nobody knew Ben Graham

We had 36 hours to analyze a company and present it in front of the whole committee. Oh, and we did not get to choose the company. So I locked myself in my room and started grinding through the annual reports of Intel Corp. (INTC). I actually managed to do a pretty good job in such a short time frame. Once in front of the committee, I started to recite everything I could remember from what I had read about the company. Everyone seemed to follow until I mentioned a word (or a name, I must say) that seemed to leave everyone puzzled. I tried repeating the name for a second time to make sure everyone understood. Now my audience was not just puzzled anymore, they were completely lost.

-Ben Graham used a formula in Security Analysis...
-Wait, who?
-Benjamin Graham, nobody has heard about him?
-Yeah, isn't that guy a teacher in Harvard or something?

That's when I realized that I was not in the same world as these people in front of me. Even though they could recite every corporate finance textbook, nobody knew who was Benjamin Graham.

-- charlesmatte