After takeoff, as we climbed into the clouds, the pilot transitioned from looking outside the cockpit to see where he was going, to flying entirely by using the instruments on the dashboard. And I? I leaned back my seat and stuck my feet up on the seat facing me and proceeded to take a nap.
Does it seem odd in any way that I'd easily drift to sleep about the time we were tearing through the clouds at 400 mph with absolutely no way to see where we were going? No. You didn't think anything of it. Nor did I. Because I expected the pilot of the aircraft to be competent and it wasn't a big surprise to me that he did his job without a problem.
That's also what we should expect from the CEO of any company we invest in. Remember, if we buy one share of something, its no different than if we own the whole thing. Therefore, the CEO is our employee and we should expect ... no, demand, the CEO be as certain to do the right thing as my pilot.
I don't expect my pilot to wreck the jet. And I don't expect my CEO to crash my company. Pilots go through a certification process and constant re-certification to make sure they are competent. CEO's do the same thing even more often than pilots. The exams are called quarterly and annual reports. The pilot has an FAA examiner who grades him. I am my own examiner and I do the grading. If the pilot fails, he doesn't fly. If the CEO fails, I don't buy. I sell.
There is on old saying in venture capital (to switch metaphors): Bet the jockey, not the horse.
Because its all about how they ride the horse, fly the jet, run the business. Its all about competence.
Now go play
