Purpose
Teach the core capabilities required to invest in public markets with discipline, judgment, and repeatability — the skills that separate true investors from traders and speculators.
1. Reading Financial Statements
Great investors understand how money moves through a business.
Key skills include:
Income statement — revenue, margins, operating leverage
Balance sheet — debt, liquidity, working capital
Cash flow statement — the source of real economic value
GAAP vs. reality — adjustments, one-time items, stock compensation
Without accounting literacy, an investor is guessing.
2. Understanding Competitive Advantage
Every investment decision is a judgment about durability.
You must be able to identify:
Moats (network effects, brand, switching costs, scale)
Market structure (fragmented vs. consolidated)
Unit economics (profit per customer or per product)
Barriers to entry
Disruption risk
Investing is not about finding good companies — it’s about finding enduring ones.
3. Evaluating Business Models
You must understand:
You’re not buying stock symbols.
You’re buying a set of economics.
4. Judgment of Leadership
CEO quality is one of the highest predictors of long-term returns.
You must learn to assess:
capital allocation skill
honesty and transparency
talent density
incentive structure
long-term orientation
A great business with a poor CEO will eventually disappoint.
5. Behavior Control
Skill-based investing is 20% analysis, 80% temperament.
You must learn to:
avoid panic
avoid euphoria
hold during volatility
ignore noise
stick to a thesis
avoid FOMO
avoid overtrading
Behavior is where most investors fail — not intelligence.
6. Patience
Compounding requires time.
You must be able to:
Time, not timing, creates wealth.
Key Point
Skill-based investing is learned, not inherited.
If you can read, think clearly, and control your behavior, you can become a capable investor.
