Mohnish Pabrai

“It is the performance of the business that matters. It is hard enough to figure out the future of the business. Do not try to figure out the future of the country or the world; focus on the business.”

“I think a lot of people are getting more serious about how to do the most good, but there is no road map. I'm hoping I can offer an example.”

“People see poverty all around them in India, but they are desensitized or immune to it. I came to the conclusion that poverty is driven by lack of education.”

“Entrepreneurs are great at dealing with uncertainty and also very good at minimizing risk. That's the classic great entrepreneur.”

“Talking to people is beneficial if you can identify the right people to share ideas and discuss decisions because everyone has blind spots, and others can sometimes catch yours. I think an investment team is a bad idea, but it is a good idea to talk to trustworthy individuals who do not have biases or interests.”

“The only way one should buy stocks is if you understand the underlying business. You stay within the circle of competence. You buy businesses you understand.”

“We have to do what I would call anomalies: we have to look for strange things that show up once in a while. They don't show up all the time. We have to be scanning the horizon, and doing that, once in a while something will show up that makes a lot of sense, and then you act on it.”

“You know, my degrees are in computer engineering. I spent a lot of time in the tech industry. And I like to say that I don't invest in tech because I spent time in it. And I saw firsthand that the durability of technology moats is many times an oxymoron.”

“The government has to be flexible in Air India sale price, structure, and employee management plan.”

“I used to not talk much to anyone about my investments.”

“You don't make money when you buy stocks. And you don't make money when you sell stocks. You make money by waiting.”

“The good thing about getting wealthy is we don't need to understand a lot of things!”

“The stock knows that I bought it, and it decides, 'Mohnish is done. Now let's go down.'”