François Rochon – Sometimes Investors Have To Break Their Own Rules

Here’s a great interview with François Rochon, from Giverny Capital, on the What Got You There Podcast in which he provided some great insights into why investors need humility, patience, and rationality. He also discussed why investors sometimes have to break their own rules saying:

I remember it many years ago but I had, and I still have this criteria, that companies have to be profitable before investing. And probably ’99, I’m not exactly sure, so more than 20 years ago I bought some shares of Expedia.

I don’t think the company was profitable then. So I just felt that Expedia had a great brand, a great product. I thought that the internet revolution that was just starting, they would be a winner. I bought just a few shares and I didn’t buy enough to make a difference. So of course the stock did very very well going forward.

So that was a mistake and I remember saying to myself – well it’s not profitable but i really believed that the company has something unique and I missed it.

So I thought to myself well sometimes you have to to break your own rule. I labelled that wisdom. But I’m not that wise often.

You can listen to the entire interview here: