As investors, you will miss a lot of great opportunities. That’s OK! You will never be able to catch them all. What you must definitely be doing is focusing on limiting the downside first. If you can do that consistently, you’ll do fine. Some time ago I did a deep dive on Lite Access Technologies, a Canadian company that has a patented technology for installing optical fiber. They were pursuing a major opportunity for growth in the UK where the Government is investing heavily on getting fiber to people’s homes.

This is what I wrote on my write-up: “As I was doing my research I was getting more and more aware that this is a lousy business with low margins, very low barriers to entry, highly dependent on one single customer, with high staff turnover where everything can go wrong and without proof of being able to keep profitable at a steady-state. I wouldn’t be sleeping well if I were to buy it.”

Today news came out that the company is temporarily suspending its operations in the UK due to the COVID-19. Obviously, the stock is down 30% today.

I have missed my fair share of good investments, but today I am proud of the fact that I was strong enough to say NO to this company, even while other (great) investors were telling me that it was going to become a huge success story. Today was a good day.

A word of appreciation to Ruben Guerreiro for helping me with this one.