Warren Buffett is perhaps the most accomplished investor of all time. The CEO and chair of Berkshire Hathaway has earned admiration for not only his financial feats but also the philosophy behind them. Todd A. Finkle provides striking new insights into Buffett’s career through the lens of entrepreneurship. This book demonstrates that although Buffett is thought of primarily as an investor, one of the secrets to his success has been running Berkshire as an entrepreneur.
Finkle—a Buffett family friend—shares his perspective on Buffett’s early life and business ventures. The book traces the entrepreneurial paths that shaped Buffett’s career, from selling gum door-to-door during childhood to forming Berkshire Hathaway and developing it into a global conglomerate through the imaginative deployment of financial instruments and creative deal making. Finkle considers Buffett’s investment methodology, management strategy, and personal philosophy on building a rewarding life in terms of entrepreneurship. He also zeros in on Buffett’s longtime business partner, Charlie Munger, and his contributions to Berkshire’s success. Finkle draws key lessons from Buffett’s mistakes as well as his successes, using these failures to explore the ways behavioral biases can affect investors and how to overcome them.
By viewing Buffett as an entrepreneur, this book offers readers a fresh take on one of the world’s best-known financial titans.
Author
Todd A. Finkle, Ph.D. is the Pigott Professor of Entrepreneurship at Gonzaga University. He has taught for 34 years at 4 different universities, publishing more than 270 articles, books, presentations, and grants. Dr. Finkle is an expert on Warren Buffett and Entrepreneurship.
Dr. Finkle wrote a National Award-Winning book on Warren Buffet titled Warren Buffett: Investor and Entrepreneur published by Columbia University Press and translated into 13 languages. The book focuses on Buffett’s roots as an entrepreneur and investor. It took 14 years of work to finish this. Nine years off and on and five years full-time. The book has been nominated for several awards:
2023 Runner Up Medal Winner for best Business Biography Axiom Business Book Award.
2023 Nominated for the NBCC Book Award in Nonfiction from the National Book Critics Circle
2023 Nominated for the National Book Award.
2023 Nominated for the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) Best in Business Book Award.
2023 Nominated for a Pacific Northwest Book Award.
Translated into 13 Languages: Chinese, Complex Chinese, Marathi (Indian), Italian, Vietnamese, Arabic, Spanish, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Portuguese, Korean and English.
Three editions: Hard copy, pdf (electronic), & audiobook.
Dr. Finkle has also written a book titled Lessons Learned from Leading Entrepreneurs: Case Studies in Business and Entrepreneurship, which focuses on the life of several famous entrepreneurs: Steve Jobs of Apple; Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google; Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway, Wayne Huizenga of Waste Management Inc., Blockbuster, and AutoNation, and other entrepreneurs.
Todd created a personal relationship with Warren Buffett that has allowed him to bring six cohorts of students to visit him in Omaha, Nebraska. Like Buffett, Todd has a passion for investments and entrepreneurship, having invested for the past 40 years and founded 5 for-profit companies and co-founded a non-profit. The non-profit went on to win a national award.
Dr. Finkle founded the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Program, which is open to all university students, in 2011. He oversees the innovative experiential program which has a national advisory board of 70 professionals and entrepreneurs. The board plays a key role in the success of the program.
Todd earned an M.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, which was ranked 17th best in the country at that time. To finance his way through school, he founded an entertainment company where he worked full-time while going to school full-time. Todd then went on to earn a Ph.D. in Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship with Minors in Marketing, International Business and Organizational Behavior.
Todd has worked with a wide variety of entities including countries and universities from all over the world. Lately he has worked with organizations in India, Hong Kong, Singapore, China and South Korea. Todd has also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, ABC News, Fortune, Business Insider, Associated Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Omaha World Herald, Entrepreneur, and several podcasts from all over the world.
Todd loves teaching and mentoring students so they can achieve personal and professional success. He takes pride in building positive, life-long relationships with his students.
“SELECTED HONORS"
2023 University Faculty Award for Professional Contributions.
Top faculty member at the university for research/scholarship.
Gonzaga University was ranked in the top 6% in quality of all undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs in the 2024 U.S. News & World Report Entrepreneurship Rankings.
Gonzaga University was ranked the 17th best undergraduate Entrepreneurship Program in the 2023 U.S. News & World Report Entrepreneurship Rankings.
Gonzaga University was ranked the 21st best undergraduate Entrepreneurship Program in the 2022 U.S. News & World Report Entrepreneurship Rankings.
Gonzaga University was ranked the 37th best undergraduate Entrepreneurship Program in the 2021 U.S. News & World Report Entrepreneurship Rankings.
Warren Buffett Trips & Meetings: Took six groups of my students and fellow professors to visit Warren E. Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. to attend a day of lectures and lessons about business, investments, values, ethics, and life in Omaha, Nebraska. One trip led to an article with pictures of students on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.
Eight C.H. Barnes Faculty Fellowships.
Published and presented 270+ articles, books, grants, papers, and presentations related to entrepreneurship.
Invited keynote speaker to the University of Iowa College of Business to talk about Warren Buffett: Lessons Learned about Business and Life.
Three Centioli Academic Excellence Awards: The Centioli Award recognizes one faculty member for teaching effectiveness and intellectual contributions.
Awarded Tenure for the second time in my career at Gonzaga University. Loeken Academic Excellence Award: The award recognizes one faculty member for all-around academic contributions.
Invited to be on the executive board of Cascade Capital (Investment Committee).
“Most Innovative Pedagogy for Entrepreneurship Education Award” at the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE).
First runner-up (EEC) “Most Innovative Pedagogy for Entrepreneurship Education Award” at USASBE.
Sam M. Walton Enterprise Fellow for Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE).
Director, Fitzgerald Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, College of Business Administration: Ranked in the top tier of regional schools in entrepreneurship education in Entrepreneur magazine’s rankings. The rankings placed the program in the top 100 programs out of over 825 schools.
Inducted as a MOOT CORP® Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin.
Inducted into the Golden Key International Honor Society.
Inducted into Delta Sigma Pi Professional Honor Society.
Teaching Award Winner Lone Star Fraternity Faculty of the Year Award (Selected as the top faculty member at the University).
Academy of Management Entrepreneurship Division’s Innovation in Entrepreneurship Education Teaching Award: Honorable Mention: Teaching Entrepreneurship through the Integration of Academia, Government, & Industry.