Bill Ackman: Make A Little Progress Every Day And It Works Every Time

At this year’s Citadel Finance Speaker Series, Bill Ackman described how setbacks have shaped his career. “You’ve had no experience with the most important thing that you need to understand in order to be successful. You’ve had no experience with failure and you’re going to fail. It’s going to happen”.

He explained that his ability to “make a little bit of progress every day” was the key to rebounding from major losses, including one investment where “I lost $4 billion on one investment” yet still managed to deliver “a 16% compounded return for 20 years”.

He tied these lessons to the discipline of compounding, saying, “Don’t look at where you fell from… Focus on the next step. Make a little progress every day and it works every time”.

This philosophy extends beyond finance. He emphasized personal resilience, recalling, “There was a moment where we were down 35%… investors were redeeming capital. I was going through a divorce… and I just… made little progress every day, used good judgment and I’m way better off today having gone through that sort of moment”.

Ackman also connected his long-term vision to independence. “I wanted to be able to say whatever I wanted to say. I wanted to not be relying on anyone else for a job. I wanted to be financially independent”.

He told the audience how he set personal benchmarks: “Dad, I’m going to be a millionaire by 30, going to be a 100 millionaire by 40, I’m going to be a billionaire by 50”.

Though his father laughed, Ackman said he always discounted his future cash flows as if he were already there.

When asked about dealing with emotions in high-stakes decisions, he explained, “I’m a very unemotional person about investing… the best thing to do when everyone is running that way is to… go the other direction”.

For him, success comes from avoiding situations where short-term losses would threaten his lifestyle, allowing him to keep his focus on what an investment “is worth in 10 years, 15 years, 20 years”.

Perhaps the most practical advice came in his reminder about time: “Warren Buffett when he was 50 years old… 99 and a half% of Buffett’s net worth he created after 50 years old”.

The message was clear—compounding rewards patience, resilience, and the discipline to keep moving forward.

By weaving together his own failures, recoveries, and goals, Ackman urged the audience to embrace uncertainty, prepare for failure, and recognize that progress often comes in small, steady steps.

You can watch the entire interview here: