Yes the computer generated transcript was not particularly accurate.
No real revelations and I might add given the (presumed) IQ of the audience, Cal Tech afterall, the questions where not particularly good. I suspect most of the people on this board would have had better questions. (Obviously there could be sampling bias by the person who selected the questions.) But this just goes to show that effective horsepower is the key not potential horsepower, i.e. people on this board know a lot more about Munger than the questioners!
At some point the talk should be on Cal Tech's Youtube channel.
Highlights:
- Know your circle of competence.
- Go where the competition is weak, (I was not going to be brilliant in Thermodynamics, at least by Cal Tech standards)
- Find something you enjoy and can work hard on
- Try and benefit from a tail wind. People from Harvard and Stanford don't go to work at Costco, they should think about it, it's a rising tide (or at least it was) and your competition is not going to be that strong (inside of Costco).
- My department, Meteorology, was properly tossed, it was purely empirical field (not upto Cal Tech standards).
- I did not make my money on macro forecasting, but these are quite interesting times...I can't believe the rise of China and the level of debt of developed countries.
- He said he did not learn anything (academically) at Cal Tech that he used later in life, but he did say he learned he was not going to be studying Thermodynamics professionally (Circle of competence?).
- The competition in investing business was weak in his day.
- Sequoia's record in investing has been phenomenal.
- His (early venture) record on the other hand: he nearly killed himself in an oscilloscope business, total sales 3. They did not anticipate magnetic tape, as a recording medium. He stayed away from venture after that!
- He got in his usual dig on liberal arts professors.