At Berkshire Hathaway’s 2013 shareholders’ meeting, Warren Buffett said, “I’ve owned 400 to 500 companies’ stocks in my lifetime, but only about 10 of them made the most money.” His lifelong friend and investment partner, Charlie Munger, added, “With the exception of some of Berkshire Hathaway’s best investment practices, long-term performance is near-average.” Many people know Warren Buffett’s return on investment better than his mistakes or failures. It’s because of those 10 companies that he succeeded in investing. If there is a positive, there must be a negative. It’s better to prepare a realistic alternative in case you fail than to try to avoid failing. Humans are probabilistic beings. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
In 2019, the coffee shop franchise Banapresso had 47 branches in Seoul, 35 of which were concentrated in the Gangnam and Seocho districts. There were even other Banapresso stores within 200 meters of each other. It was denser than Starbucks. 100% of orders were placed through kiosks and mobile apps. The elders thought it would be hard to place an unattended order, but when they tried it, they were impressed with how seamlessly they were connected to the register. An Americano costs KRW 1,500 (about USD 1.27). There was only one employee. Everything was ordered at the touch of a button and the coffee was served within 40 seconds. All the bread was made at a nearby headquarters and distributed in batches. Banapresso was the antithesis of a traditional coffee franchise. Its parent company is an IT company that operates a ride-hailing app. The same business can be completely transformed into a different business model, due to the interpretation and context. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”