If You're Curious About These Questions...
You should listen to this audiobook
- Did you know that the world’s most successful investor began his journey at just 11 years old with a tiny investment of $120?
- What are the fundamental rules that allowed a shy and awkward young man to transform himself into the wealthiest person on the planet?
- Have you ever wondered how a few unconventional habits and a 'snowball' philosophy can turn small savings into a multi-billion dollar empire?
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Key Takeaways from The Snowball
- Discover how Warren Buffett's childhood escape into statistics, odds, and probabilities laid the foundation for his legendary analytical skills.
- Learn how an early obsession with earning and saving empowered Buffett to buy his first stock at age eleven and file his first tax return by fourteen.
- Find out why a rejection from Harvard Business School became a fortunate failure that connected Buffett with his most influential investing mentors.
- Master the fundamental strategy of value investing by comparing a company's intrinsic worth to its perceived market price to uncover undervalued 'cigar butt' businesses.
- Understand how Buffett tackled his severe personal shyness and built crucial confidence by stepping out of his comfort zone to take a public speaking class.
Learning Tools
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The Snowball — Full Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: Recommendation
Chapter 2: As a boy, Warren Buffett found solace and joy in statistics and numbers.
Chapter 3: Buffett started making money and investing at an astonishingly young age.
Chapter 4: After studying business at college, Buffett absorbed the stock market’s secrets to success from his mentors and teachers.
Chapter 5: After starting a family, Buffett made himself boss by forming his own distinctive partnership.
Chapter 6: In his original partnerships, Buffett adhered to a strict philosophy, and it proved successful.
Chapter 7: By the mid-1960s, the partnership was now large enough for Buffett to buy whole businesses.
Chapter 8: Bigger acquisitions brought bigger headaches, along with some new rules to follow.
Chapter 9: As the partnership dissolved, the Buffetts turned to more personal, and separate, pursuits of their own.
Chapter 10: Throughout the 1970s, Buffett became involved in the newspaper industry.
Chapter 11: Buffett confronted his fair share of early trials, including a tense SEC investigation.
Chapter 12: Buffett also encountered marital strains and a serious legal battle between two newspapers.
Chapter 13: As a loyal friend, Buffett went to Salomon Brothers, where he faced one of his toughest tests ever.
Chapter 14: Buffett’s success has endured without technology investments, despite an eye-opening friendship with Bill Gates.
Chapter 15: During the 2000s, Buffett suffered personal losses that made him reassess what’s important.
The Snowball Summary & Overview
"By age eleven he’d saved up $120, which was a whole lot of money in 1941. He used that money to make his first investment. He bought six shares of the company Cities Service Preferred – three for him and three for his sister Doris."
The Snowball (2008) offers a revealing look at the life and times of one of modern America’s most fascinating men: Warren Buffett. Find out how this shy and awkward man earned his first million dollars and how following a few fundamental rules enabled him to become the world’s wealthiest man.
This is a Blinkist staff pick
“Warren Buffet is one of those people who seems to have a magic touch. It’s almost as if he’s aware of certain universal secrets that nobody else is privy to! I love learning more about what made him so successful (he memorized textbooks?!) and trying to figure out what makes him tick.” – Ben S., Head of Audio at Blinkist
Who Should Listen to The Snowball?
- Investors
- Philanthropists
- Anyone looking for an inspiring story
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