Outsmarting the Crowd Book Summary - Outsmarting the Crowd Book explained in key points
Listen to the Intro
00:00

Outsmarting the Crowd summary

Bogumil K. Baranowski

A Value Investor’s Guide to Starting, Building, and Keeping a Family Fortune

4.3 (75 ratings)
17 mins
Table of Contents

    Outsmarting the Crowd
    summarized in 8 key ideas

    Audio & text in the Blinkist app
    Key idea 1 of 8

    To own stock is to own part of a business in exchange for funding its operations.

    So, you’re ready to start investing in the stock market? Well, the most logical place to begin is by understanding what stocks are, because, despite what some might think, they’re not just pieces of paper with a price tag attached.

    In fact, every stock represents part of a business, and when you buy stock you’re actually purchasing a share of the company. So in the same way that entrepreneurs can own a business outright or split ownership with other partners, as a stockholder, you can own shares of a company.

    But while entrepreneurs and partners work day in, day out to manage their business, as a shareholder you don’t have any responsibility for managing the company and can sell your shares whenever you want.

    So stocks are effectively pieces of a company, and many companies make their stock available to the public. This is a strategic decision that depends on the size and financial needs of a company. Every business relies on financing, but some entrepreneurs use their own savings while others come up with the initial capital by asking family and friends like the founders of Google did.

    As a company grows, its funding often needs to grow with it. Eventually, the company can become so big that it only has two options for how to raise the massive amounts of capital needed to run its daily operations and make investments:

    First, they can borrow money from a bank just like an average person would do to buy a car or a house. Naturally, this money, along with the interest it accumulates, needs to be repaid.

    The second funding option is to go public. That means splitting ownership of the company into shares and selling them on the stock exchange. This option is different from a loan because the money never has to be repaid by the company. Instead, shareholders own stock as long as they want until they sell it to other investors, hopefully turning a profit and sometimes collecting dividends in the process.

    Now that you know what stocks are, it’s time to learn how to analyze their value and become a successful investor.

    Want to see all full key ideas from Outsmarting the Crowd?

    Key ideas in Outsmarting the Crowd

    More knowledge in less time
    Read or listen
    Read or listen
    Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
    Find your next read
    Find your next read
    Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
    Shortcasts
    Shortcasts New
    We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.

    What is Outsmarting the Crowd about?

    Outsmarting the Crowd (2015) is a stellar beginner’s guide to investing. These blinks will give you all the knowledge you need to get started investing. Just don’t expect to get rich overnight: good investing is all about patience, discipline and rationality.

    Best quote from Outsmarting the Crowd

    The time to buy is when theres blood in the streets. – Baron Rothschild

    —Bogumil K. Baranowski
    example alt text

    Who should read Outsmarting the Crowd?

    • Students of business or finance
    • Anyone who wants a first glimpse into the world of investing
    • Anyone looking for a plan to grow their wealth

    About the Author

    Bogumil K. Baranowski is a New York investment professional who manages a private investment fund at Tocqueville Asset Management.

    Categories with Outsmarting the Crowd

    Books like Outsmarting the Crowd

    People ❤️ Blinkist
    Sven O.

    It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.

    Thi Viet Quynh N.

    Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.

    Jonathan A.

    Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.

    Renee D.

    Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.

    People also liked

    Start growing with Blinkist now
    26 Million
    Downloads on all platforms
    4.7 Stars
    Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
    91%
    Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
    *Based on survey data from Blinkist customers
    Powerful ideas from top nonfiction

    Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.

    Start your free trial