Why Not To Be Like Warren Buffett
Think about how many people say they want to invest like Warren Buffett.
“I want to be the next Oracle of Omaha.”
“I want to be the next great value investor.”
Sound familiar? Maybe you’ve even thought it yourself. At one point, I did too. But here’s the problem: Trying to copy Buffett—or any legendary investor—won’t give you an edge.
The Illusion of Copying Greatness
If there’s one thing the greatest investors have in common, it’s that they didn’t just mimic their predecessors—they learned from them and then built their own approach.
Buffett himself didn’t copy Ben Graham outright. Sure, he studied under him and absorbed his value investing principles, but then he evolved. He incorporated ideas from Philip Fisher, Charlie Munger, and others to refine his strategy into something uniquely his own.
This idea isn’t just about investing; it’s a principle that applies to mastery in any field. Isaac Newton captured it best when he said:
“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
Newton didn’t just repeat the work of those before him—he expanded on it. The best investors do the same. They take what works, discard what doesn’t, and create their own frameworks.
If Everyone Is Buffett, No One Is
Here’s the harsh truth: If everyone is trying to invest like Buffett, then no one actually is. The moment an edge becomes common knowledge, it stops being an edge. The market absorbs it, adapts, and prices it in. If value investing the Buffett way was still a surefire path to riches, everyone would be outperforming—and yet, most don’t.
Markets reward those who see what others don’t. The true edge today isn’t in blindly following Buffett’s playbook from decades ago—it’s in understanding where inefficiencies exist now. More often than not, that means betting against the obvious. The real opportunity lies in recognizing when a once-powerful strategy has been overexploited and when the consensus thinking has gone too far.
Michael Burry’s Take on Originality in Investing
Michael Burry, the hedge fund manager famous for predicting the 2008 financial crisis (played by Christian Bale in The Big Short), understood this well. In an interview, he said:
“If you are going to be a great investor, you have to fit the style to who you are. At one point, I recognized that Warren Buffett, though he had every advantage in learning from Ben Graham, did not copy Ben Graham, but rather set out on his own path, and ran money his way, by his own rules.”
Burry knew that blindly following someone else’s investment strategy—even Buffett’s—was a recipe for failure. Markets change. Strategies that worked decades ago may not work the same way today. The best investors adapt.
Building Your Own Investment Framework
Every day, I think about who I learn from and how I refine my own investment process. I read as much as I can from legendary investors, but I don’t just stop there—I remix, rethink, and refine.
I ask myself:
- What can I take from Buffett, Munger, or Klarman?
- Where do I see inefficiencies they might have overlooked?
- How can I adapt their principles to today’s market environment?
As Seth Klarman once said:
“Even the best-trained investors would make the same mistakes that investors have been making forever, and for the same immutable reason – that they cannot help it.”
That’s why true investing success isn’t about following a formula—it’s about understanding the game, mastering your psychology, and creating a system that fits your own strengths.
Who Are You Building On?
The best investors don’t just copy; they innovate. They take inspiration from the greats but develop their own style.
So ask yourself:
- Who influences your investing decisions?
- What are you doing to make your strategy unique?
- Are you blindly following, or are you evolving?
Because the investors who stand out aren’t the ones who copy Buffett. They’re the ones who learn from him—and then forge their own path.