New (to me) insights from Warren Buffett and Michael Burry and those of us who would learn from them

Warren Buffett got rich investing other people's money and taking 50% of the profit
Stock picking played a part in his fortune, but he needed capital in the first place, says Monevator. To get it he worked first for Ben Graham as a highly paid analyst and then set up hedge funds (partnerships) with a fee structure that would make current hedge fund managers blush. He refunded losses and took no profit if his funds returned less than 4%. After that, though, Buffett took 50%. Investors got rich, he got rich. You don't hear many complaints.

Sometimes I take an envious look at UK Value Investor's growing portfolio of Buffett inspired big strong company portfolio
It's diversified. The companies, like Robert Wiseman Dairies (processes and delivers over 30% of our fresh milk every day), and Vodafone (world #1), exude class and permanence. You can't imagine them going bust. But then I remind myself I champion the unheralded, undiscovered, small, smelly, and wretched. It's a dirty job, but I reckon there's more profit in it, the annual reports are a lot thinner, and the directors talk to you.

A close reading of Michael Burry's posts on Silicon Investor shows how his style developed from Ben Graham
Before Burry became famous for shorting sub-prime debt he was an old-fashioned value investor seeking bargains and Buffett style companies with strong competitive advantages at reasonable prices. In a post from 1998 dug up by Robert Pio Molloy, Burry says he found these companies by:

Scanning the S&P MidCap 400 guide – eyeing the lower right hand page for high and consistent ROE.

Then, moving up the page, comparing capital expenditures to cash flows, then moving up to equity and observing that its growth validates the ROE numbers.

Then, still moving up the page, looking at the last 10 years of earnings consistency

and growth – at least doubling in 10 years, without more than one down year.

Then look for the low payout ratio and conservative debt.