The Return on Investment of Mental Models with Robert Hagstrom

OutsideVoices with Mark Bidwell

In this episode, we are joined by Robert Hagstrom, who is an author, investment strategist, and portfolio manager. His books include The New York Times bestselling The Warren Buffett Way and The NASCAR Way: The Business That Drives the Sport and Investing: The Last Liberal Art, in which he investigates investment concepts that lie out with traditional economics.

What Was Covered

• Robert's commitment to the “latticework” theory of investing, which is based on building connections between different mental models and disciplines
• The reasons that Robert views biology as the better discipline to think about markets rather than the physics based approach most commonly used in modern portfolio theory
• The risks of comparative analysis for decision making given our tendency to look for what is similar more than what is different

Key Takeaways and Learnings

• Steps to being a better investor by using multiple models of comparison and analysis and observing multiple perspectives
• Robert's advice on the questions to ask yourself before investing in companies, and how he personally looks for growth in potential new investments
• How to think outside of traditional economic theory and use concepts from biology, philosophy, and psychology to make better business decisions

Links and Resources Mentioned in this Episode

• Get in touch with Robert Hagstrom via email, LinkedIn or Twitter
• Equity Compass Strategies, website
• Investing: The Last Liberal Art, a book by Robert Hagstrom
• The Warren Buffett Way, a book by Robert Hagstrom
• The NASCAR Way: The Business That Drives the Sport, a book by Robert Hagstrom
• Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger, a book by Charlie Munger