The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life
, subject: Warren Buffett biography
A full Buffett biography that connects childhood enterprise, investing, Berkshire, and the personal costs of total focus.
About the book
Published in 2008 with Buffett's cooperation and access to his files, family, friends, and associates, the biography follows his investing and business career alongside his relationships, habits, public image, and inner-versus-outer-scorecard philosophy.
Why read it
Best if you want a deeply reported Buffett biography connecting compounding, independent judgment, Berkshire, and the personal costs of singular focus
Key themes
- Inner versus outer scorecard
- Independent judgment compounds
- Total focus has a cost
Evidence and original sources
The episode is a dedicated read-through of Alice Schroeder's The Snowball, covering Warren Buffett's life, ideas, and business career.
- Warren Buffett (The Snowball) — The episode is a dedicated read-through of Alice Schroeder's The Snowball, covering Warren Buffett's life, ideas, and business career.
- Warren Buffett (The Tao of Warren Buffett) — David refers to Snowball as Warren Buffett's biography covered in the previous week's episode.
- William Randolph Hearst — Host references Snowball, the Warren Buffett biography from Founders Number 100, to introduce the inner/outer scorecard concept applied to Hearst.
- Katherine Graham (Washington Post) — David says he thinks he covered Snowball, the Warren Buffett biography where he first encountered Katherine Graham's story, on Founders No. 100.
- Louis B. Mayer (MGM Studios) — David identifies Founders #100 as the first Buffett biography.
- Warren Buffett (The Making of an American Capitalist) — David credits this earlier Buffett biography (Founders 100) as the source of the inner/outer scorecard idea.
Unofficial listener-built companion, not affiliated with or endorsed by David Senra or Founders Podcast.