“Most investors are congenitally incapable of doing nothing… When somebody says to me, "Well, don't you think we should sell it? It's trading at an all-time high," my question to that person is: in the 30 years or so that Amazon has traded as a public company, how many days has that stock traded at an all-time high? That question always stops people in their tracks.”
The Investor's Podcast (We Study Billionaires) - The Investor’s Podcast Network · October 2026
William Green read Moritz a Charlie Munger remark that his edge at Sequoia was temperament: he held on to his winners. Moritz's answer is that selling at a new high is usually a decision about the past, and that nothing beats the compounding of a well-positioned company.
Transcript
…that is fresh and something that is new, if harnessed with the right management team with the right business outlook, can outmaneuver, outrun and conquer incumbent companies. But for an investor, it's all about being open and being willing to be educated by somebody a lot younger than you are.
…best was Michael Moritz, and he was not the leading intellect, but temperamentally, he was able to hang on to everything. He did better than all his brighter partners. And I just thought that was a really interesting insight. I don't know if that's accurate. What's your reaction to that insight?
Most investors are incapable of doing nothing. Well, first of all, I'm incredibly flattered that he's right about the insight. I'm incredibly flattered that he would even remember or have said that. Most investors, doesn't matter what arena, Berkshire Hathaway is a standout in this regard. Most investors are congenitally incapable of doing nothing. They just, they have to do something. Now, if you're a venture investor and you have shares in a private company, until the last five, 10 years when the secondary market has kicked in in a big fashion, if you have shares in a private company, you can't do anything. But when it becomes public, you immediately have the opportunity to sell it. And, you know, people buy a stock because. Whether…
It's an amazingly important insight, I think, typical of Charlie that he homed in on something so important. You led or co-led Sequoia for many years, I think 16 years or so before you stepped down as the official leader, day-to-day leader. I'm very curious about what you learned about being a…
I wish I'd known him earlier in my and you know, I didn't really get to know him until about 20 years ago. And coincidentally, I can't resist this, we have another book that's coming out. It's getting published in Britain at the end of next week called The Games of My Life, which we worked on for…
I was very struck by a story you've told before about after David Beckham once again ruined our chances in the World Cup and got sent off for some ridiculous
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