Customer Reviews

The Entrepreneurial Investor: The Art, Science, and Business of Value Investing

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book gives lots of filler but is short on meat. They borrow from other authors (Phillip Fischer, Lynch) and have a number chapters that are called "inspirational figures", mini bios of famous investors.

But the major problem is the authors themselves point out that "An entrepreneurial investor must have a practical methodology for estimating intrinsic value; it is the only way to know whether a good company is available at a discount." Then they fail to deliver. These authors are the top management team of West Coast Asset Management, they should know how to do this. So I was very disappointed that they fail to even try.

If you want a refresher on the basics, ok. But nothing jumped out at me as new, nothing even showed me the same old thing in a new way or from a different angle.

The subtitle "The Art, Science, and Business of Value Investing" is 2/3 correct. Good info on the art and business, but very little on the science. I finished the book feeling that I'd been given very little guidance on how to quantify the most important factors that go into the selection of a stock.

The Entrepreneurial Investor should be in every serious investor's library. So many books and publications today are only about the financials and the science of investing. It is refreshing to take a step back and focus on the actual business first, then apply that knowledge to understanding the value of a company. The book is easy to follow and well thought out with the 4 separate sections: 1. Think Like an Owner. 2. Companies Worth Owning. 3. The Owner's Manual. 4. What's It Worth - To Me?

The Entrepreneurial Investor offers practical advice to truly act and think like an owner when investing. I especially enjoyed the chapter on company culture, not often a topic in value investing. The book also shares the lives of 4 very interesting Inspirational Figures: Benjamin Graham, David Packard, Bernard Baruch, and Howard Hughes. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in value investing the Entrepreneurial way. Not only will an experienced investor learn new insights to investing, a beginning investor will start with a solid foundation.

Joseph Lucia
Wealth Manager
RJL Wealth Management

This book will help readers understand the basic concepts of value investing. It will also help readers understand important factors of companies' value that are not often layed out in books on investing. The material is presented in an easy to understand manner and it is a quick read. Key take-a-ways 1) invest in what you understand and 2) focus your efforts.

It is worthwhile to note that on the authors' company website (www.wcam.com), you can find a great monthly newsletter that I have read for years called Exclusive Outlook.

For 12 years I headed up an independent accounting firm that served the Kinko's Organization during its rise from $80 million to over $1 billion in sales. During that period I tracked Paul Orfalea's stock picks for the purpose of financial reporting. I was amazed that he rarely had a losing pick, and that is portfolios always increased substantially over time. It was not surprising to me that after his tenure at Kinko's, Paul's efforts went into portfolio management and philanthropy.

Paul has a way of breaking down business to its most simple and understandable terms. I've also known him to be very generous, especially with what his willingness to share his incredibly intuitive wisdom with anyone who has the presence of mind to listen. His thoughts, combined with that of Lance Helfert, Atticus Lowe, and especially with the amusing, clear and understandable prose of Dean Zatkowsky, make this book a joy to read. If you want to pass some significant wisdom on to your children, get them this book (and be sure to read it yourself!).

I found this to be one of the best value investment books on the market. Many times investors forget that when they purchase a stock of a company, they become partial owners. They simply buy the stock because they think someone else will pay a higher price in the future. In this book, the author teaches investors how to think as owners, what companies to own, and how to value them. I cannot overemphasize how important the valuation part is. It doesn't matter how good the company is if the investor heavily overpays for it. This book also features four incredible investors: Benjamin Graham, David Packard, Bernard Baruch, and Howard Hughes. Even if you are not an experienced investor, I recommend this book because it is written very well in simple and easy to understand language.

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market

This investment book is definitely different from all the rest. It was easy to read and understand, and uses great examples and wit to keep you interested, and keep you reading. Even a non-investor like me can make sense of what the experts are talking about.

Finally a business book I can understand! The
Entrepreneurial Investor explains investing in plain
English and is actually fun to read. The style is
witty and the ideas are easy to apply and relate to.

The Entrepreneurial Investor is a simple and enjoyable book about business, investing, and the stock market. It is the first book I have read on the topic of investments which didn't bore me or lose me after the first 2-3 chapters. The passion and knowledge of the writers jump off of the page, and I can't help but look for stock ideas everywhere I go now. Had I been paying attention sooner, I wouldn't have missed out on some incredible investment opportunities which were sitting right in front of me!

As the foreword indicates, do not let the length fool you. This book is a concise and abridged version of Benjamin Graham's investing roadmap of the value and margin-of-safety approach to investing. Parts 1 & 4 are the heart of the book, but the discussions on company culture are worthy and should not be ignored in the long-term investment approach.

As the reader is reminded throughout the book, you can invest own your own if you have the time and patience. However, and thru a fortune cookie analogy, we often fall into the investment trap of 'Your eyes believe what they see, and your ears believe others'. That is, we often take the shortcut to believe others (experts) though our own eyes are telling us something different. You can trust yourself if you do not follow the current fad or the next big thing pitch and this books explains how. How in four (4) parts as follows:

Part 1 - Think Like an Owner
Part 2 - Companies Worth Owning
Part 3 - The Owner's Manual
Part 4 - What's It Worth - To Me?

A worthy addition to the value investment framework with a margin-of-safety espoused by Benjamin Graham. Also a couple of recommendations in this same concise genre.

Getting Started in Value Investing by Charles Mizrahi
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings by Philip A. Fisher
The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing by Benjamin Graham