Phil Town 3-Day Investing Workshop Review: My Experience
Updated: Aug 9
In September 2020, I participated in Phil Town's three-day virtual investing workshop. I had already read his books and used many of the principles from Rule #1 Investing in my own investment process, so I was interested to see how much additional value the workshop could offer.
First, I want to clarify that I am not affiliated with Phil Town or Rule #1 Investing. I paid for the workshop myself, was not paid to write this review, and receive no compensation if anyone decides to attend after reading it. Everything in this article reflects my own experience and opinion of the workshop.
I also won't reveal the specific tools, materials, or exercises used during the workshop. I agreed not to share certain details, and I want to respect that agreement. Instead, I'll give you an overview of how the three days were structured, what we covered, what I learned, and what I liked and disliked about the experience. Phil Town and Rule #1 Investing also provide plenty of free educational content if you want to learn more about his investing philosophy.
Day 1: The Four M's
The workshop I attended started on Friday and ended on Sunday. Since I had already read Phil Town's books and used many of his principles in my own investing, I went into the weekend with high expectations.
Because Phil Town, the teachers, and the coaches were based in the United States, the schedule was demanding for me in Europe. On Friday, the workshop started at 6 p.m. Central European Time. I had received an email the day before with a link to join my assigned group, which remained my team throughout the weekend.
After introductions with the coaches and other participants, Phil Town began the main session at 7 p.m. The day combined teaching with practical exercises and focused primarily on the Four M's: Meaning, Moat, Management, and Margin of Safety. We learned how to use these principles when evaluating a company, and by the end of the day, each participant had selected a company to analyze in greater detail.
The first day ended at around 3 a.m. CET, so it was certainly an intensive start to the workshop, particularly for those of us participating from Europe.
Day 2: Valuation, Margin of Safety, and Options
Saturday started at 5 p.m. CET and went deeper into company analysis and valuation. We covered Margin of Safety, how to determine an attractive price for a company, events that can cause share prices to fall, and how to develop both an investment thesis and counterarguments to it.
We then applied what we had learned to the company selected the previous day. Each participant prepared an analysis and submitted it to a coach for feedback.
There was also a Q&A session with Phil Town. My question wasn't selected, but I still found the session valuable because it provided an opportunity to hear his thoughts on a wide range of investing topics.
The final part of Saturday introduced options and how they can be used by investors. This was relatively new territory for me at the time and became one of the areas of the workshop I found particularly interesting. The second day again finished at around 3 a.m. CET.
Day 3: Feedback, Options, and Technical Analysis
Sunday began at 5 p.m. CET, but before the session started, I received detailed feedback on the company analysis I had submitted the previous day.
Interestingly, the feedback came from a different coach rather than the coach who had worked with my group throughout the weekend. I liked this approach because the person reviewing my work had no previous interaction with me. The feedback was thorough, and the coach had taken the time to review my analysis and verify the numbers I had calculated.
The final day continued with options and introduced technical analysis, again combining teaching with practical exercises.
At the end of the workshop, Phil Town and his team presented ten companies they believed could represent interesting long term investment opportunities at the right price. The companies were selected from those analyzed by participants during the weekend.
Our workshop ran slightly longer than scheduled and eventually finished at around 2:30 a.m. CET.
What I Learned from the Workshop
I genuinely enjoyed the workshop. I had already read Phil Town's books and used the Four M's in my investment process, so many of the underlying principles were familiar to me. Even so, I came away from the weekend feeling that I had learned a lot.
One area I particularly benefited from was evaluating management. I had always found this one of the more difficult parts of analyzing a company because financial numbers are relatively easy to find, while determining whether a CEO and management team are capable, shareholder friendly, and good capital allocators requires much more judgment. The workshop gave me additional tools and ideas for approaching this part of my research, and management remains an important part of how I evaluate companies today.
Another highlight was valuation, particularly Margin of Safety. Before attending the workshop, I already used Margin of Safety when valuing companies, but the workshop introduced me to additional ways of approaching valuation. This helped broaden my investment process and reinforced the importance of looking at a company's value from more than one perspective rather than relying on a single calculation.
Many of those principles still influence how I value companies today. I now use several valuation methods when analyzing a potential investment, including Margin of Safety, Ten Cap, and Payback Time. I've also created free calculators for these methods, which you can use in the Tools section of InvestSeekers.
What I Learned About Options and Technical Analysis
Options were another part of the workshop I found particularly interesting. Before attending, I knew relatively little about options and had always considered them somewhat complicated. The workshop gave me a much better understanding of how they work and how they can potentially be used as part of an investment strategy.
The workshop also included an introduction to technical analysis. I was already familiar with concepts such as trendlines and Fibonacci retracements, but I had never received formal instruction on them. While technical analysis represented a relatively small part of the weekend, it was interesting to learn more about how different indicators can be used when thinking about market movements and investment decisions.
What I Didn't Like About the Workshop
I don't have many negative things to say about the workshop, but the schedule was certainly challenging as someone participating from Europe. I'm naturally an early riser, so staying engaged until around 3 a.m. was difficult. That said, the teachers and coaches did a good job of keeping the sessions engaging, which made the long days easier.
I also had mixed feelings about the list of companies presented at the end of the workshop. I found the list interesting, and it introduced me to several companies I hadn't previously considered. However, one of the central ideas of the workshop is learning how to identify and analyze great companies yourself, particularly businesses that have personal meaning to you.
My concern was that some participants might simply invest in companies because they appeared on the list rather than doing their own research. Used as inspiration for further research, however, I think the list was a useful addition to the workshop.
Was the Phil Town Workshop Worth It?
Looking back several years later, I'm glad I attended the workshop. It introduced me to new concepts while also sharpening many of the investing principles I was already using.
My investment strategy has evolved considerably since 2020, but several of the principles I learned from Phil Town continue to influence how I invest today. I still look for companies with durable competitive advantages, capable management, strong financial performance, attractive long term prospects, and valuations that provide an adequate margin of safety.
For me, the workshop was therefore worth both the time and money. Whether it will be worth it for you depends on your existing investing knowledge, budget, and willingness to spend considerable time learning how to analyze individual companies.
It's also important to remember that this review describes the workshop I attended in 2020. The format, content, schedule, and pricing may have changed since then, so I recommend checking the current program before deciding whether to participate.
You can learn more about the current workshop on Phil Town's Rule #1 Investing website.
Continue Your Investing Journey
The Phil Town workshop was one part of my investing journey, but my investment process has continued to evolve considerably since I attended in 2020. If you'd like to learn more about how I invest today, I've created several free resources on InvestSeekers.
Learn how I invest
Read about the investment strategy I currently use to find, analyze, and value companies.
Value companies yourself
Try my free Margin of Safety, Ten Cap, and Payback Time calculators.
See my investment process in practice
Read my latest company analyses and see how I apply these principles when researching individual businesses.
See the investment platform I use
I also share my portfolio publicly through the investment platform I personally use. I've written a separate guide explaining the platform, why I use it, and how portfolio copying works.
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