1997: What would Buffett advise someone aiming to replicate the Buffett Partnership?

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes. Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Vice Chairman. My name is Ha Tsin Tsu (PH) and originally from China. Now, I’m living Kansas. And it’s my honor to speak to you both.

My question is, if someone like to form a company doing what you did 30 or 40 years ago, what is your suggestion to them? And would you share some of your wisdom with us? Thank you.

WARREN BUFFETT: First thing we’d suggest is they send us a royalty. (Laughter)

Charlie, you take over on that. You’ve thought more about starting over again than I have. (Laughter)

CHARLIE MUNGER: I want to frankly say that that’s a question I ordinarily duck.

I always believe in getting the fundamental mental tools in place. And I always believe in running reality, as it comes in, preferably vicariously through the newspaper, et cetera, instead of through personal painful experience, through the filter of these sound ideas.

And I not only think that that works in life to create success, I think it makes life more fun. So I argue for sound thinking. But the exact specific techniques of turning yourself into another Warren Buffett, I leave to you. (Laughter)

WARREN BUFFETT: Well, the one thing I would advise is I would be — A, I think there’s a ton of opportunity out there. And I would do something I enjoyed. I wouldn’t do something because I thought it was going to get me to a life I was going to enjoy later on, because if I made a lot of money I was going to be a lot happier, or anything like that.

I’ve never done that. And I think that you will do well in what you enjoy. And I think it’s crazy in life to endure a whole lot that — I don’t mean — Charlie and I worked in a grocery story. We didn’t really jump up and down over it all the time.

But in terms of making a commitment to really being a business that you’re only in it for the money, I think that’s crazy.

And if we were in this only for the money, you know, we’d have quit a long time ago, obviously.

It just — you ought to have fun while you’re doing it. It should not be jam tomorrow and not jam today. It just doesn’t make any sense to me. And I think you’ll get better results that way, too.