Reflections on some defining moments

As I was running in the park today I start thinking about some few situations that ended up being very relevant to who I am, what I do and the culture I inoculated in the business I founded 20 years ago.

The first one was in mid-school. I had a math teacher that whenever someone would go into dithering preambles he would interrupt and say: "Don't tell a story. Ask a question". That might not sound big if you're not from a latin background, but for those who are, it's a major breakthrough. It was a great lesson in terms of objectivity and I was reasonable enough to understand that that would be the best way to go most of the times, although some context sometimes is all-important.

The second I can vividly remember was also from a professor, this time of physics, in high school. When students complained that his tests were too long and there wasn't enough time to do them, he would answer: "You're leaving too much thinking to be done during the tests. The time to think is during studies." That thought me to try to explore to the max the potential consequences of every concept I got introduced to. Do tons of what-if analysis. Take them to extremes. The fact that was before PCs was even more helpful, for it forced me to really incorporate the concepts and models, have them "hardwired" in my brain to run the simulations. To this day, its rare for me to face a crisis that is unexpected, that I haven't already gone through in a mental simulation. The only collateral effect I should warn all that would consider follow this path is that it leads to many sleepless nights.

The third came when we were starting our business. We were having a meeting with the guy that was to be our first accountant. As we discussed the structure, he said "Ah! The privilege of starting with a white sheet of paper". His eyes gleamed with this look not even the best actor can simulate, emphasizing how much in meant. From that moment on we decided to keep our "sheet" spotless. To this day, our company might not be the most efficient structure tax-wise or the biggest in its pond. But it has a wonderfully simple and stable structure that allows us to keep doing what we love most of the time.

Then there was Warren Buffett. Nowadays Buffett seems to be everywhere and I really don't know if that means that everyone is benefiting from his extreme wisdom or if overexposure has banalized it actually reducing his effects. But for me in the early 90s, it was a revelation. It's not only that he says great things, it's the way he says it, his ability to synthesize. Like in "In order to finish first, first you have to finish".

And last but definitely not least there's the fact that I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the early 60s, to a upper-middle class family of medical professionals, with a strong ethical view of the world. That meant that no security could be take for granted. From 64 to the late eighties, Brazil was a military dictatorship where people could disappear at night and be "suicided", businesses-owners were forced out businesses in favor of government cronies. Later, as democracy gradually returned, Rio was to always in the opposition to federal government, meaning economic degradation and ramping crime rates, frequent waves of riots and kidnappings. On the economic front, utterly incompetent and short-sighted Governments played havoc. Hyper-inflation was constant and heterodox economic plans - that never worked but always resulted in losses for savers - happened with unbelievable frequency. My take on all of that, probably my deepest ingrained acquired reflex, is: "as much as you take care and be conservative, you shouldn't rely on whatever material or financial riches you have. The only reliable value is in your knowledge and in your relationships. So be humble, be nice and never stop learning and making new friends."