Larry Cunningham has written a dozen books, including The Essays of Warren Buffet, Berkshire Beyond Buffett, and Quality Investing. Today, he talks about what the Berkshire subsidiaries are doing correctly and why Warren Buffett is unique as a leader. Larry also shares insightful stories of various CEOs of companies behind Berkshire and how they're able to make their investments profitable.
- 02:30 - Why did Larry study Warren Buffett and Berkshire?
- 04:00 - What surprised Larry the most as he was interviewing executives from Berkshire?
- 05:40 - Berkshire has shifted from being an investment company to a holding company.
- 06:00 - 20 years ago Berkshire was a 5-10 billion company, but 80% of its assets were in investments.
- 09:35 - Larry talks about Warren's strategy.
- 12:40 - The way Warren treats his team makes them feel like they're investing with their own personal money.
- 14:35 - What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?
- 17:15 - Berkshire doesn't insist that their subsidiaries have any sort of government or management style.16:45 - The CEO of the Marmon Group told Larry that his company has always been highly decentralized.
- 18:10 - Out of the 50 acquisitions Berkshire has made in the last 25 years, 40 of them have been private.17:35 - Berkshire relies on and trusts the team to make the best financial decisions.
- 21:25 - Larry talks about the Berkshire acquisitions that aren't bringing in profit.
- 27:30 - Larry shares a story about when Berkshire acquired Benjamin Moore Paint.
- 30:20 - What advice would Larry give to the audience about how to think about disruption?
- 33:15 - Many of the principles that Berkshire stands for are proven and can be replicated.
- 36:10 - Larry talks about the Berkshire and 3G Capital acquisition and why it's different than the others.
- 42:00 - What has Larry changed his mind about recently?40:50 - What are Larry's morning rituals?
- 43:05 - What advice would Larry have for his 25-year-old self?
FULL SHOW NOTES: http://innovationecosystem.com/larry-cunningham