On research and good people

When my grandfather was looking for a new location for his business, he spent every weekend  at a bar.

Not just any bar. He went to the bars in the areas he was considering to open his factory.

When he came to the Ironbound section of Newark, NJ. He saw well manored men, jovial but in good form. In the mornings at sunrise, the women were sweeping the stairs and keeping up the front of their city street and the men went to work in the morning.

He recognized the value of good people who take pride in themselves. He extrapolated that they would be good for his team. And he did this with dedicated effort (I'm sure the scotch wasn't the worst part).

Surround yourself with good people. People with a good heart will less likely let you down.

Companies should pay me not to buy their stock

Often, investing is a stressful endeavor.
Long term, we've learned that everything gets more expensive.
Short term we have less reliability of direction.
Law of large numbers doesn't work at a small scale.

All investing is risk taking.
You have to be comfortable losing what you've invested or don't invest.