I have been reading a bit on the journey of Adventures, a fund that invests in family-owned businesses in North America, which is detailed in their article titled A decade in reflection. The article reflects on their ten-year journey to 2017 and delivers on some delicious nuggets of wisdom for any student of investing. Here are my five points from the article.
Knowing that you do not know everything:
we also recognized that we didn’t yet have it all figured out. This was likely our saving grace. We read voraciously, debated passionately, and continuously explored the investing marketplace, trying to determine where we could establish a niche expertise and competitive advantage.
From small, random bets to bigger, well-reflected-on bets:
We narrowed down the intersection of our skill sets, lifestyle, opportunities, and areas of enjoyment, arriving at our current mandate: private companies with $1 million to $10 million in pre-tax owner earnings, known as the lower end of the lower middle market in the investing world.
Learning from the best & becoming a teacher and not remaining a student forever:
We like to think of ourselves as students and the most successful investors in history as our teachers. From Fred Wilson, Marc Andreessen and Brad Feld to Sam Zemurray, Henry Singleton, and the Pritzkers, we’ve studied what makes each tick and click
Being yourself:
As you age, it becomes tiresome to pretend to be anything other than who you authentically are. After a while, we stopped hiding facts about ourselves that could be contextually misunderstood, or viewed by some as a weakness. We started being, unapologetically, us
Solid foundations:
From day one, we have tried to build systems, relationships, and talent that far exceeded our current needs.
Read the article in full here.
Erick Mokaya's Blog 