Trust me

He was 99 years old when he died.

In fact, he died just 33 days before his 100th birthday.

I am, of course, talking about Charlie Munger. Charlie was Warren Buffet’s investment partner for more than six decades.

Together, they built an empire.

In one of his last interviews before his passing, Charlie shared many pieces of wisdom.

He used a phrase that stuck with me.

“A Seamless Web of Deserved Trust”

In the interview, Charlie gave an example. In an operating room, the surgeon trusts the anesthesiologist. The anesthesiologist trusts the nurses. The nurses trust the surgeon. And so on and so forth. This is “a seamless web of deserved trust”.

Think about how this applies to business.

“I’d rather have a brief telephone [call] with somebody I trust than I would a 40-page contract prepared by the finest law firm in the world with somebody I don’t trust”, explained Charlie.

Trust is obviously important to Charlie.

He and Warren Buffet relied heavily on trust.

In fact, their partnership was started with a handshake. There was no formal partnership at the beginning. No contract. Only a handshake.

And trust.

The message for us “boring” investors is obvious.

Find people you can trust.

Work with them. Do deals with them. Help them. Get advice from them. Partner with them.

But it’s more than that.

Charlie Munger has another famous saying:

“To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want”.

If you want trustworthy partners, be trustworthy. 

Be someone who keeps to their word.

This is an incredibly powerful cycle. Trust me 😉

Thanks for reading this week’s edition of Arena.

Until we meet again, good luck being “boring”.

~ Mordi