“It's good to learn from your mistakes. It's better to learn from other people's mistakes.” - Warren Buffett
“I know I'll perform better if I rub my nose in my mistakes. This is a wonderful trick to learn.” - Charlie Munger
The book has 38 stories of companies where Buffett made different types of mistakes. The book starts with the acquisition of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 till 2023.
The book is divided into three parts -
Part-A: Mistakes of Commission
The commission mistakes are typical to any investors, including Buffett. These are due to biases, evaluation of the company’s economic outcome, competitive strength, how to think about the market price movement, and much more.
Part-B: Failed to Capitalize in 2008 Crash
2008 US market scenario was comparable to the 1929 depression. This was the time the market was giving exceptional opportunities to invest. Buffett’s inappropriate capital allocation cost more to Berkshire.