Simplify, simplify and simplify!

by Bhuvan Gupta

May 20, 2023

Things work for you if you have intention, determination and a defined purpose.

Yesterday I met Chris W. Mayer of Woodlock Family, author of a best seller 100 baggar stocks that returns 100-to-1 and how to find them and a performance based fee-Portfolio manager. Chris proved to me as we climb up the ladder we become more humble. Chris is an amazing personality with simple living, open thinking and implementation. I drove from Washington to his place in Baltimore where he stays with his wife. This place is roughly 48 miles from DC but it has an appeal of Indian hills and perhaps his presence is making it a bliss. He has a wonderful backyard which is perfect for someone who would like to reflect on himself. It is a must if you want to be a free thinker.

I had gone there with many questions about life, managing funds, and picking up good stocks.. After asking a few questions, I eventually dropped my questions realizing there is nothing more to ask since answers will be simpler than the question and I already have them, it is just that I am still not sure to take the simpler one. One thing which struck me when he said, “Bhuvan I have done everything in the stock market you can think of. “

That was my take away. I spent hours telling, educating investors around the world to buy quality companies and hold on , don’t worry about the macro, fed rate and politics and just focus on your circle of competence and stick to few names and don’t look at your portfolio everyday but it seems sometimes the world overpowers me and I become like them but meeting Chris is like touching someone who you want to become like and validating if your thesis is still valid in the noise.

If you have reached so far, my message to you is “Simplify, simplify and simplify.”

I carried Dates and tea-coasters for Chris and he was so excited about them as if a child had got his lego to play around. He is living in the moment and I wish I could have taken more variety of dates for him. Those who don’t know Chris, click here or watch my earlier interview with him, here.

So what do Chris and I have in common? We buy quality stocks and hold on to them. Chris has his niche and his clientele are very sophisticated where I have a different approach to it where I spent a lot of time educating, probing and convincing my prospects to not to repeat the mistakes I did.

Thought process is the same but Chris is more content and I still have to decide which route to take.

Chris spends more time reading books, financials and gardening. I do the first 2 but his book collection is world class. He has been writing for 2 decades and he writes frequently where many of my writings are still unpublished :-(. In short I am a baby in the womb and Chris is my future once I am born:-).

I suggest that if you want to make money in the simplest way possible and you are not inspired by me because you probably don’t value me much, feel free to write or tweet to Chris. With 4 books published, printed in several languages he will definitely make your thoughts change and help you to remove clutter from your life and get your money working for you. For example, when our father gives us advice we don’t take them but when the same thing is received from someone we respect more than we get it in a second. We all are the same.

Time is a valuable, perishable and inevitable commodity, we all have it in limited quantities and I want each one of us, including me to realize that , “Stop looking at your stocks or money everyday, stop watching 1 hour of daily news and everything which won’t be of any help to us when we will be 10 years old from now.

Pick up a book you think can make you better, read/write blogs or pick up your favorite sports and play regularly.

On recent crisis, Tom Gayner in Markel Q1, 2023 earnings call put it in few words:

“We have nothing to report to you about the recent headlines of bank failures, real estate defaults, or other bursts of speculative bubbles. We simply weren’t there, we were at home doing our homework, brushing our teeth, eating vegetables and going to bed at a reasonable hour”.

Thank you for reading and valuing my thoughts. Hope you enjoyed reading.