Chai with Pabrai

Mohnish Pabrai is the founder and Managing Partner of the Pabrai Investments Funds, the founder and CEO of Dhandho Funds, and the author of The Dhandho Investor and Mosaic: Perspectives on Investing. Views expressed on Chai with Pabrai are exclusively those of Mohnish Pabrai and not of any affiliated firm or organization.

Mohnish Pabrai's Interview with The Investor’s Podcast on March 23, 2026 06/05/2026

Mohnish Pabrai's Interview with The Investor’s Podcast on March 23, 2026 Mohnish Pabrai's Interview with Stig Brodersen at The Investor’s Podcast on March 23, 2026. (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:00:41) - Berkshire Hathaway: Warren Buffett vs. Greg Abel (00:04:39) - Greg Abel vs. Ajit Jain; Compensation at Berkshire (00:08:15) - Investing horizon of 50-100 years; Berkshire Hathaway vs. S&P 500 index (00:09:48) - Running my own company and team; Delegation and structuring (00:12:34) - Pabrai Wagons ETF (00:13:24) - Inner scorecard vs. Outer scorecard (00:16:16) - Investing in Turkey; Micro trumps the macro (00:18:44) - Diversification of portfolio; Walmart (00:21:25) - Constellation Software Services; Mark Leonard (00:25:14) - Frontline; Micheal Burry (00:29:58) - Met coal vs. IPSCO; CONSOL Energy & AMR (00:35:48) - Selling a stock; Walmart and Nifty 50 in 1970's (00:39:49) - Portfolio concentration (00:41:24) - What I Learned About Investing from Darwin by Pulak Prasad; Microsoft & Walmart (00:44:22) - Guy Spier The contents of this website are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and do not purport to be, and are not intended to be, financial, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice. Investments or strategies that are discussed may not be suitable for you, do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and are not intended to provide investment advice or recommendations appropriate for you. Before making any investment or trade, consider whether it is suitable for you and consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser. Views expressed on Chai with Pabrai are exclusively those of Mohnish Pabrai and not of any affiliated firm or organization. The interview host is an investor in Pabrai Funds and therefore has a financial interest in the funds’ performance, which creates a potential conflict of interest. The host was not compensated for this interview. The views expressed are those of the host and Mohnish Pabrai and do not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to invest. /episode/index/show/chaiwithpabrai/id/41548145

Q&A session with Dakshana scholars at JNV Bangalore Urban on December 25, 2025 06/02/2026

Mental Models by Mohnish Pabrai at Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Dodd Investing on April 21, 2026 06/01/2026

Mental Models by Mohnish Pabrai at Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Dodd Investing on April 21, 2026 Mental Models for Exceptional Capital Allocation by Mohnish Pabrai at Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Dodd Investing on April 21, 2026. (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:02:03) - Charlie Munger's mental models (00:03:54) - Model 1: The Bedrock model: Take a simple idea and take it seriously (00:04:51) - Model 2: Ben Graham's three ideas on markets (00:05:28) - Model 3: Do not overdose on Ben Graham; Poor Charlie's Almanack, Philip Fisher, and Pulak Prasad (00:06:27) - Model 4: Buffett's lifetime 20-punch card (00:07:15) - Model 5: Stay in the epicentre of your circle of competence; John Arrillaga (00:09:09) - Model 6: A high error rate is guaranteed in investing (00:09:26) - Model 7: Circle the wagons: the 4% rule (00:10:36) - Berkshire's 12 best decisions in 60 years (00:12:02) - Mistakes in investing: Ferrari, Progressive Insurance & Goldman Sachs (00:12:55) - Model 8: Do not cut flowers and water weeds; The Nifty 50 crash in the 1970s & Walmart (00:15:34) - Model 9: Be a shameless cloner; VIC & Dataroma; Gimat Gross (00:16:43) - Model 10: History does not repeat itself; Investing in Turkey & Reysas (00:19:50) - Model 11: Explain your investment thesis in 3-4 sentences to a 10-year old (00:19:58) - Model 12: You always need a rope to get out of the deepest well (00:23:14) - Model 13: Nick Sleep; Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (00:26:52) - Model 14: Thou shall not use Excel (00:27:17) - Model 15: Use a pre-investment checklist (00:28:06) - Model 16: Be singularly focused like Arjuna (00:29:27) - Read the footnotes; Turn every page: Robert Caro (00:31:16) - Model 17: Enjoy hunting for needles in haystacks; Buffett's childhood entrepreneurial adventures (00:33:40) - Japanese Company Handbook; My introduction to Charlie Munger & Debbie Bozanek (00:37:27) - Model 18: Your deepest desire is your destiny (00:38:53) - Model 19: You should always have someone to discuss your investment ideas with; Li Lu (00:40:45) - Model 20: The mistress is always hotter than the wife! (00:41:12) - Model 21: Neither a short-term borrower nor a long-term lender be (00:41:33) - Model 22: Introduce randomness into your life; Peter Lynch's One up on Wall Street (00:43:11) - Model 23: Be a Swiss Army knife (00:43:24) - Model 24-26: Focus on spin-offs, uber cannibals & spawners; Alpha-Metallurgical Resources (00:44:02) - Model 27: Arbitrage is wonderful; Transocean vs. Valaris (00:44:17) - Model 28: Heads I win, Tails I don't lose much!; IPSCO and CONSOL Energy (00:46:10) - Model 29: Focus on low-risk; high uncertainty bets (00:46:45) - Model 30: Do not skim off the top (00:47:23) - Book recommendations: Poor Charlie's Almanack, Influence & Excellent advice for living (00:47:41) - Investing in Turkish vs. Indian markets (00:50:17) - Follow your passion The contents of this website are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and do not purport to be, and are not intended to be, financial, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice. Investments or strategies that are discussed may not be suitable for you, do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and are not intended to provide investment advice or recommendations appropriate for you. Before making any investment or trade, consider whether it is suitable for you and consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser. Views expressed on Chai with Pabrai are exclusively those of Mohnish Pabrai and not of any affiliated firm or organization. /episode/index/show/chaiwithpabrai/id/41490915

Mental Models for Exceptional Capital Allocation by Mohnish Pabrai at The UNO on May 1, 2026 05/26/2026

Mental Models for Exceptional Capital Allocation by Mohnish Pabrai at The UNO on May 1, 2026 Mental Models for Exceptional Capital Allocation by Mohnish Pabrai at The University of Nebraska, Omaha on May 1, 2026. (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:02:11) - Charlie Munger's mental models (00:03:43) - Model 1: The Bedrock: Take a simple idea and take it seriously (00:04:06) - Model 2: Ben Graham's Fundamentals (00:04:59) - Model 3: Do not overdose on Ben Graham; Poor Charlie's Almanack, Philip Fisher, and Pulak Prasad (00:05:16) - Model 4: Buffett's lifetime 20-punch card (00:06:05) - Model 5: Stay in the epicentre of your circle of competence; John Arrillaga (00:07:52) - Model 6: A high error rate is guaranteed in investing (00:08:06) - Model 7: Circle the wagons: the 4% rule (00:08:44) - Berkshire's 12 best decisions in 60 years (00:09:41) - Mistakes in investing: Ferrari, Progressive Insurance & Goldman Sachs (00:12:10) - Model 8: Do not cut flowers and water weeds (00:13:02) - Model 9: Be a shameless cloner; VIC; Dataroma & SumZero (00:15:11) - Model 10: History does not repeat itself - but it does rhyme (00:16:16) - Model 11: Explain your investment thesis to a 10-year old in 3-4 sentences (00:16:41) - Model 12: You always need a rope to get out of the deepest well (00:20:50) - Model 13: Pursue quality intensely; Nick Sleep, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (00:25:31) - Model 14: Thou shall not use Excel (00:25:52) - Model 15: Develop and use a pre-investment checklist (00:27:54) - Model 16: Be singularly focused like Arjuna (00:29:31) - Read the footnotes; Turn every page: Robert Caro (00:31:44) - Model 17: Enjoy hunting for needles in haystacks; Buffett's childhood entrepreneurial adventures (00:33:41) - Japanese Company Handbook; My introduction to Charlie Munger & Debbie Bozanek (00:38:02) - Model 18: Your deepest desire is your destiny (00:41:15) - Model 19: You should always have someone to discuss your investment ideas with; Li Lu (00:42:53) - Model 20: The mistress always looks hotter than the wife! (00:43:30) - Model 21: Neither a short-term borrower nor a long-term lender be (00:43:54) - Model 22: Introduce randomness into your life; Peter Lynch's One up on Wall Street (00:46:28) - Model 23: Be a Swiss Army knife (00:46:36) - Model 24-26: Focus on spin-offs, uber cannibals & spawners (00:47:18) - Model 27: Arbitrage is wonderful; Rupert Murdoch (00:48:26) - Model 28: Heads I win, Tails I don't lose much!; IPSCO and CONSOL Energy (00:51:43) - Model 29: Focus on low-risk; high uncertainty bets (00:52:56) - Model 30: Do not skim off the top (00:53:37) - Book recommendations: Poor Charlie's Almanack, Influence & Excellent advice for living (00:54:48) - Importance of the Bedrock model (00:55:30) - Finding great businesses (00:58:11) - Focusing on my deepest desire (00:59:23) - Berkshire Hathaway A-shares (01:00:35) - Intrinsic value of a company (01:02:17) - The Founders Podcast & Value Investors Club (01:05:34) - Pursue your passion (01:07:49) - Making of a Great American Capitalist by Lowenstein (01:09:05) - Family-run businesses; Walmart (01:10:24) - The Dakshana Foundation & Giving back (01:12:45) - Micron (01:13:43) - Warren's Too Hard pile & Charlie's pie-counter trips The contents of this website are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and do not purport to be, and are not intended to be, financial, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice. Investments or strategies that are discussed may not be suitable for you, do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and are not intended to provide investment advice or recommendations appropriate for you. Before making any investment or trade, consider whether it is suitable for you and consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser. /episode/index/show/chaiwithpabrai/id/41424430

Mental Models for Running Startups and Businesses, SXSW 2026 on March 16, 2026 04/23/2026

Mental Models for Running Startups and Businesses, SXSW 2026 on March 16, 2026 Mental Models for Running Startups and Businesses, SXSW 2026 on March 16, 2026. (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:00:28) - Charlie Munger's mental models (00:01:52) - Model 1: The Bedrock model: Take a simple idea and take it seriously (00:02:31) - Model 2: Truth vs. Trust; David Hawkins: Power vs. Force (00:05:43) - Costco (00:07:56) - Model 3: Your deepest desire is your destiny (00:09:40) - Model 4: Heads I win; Tails I don’t lose much; Jeff Bezos (00:10:36) - How to start a business without capital (00:12:44) - Model 5: Be a shameless cloner; Sam Walton & Walmart and Bill Gates & Microsoft (00:14:49) - Model 6: Use hacks to improve yourself; Be a harsh grader (00:16:02) - Model 7: Hire slow fire fast (00:16:53) - Model 8: Incentives are more powerful than you think (00:17:51) - Model 10: Pursue quality intensely; Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance by Robert Pirsig (00:18:50) - Model 11: Focus on durable moats (00:19:16) - Model 12: The purpose of business is not to make money (00:19:45) - Model 13: Outsourcing smaller tasks (00:20:39) - The latticework of mental models; Listen to your customer (00:24:07) - Focus on taking larger market share (00:25:19) - Model 14: Go all-in on no-brainers; Founders Podcast, Business Breakdowns & Acquired podcasts (00:28:54) - Book recommendations: Poor Charlie's Almanack, Influence & Excellent Advice for Living (00:29:27) - Duan Yongping: Fast is slow (00:30:56) - Lifetime ban at a casino in Vegas; Blackjack (00:33:09) - Exponential effect of implementing the models together (00:34:24) - Benefit of mental models to non-venture backed businesses (00:35:12) - El Cortez casino in Las Vegas; Blackjack (00:41:49) - Mental models for creative professionals; Seinfeld's Is This Anything? The contents of this website are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and do not purport to be, and are not intended to be, financial, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice. Investments or strategies that are discussed may not be suitable for you, do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and are not intended to provide investment advice or recommendations appropriate for you. Before making any investment or trade, consider whether it is suitable for you and consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser. Thumbnail Photo credit: Nick Piacente /episode/index/show/chaiwithpabrai/id/40992995

Mohnish Pabrai's Q&A session with Dakshana scholars at JNV Pune, Maharashtra, India on December 25, 2025 04/17/2026

Mohnish Pabrai's Q&A session with Dakshana scholars at JNV Pune, Maharashtra, India on December 25, 2025 Mohnish Pabrai's Q&A session with Dakshana scholars at JNV Pune, Maharashtra, India on December 25, 2025 (00:00:00) – Introduction (00:01:09) - Charlie’s mental models: Take a simple idea and take it seriously (00:03:13) - Be a Karam Yogi (00:07:12) - Focus at improving human lives: Narayana Healthcare Systems (00:10:52) - Purpose over profit always wins (00:13:47) - Inner scorecard beats outer approval (00:16:06) - Cloning: Anand Kumar and Super 30 (00:19:56) - Learn to build from zero: The Origin and Evolution of New Businesses (00:23:02) - The Founders Podcast (00:28:40) - Singular focus: Dronacharya & Arjuna - eye of the bird (00:32:18) - Your Deepest Desire Is Destiny (00:34:10) - Adversity is part of life 00:36:30) – Toastmasters (00:37:46) - Usain Bolt from Jamaica; Illustrated Weekly of India: Khushwant Singh (00:44:00) - Take a decision and move forward (00:45:18) - Be the change you wish to see (00:47:03) - Principles create advantage in life; The Founders Podcast (00:50:12) - Focus on relevant things in life (00:56:35) - Rule of 72 (01:00:04) - The wealth creation paradox The contents of this audio are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and do not purport to be, and are not intended to be financial, legal, accounting, tax, or investment advice. Investments or strategies that are discussed may not be suitable for you, do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation, or needs, and are not intended to provide investment advice or recommendations appropriate for you. Before making any investment or trade, consider whether it is suitable for you and consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser. /episode/index/show/chaiwithpabrai/id/40909175

Mohnish Pabrai's Q&A Session with Dakshana Scholars at Dakshana Valley, Pune on December 26, 2025 04/17/2026

Mohnish Pabrai's Interview at the Investor’s Podcast on April 25, 2023 01/14/2026

Mohnish Pabrai's Session at The Investor’s Podcast on April 1, 2024 01/14/2026

Mohnish Pabrai's Interview at the Investors Podcast on April 15, 2025 01/14/2026

Mohnish Pabrai’s Fireside chat with Ben Graham Centre on October 14, 2025 12/10/2025

Q&A session with Nisaba Godrej & Omar Momin and Dakshana Scholars at Dakshana Valley on July 25, 2025 10/14/2025

Mohnish Pabrai’s Interview session at The Diary of a CEO on July 13, 2025 10/01/2025

Mohnish Pabrai’s Interview session at The Diary of a CEO on July 13, 2025 Mohnish Pabrai’s Interview session with Steven Bartlett at The Diary of a CEO on July 13, 2025. (00:00:26) - Cloning as a mental model; Bill Gates and Sam Walton (00:05:11) - Entrepreneurs do not take risk (00:09:23) - Focus on offering gaps (00:13:11) - Understand customer requirement; Google Glass vs. Meta (00:16:20) - Make your business cost-effective; Walmart & LVMH (00:18:24) - Getting your music out; Bill Gates & Paul Allen (00:21:40) - Find the calling in your life (00:23:54) - My Owner's Manual (00:29:04) - Capital investment in start-ups; Sir Richard Branson (00:36:59) - Successfully reaching out to stakeholders (00:41:16) - My family startups in the childhood; Cold calling (00:46:21) - Adam Grant: Givers, takers and matchers (00:48:26) - Recruiting the right people; Elon Musk & Steve Jobs (00:50:43) - Fire fast, Hire slow (00:51:54) - The three pillars of investing (00:53:01) - Sale of Manhattan by Indians in 1623 & Rule of 72 (00:58:07) - Rules of investing; Saving the first dollar; Index investing (01:01:52) - The Dhandho Investor; Minimising risk with intact returns (01:06:20) - Heads I win, Tails I don't lose too much (01:07:15) - Offering gaps (01:11:30) - Business moat (01:12:29) - Apple (01:14:07) - Traits of great founders; IKEA (01:16:49) - Fewer, bigger and infrequent bets; Venture businesses vs. Stock markets (01:19:07) - Day trade (01:19:34) - Circle the wagons (01:22:00) - Learning from mistakes; Fiat Chrysler's Ferrari (01:24:31) - Golf The contents of this website are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and do not purport to be, and are not intended to be, financial, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice. Investments or strategies that are discussed may not be suitable for you, do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and are not intended to provide investment advice or recommendations appropriate for you. Before making any investment or trade, consider whether it is suitable for you and consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser. Views expressed on Chai with Pabrai are exclusively those of Mohnish Pabrai and not of any affiliated firm or organization. /episode/index/show/chaiwithpabrai/id/38350810

Mohnish Pabrai's Session with SumZero on June 10, 2025 07/04/2025

Mohnish Pabrai's Sessions at UNO on May 2, 2025 and Columbia Business School on March 25, 2025 06/12/2025

Mohnish Pabrai's Sessions at UNO on May 2, 2025 and Columbia Business School on March 25, 2025 Mohnish Pabrai's Sessions at University of Nebraska Omaha on May 2, 2025 and Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Dodd Investing at Columbia Business School on March 25, 2025. (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:02:20) - Walmart vs The Nifty-Fifty (00:05:18) - Berkshire's 12 best decisions in 58 years; Ajit Jain (00:08:05) - Nick Sleep (00:12:06) - Learning from mistakes; Ferrari & Frontline (00:13:30) - Rules of becoming rich (00:16:15) - Walmart & the Walton Family (00:17:51) - Microsoft; Steve Balmer (00:23:21) - Coca-Cola (00:25:32) - Evolution of strategies (00:26:52) - Investment checklist (00:30:36) - Circle of competence (00:33:28) - Macroeconomic factors; Saudi Aramco & Ferrari (00:40:47) - Learnings from Warren and Charlie (00:43:02) - Golf vs. Investing (00:44:50) - Identifying opportunities; Moody's Manual and The Japan Company Handbook (00:50:33) - Duan Yongping: Oppo & Vivo (00:53:53) - Economic moats (00:55:51) - Impact of leverage; The Founder's Podcast: IKEA (00:58:51) - Capitalism in investing; Amazon (01:00:33) - Value investing for technology businesses: Amazon (01:05:40) - Index investing (01:07:38) - Microsoft vs. Apple; Bill Gates (01:13:01) - When to exit an investment (01:19:31) - Selecting a stock (01:20:41) - Circle of competence; John Arrillaga (01:23:50) - Investing in Turkiye; Reysas & TAV Airports (01:28:02) - Investing in coal businesses (01:31:58) - You can identify great businesses only after you own them (01:33:42) - Portfolio concentration (01:39:26) - Investing is watching the paint dry (01:42:17) - Coca-Cola; Hetty Green from The Founder's podcast (01:47:36) - Hedging an investment (01:48:45) - Investing in commodities The contents of this website are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and do not purport to be, and are not intended to be, financial, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice. Investments or strategies that are discussed may not be suitable for you, do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and are not intended to provide investment advice or recommendations appropriate for you. Before making any investment or trade, consider whether it is suitable for you and consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser. /episode/index/show/chaiwithpabrai/id/36970855

Mohnish Pabrai’s Session with Ashoka Investment Club on April 22, 2025 05/23/2025

Mohnish Pabrai’s Talk with the My First Million podcast on March 27, 2025 05/12/2025

Mohnish Pabrai’s Talk with the My First Million podcast on March 27, 2025 Mohnish Pabrai’s Talk with Shaan Puri at the My First Million podcast on March 27, 2025. (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:00:28) - Why the small investor has an advantage (00:02:51) - Investing $10K to make $1 Million (00:08:16) - Frontline (00:17:13) - Berkshire's 12 great decisions in 58 years (00:18:34) - Buffett's selection process: Moody's Manual (00:23:38) - Value Investor's Club (00:27:33) - The Japan Company Handbook (00:28:46) - Berkshire's investment in Japan (00:36:13) - Thou shall not use Excel (00:40:26) - Leverage: Rick Guerin (00:49:00) - Do not cut the flowers to water the weeds (00:51:21) - Costco (00:56:38) - My interactions with Charlie Munger & Warren Buffett (00:58:23) - Risk vs. Uncertainty (01:00:16) - Coca-Cola Icecek (01:01:42) - Warren's “Too Hard Pile” (01:03:01) - Circle of Competence: John Arrillaga (01:07:03) - Sam Walton: Walmart and Sol Price (01:12:18) - A power nap is good for productivity (01:15:39) - My owner's manual (01:21:52) - The Dakshana Foundation: A mathematical game (01:23:53) - Super 30: Model cloned by Dakshana (01:28:53) - Large inheritances cause more harm than good (01:31:35) - Mohnish’s Blackjack System (01:37:46) - Michael Burry (01:41:21) - Rakesh Jhunjhunwala: Titan Industries (01:44:26) - Starting early to lengthen your runway (01:47:02) - Macroeconomic factors (01:47:37) - AI in investing The contents of this website are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and do not purport to be, and are not intended to be, financial, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice. Investments or strategies that are discussed may not be suitable for you, do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and are not intended to provide investment advice or recommendations appropriate for you. Before making any investment or trade, consider whether it is suitable for you and consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser. /episode/index/show/chaiwithpabrai/id/36535355