Value Investor vs Value Groupie

	Value Investor	Value Groupie
Make investment decisions	By Facts - financial statements, company reports, indepent analysis, etc..	By Feelings .  He won’t necessarily even look at the facts. At most, he’ll only give a superficial nod to them before plunking down a large wad of bills.
Read financial report?	He know how important proper due diligence is and automatically sort through these types of statements in order extract critical pieces of information and paint a detailed picture of the investment’s merits.	He typically skip these filings. A blog post or a quick scan of Google Finance is often enough.
Science and Rational Thinking	Take scientific studies into account when developing the investment strategy. Both evidence and reasoning are key.	He jump on whichever strategy is currently performing well or in vogue.
A maverick?	He doesn’t care what most other value investors are doing, and he might not even know.	There are so many value investors these days that their mass creates a sort of gravitational pull. Value groupies feel comfortable with this pull, so tend to gravitate to the middle of the herd. He has probably been sucked deep into the Warren Buffett trap
A Businessman?	He treat his portfolio as a business, not a part time hobby. He has gone pro.	He dabbles in a range of styles and strategies without mastering any one of them. He makes decisions on the fly, not bothering to jot his thoughts down in writing to test their accuracy later. He’s not concerned with constant refinement and improvement over time.
The bottleneck?	He is  well aware of and constantly focus on trying to improve. He reflect on his own psychology as much as he do the financial statements of undervalued companies themselves.	He make big mistakes and then reason them away after the fact just in time for the next big investment opportunity. They deny, suppress, or blame other people, just so long as they don’t have to face their own psychological fallibility.
Long term or Short term	He keep a long term perspective when it comes to investing. He know that investing is a long term game and that he can do very well if he stick to a great strategy through good times and bad.	He always trying to knock the ball out of the park, or putting too much emphasis on a single year’s results, rather than seeing investing as the long term, often systematic, game that it is. Short term results are of paramount importance.
Steal Idea	He fine with taking ideas from other real value investors within their niche. He will double check the thesis, but he have no problem taking investment ideas from other people. He is  too busy making money to worry about what others in the community are thinking of him.	He want to be known for their original brilliant ideas and want to be seen as great investors. He try to rise to the top of social clique while real value investors just don’t give a damn.

References:-

• Are You A Value Investor or Value Groupie? - Evan Bleker