Why I’m opening the classroom

For years I’ve taught the Value Investing Seminar at Babson College: a 20-week, book-driven course where we read the classics, answer tough questions, and debate them together. I have had numerous requests by those outside of Babson to join the seminar, but that is not feasible. My hope is that this online version of the seminar on Behavioral Value Investor, albeit somewhat different by its nature, opens the doors to many others who are seeking to progress on their investing journeys.

Last year’s first season went really well, so I am doing it again! If it’s for you, please join here, it’s free and there is no obligation to stay if your schedule changes. If you know someone who would benefit, please share this post with them.

Investing is hard. Why?

• Long feedback loop between decisions and outcomes

• Behavioral biases that can negatively impact our judgment

• Temperament required to remain rational under pressure

• Combination of art and science needed to achieve mastery

Some choose to learn investing purely from first principles. Others attempt to become expert investors by copying previous investing masters, such as Warren Buffett. Neither way is optimal.

I strongly believe that there is no best way to invest, but that there is a best way to invest for each of us. We each have different circumstances, different strengths and different weaknesses. Therefore we each need to build an approach that fits us.

However, we do not need to do it alone nor do we need to reinvent the wheel. We should learn from the master investors who came before us in seeking to craft our own investment process.

Some of these investing masters have passed away. Others are unlikely to be available to most of us for direct instruction. Fortunately, many of them have left a lengthy body of written work and their own investing experiences. That is where we should start our learning journey.

As we study each master investor, we need to take the following steps: understand, apply and customize.

1. Understand – You should be able to understand the key investing ideas in each book, not just quote them. Do you understand why the master investor used the approach that he or she did? What was the historical context or investing environment that they were in? How are the different parts of the investment process related to each other?

2. Apply – Investing is not a theoretical endeavor. The most successful investors in the world have not been professors merely armed with theories, but rather practitioners who understood theory and were able to successfully apply it in practice. If you don’t practice applying the knowledge that you glean as you read these investing books, you might be left with a deceptive feeling of mastery of the material where none exists.

3. Customize – You are not Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham or Philip Fisher. Your strengths and weaknesses are different. Your investment operation and constraints might be different. So don’t run around trying to be the next Warren Buffett. Instead, become the strongest investor that you are capable of becoming by customizing what you learn. Use the insights in these books to build your own investment process, don’t just blindly copy theirs.

What you’ll get (Fridays, starting October 2, 2026)

• The reading assignment with a brief introduction.

• Discussion questions designed to help you learn.

• Brief summary of my thoughts on the prior week’s reading.

• Open comments to post your answers, learn from others, and see highlighted responses the following week.

• While the nature and likely size of this open seminar is going to limit my ability to interact with each one of you, I will make an effort to engage with thoughtful answers or questions that you leave in each week’s comment section to deepen learning for everyone.

• The seminar will run for 20 weeks, with breaks around holidays; I’ll announce dates in advance.

How to participate

1. Read the assignment

2. Write your answers or questions in the comments. Length is not important, quality of insight is.

3. Engage: respond to other answers with something additive.

Ground rules (so discussion stays high-signal)

• Argue ideas, don’t attack people.

• Even though this will be done online, treat others as if they were a respected colleague or fellow student that you are discussing ideas with in person.

• Cite sources (e.g. book and page number).

• No stock tips. Principles first; if you use an example, treat it as a case study.

• No promotion - this is meant to be a place to learn, not to sell.

• The more you participate by doing the complete reading and engaging fully in answering the questions, the more you will get out of the seminar.

Next steps

👉 Sign-up for the Friday seminar email (opt-in)

👉 Introduce yourself in the comments to this Substack post. At a minimum your first name and where you are from, but feel free to share anything else about yourself that’s relevant to your investing journey.

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About the author

Gary Mishuris, CFA is the Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Silver Ring Value Partners, an investment firm that seeks to apply its intrinsic value approach to safely compound capital over the long-term. He also teaches the Value Investing Seminar at the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business.