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The Competitor-Tell Question

Ask a company's leadership which competitor they'd invest in if not their own — and which they'd short.

investingdue-diligencenegotiationcompetitive-strategydecision-making
Problem it solves

Getting an honest read on an industry and a management team from the inside.

Best for

Due diligence on management and industries.

Not ideal for

Situations with no accessible leadership to ask.

Overview

Why this framework exists

A question Pabrai got from Buffett: ask a company's leadership, "If I weren't investing in your business, which competitor would you suggest I invest in, and which would you short or never touch?" The answers reveal the real competitive landscape and the management's candour. It doubles as a self-diagnostic for any operator — it tells you who to hire from and which products to launch or kill.

Core principles

2 total
  1. Best-competitor / worst-competitor answers map the true landscape.
  2. Use it as a hiring and product-roadmap tool inside your own company.

Origin story

How this framework came to be

Cited as one of the things Pabrai learned from Warren Buffett on screening companies.

Source

Traced to primary
Source · VIDEO
Go From $10k to $1M in 3 Years With This Strategy | Mohnish Pabrai
Codie Sanchez · 2026
Open source →

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