@Strawman the longer your holding period the more important capital management becomes until it becomes the dominant feature, imo. i penned a piece called "set and forget investing", that concluded if you did invest like that, although not recommended, to choose the best asset allocators, SOL, WES, MIN, IFT, BRK.US etc. we can of course discuss who those actually are lol.

Agreed!

I'd love to read that piece @Solvetheriddle -- do you have a link?

no, just sits in my ramblings file, maybe ill tart it up and put it on SM as an interest piece

I reckon when you have incremental ROIC over 100% you can make a lot of allocation mistakes without anyone ever noticing. It's one of the strengths of LOV that they cut their losses early on new markets if they are not getting results. I don't think a management team would cut and run like that if they were having to invest tens of millions to enter a new market.

I'd be also happy to post it on the blog if you want @Solvetheriddle (but no pressure, up to you)

And I think you make a great point too @UlladullaDave -- and the ability to walk away from something is a huge strength (for management teams and investors alike!).

I'm usually not too critical of a company that makes an unsuccessful foray into a new market/geography/product if it's well reasoned. The far greater sin is plugging ahead when it's clearly not working.

Yeah, it's a big strength, but I think it's a strength of the business rather than management being particularly more disciplined than average. Granular incrementalism with low up front costs, out of this world returns, short payback periods and a very long way to go to world domination of costume jewellery. There's no reason right now for them to wander off the path. If a shop or country doesn't work you just pack up and take the circus to the next town so to speak.

I really like hearing what guys like Mike from JIN have to say. The mindset of the owner operator is different. He talks about being a software engineer and letting all the big guys chase casinos and sports betting while he sticks to his knitting. That sort of focus really resonates with me. (BTW, great interview again @Strawman )

Yeah that's very true. As uncle Warren said:

"When a management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact."

Still, you want a management team that understands what it is about their business that is special (and what isn't) and invests accordingly.