The Berkshire Hathaway of the Internet (2017)
awilkinson.medium.com
The Berkshire Hathaway of the Internet (2017)
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Re: The Berkshire Hathaway of the Internet (2017)
#2I thought this framing by Andrew Wilkinson, of the "Berkshire Hathaway's way" for making (acquisition) decisions, is relevant in many things we do at work: can we make painful processes today easier for people, so they'll do it more? One area I can think of is suggesting new ideas for the product or technology stack. So while becoming a buyer of businesses is less relevant for most of us, there is plenty to learn in this post and the mindset Andrew is using to build Tiny. Can you think of any? What is painfully slow for you and your teammates now?
Re: The Berkshire Hathaway of the Internet (2017)
#3Since this is from 2017, I assume this is the same Tiny I heard ads for on podcasts a few years ago? It sounded like a neat idea. How is it going for Tiny?
Re: The Berkshire Hathaway of the Internet (2017)
#4It's not because he makes it easy. He buys them when they're strapped for cash
Fruit of the Loom: 1999 Bankruptcy, 2002 acquisition by BH
He even bought into Berkshire Hathaway itself, on the cheap
Re: The Berkshire Hathaway of the Internet (2017)
#5It's not because he makes it easy. He buys them when they're strapped for cash Fruit of the Loom: 1999 Bankruptcy, 2002 acquisition by BH He even bought into Berkshire Hathaway itself, on the cheap
Exceptions to the rule. Precision Castparts, Burlington Northern, Clayton Homes, Duracell, Pacificorp, Lubrizol, Acme Brick, Dairy Queen, Pilot Flying J, all were bought as healthy companies.
Re: The Berkshire Hathaway of the Internet (2017)
#6(2017) and it seems running since 2007, going strong.
Re: The Berkshire Hathaway of the Internet (2017)
#7It's not because he makes it easy. He buys them when they're strapped for cash Fruit of the Loom: 1999 Bankruptcy, 2002 acquisition by BH He even bought into Berkshire Hathaway itself, on the cheap
Exceptions to the rule. Precision Castparts, Burlington Northern, Clayton Homes, Duracell, Pacificorp, Lubrizol, Acme Brick, Dairy Queen, Pilot Flying J, all were bought as healthy companies.
+1. Warren and charlie also say that they would rather buy good businesses at fair price than fair businesses (or cash strapped ones or ones about to go bankrupt. I know thats not what fair means) at good price.
Re: The Berkshire Hathaway of the Internet (2017)
#8It's not because he makes it easy. He buys them when they're strapped for cash Fruit of the Loom: 1999 Bankruptcy, 2002 acquisition by BH He even bought into Berkshire Hathaway itself, on the cheap
Exceptions to the rule. Precision Castparts, Burlington Northern, Clayton Homes, Duracell, Pacificorp, Lubrizol, Acme Brick, Dairy Queen, Pilot Flying J, all were bought as healthy companies.
> Clayton Homes
TBD per John Oliver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCC8fPQOaxU
Re: The Berkshire Hathaway of the Internet (2017)
#9There is more to BH than how they acquire companies. They also have a track recored of out performing S&P for decades. I doubt if BH alpha is because of their streamlined acquisition process.
Does Tiny have a similar record?
Re: The Berkshire Hathaway of the Internet (2017)
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exceptions to the rule. Precision Castparts, Burlington Northern, Clayton Homes, Duracell, Pacificorp, Lubrizol, Acme Brick, Dairy Queen, Pilot Flying J, all were bought as healthy companies.
+1. Warren and charlie also say that they would rather buy good businesses at fair price than fair businesses (or cash strapped ones or ones about to go bankrupt. I know thats not what fair means) at good price.
There’s also the consideration that a good, healthy business doesn’t want to be bought. The opportunity only presents itself if you are willing to massively overpay or if a good business runs into financial issues.
I worked for a Berkshire subsidiary before jumping into tech. First hand, it is zero bullshit that they invest in good management teams and let them run the business. The best run company I’ve ever worked at is one of these - Berkshire got ‘em when they were out of cash and almost about to fold, and they are overwhelmingly successful today with a stable management team with mostly internal succession. Having also worked at some startups that HN absolutely loves, it’s not that different than soaking up VC cash - it’s still outside money, and you still need a great leadership team to get to profitability.