mass communication

The 5 W’s of Carl Braun

© Can Stock Photo / zaganDesign

Legendary investor Charlie Munger once spoke of a great business builder, Carl Braun, and the story of the five W’s. His company was a specialized engineering firm. His rule for all communication became known as the five W’s.

You had to tell who was going to do what, where, when and why.

We write about a great many topics. It makes sense to get back to the basics from time to time.

Who: We manage wealth to try to help people live the lives they desire. To do that, we have to understand your life and your objectives. We do arithmetic, we research things that need to be learned, we think about alternatives. Most importantly, we consult with you—we talk.

What: We listen to you about the things on which you are the expert. We explain clearly and simply the things that need explaining. Together we figure out if we might be of service to you. (Our investment approach is not for everyone. Determining suitability in advance is better for you and for us.)

Where: The center of our business universe is at 228 Main Street in beautiful downtown Louisville, Nebraska. The phones and the internet go everywhere, of course, and work can be done from many places.

When: Nearly every business day until I am 92.

Why: The little answer is that we get paid to manage wealth. (The talk and the arithmetic and all the rest is just to get to the place where we might manage wealth, no separate charge.) The big answer is that this work is an obsession of mine.

The five W’s are a useful framework, but there is one more feature that is different than most of our colleagues. We believe the best way to grow our business is to grow your buckets—not look for new buckets. This has worked well for a long time. We do not plan to change.

Clients, if you would like to talk about this or anything else, please email us or call.

Flexible Tactics, Timeless Values

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In business, the things that change draw a lot of energy. New technology, new ways of doing things, and new ideas grab our attention. The new offers the promise of competitive advantage.

Less attention goes to the things that never change. The timeless things can compound over long periods. Successful enterprises may need to harness both the new and the timeless. At 228 Main, we need both to serve you well.

For example, Amazon is one of the most dynamic companies in the world. The growth and evolution of the company has been astonishing. Yet founder Jeff Bezos focuses most closely on the things that never change.

According to Bezos, his customers want low prices, vast selection, and fast delivery. They wanted those things twenty years ago, and they will want those same things twenty years from now. When you invest in meeting unchanging needs, the returns may roll in for many years.

Writer and thinker Morgan Housel wrote that every sustainable business relies on one or more timeless features. We believe the key features you would like us to deliver include close human interaction, confidence and trust, and transparency. (Transparency in this context means ‘what you see is what you get.’)

We have previously noted that 21st century communications allow us to be radically transparent and to connect more closely. When we improve our processes for research and trading and portfolio analysis, we generate more time to work with you one on one. Our sense is that all these things together may increase your confidence in us.

Amazon continuously improves methods and tactics to deliver on its timeless strategy. We seek to do the same. Clients, if you would like to offer your perspective (or discuss anything else), please email us or call.


The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results.

All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.

Amazon, Leibman Financial Services and LPL Financial are not affiliated.

Eternal Truths and Changing Times

© Can Stock Photo / devon

228 Main Street, the real-world inspiration for 228Main.com, sits in the middle of beautiful downtown Louisville, Nebraska. The village was platted out just after the Civil War; some descendants of its founders are reading these words.

The building, a typical commercial Victorian structure of the kind that dots small town Main Streets through much of the country, was built at the end of the 19th century. It housed The Louisville Courier newspaper and print shop. More than a century later, it is the center of the business universe for our 21st century digital communications, descended one might say from those earlier forms of media.

When The Louisville Courier began publishing, there was no traffic on the roads to neighboring towns during much of the winter and spring. Horses and wagons could not navigate the muddy roads, especially along the Platte River bottom. The newspaper could only serve the village, and little else.

228Main.com was similarly conceived as a way to communicate with a small community: you who are our friends or clients or both. We provide answers to the questions you ask us, tell the stories that we used to tell only one or two people at a time, and a lot more. 228Main.com is a way to keep our community informed, people who share an understanding about life and investing that we believe is special.

Unlike The Louisville Courier, 228Main is not limited geographically. Since it began in 2015, 26,000 views of its pages came from the United States, and another 3,000 from all over the world—103 other countries. We really do not have time to concern ourselves with anyone but you; the interest of others is perhaps a sign that our work is on the right track.

We recite this history to illustrate that some things are fundamental and unchanging—principles, values, community, human nature. But methods and tactics and the routines of daily life and other things evolve and change. Our object is two-fold: to understand and apply the universal truths, and also keep abreast of the changing times. This seems to be working for you and for us.

Clients, two way communication is vital to get you to your goals. If you would like to discuss any pertinent topic, or update us on your life and objectives, please call us or email.


The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results.

All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.