Dear Chairman
In almost nine years as a fund manager, I’ve become increasingly cynical about how public companies are run. In the wasteland of small capitalization companies where I often look for investment ideas, corporate governance can be downright abysmal. I’ve had large investments in several public companies that willfully screwed their shareholders, and I’ve watched many more such situations from the sidelines.
The Most Important Thing
Every once in a while, an up-or-down-leg goes on for a long time and/or to a great extreme and people start to say "this time it's different." They cite the changes in geopolitics, institutions, technology or behaviour that have rendered the "old rules" obsolete. They make investment decisions that extrapolate the recent trend. And then it turns out that the old rules still apply and the cycle resumes. In the end, trees don't grow to the sky, and few things go to zero.
Principles
Look for people who have lots of great questions. Smart people are the ones who ask the most thoughtful questions, as opposed to thinking they have all the answers. Great questions are a much better indicator of future success than great answers.