Colleen Taylor

"After working for nearly two decades in the fashion industry, she knows better than most that when the clothes don't fit you right, move on: It's the clothes, not you."

--from a profile of model Kate Dillon in the April 2010 issue of Vogue

Male readers may see this as a no-brainer, but how many times have we women hemmed and hawed in a dressing room, trying to convince ourselves that it could make sense to buy an article of clothing-- if only we lost 5 pounds, were wearing high heels, had a true need for a sequined cocktail dress, etc.?

I thought Kate Dillon's perspective was so simple and freeing. It makes so much sense to just move on if it doesn't feel good right away-- it's not like there's a shortage of clothing out there.

... about the things one can see on a weekday in San Francisco while outside of an office between the hours of 9am-5pm. 



This may become a recurring feature.

Just in case you don't make it through all 19 pages of Berkshire Hathaway's annual report, you should know that arguably the best part is at the very end, when Warren Buffett expresses gratitude for his life and success without getting overly sentimental. At 79, Buffett could be forgiven for crossing the line into schmaltz, but he doesn't. Perfectly pitched, and textbook Midwestern (Buffett is, famously, from Omaha.)

And I think we all can appreciate a well-played "P.S."

"At 86 and 79, [Berkshire CEO] Charlie [Munger] and I remain lucky beyond our dreams.

We were born in America; had terrific parents who saw that we got good educations; have enjoyed wonderful families and great health; and came equipped with a “business” gene that allows us to prosper in a manner hugely disproportionate to that experienced by many people who contribute as much or more to our society’s well-being. Moreover, we have long had jobs that we love, in which we are helped in countless ways by talented and cheerful associates. Indeed, over the years, our work has become ever more fascinating; no wonder we tap-dance to work. If pushed, we would gladly pay substantial sums to have our jobs (but don’t tell the Comp Committee).

Nothing, however, is more fun for us than getting together with our shareholder-partners at Berkshire’s annual meeting. So join us on May 1st at the Qwest for our annual Woodstock for Capitalists. We’ll see you there.

February 26, 2010
Warren E. Buffett
Chairman of the Board

P.S. Come by rail.

Today I finally made my way through Berkshire Hathaway's 2009 annual report, which was released last week.

I'm kind of biased, because I weirdly enjoy reading SEC filings, but I really think anyone could have a good time leafing through Berkshire's annual earnings report. Warren Buffett writes it himself in a conversational tone, sprinkling in his investment philosophies and personal anecdotes with the required facts and figures. I wish more public companies would follow Buffett's lead in making shareholder updates as interesting as they are informative.

I particularly liked his assertion that a CEO should man up and accept full responsibility for the performance of his (or her) company.

"I believe that a CEO must not delegate risk control. It’s simply too important. ...If Berkshire ever gets in trouble, it will be my fault. It will not be because of misjudgments made by a Risk Committee or Chief Risk Officer.

In my view a board of directors of a huge financial institution is derelict if it does not insist that its CEO bear full responsibility for risk control. If he’s incapable of handling that job, he should look for other employment."