The foundation of successful investing isn’t intelligence. It’s patience.

Most of us associate Berkshire Hathaway with Warren Buffett and the late Charlie Munger, but in the early 1970s they were part of a trio that also included Rick Guerin.

All three possessed exceptional analytical skills and a deep understanding of value investing principles. Yet most people have only heard of the first two. Buffett once said when markets crashed nearly 70% in 1973-74, Guerin, who had borrowed heavily to invest in equity, faced devastating margin calls. This forced him to sell his Berkshire Hathaway shares to Buffett for less than $40 each. Those shares are worth about $740,000 today, making this one of history's most expensive lessons in patience.

The mathematical magic of compounding represents perhaps the strongest argument in favour of patience in investing. Compound interest is the «eighth wonder of the world», according to a quote popularly (but perhaps incorrectly) attributed to Albert Einstein. Even if the attribution is incorrect, though, the point stands. 

Compound interest is what allows investments to grow exponentially, but its true magic only materialises over long periods of time. An investment that's growing at an average annual return of 8% will double approximately every nine years, but over two decades or more, the same investment could multiply several times over. This exponential growth explains why investors who remain patient often achieve dramatically better results than those who frequently enter and exit positions.

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The snowball effect of compounding is silent but powerful, transforming modest investments into substantial wealth over time. For instance, ₹10,000 invested with an average annual