Most investors know Warren Buffett. Few know the man who shaped him.
Philip Fisher is that man, the investor Buffett once called him "a giant". While Benjamin Graham taught Buffett how to buy cheap, Fisher taught him how to buy great, how to identify a business so exceptional that you could own it for decades and do nothing. Fisher wasn’t obsessed with valuation spreadsheets. He was obsessed with understanding excellence.
“If the job has been correctly done when a common stock is purchased,
the time to sell it is almost never.”
I. WHO HE WAS
Philip A. Fisher (1907–2004) founded Fisher & Company in 1931, one of the earliest firms built on deep, fundamental, long-term research. He kept his client list to fewer than 15, rarely spoke publicly, and compounded wealth quietly for over 70 years.
His classic, Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits (1958), became the blueprint for modern growth investing, influencing Buffett, Munger, and generations of disciplined investors who saw stocks not as tickers but as living, breathing businesses. He didn’t chase headlines. He built conviction.
II. HIS PHILOSOPHY
Fisher believed that the true edge lies in knowledge, not information.He called his process “scuttlebutt”, gathering insights from employees, suppliers, competitors, and customers until he understood a company better than anyone else on Wall Street. He wasn’t looking for cheapness. He was looking for greatness that was undervalued because few could see it.
His framework revolved around 15 qualitative questions, from the caliber of management to the company’s research culture, forming what we might now call an “investor’s checklist for excellence.”
III. THE FISCHER EDGE
Long-Term Orientation
Fisher held companies for decades. Motorola was in his portfolio for over 40 years. His patience turned volatility into opportunity.
Focus on Scalable Greatness
He looked for companies that could grow internally, not those dependent on acquisitions or short-term trends. Innovation and adaptability were the hallmarks of his compounders.
Management Matters Most
Long before it became fashionable, Fisher believed that people determine the destiny of a company. He studied management depth, integrity, and vision with the same rigor others applied to financial ratios.
Concentrated Conviction
He owned a small number of companies he understood deeply. His concentration wasn’t risk, it was clarity.
IV. FISCHER'S ENDURING RELEVANCE
In today’s world of noise, Fisher’s mindset feels radical again.He wouldn’t be on CNBC. He wouldn’t tweet. He’d be reading, listening, thinking. He would see most investors as traders of distraction, not students of business. He’d remind us that research is a discipline, not a dopamine loop.
Buffett once said: “I am 85% Graham and 15% Fisher.” But over time, that balance inverted.When Buffett shifted from “cigar butts” to quality compounders like Coca-Cola, it was Fisher’s DNA that guided him.
V. THE TAKEAWAY
Philip Fisher represents a philosophy perfectly aligned with INTELLIGENT INVESTING:
Depth over speed.
Understanding over activity.
Discipline over excitement.
He proved that the path to uncommon profits begins with uncommon patience, and ends with mastery of temperament. In a world obsessed with momentum, Fisher reminds us that greatness compounds quietly. The intelligent investor doesn’t need to predict. He needs to understand. And once he does he holds.
“The stock market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything,
but the value of nothing.”
— Philip Fisher