Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett stopped by the shop today, just to check in on me and see how things are going. We pulled a couple of stools over to the workbench and he had a Cherry Coke while I drank coffee.

Smirk.

"So how are the world financial market jitters affecting you?" he asked.
"What jitters?" I said.
"The U.S. sub-prime mortgage blowout that's rippling through the global economy," he clarified.
"Oh, that," I said. "Quite honestly it's still business as usual...translating all these lovely raw materials (gesturing to beautiful flame maple and walnut) into playable art."

He had a sip of his Coke.

"Still busy?"
"I'd like to clone myself...but then I — we — would be an assembly line, and the instruments would no longer be fine art."
"Good. Well, do the Nasdaq or FTSE affect your speed of production?"
"Not really. This particular bass I'm building will take me about 140 hours. Design, materials selection, construction, sculpting, sanding, finishing, electronics, set-up & tweaks...a lot of thought and hand workmanship is involved in this level of custom craftsmanship. No point in investing in more machinery, as every instrument is unrepeatably different. Diminishing returns for the financial investment. My best investment is to gain knowledge. Create connections in my brain."
"Always," said Warren. "So, just to clarify...you're still building instruments...the quality has not changed...your speed of production has not changed...?"
"Correct," I said.

He thought a moment.

"Man is a funny animal," he mused. "So many of us are driven by our emotions. Fear. Joy. How we feel about something almost becomes the reality of it...it's as if perception dictates our personal reality. Objective becomes subjective."
"Elaborate...?" I requested.
"TOONE GUITARS is a perfect case in point. The instruments you build — your products — do not vary. But the consumer's perception of the value of your instruments varies widely. When you are unknown, your instruments are worth less. When you are famous, your instruments are worth more. And, if you were a publicly-traded company during this time of market instability, the perceived value of your work could be cut by half."
"Wow!" I exclaimed. "Good thing I'm privately owned. Or I might be ripe for an opportunistic takeover, if my public-perception fell by fifty percent."

He had a little gleam in his eye.

"That's my thought," he said. "Thanks for the Cherry Coke. Keep up the good work. Gotta run...there's a little brushfire clearing out deadwood in the forest undergrowth: I've a few stocks to buy."