If you asked most retail investors what investing is about, many would say price — whether a stock is “cheap” or “expensive” based on its current market price. But here’s a truth that’s surprisingly overlooked: investing isn’t about price, it’s about value.

Price is simply what you pay today. But value is what you actually get for your money — the underlying strength and profitability of the business you’re buying into.

Most investors obsess over short-term price swings, chasing “cheap” stocks or timing the market. This leads to constant buying and selling, stress, and often losses.

But professional value investors — the likes of Warren Buffett and Benjamin Graham — focus on buying great businesses at a price below their intrinsic worth. That means they understand:

• Value is rooted in fundamentals: revenue, earnings, assets, competitive advantages, and growth prospects.
• Price fluctuates with market emotions: fear, greed, and short-term news
  
• Investing is a marathon, not a sprint: patience allows value to be realised over time

With so much noise — social media hype, “hot stock” tips, technical charts, complex derivatives — retail investors often feel like they need a PhD to succeed. But the truth is, the core of investing is simple:

• Find good businesses
• Understand what they're truly worth
• Buy when the price is below that value
• Hold patiently while value compounds

One of the biggest reasons people overcomplicate investing is because they start thinking like traders, not investors.

• Candlestick patterns 
• Breakout signals and support / resistance levels
• Technical indicators like MACD, RSI, Bollinger Bands
  

These tools are used in trading — which is a completely different game with a different mindset.

Traders aim to profit from short-term price movements. They constantly buy and sell, react to volatility, and often operate under pressure and speed.

Investors, on the other hand, focus on the long-term value of a business. They’re not trying to guess what the stock price will do next week — they’re asking whether the company will grow and remain profitable over the next 5–10 years.

• Trading is like trying to win a 100 meter dash
• Investing is like planting a tree and letting it grow

At ViA Atlas, we teach a clear value investing methodology that anyone can understand — yes, even a child! — because the best investment decisions come from clear thinking, not overcomplicated strategies.

Imagine treating investing like planting a seed. You don’t constantly dig it up to check the price of the soil. You water it patiently and let it grow. Focusing on value lets you do just that.

Remember that we said that investing is like planting a seed and letting it grow. Now that's half the story. The 'seed' has to be good for you to get a good 'harvest'.

To help you begin, I'm providing the 'seed' by giving you a Limited Time Access to a Done-For-You Company Analysis of a fast-growth U.S. company, worth $307 — free for 14 days. Plus, get our Mental Model of Super Investors online course and a guide to using the Interactive Brokers platform.

Remember, price is what you pay, value is what you get. Mastering this simple mindset difference can save you years of stress and set you on the path to real investing success.