… in conversation … Interview by Tina Owen
Sara Goetze MBA’19 shares the timeless lessons about life she learned from legendary investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett.
> How did you end up meeting Warren Buffett? Several times a year, Warren Buffett invites students from business schools to visit him in Omaha, Nebraska. This February, the Atkinson Graduate School of Management (AGSM) was invited for the first time, joining teams from Stanford, UCLA, Iowa, Kansas State, Missouri, Texas, Northern Arizona, University of Toronto and Peking University. I was one of 17 students selected for the trip by AGSM faculty, based on an essay we each wrote, along with a question we would ask Mr. Buffett. > What did you write? I wrote about how I’ve always wanted to meet people like him, who’ve changed the world. My question was about how he viewed the stock market’s reactions to the Trump administration’s rhetoric. It didn’t end up being chosen as one that we’d ask during the visit — but I was selected as the person to ask our team question. > What was the team question? We wanted to know what he thought was the biggest challenge facing the next generation. He replied that the chance of nuclear, biological or chemical warfare was the greatest threat, but there was nothing we could do about it. So, he advised us to concentrate on where we are and how lucky we are to be here.
impressed by his openness. We were the last school to go, so it was nerve-wracking to wait. Overall, I was taken aback by Mr. Buffett’s down-to-earth nature and his self-deprecating humor — we even received a Warren Buffett rubber ducky as a memento of our visit! > What advice did he offer? He said that we shouldn’t just strive for money — that it makes life easier but it doesn’t make life. And he advised us to be around the people who inspire us. Especially in terms of social media, he told us to think carefully about our connections — and whether we really wanted our personal “brand” to be associated with certain people. My favorite part was when he challenged us to think about another person we would “invest” in. If we could buy 10 percent of a person’s “stock,” whom would we choose? And what were their important qualities? More importantly, were we the kind of person that someone else would see as a worthwhile investment? > What else did you do on the trip? We visited companies that Berkshire Hathaway has invested in — Nebraska Furniture Mart, Borsheims Fine Jewelry and Oriental Trading Company. We met the CEO of Oriental Trading Company and toured the massive fulfillment center. It was incredible to get an inside look at how these big companies do business.
> Were you nervous? The teams from all the schools spent two hours asking questions and listening to Mr. Buffett answer. He spoke off the cuff, and I was
WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY
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