🧠 We Were Wrong
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Friends,
Former trader and best-selling author Nassim Nicholas Taleb is one of our favorite thinkers. He recently shared a prescient point on how one goes about changing their mind:
We agree. And we’re also aware of how easy it is to slip into intellectual dishonesty.
That’s why it’s important for us to publicly acknowledge when we change our mind about something.
For us, the big change in 2023 has to do with valuation.
In the past, valuation played a minor role in Feroldi and Withers’ investing processes. It played no role at all in Stoffel’s. Management, free cash flow, and growth were what all three of us prized the most.
Yet, we’ve all reconsidered that stance since the end of 2021 — and we have the wounds to prove it.
In a world of 0% interest rates, deemphasizing valuation made sense (and was highly profitable). But we don’t live in that world anymore.
This doesn’t mean valuation is the #1 priority for any of us. But it has surely ascended in the list of priorities. And when you realize you may have been wrong about something in the past, we think it’s best to lead by example and to call ourselves out for that misstep.
As the year ends, this is a good question to ask yourself: What’s something important that you’ve changed your mind about in 2023?
Reply to this email and let us know. We’d love to hear about it.
Wishing you investing success,
– Brian Feroldi, Brian Stoffel, & Brian Withers
P.S. – Want to improve your investing skills in the New Year? Take our live course, Financial Statements Explained Simply. Starting January 8th. Click here to enroll with a $200 discount.
Together with iWorker*:
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More From Us:
📗 If you’ve read Brian Feroldi’s book, he’d love a review.
👨🎓 The next cohort of our flagship course, Financial Statement Explained Simply, is starting in January 2024! Click here to join us.
