This book will help readers understand the basic concepts of value investing. It will also help readers understand important factors of companies' value that are not often layed out in books on investing. The material is presented in an easy to understand manner and it is a quick read. Key take-a-ways 1) invest in what you understand and 2) focus your efforts.

It is worthwhile to note that on the authors' company website (www.wcam.com), you can find a great monthly newsletter that I have read for years called Exclusive Outlook.

I haven't read the book yet, but I've heard Paul Orfalea speak in person. He is very genial and to the point. Super nice guy. I'm sure the book will be great.

The subtitle "The Art, Science, and Business of Value Investing" is 2/3 correct. Good info on the art and business, but very little on the science. I finished the book feeling that I'd been given very little guidance on how to quantify the most important factors that go into the selection of a stock.

The Entrepreneurial Investor gives concise information in a small format. It gets to the point without hesitation. It is not an all out how-to. It gives guidance on reading annual reports and financial statements. Additional reading definitely includes something about interpreting financial statements. Getting Started in Value Investing appears to be a good companion to this book and does give recommendations on how to further your understanding of these important company documents. A couple examples are "Understanding Corporate Annual Reports" and "Annual Reports 101." I found "Financial Statements for Non-Financial People" a great intro to analyzing a balance sheet, income statement and cash flows statement. It gives easy to follow formulas to calculating many of the important ratios you need to know.

As someone who reads a fair amount of individual investor books/publications as well as being in the finance / investment industry, I have found that it takes someone who makes a defined decision to learn and then do. This idea could be further illustrated via another, more commonly understood occurrence. Say we take the best exercise / diet book ever written, if a solid commitment is not made by the individual, you are left with a dusty gym membership, an unwavering supply of Twinkies, and some recent activity on your Amazon Credit Card.

I am a licensed financial professional and still struggle with keeping my personal assets managed wisely. At the time of writing this, I would grade myself a generous "C" which is completely pathetic since I have at my disposal, all the expensive financial data available (I have a Bloomberg terminal), close relationships with dozens of Company's CEO / executive management with in-depth knowledge of the companies, and I happen to specializes in the hottest industry right now, energy in the high growth micro and small capitalization sector. One would think that I spend my nights and weekends quantitatively rebalancing my personal portfolio and stalking company executives at their favorite restaurants trying to infer if his 3rd cocktail means he is celebrating the upcoming quarter or trying to forget it. I have a degree in finance, know what is going on every single day for not only do I do and live the economic & financial world I also have CNBC on all day in my office just in case I miss what pork bellies are doing in Siberia.

BUT, I still let accumulate cash out of my paycheck and soon find money just sitting because I just do not take the initiative to invest it properly. I am frugal with money, I rent out rooms to help with my mortgage, I have had the same truck for 10 years, I buy my biz clothes at Ross Dress for Less, and I pay with my check card instead of cash at my local quick serve Thai restaurant because they do not have a place on the charge slip for a tip and therefore I get to duck out of giving one (all they do is call me up to the counter to get my food, they should tip me!)

So for the important part: this book. Out of fairness, we have done business with West Coast Asset Management and know the guys pretty well, BUT I simply would not have written this if I couldn't say it is a 5 star book. I would have said, "oh yea, I read it, great job guys" and would have changed the subject to the WNBA or something else Atticus enjoys.

These guys have a very difficult task though. Everybody that takes the challenge of writing to the individual investor has to deal with quite the challenges to get them to act and succeed. These challenges can vary but most are psychological such as:


-Fear of losing money
-Fear to make decisions
-Laziness to do footwork / research
-Undisciplined and lazy money habits
-Ignorance
-Lack of confidence and perceived competence
-Perceived lack of funds to begin investing
-Defined short and long term goals

-And nearly infinitely many more.

This book defines and teaches value investing. This book doesn't insult you by promising "Surefire Ways to Beat the Market" or "Become a Trillionaire in Currency Trading in 3 short Weeks." Market "tricks" do not work. Effective and long-term investing is a philosophy. These guys give you the real tools towards those means - tools that give you the ammo to find real companies that make real returns for real investors. The book is excellent because it gives the approach one should have when deciphering investments and finding the better of the thousands available. For the various / tremendous amount of pertinent insight the book covers, it does it effectively. Moreover, it gives readers the ability to go to other sources to further build upon specific topics or gain further big picture insight.

As perhaps the longest review ever written, I highly recommend this book to those who are willing to overcome their own self-defeating, self-sabotaging, and self-handicapping character traits and adopt a philosophy that works! -Adam B. Connors C. K. Cooper & Company Corporate Finance

Review of the entrepreneurial investor:

As someone who reads a fair amount of individual investor books/publications as well as being in the finance / investment industry, I have found that it takes someone who makes a defined decision to learn and then do. This idea could be further illustrated via another, more commonly understood occurrence. Say we take the best exercise / diet book ever written, if a solid commitment is not made by the individual, you are left with a dusty gym membership, an unwavering supply of Twinkies, and some recent activity on your Amazon Credit Card.

I am a licensed financial professional and still struggle with keeping my personal assets managed wisely. At the time of writing this, I would grade myself a generous "C" which is completely pathetic since I have at my disposal, all the expensive financial data available (I have a Bloomberg terminal), close relationships with dozens of Company's CEO / executive management with in-depth knowledge of the companies, and I happen to specializes in the hottest industry right now, energy in the high growth micro and small capitalization sector. Nonetheless, I still let accumulate cash out of my paycheck and soon find money just sitting because I just do not take the initiative to invest it properly. I am frugal with money, I rent out rooms to help with my mortgage, I have had the same truck for 10 years, I buy my biz clothes at Ross Dress for Less, and I pay with my check card instead of cash at my local quick serve Thai restaurant because they do not have a place for a tip and therefore I get to duck out of giving one...

One would think that I spend my nights and weekends quantitatively rebalancing my personal portfolio and stalking company executives at their favorite restaurants trying to infer if his 3rd cocktail means he is celebrating the upcoming quarter or trying to forget it. I have a degree in finance, know what is going on every single day for not only do I do and live the economic & financial world I also have CNBC on all day in my office just in case I miss what pork bellies are doing in Siberia.

It seems that individual investors (people like you and me) have quite the difficulty getting their act together to invest. This could be attributed to a host of psychological and/or external factors such as:


So for the important part: this book. Out of fairness, we have done business with west coast asset management and know the guys pretty well, BUT I simply would not have written this if I couldn't say it is a 5 star book. I would have said, "oh yea, I read it, great job guys" and would have changed the subject to the WNBA or something else Atticus enjoys.

These guys have a very difficult task though. Everybody that takes the challenge of writing to the individual investor has to deal with quite the challenges to get them to act and succeed. These challenges can vary but most are psychological such as:


-Fear of losing money
-Fear to make decisions
-Laziness to do footwork / research
-Undisciplined and lazy money habits
-Ignorance
-Lack of confidence and perceived competence
-Perceived lack of funds to begin investing
-Defined short and long term goals

-And nearly infinitely many more.

This book defines and teaches value investing. This book doesn't insult you by promising "Surefire Ways to Beat the Market" or "Become a Trillionaire in Currency Trading in 3 short Weeks." Market "tricks" do not work. Effective and long-term investing is a philosophy. These guys give you the real tools towards those means - tools that give you the ammo to find real companies that make real returns for real investors. The book is excellent because it gives the approach one should have when deciphering investments and finding the better of the thousands available. For the various / tremendous amount of pertinent insight the book covers, it does it effectively. Moreover, it gives readers the ability to go to other sources to further build upon specific topics or gain further big picture insight.

As perhaps the longest review ever written, I highly recommend this book to those who are willing to overcome their own self-defeating, self-sabotaging, and self-handicapping character traits and adopt a philosophy that works! -Adam B. Connors C. K. Cooper & Company Corporate Finance

West Coast Asset Management has been a client of ours for about five years now. We continue to be very impressed with their ability to recognize undervalued opportunities in the market place. The Entrepreneurial Investor lends insight into the investment strategies and philosophies which have made them so successful. An important read for any investor.

Christopher Cave
Director Capital Markets
C.K. Cooper & Company

The Entrepreneurial Investor is a simple and enjoyable book about business, investing, and the stock market. It is the first book I have read on the topic of investments which didn't bore me or lose me after the first 2-3 chapters. The passion and knowledge of the writers jump off of the page, and I can't help but look for stock ideas everywhere I go now. Had I been paying attention sooner, I wouldn't have missed out on some incredible investment opportunities which were sitting right in front of me!

Finally a business book I can understand! The
Entrepreneurial Investor explains investing in plain
English and is actually fun to read. The style is
witty and the ideas are easy to apply and relate to.

This investment book is definitely different from all the rest. It was easy to read and understand, and uses great examples and wit to keep you interested, and keep you reading. Even a non-investor like me can make sense of what the experts are talking about.

For 12 years I headed up an independent accounting firm that served the Kinko's Organization during its rise from $80 million to over $1 billion in sales. During that period I tracked Paul Orfalea's stock picks for the purpose of financial reporting. I was amazed that he rarely had a losing pick, and that is portfolios always increased substantially over time. It was not surprising to me that after his tenure at Kinko's, Paul's efforts went into portfolio management and philanthropy.

Paul has a way of breaking down business to its most simple and understandable terms. I've also known him to be very generous, especially with what his willingness to share his incredibly intuitive wisdom with anyone who has the presence of mind to listen. His thoughts, combined with that of Lance Helfert, Atticus Lowe, and especially with the amusing, clear and understandable prose of Dean Zatkowsky, make this book a joy to read. If you want to pass some significant wisdom on to your children, get them this book (and be sure to read it yourself!).