Operating A Business vs Investing In It, With Ali Ladha

Warren Buffett likes to say that he’s a better investor because he’s a business operator, and a better operator because he’s an investor. In other words, operating businesses and investing in them are complementary skill-sets that reinforce each other. In this episode, Ali Ladha (@AliTheCFO on Twitter) joins us to discuss these complementary skills. We’ll talk about why it’s important for both operators and investors to deeply understand: - How businesses work, - How money flows in and out of businesses, - The fundamental principles of accounting, - Things that good business operators worry about: inventory management and turnover, supply chain efficiency vs fragility, the timing of cash flows, etc. - Things that good investors worry about: return on invested capital, earnings vs cash flows, payables vs receivables, management compensation and incentives, etc. We also discuss a cohort based course that Ali and I are creating — to help both investors and operators improve their decision making skills by understanding each others’ perspectives on these topics. Download the Callin app for iOS and Android to listen to this podcast live, call in, and more! Also available at callin.com