122: Guy Spier; Investor & Author, & the Value of a Mentor

Guy Spier is a Zurich-based investor and author of a book on investing entitled The Education of a Value Investor. He is well known for bidding US $650,100 with Mohnish Pabrai for a charity lunch with Warren Buffett in June 2007. In 2009, he was featured in "the Checklist Manifesto", by Atul Gawande regarding his use of checklists as part of his investment process. Spier manages the Aquamarine Fund, an investment partnership inspired by, and styled after Warren Buffett's 1950s investment partnerships. He is also an occasional financial commentator in the media. What happens when a young Wall Street investment banker spends a small fortune to have lunch with Warren Buffett? He becomes a real value investor. In this fascinating inside story, Guy Spier details his career from Harvard MBA to hedge fund manager. But the path was not so straightforward. Spier reveals his transformation from a Gordon Gekko wannabe, driven by greed, to a sophisticated investor who enjoys success without selling his soul to the highest bidder.  Spier's journey is similar to the thousands that flock to Wall Street every year with their shiny new diplomas, aiming to be King of Wall Street. Yet what Guy realized just in the nick of time was that the King really lived 1,500 miles away in Omaha, Nebraska. Spier determinedly set out to create a new career in his own way.  Along the way he learned some powerful lessons which include: why the right mentors and partners are critical to long term success on Wall Street; why a topnotch education can sometimes get in the way of your success; that real learning doesn't begin until you are on your own; and how the best lessons from Warren Buffett have less to do with investing and more to do with being true to yourself.  Guy Spier shares the two ways the warren buffett made profound impacts on his life and in today's download you can get access to the exact questions you need to be asking yourself if you're looking for a top-notch mentor, plus example email messages of how to get connected to them.  Resources mentioned in this episode:  Guy Spier's Nine Rules to Successful Investing Guy Spier's Google Talk Mediocristan Jack Skeen Influence by Robert Cialdini How To Identify & Connect with Top-Notch Mentors