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Show Notes

Continuous Improvement

• 01:04 John emphasizes continuous improvement in all aspects of life.
• 01:28 He applies this concept to friendships, human relationships, family, academics, athletics and business.
• 02:06 John enjoys things that have long feedback loops that take time to play out.
• 03:07 He finds satisfaction in the journey and effort that goes into those long feedback loops.

The Path to Mastery

• 03:43 The pursuit of mastery is a horizonal path where you never quite reach perfection.
• 04:18 Rockefeller’s diligence and detail-oriented mindset are discussed as an example of pursuing mastery.
• 05:04 Finding joy and satisfaction in the process of painting the canvas is more important than reaching mastery.

05:51 Cultivating a Learning Environment

• 09:19 John is intentional about structuring his day around learning and does this based on the periods he’s most effective.
• 09:30 He structures his day to pursue things that he likes to do such as reading, making phone calls, talking to people in business.
• 10:14 He guards his time in the morning to get the most important work done when he is most fresh.

Re-reading Books

• 06:35 Every time you read something you pick up something new.
• 07:15 When you read something over and over again, you learn different things and have a different perspective.
• 08:26 John has gone back to “The Snowball” by Alice Schroeder numerous times because there are certain chapters that he remembers where there are practical takeaways for investing or business.

Retaining Information

• 06:52 You retain only a minority of information that you read.
• 07:51 “You don’t remember books, you remember sentences.” Morgan Housel 

09:19 Structuring Your Day for Productivity

Importance of Morning Time

• 10:33s The morning is the time when John is most productive because it’s when he is most fresh.
• 10:58s John has four hours of time from 8 am to noon where he can get the most important work done.

Guarding Your Time

• 09:53 John tries to guard his time in the morning to get the most important work done.
• 10:14 He structures his day around learning and sets up windows of time to do the most productive work first.

Afternoon Work

• 10:33s The afternoon is left for different types of work that also need to get done but perhaps isn’t as important as the work that gets done in the morning.

11:37 Investing and Productivity

• 11:53 Investing has a long feedback loop compared to sales jobs.
• 12:13 John tracks and has created categories such as annual reports, books completed, phone calls made, and management meetings attended to measure productivity.
• 12:33 He uses a spreadsheet called “Deep Work” to track his work during morning sessions.
• 13:08 John plans his weekly list of tasks on Sunday night but allows room for flexibility throughout the week.
• 14:05 At the end of each day, he writes down everything he wants to do the next day in a spiral notebook or on Apple notes.

Transitioning from Work to Home Life

• 14:56 John admits that transitioning from work to home life is not perfect but tries his best.
• 15:41 Writing down tasks at the end of each day helps him close the book on work and seamlessly transition back into it the next morning.
• 15:57 Focus, intentionality, avoiding distractions (such as Twitter), and staying off social media are key factors in maintaining productivity.

17:26 The Value of Writing

• 17:26 Writing has been a huge part of John’s process and life.
• 17:48 Journaling is effective for him and helps him organize his thoughts.
• 18:10 Writing helps him identify weaknesses in his thinking or holes in his understanding.

18:10 Running for Clarity

• 18:31 Running is a great way to stay healthy both physically and mentally.
• 18:52 It clarifies his thinking by synthesizing things in his brain.
• 19:28 Sometimes he comes back from a run with a better understanding of whatever he was working on.

20:46 The Uncertainty of Investing

• 20:46 There is no formula or specific checklist for investing.
• 21:09 Every business is different because humans are emotional and have behavioral tendencies.
• 21:49 The probability set in investing is uncertain and always changing.

22:44 Importance of Confidence in Investing

• 23:24 There is a spectrum of risk in investing, ranging from low-risk investments like T-bills to high-risk investments.
• 24:01 JOhntends to focus on investments where he feels highly confident.
• 25:11 Mistakes are part of the game in investing, and even the best investors get things wrong sometimes.

Investment Checklist 

• 26:37 John recommends journaling as a way to keep track of thoughts and processes.
• 27:24 He suggests reviewing your investment checklist and process once a year for incremental improvements.
• 27:47 Writing notes down can be helpful for reviewing them later.

28:26 Starting Saber Capital Management

• 28:48 John was inspired to start an investment partnership after reading “The Warren Buffett Way” in the mid-90s.
• 29:09 He was intrigued by Buffett’s structure of charging a performance fee instead of a management fee.
• 29:49 John had always been interested in investing and wanted to invest his money actively.

Background in Investing

• 30:12 John’s father was an avid investor even though he was an engineer by training, which sparked his interest in investing as a child.
• 30:31 After reading about Buffett, he became captivated by the business of investing and studying businesses.

Real Estate Investment

• 31:09 John invested in real estate for eight or nine years before feeling like he had enough capital to start an investment partnership.
• 31:52 He saw opportunities during the 2006/2007 real estate market downturn when banks were trying to unload assets.
• 32:13 Investing in real estate gave him autonomy and time to work on what he wanted while making money.

Long-Term Thinking

• 32:46 John thought long-term and put eight or nine years into real estate with the end goal of starting an investment partnership.
• 33:02 During his time in real estate, he designed his own MBA program called “John’s MBA” where he read different curriculums’ materials.

34:11 Sacrificing Earning Power for Knowledge

• John sacrificed current earning power to build up a bank of knowledge that he hoped would pay dividends later on. 35:09
• He invested time in reading annual reports and learning about different business models. 34:11

Latching onto Hope

• John’s friend advised him to get a job or work at a fund, but he refused because he wanted to work on what he was interested in. 34:51
• He was thinking long-term without realizing it and hoped that his investment in knowledge would pay off later. 34:31
• John found it challenging when external factors were coming at him, but he latched onto hope and kept going. 35:25

35:25 Charlie Munger’s Advice

• Charlie Munger used to take out an hour of his morning instead of using that hour to earn money from a client. He would use that hour to work on his real estate projects or investments. 35:57
• Carve out an hour every day if you’re interested in getting better at something and do something productive with that hour. Move the ball forward by investing your time into something you care about.36:37

37:10 Learning from Bill Belichick

• The Patriots were leading by six with two or three minutes left in the game and had a fourth and two on their own 30-yard line. Instead of punting the ball back to Peyton Manning, Belichick decided to go for it and try to win the game. 38:33
• The conventional wisdom at the time was to punt the ball and play defense, but Belichick went for it and didn’t get it.38:49
• Nowadays, people look back on that decision as being the right call because analytics have shown that going forward on fourth down is a common thing now.39:06

39:38 Belichick’s Decision Making

• 39:38 John was impressed with Belichick’s decision to go for it on fourth down during a game.
• 39:54 Belichick had built up enough goodwill in the organization to make decisions that he thought were best for the team without worrying about career risk.
• 40:13 John admires Belichick’s ability to rise above outside factors and make the right decision.
• 40:28 Belichick only focused on doing what he thought was best for the team, which is an underrated aspect of his tenure as a coach.

• 41:26 Coaches might not make the right decision because they don’t want to risk their job, but avoiding career risk is crucial in investing.
• 41:46 John wants to set up his fund like how Belichick coaches by making decisions based on what he thinks is best without worrying about second-guessing.

Studying Excellence

• 42:23 John enjoys studying greatness and observing human behavior in sports organizations like the San Antonio Spurs and Tom Brady’s Patriots.
• 43:02 He likes reading biographies of people who have achieved excellence, such as Franz Lizst, one of the greatest piano players of all time.

Continuous Improvement

• 42:41 Johnlikes following a game within the game and observing what makes organizations good.
• 43:21 It takes more than just great players like Tom Brady to win six Super Bowls; it takes an entire organization working together.
• 43:58 John believes in continuous improvement and learning from those who have achieved excellence.

44:58 The Importance of Hard Work and Focus

• 45:13 Hard work is a buzzword that everyone references, but it remains undervalued because it is so valuable.
• 46:03 Talent is necessary to become great, but hard work and focus are the commonalities among successful people.
• 47:05 John would like to interview Warren Buffet and ask him practical questions about portfolio construction.
• 49:05 John mentions Rockefeller as someone he would like to interview from history for his low-cost operating strategies.

50:52 Understanding the Business

• 50:52 John’s top priority is to understand the business and why it is winning. He wants to be confident that the company will continue to win 10 years from now.
• 51:08 John looks for consistent free cash flow and returns on capital as indicators of a successful business.
• 52:07 Growth is important, but it’s not essential. The value comes from how much you’re paying for that growth.
• 54:41 John has no preference for large or small-cap companies. He invests in businesses that he can understand and meet his criteria of being a good business at a reasonable price with great capital allocation.

52:19 Discarded Approaches to Investing

• 52:19 One thing that John has learned over time is that although growth is important, some investors place too much emphasis on it.
• 54:18 The way John adapted his checklist was to think in terms of whether the company was heading towards its prime or away from its prime.

55:20 Exciting Opportunities

• 55:45 There seems to be a disparity between large companies and small companies in terms of valuations right now.
• 56:03 John has been reading about interesting small-cap stocks lately and is exploring opportunities in that area.

56:35 Interviewing Henry Singleton

• John would love to sit down with Henry Singleton, one of the greatest capital allocators of all time.
• Capital allocation is a critical part of business, and it’s essential to learn from those who have excelled at it.
• John believes that practical questions related to capital allocation are more valuable than life advice.
• It’s challenging to find information on great capital allocators like Henry Singleton, but it would be fascinating to get into their heads and ask them questions.

Modern-Day Capital Allocators

• John mentions Floor & Decor as an example of a modern-day company doing things right by sticking to their playbook and not going outside their circle of competence.
• As an investor, it’s smart to look for rational decision-makers whose decisions you can understand and measure.
• Mark Zuckerberg is another example of a successful capital allocator with a vision for where things are going.

59:23 Importance of Capital Allocation

• Capital allocation is one of the most critical parts of business, especially for companies that produce cash.
• CEOs often underestimate how much potential value they control through their capital allocation decisions.
• A CEO’s role in capital allocation is underrated even by executives themselves.

Measuring Proficiency

• To measure the proficiency of a capital allocator, two questions need answering: Can I understand the decisions they’re making? Can I measure them?
• It’s crucial as an investor to look for rational decision-makers whose decisions you can understand and measure.

01:01:19 Mark Zuckerberg and the Metaverse

• Mark Zuckerberg has done incredibly well at bringing Facebook to where it is now.
• He made some mistakes, but he also bought Instagram for one billion dollars.
• John believes that Zuckerberg might be one of those who will get talked about in the future.

The Metaverse

• John admits having trouble with understanding what the metaverse is going to do.
• It’s hard to measure how much potential value someone like Zuckerberg controls through their vision for the metaverse.

01:02:12 Staying Connected with Saber Capital Management

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