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I\u2019m looking forward to sharing posts from time to time about things I\u2019ve learned in my career at Microsoft<\/a> and the Gates Foundation<\/a>. (I also post frequently on my blog<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Last month, I went to Omaha for the annual Berkshire Hathaway<\/a> shareholders meeting. It\u2019s always a lot of fun, and not just because of the ping-pong matches and the newspaper-throwing contest I have with Warren Buffett. It\u2019s also fun because I get to learn from Warren and gain insight into how he thinks.<\/p>\n Here are three things I\u2019ve learned from Warren over the years:<\/p>\n 1. It\u2019s not just about investing.<\/strong><\/p>\n The first thing people learn from Warren, of course, is how to think about investing. That\u2019s natural, given his amazing track record. Unfortunately, that\u2019s where a lot of people stop, and they miss out on the fact that he has a whole framework for business thinking that is very powerful. For example, he talks about looking for a company\u2019s moat\u2014its competitive advantage\u2014and whether the moat is shrinking or growing. He says a shareholder has to act as if he owns the entire business, looking at the future profit stream and deciding what it\u2019s worth. And you have to be willing to ignore the market rather than follow it, because you want to take advantage of the market\u2019s mistakes\u2014the companies that have been underpriced.<\/p>\n I have to admit, when I first met Warren, the fact that he had this framework was a real surprise to me. I met him at a dinner my mother had put together. On my way there, I thought, \u201cWhy would I want to meet this guy who picks stocks?\u201d I thought he just used various market-related things\u2014like volume, or how the price had changed over time\u2014to make his decisions. But when we started talking that day, he didn\u2019t ask me about any of those things. Instead he started asking big questions about the fundamentals of our business. \u201cWhy can\u2019t IBM do what Microsoft does? Why has Microsoft been so profitable?\u201d That\u2019s when I realized he thought about business in a much more profound way than I\u2019d given him credit for.<\/p>\n 2. Use your platform.<\/strong><\/p>\n A lot of business leaders write letters to their shareholders, but Warren is justly famous for his. Partly that\u2019s because his natural good humor shines through. Partly it\u2019s because people think it will help them invest better (and they\u2019re right). But it\u2019s also because he\u2019s been willing to speak frankly and criticize things like stock options and financial derivatives. He\u2019s not afraid to take positions, like his stand on raising taxes on the rich, that run counter to his self-interest. Warren inspired me to start writing my own annual letter<\/a> about the foundation\u2019s work. I still have a ways to go before mine is as good as Warren\u2019s, but it\u2019s been helpful to sit down once a year and explain the results we\u2019re seeing, both good and bad.<\/p>\n 3. Know how valuable your time is.<\/strong><\/p>\n No matter how much money you have, you can\u2019t buy more time. There are only 24 hours in everyone\u2019s day. Warren has a keen sense of this. He doesn\u2019t let his calendar get filled up with useless meetings. On the other hand, he\u2019s very generous with his time for the people he trusts. He gives his close advisers at Berkshire his phone number, and they can just call him up and he\u2019ll answer the phone.<\/p>\n Although Warren makes a point of meeting with dozens of university classes every year, not many people get to ask him for advice on a regular basis. I feel very lucky in that regard: The dialogue has been invaluable to me, and not only at Microsoft. When Melinda and I started our foundation, I turned to him for advice. We talked a lot about the idea that philanthropy could be just as impactful in its own way as software had been. It turns out that Warren\u2019s brilliant way of looking at the world is just as useful in attacking poverty and disease as it is in building a business. He\u2019s one of a kind.<\/p>\n Photo: Bill Gates<\/em><\/p>\n