If Warren Buffett Was a Millennial, What Would He Be Doing?

Buy avocados? La Croix? Or maybe bet the farm on cold brew coffee?

I am always interested in the fact we view notable people, be it a celebrity, founder, investor, or athlete, for their timeless genius rather than the environment that person was in when their genius was realized. I firmly believe that while smart, dedicated, and fearless people end up in better positions to build something great, you cannot forget that the time and environment around them is just as important.

If Warren Buffett was born in ancient Egypt would he still have become a remarkable private investor buying bazaars, land, and food production? If Steve Jobs was born in the Industrial Revolution would he have made an efficient factory for building the railroad parts and other goods?

I think that this question is overlooked all the time. Buffett, for example, is the greatest long-term investor ever, but Buffett also had a unique moment in time to stake his flag. A young investor today, for example, has a much different landscape and opportunity than Warren Buffett did in the 1960s when he first got started. The next Warren Buffett will not get rich doing the same things Buffett did because the landscape for operating is fundamentally different.

One of Buffett’s biggest and earliest investments was GEICO. He bought 350 shares at a multiple of about 8 times earnings. There aren’t many companies with that kind of P/E ratio today. The market is bigger, more mature, and far more efficient than it was when Buffett could buy GEICO at that valuation.

The only way to be the next Buffett is to do things he would have never done. To carve out your own path and philosophy. Trying to mimic Buffett as already been done and countless more are trying that exact same philosophy. I actually think investors hurt themselves the more they read and follow Buffett. It’s an obsession with a moment in time that’s long passed. It will never give you an advantage — they’ve been teaching Buffett-isms in business schools for the last 20+ years.

“Let’s try to invest like Buffett!”

“Let’s pick stocks like the Oracle of Omaha!”

But, when everyone is doing the same thing, well, generally everyone can’t be right.

When Buffett started picking stocks in his first few years, his philosophy was fresh and new. Some of you reading who are familiar with Buffett, might be thinking, “no, that statement is wrong because he was following his investment teacher Ben Graham. And Graham had been teaching his style for years before Buffett got started.” While it’s true Graham is Buffett’s inspiration and teacher, he did not invest like Graham. He actually had his own design for picking stocks and in his book The Snowball, Buffett writes how he often picked stocks that Graham disagreed with:

“Ben Graham would always tell me GEICO was too high. By his standards, it wasn’t the right kind of stock to buy. Still, by the end of 1951, I had three-quarters of my net worth or close to it invested in GEICO.”

When Buffett bought GEICO, it was something he wanted to do using his own investment philosophy. Part creativity, part education, and part circumstance. So maybe that’s the great lesson for young people today. If Warren Buffett was a millennial today he would be doing something entirely new and fresh.

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