• Startup Archive
  • Posts
  • Warren Buffett on the best management advice he ever received

Warren Buffett on the best management advice he ever received

January 16, 2026

Warren Buffett is asked what he learned from his friend and mentor Tom Murphy, the legendary broadcasting executive.

“I learned how to behave,” Warren jokes. “He was probably the best business manager I’ve ever run into, but he didn’t do it by whipping people to death for eight hours or turning it into 12 hour days. He brought out the best in everybody . . . If you did nothing but study him, you wouldn’t have to study anybody else.”

When asked for a lesson he took away from Tom, Warren replies:

“He told me: You can always tell somebody to go to hell tomorrow.”

Warren continues:

“Just think of how much trouble that keeps you out of . . . There’s a few letters or things I haven’t written because I remember that advice. It’s very human to want to tell somebody to go to hell, and what have you ever gained? The only thing is you may have felt a little bit better for it. It is satisfying . . . But you can have a lot of satisfaction the next day if you just keep [it to yourself].”