All Forum Posts by: Vikram C.

Charles, when I think of Investor Psychology, I do not think of what might have motivated someone to become an investor. Instead, I think about the mental qualities that would make someone a great investor. The qualities to be successful at investing, in my opinion, include:

1. Being sceptical / cautious when buying,
2. Being willing to accept your mistakes and learn from them,
3. Evaluating an investment dispassionately at any given time and not letting the purchase price / costs determine your opinion of the selling price,
4. Knowing your weaknesses and trying to find ways to mitigate their impact.
5. Not getting influenced by what others say or what's on CNBC, etc. BUT, at the same time, not taking a contrarian viewpoint just to be contrary. Instead, your views should be informed by a dispassionate understanding of market conditions.
6. Being willing to read about and learn from financial and economic history. Most things have happened before and we can learn from previous experiences even if they were several decades ago.

If it is a specific short-term deal, or a series of short-term deals in which each of you will have different "ownership" interests, then a JV agreement is good. If it is a long-term deal or a business in which you have fixed ownership stakes, an entity is preferred.

The cost of the entity will have to be wieghed against the size of the opportunity.

The nature of the entity will depend on the facts of the opportunity and the parties, so we cannot comment on it whthout knowing more. An experienced corporate attorney would be invaluable in guiding you.

If one party is not going to have any management role, and if that party is not going to be secured by a mortgage, then you could have securities issues and you should consult your attorney to find ways around it or comply with the rules. (May cost $20K for a private placement offering.)

Depends. If someone I do not know is only prividing a loan, I would not hesitate. But if he is going to have a more significant role, I would want to understand the goals and character of the other person a little better. I would also want to have provisions in the contract / operating agreement for foreseeable situations.

In any person with whom you wish to do long-term business (or even a personal relationship), you should look for:
a. Honesty
b. Pragmaticism
c. Good communication skills / ability to resolve differences of opinion in a positive way
d. Depending on his role, there will be other skills as well, such as specific business skills

Yes, you can write anything you want. It is a good idea to think about, discuss, and agree on the most common challenges faced by partners. But it is not always a good idea to have something in writing for every obscure possibility because it is often difficult to predetermine what should be the optimal decision-making system without a context for it.

Here's the other solution I was referring to in the other thread:

1
2
4
7
10
20
40
80
160
210

No, I was actually dumb. I got to 256 and forgot that I could have one more bag with $23 and remove bags to get to any number I wanted. The funny thing is, my alternative proposal does involve removal.

Now I feel really dumb, Jon.

I have a feeling it can be reduced to 10. I think there is something suboptimal with my 100s. Will work on this tomorrow unless someone solves it before that.

Sharad, good question. But I wonder how Nick feels about his thread being hijacked.

Do these 11 bags work?

1
2
4
7
10
20
30
60
100
100
200

My brain is not working well today so I am not confident this is the correct solution, but how about 12 bags?

1
2
3
4
10
20
30
60
100
100
200
4

I am thinking. :)

That's an elegant solution, Jason. But I believe it can be done with fewer bags.