Vishal Khandelwal

Behaviouronomics: First Conclusion Bias

January 10, 2018

The moment a sperm enters the human egg, the doors are slammed shut. Our brain is like a human egg. As soon as an idea impregnates the human mind, it closes its doors for other ideas. The first explanation that comes to mind makes us blind towards other more plausible possibilities. Unfortunately, in our complex world, the first conclusions are almost always deceiving.

Recently, I was accused of being unethical and a liar.

Here’s the backstory. On a Friday before the new year eve, at 9 PM, a gentleman knocked on my door. He claimed that my car had hit his car in the common parking area. To show courtesy to a fellow resident, let’s name him Mr. M, I agreed to cooperate and find out more about the incident.

“Did it happen in front of your eyes?” I asked him.
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Spotlight: Seamless Web of Deserved Trust

January 5, 2018

If you can find a business which is investing in building relationships that are based on seamless web of deserved with its customers, suppliers, vendors, shareholders, and employees, you’ve found a business with a strong moat. A moat which is hard to identify with numbers and hence not visible to Mr. Market.

On January 3, 1972, Warren Buffett acquired See’s Candy business for $25 million. This acquisition has an interesting backstory. The first time when an investment advisor approached Buffett for See’s Candy, he showed no interest. Buffett was in Nebraska. See’s Candy was in California.

“The candy business?”, Buffett squirmed, “I don’t think we want to be in the candy business.”

Fortunately, Buffett’s partner Charlie Munger lived in California and he was familiar with See’s Candy brand. On Munger’s advice, Buffett agreed to negotiate. Coming from the Benjamin Graham school of thought, Buffett was reluctant to buy See’s at the asking price. But Munger nudged him in the direction of paying up for quality.

The Subtle Art of Being Bored

December 30, 2017

Have you ever sat on a park bench and observed how an orphan leaf dances with the wind, arm in arm? If you haven’t, do it. It’s an instructive exercise.

The last time I tried it, I couldn’t continue for more than five minutes. My phone interrupted with a buzz. And before I realised, I had wasted twenty minutes looking at my WhatsApp messages, and other social media feeds. Of course, the leaf had eloped with the wind by that time.

Isn’t it a common sight – people sitting on park benches with their eyes glued to their smart devices? Forget park benches; it has become difficult for most people to resist the urge to look at their mobile phones while waiting at the traffic light.

Here’s an interesting trivia. Since 2007, the sale of Wrigley’s chewing gum has been declining. And the reason behind it, they later figured, was an unusual candidate – smartphone. Flabbergasting, isn’t it?

Earlier, a significant portion of chewing gum sale came from the customers waiting in the long queues at the billing counters. Wrigley’s cleverly placed their products near the checkout counter. Apparently, chewing a piece of gum relieves the mental torture of waiting for your turn.

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InvestorInsights: Shane Parrish

December 25, 2017

Shane Parrish is the curator behind Farnam Street, a website aimed at mastering the best of what other people have already figured out. Shane is the founding partner of Syrus Partners,, a holding company that acquires and operates businesses in North America. Before Syrus, Shane worked as an executive in the Canadian government, where he led the creation and execution of key cyber-defense initiatives.

This isn’t your typical value investing interview, but one around topics of reading, learning, and multidisciplinary thinking.

BookWorm: Made In America

December 15, 2017

The story of the undisputed merchant king of the late twentieth century. Sam Walton rolled up his sleeves in 1946 and didn’t stop until 1992. What he ended up creating was world’s largest private employer and the biggest company by revenue. In his autobiography, he pours his heart out, chronicling his strategies, successes, and mistakes.

In January 2017, I decided to read more biographies. The year started with Phil Knight’s Shoe Dog and Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness. We covered both in Bookworm section of the earlier issues of Almanack. However, the most remarkable one which I read this year was Sam Walton’s autobiography – Made in America. For those who don’t know, Sam Walton was the founder of multinational discount retail chain — Wal-Mart.
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