How do we define success?
Klarman on success
Transcript
I don't know if I can answer fully what makes a success. I would say, knowing the different between right and wrong—having clarity about that—certainly helps. I think the "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is a very big deal, that I have always bent over backwards to treat people how I would want to be treated. I feel like I have a certain empathy for the people in my firm at various positions because I used to be the analyst. I used to be the trader in some ways.
Let's say markets are expensive. There's not a lot of great ideas around. I don't put pressure on the analyst, "Come on. You've got to find some ideas. We've got all this cash." I sit there and I say, "I know how hard that is. You feel internal pressure." And the last thing they need is somebody giving them external pressure to do something. If I were to say the wrong thing, I would basically be motivating them to recommend something that they didn't like that ultimately would likely be a problem in the portfolio. If you buy something you don't like and it goes down, what do you do then? You don't really like it. Do you buy more? Do you sell? And not knowing what to do is not a good thing.