. So the book did not touch me as others have.
May 5, 2009
Not having read any previous literature on Warren Buffet, this book proved to be a very generous introduction to the world of "the Greatest Investor on the Planet."
I especially enjoyed the fact that the author (who works for Forbes Magazine) explains how Buffet's investment strategy works only for Buffet--because he commands so much capital--that the average investor (and the author does a great job of explaining the differences between and investor and a trader) can not even fathom of following any kind of "trend" in Buffet's investment strategy, it simply doesn't follow the economy of scale. Instead, you or I should invest our money in index funds, which over the long run (decades) would prove to be a good return on investment.
I also appreciate the fact that Buffet invests in simple solutions; no overly complex technology firms or holding companies, just everyday items that everyone uses: insurance (GEICO), razors (Gillette), and undergarments (Fruit of the Loom), to name a few.
I especially enjoyed the fact that the author (who works for Forbes Magazine) explains how Buffet's investment strategy works only for Buffet--because he commands so much capital--that the average investor (and the author does a great job of explaining the differences between and investor and a trader) can not even fathom of following any kind of "trend" in Buffet's investment strategy, it simply doesn't follow the economy of scale. Instead, you or I should invest our money in index funds, which over the long run (decades) would prove to be a good return on investment.
I also appreciate the fact that Buffet invests in simple solutions; no overly complex technology firms or holding companies, just everyday items that everyone uses: insurance (GEICO), razors (Gillette), and undergarments (Fruit of the Loom), to name a few.
January 24, 2009
My first book on a man I admire. I don't think the book was written all that well, it's very repetitive, the author goes over the same points again and again. Very informative though and interesting information on Buffett and his investing strategies.
August 20, 2009
Worth reading if you want to learn more about investing and Buffett's way of doing it. The tone is academic, and the book doesn't always flow, but you'll find some solid ideas.
Read
April 26, 2015not a great book though
May 6, 2012
A comprehensive yet shallow look at what the business world knows of the Warren Buffett icon.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews