Brooks Running CEO recalls best advice from Charlie Munger
In This Article:
Brooks Running has been a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B) since 2011, the acquisition of its original parent company made under the leadership of late Vice Chairman Charlie Munger. Brooks Running CEO Jim Weber looks back on the footwear brand's relationship with Munger and other Berkshire Hathaway leadership.
"[Munger's] advice was really clear, he said there's always room for a premium performance niche brand and that's what you guys are," Weber recalls from a meeting with Munger.
Click here to watch the full interview on the Yahoo Finance YouTube page or you can watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live here.
This post was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.
Video Transcript
JOSH LIPTON: Jim, I'm just curious, you know, so, obviously, Brooks has been a subsidiary of Berkshire for a long time, part of that Berkshire family, being around, you know, legendary investors truly, like Buffett and Mr. Munger.
I'm just for Brooks as a company, Jim, what's been the benefits, the advantages of that?
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JIM WEBER: You know, I think it's such a cliche to say we're playing a long-term game, and we're focused that way.
I'll tell you a little story.
In 2015 and '16, we stalled, our marketplace was stalled.
Our revenue was going backwards, and our profits were at a 10-year low.
And we were reconfiguring our strategy around premium performance products and reinventing performance.
And I had the opportunity to meet Charlie down at his home in La for a 90-minute lunch.
And we were right on the cusp of launching this strategy.
It was an evolution of where we've been.
And no one knew whether or not it would work.
But his advice was really clear.
He said, there's always room for a premium performance niche brand, and that's what you guys are.
And he told me a story-- this was so memorable-- of a shoe store in Omaha decades ago, I assume.
That was actually X-raying feet to help suggest the right shoe.
And over time, they figured out too much radiation is a bad thing.
So they stopped X-raying feet.
But his point was that people had a relationship with their feet and shoes.
And so the future at for Brooks was bright.
And he was absolutely right.
We've more than-- we've had so much success the last few years.
But in 2017, it wasn't clear.
And what-- that's the kind of support that we've felt for playing the long game and building brand.
JULIE HYMAN: That is-- I love that.
That is a great story.
What kind of communication-- I mean, obviously, Warren Buffett is still very much at Berkshire Hathaway.
But I'm also curious what kind of conversations you have with the other folks in management there, who, of course, have already been tapped to succeed Buffett and Munger, Greg Abel and the rest of the team over there.