My Investing Journey: From Engineer to Quality Investor

Disciplined Investing: A Long-Term Game, not a Short-Term Gamble

Hi Readers, and welcome to my Substack. I want to use this platform to share my investing journey, principles, and lessons learned along the way. I’ve always loved investing, but without any mentors, my introduction to buying stocks was slow. It took nearly 10 years from when I first learned about the stock market to finally purchasing my first stock. If I had invested $10,000 when I first learned about finance, and with an average market return of 10%, it would have been $42K today. The power of compounding (which I will go into detail in a different post) is incredible.

All my writings are little nuggets of learning from my investing journey, starting from the basics. If you are where I was 15 years ago—curious about investing but unsure where to start—I hope my insights will help provide direction as you navigate your own investment path.

I come from a world far removed from finance, an engineering family where discussions revolved around manufacturing, shop floors, new tools, and problem-solving. My career began in engineering, and for most of my life, I believed what I had always heard: the stock market is just gambling, a place where luck determined winners and losers.

That perspective changed dramatically when I enrolled in the MBA program at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business—the birthplace of modern finance. For the first time, I saw investing not as speculation but as a structured, disciplined approach to building wealth.

That realization set me on a deep learning journey. I devoured books and letters from great investors like Warren Buffett, Howard Marks, Mohnish Pabrai, Nick Sleep, etc. Additionally, I learned a lot from other investors by following their investing journey and principles. I became obsessed with understanding businesses, analyzing 10-K reports, and refining a checklist for what makes a great investment. Of course, my early days were filled with mistakes—chasing hype, misjudging valuations, and learning lessons the hard way. But each misstep was invaluable.

Over time, I adopted a simple philosophy: buy quality companies at a fair price rather than bad companies at a cheap valuation. My goal has remained the same—to keep learning, invest wisely, and achieve financial independence by 40.

Now, through this Substack, I’ll break down investing fundamentals, share insights from my own portfolio, and discuss interesting stocks I’m evaluating. Everything I write about is something I personally invest in—real money, real lessons. I’ll be fully transparent about my holdings and my rationale, so you can learn from both my successes and, more importantly, my mistakes.

I hope my writing helps you navigate the investing world with more confidence. If you enjoy my posts, please subscribe and share them with family and friends. After all, the more you give, the more comes back to you.

Let’s learn and grow together!

Disclaimer: This Substack is for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. All investment decisions should be made after conducting your own thorough research.