This week I sat down with Warren Buffett’s former financial assistant Tracy Britt Cool. In this exclusive interview, you’ll learn how she went from writing a cold letter to Buffett to being sent in to fix struggling Berkshire subsidiaries, how to evaluate real business performance, and how incentives, culture, and structure line up to create lasting success.
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Approximate Chapters
(00:00) Intro, recent reading, and family life
(06:39) Value Creation in operating; why companies struggle to adapt
(09:23) Upbringing, education, and early career outreach
(13:46) Lessons from Berkshire, leaving, and the Pampered Chef turnaround
(18:25) Ad Break
(20:35) Kanbrick long-term investment partnership and the Pampered Chef turnaround
(27:40) People, culture, and building repeatable systems (KBS)
(41:57) Sourcing deals, the five M’s, and moats
(52:52) Post-close playbook, Kanbrick Business System evolution, community, and leverage
(1:11:53) AI, productivity, and the WHO hiring process
(1:20:49) Businesses to avoid investing in, board lessons, and governance
(1:26:44) Financial literacy, integrity in hiring, and broader reflections
(1:42:49) Closing thanks and outro
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About Tracy
Tracy Britt Cool is the co-founder of Kanbrick and former CEO of Pampered Chef. At Berkshire Hathaway she worked directly with Warren Buffett as his financial assistant.
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*This Episode Made Possible By:*
Basecamp: http://basecamp.com/knowledgeproject
reMarkable: https://www.reMarkable.com
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