by Andrew Weeraratne

Created on: November 17, 2008

"The Snowball" is the perfect title to describe the life of Warren Buffett (in his authorized biography by Alice Schroeder). If you walk up to the top of a snow mountain, make a snowball and roll it down the steep slope it will gather momentum as it speeds down the hill with no more effort from the creator of the ball. The creator can just stand on the top of the hill and watch the dynamics make it move faster and faster. That sums up Buffett's life. When the US stock market as measured by its major index went from about 600 to 14,000 during the decades Buffett was investing, all he had to do was to buy a handful of good companies with a moat (a company holding a franchise similar to a monopoly) at a bargain price and then sit on an easy chair measuring its appreciation.

As you read the book, you will see how Buffett made his share of mistakes. One of the biggest mistakes he made was buying Berkshire Hathaway (a textile company when the jobs were being sent overseas) and even that major mistake turned up to be the vehicle for him to be the richest. So when you are up there on the top of the mountain even the mistakes you make could be corrected with some thinking, serendipity and little effort.

Buffett repeatedly emphasizes the fact that he won the ovarian lottery. That means a chance to be born in America at a time there is so much opportunity to a family with means (access to capital) and learned values to instill in their children. In addition, he accidentally came to being the best student (and then his apprentice) of the greatest stock investor and teacher of that era, Benjamin Graham. Further he came across Charles Munger, another man who had won the ovarian lottery, that later became his lifelong business partner. If Benjamin Franklin had the power to create an ideal American it would have been Charles Munger. For that matter Munger must have been conceived in the womb with a copy of Ben Franklin's biography and wisdom, that he cherished and preached during his life. Now such a series of coincidencessuch as being born to the right family, cultivating a logical mind, meeting the greatest teacher, and finding the ideal business partnerhappening to many people who were born to this world could be even higher than getting struck by a series of lighting during every thunderstorm.

Some people read books for entertainment and some read for education and self-interest. For those in the latter category, their quest when reading a book is to stop at frequent intervals

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