Invest Like the Best
Exploring the ideas, methods, and stories of people that will help you better invest your time and money. Learn more and stay-up-to-date at InvestorFieldGuide.com
Tue, August 11, 2020
Brian Armstrong – The Future of Crypto - [Invest Like the Best, EP.186]
My guest this week is Brian Armstrong, the co-founder and CEO of Coinbase. The topic of our conversation is the future of cryptocurrency and decentralized finance. Its been a while since I checked in on the world of crypto and while prices are still below the 2017 highs, there’s been a ton of additional work and infrastructure laid. We discuss the major events of the past decade and what might happen in the 2020s. Perhaps most interesting, we cover the potential benefits of a modernized financial system, which Coinbase hopes to help usher in. As I’m trying to do more in conversation with CEOs, we also discuss the lessons he’s learned building a business. Please enjoy my conversation with Brian Armstrong. This week’s episode is sponsored by Bottomless. Bottomless is a smart coffee subscription which automatically re-orders coffee for you based on your consumption habits. Bottomless is offering one month and your second bag of coffee for free at bottomless.com/patrick . For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (2:23) – (First question) – Most important developments in cryptocurrencies (3:00) - What happened in crypto over the last decade (3:01) – What will happen to cryptocurrency in the 2020s (4:01) – Long term vision for Coinbase (6:57) – Why should we be aiming towards an open financial system (11:41) – How crypto improves the movement of money (14:22) – Creating sound money and currencies (16:21) – Why economic freedom is an important variable in what he’s trying to do (19:44) - How economic freedom can happen with various regulators around the world and in different countries (22:49) – How Coinbase attracted its first users (26:33) – The December 2017 madness of cryptocurrencies (29:50) – How he thinks about recruiting teams and motivating them to be productive (33:40) – Mistakes with people he’s learned from (34:56) – Steering a product roadmap and creating a successful business (37:17) – What do the non-Bitcoin currencies offer that Bitcoin doesn’t (41:19) – Innovation in cryptocurrency that excites him: DeFi (43:40) – Interesting geographic locations and their impact on crypto (45:29
Tue, August 04, 2020
Matt Ball - The Future of Media: Movies, the Metaverse, and More - [Invest Like the Best, EP.185]
My guest today, Matthew Ball, is a long time coming. He’s the former head of strategy at Amazon Studies, an investor, and probably my favorite business essayist writing today.
Tue, July 28, 2020
Kat Cole – How to Operate: Lessons in Brand, Distribution, and Leadership - [Invest Like the Best, EP.184]
My guest today is Kat Cole, the COO and president of North America for Focus Brands, which owns famous companies like Cinnabon, Carvel, Jamba, and more. Kat’s story and career trajectory are remarkable, as are the lessons she’s picked up along the way which she shares with us all in this conversation. We discuss negotiation, distribution, brand building, brand extension strategies, and leadership. I always enjoy having a true operator on the show, so I was very excited to discover Kat and her thinking. Please enjoy this great conversation. This week’s episode is sponsored by Bottomless. Bottomless is a smart coffee subscription which automatically re-orders coffee for you based on your consumption habits. Bottomless is offering one month and your second bag of coffee for free at bottomless.com/patrick . For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (2:13) – (First question) – Her call to prayer (2:16) – Kat Cole on Pomp’s podcast (5:20) – Her positivity lens (7:59) – Applying that positivity lens in business (13:34) – How to show positivity in early interactions with someone (17:37) – Overview of Kat’s career (21:03) – Lessons learned building brands (27:11) – Changing relevance or differentiation within a brand (32:34) – Keeping a brands dominant position in people’s minds (36:00) – The power of franchising and shared commitment (40:50) – How her experience makes her a better investor (42:55) – Lessons around distribution (46:24) – Effectively negotiating and getting your fair share in a partnership (52:49) – Attributes of a brand that get Kat most excited (56:34) – Transferring her brand lessons to software and tech companies (59:09) – Biggest lessons in leadership she’s learned (1:04:13) – Checking In: the power of intention, reflection, and action to be your best and help others do the same (1:05:18) – Most effective questions in her check-ins (1:06:29) – Personal check-ins vs professional check-ins (1:10:44) – Balancing gratitude and ambition</p
Tue, July 21, 2020
Eric Vishria – The Past, Present, and Future of SaaS and Software - [Invest Like the Best, EP.183]
My guest this week is Eric Vishria, a general partner at Benchmark Capital. Eric joined Benchmark after spending the first part of his career as an operator and CEO. The topic of our conversation is the past, present, and future of software businesses. We begin by explaining why public software companies trade at such incredibly high multiples today. We then explore the several different generations of these businesses and why the future remains so bright for companies building software as their primary product. I’d go one step further and suggest that the information in this episode is even more valuable for non-software businesses and investors, because its crucial to understand the impact that these products will have on the overall business landscape. COVID has accelerated the long-running transition to digital across the corporate world, and Eric serves as the perfect guide. Let’s dive in. This week’s episode is sponsored by Bottomless. Bottomless is a smart coffee subscription which automatically re-orders coffee for you based on your consumption habits. Bottomless is offering one month and your second bag of coffee for free at bottomless.com/patrick . For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (2:29) – (First question) – His take on public markets, and specifically as it relates to SaaS businesses (4:04) – Why these companies trade so high (7:53) – Peter Zeihan Podcast Episode (11:19) – The competitive frontier in the digital markets (14:02) – The API competitive frontier (14:22) – Chetan Puttagunta Podcast Episode (18:36) – Every Company is Becoming a Software Company (20:10) – John Collison Podcast Episode (22:54) – Charging in an API business model (24:09) – Describing the different generations of SaaS, starting with Gen 1 (28:15) – Gen 2 SaaS businesses (31:52) – Being an investor in SaaS (36:55) – Gen 3 and importance of traditional SaaS companies to get into API (38:06) – Other problems software can solve (44:19) – Why more money isn’t going into SaaS (46:48) – Lessons from the investment universe and how it could apply to Saa
Tue, July 14, 2020
Turner Novak – The Past, Present, and Future of Consumer Social Companies - [Invest Like the Best, EP.182]
My guest this week is Turner Novak, a partner at Gelt VC. Many of the largest companies in the world today are consumer social companies, so Turner and I discuss the past, present, and future of those businesses. When executed right, they are often the fastest-growing companies in history, and the rise of TikTok and some other companies we discuss makes it clear that there may always be more room at the top. The network effects that support these companies make them unique beasts to analyze, and Turner’s writing has been among my favorite content on the topic. Please enjoy our detailed conversation on this important are of public and private markets. This week’s episode is sponsored by Bottomless. Bottomless is a smart coffee subscription which automatically re-orders coffee for you based on your consumption habits. Bottomless is offering one month and your second bag of coffee for free at bottomless.com/patrick . For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (2:18) – (First question) – History of consumer social companies (3:28 – The importance of quality growth over rate of growth (4:43) – Importance of friends and identity in a social network (6:21) – Major markers he analyzes in new social networks (7:59) – The meteoric rise of TikTok and how it compares to other social networks (8:08) – The Rise of TikTok and Understanding Its Parent Company, ByteDance (13:38) – How TikTok deals with user friction (17:28) – Why TikTok copies is a waste (21:08) – Advising companies to build a media arm in this environment (24:18) – Business models beyond advertising for social networks (30:44) – His thoughts on Pinduoduo and the opportunity for a similar company in the US (37:36) – What Snapchat is doing (43:51) – How social eCommerce could be a competitor to an Amazon (46:31) – His review of Zynn (46:36) - Attack of the Clones: TikTok’s Rival Kuaishou Lands in the US (52:22) – The geopolitical battle of social networks (53:36) – Creating social commerce companies (54:27) – Fantasy draft portfolio (59:18) – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn More For more episodes go to <
Tue, July 07, 2020
Charlie Songhurst – Lessons from Investing in 483 Companies - [Invest Like the Best, EP.181]
My guest this week is Charlie Songhurst, the former head of strategy at Microsoft and a prolific investor, having personally invested in nearly 500 companies throughout his career. I met Charlie at an event hosted in New York and you can tell within one minute of meeting him that his mind is sparkling with ideas and curiosity. Its no wonder he’s been among the most commonly requested guests when I asked several top investors and CEOs who I should have on the show. We discuss the lessons he’s learned about business, investing, and people from such a large sample size of companies. I won’t reveal any more here, I highly recommend you just listen to Charlie and learn. Let’s dive in. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (1:25) – (First question) – Stack ranking the vices of power, money and fame (2:41) – Memorable response to the stack ranking question (3:13) – Best scenario to explore this stack ranking concept (3:55) – Other ways to rank founders (4:44) – Quick look at this career (5:16) – Time at Microsoft (6:03) – Features he looks for in startups (10:55) – Managing the declining curve of productivity (14:55) – Why founders are often unique people (14:57) – Jeff Gramm Podcast Episode (15:04) – Aliens, Jedi & Cults (19;43) – How early entrepreneurs need to make recruitment a serious part of their work (23:06) – How successful founders win the best candidates (25:27) – The East Coast vs. West Coast investment strategies (30:40) – When it’s time to bring in quantitative factors into early stage investing (34:36) – The markers that pop up in companies that hit (37:22) – Boring but successful investments (39:28) – Investor aesthetics (41:29) – Characteristics of investors that he believes are important to success (42:57) – Impacts of Covid and some of the permanent changes that have happened as a result (47:49) – Investing opportunities in the local community (49:13) – His take on cryptocurrencies (53:47) – Most mis valued asset in the world (55:16) – Investing opportunities in Europe (57:34) – Make up of his 483 investments (57:58) – Matt Clifford Podcast Episode (59:17) – Curation as a skill (1:01:54) – Timing and startu
Tue, June 30, 2020
Blake Robbins – Investing in Gaming - [Invest Like the Best, EP.180]
My guest today is Blake Robbins, a partner at Ludlow Ventures. We talk about all things video games, including the major companies in the industry, how games monetize, how in-game economies work, how e-sports has evolved, and much more. This is a fast-growing segment of consumer attention and interest, I believe we are in the very early days of gaming going mainstream. I also have a favor to ask. My team and I have built a small survey for Invest Like the Best listeners and if you’ve enjoyed the podcast, I’d deeply appreciate it if you took 5 minutes to fill it out at investorfieldguide.com/survey . It will help shape the future direction of the show, which I intend to keep improving in the years to come. Thank you, and now please enjoy my conversation with Blake Robbins. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (1:35) – (First question) – Overview of the gaming industry and how folks may get involved as an investor (3:46) – Some of the biggest players in the space (5:30) – The monetization methods of these gams (9:22) – How do these games respond to real currencies (14:49) – The landscape of e-sports/e-gaming as a whole (19:57) – His involvement with 100 Thieves (25:52) – The media landscape and the role of influencers (29:05) – When he invests and what the opportunities are out there (33:07) – The engines behind a lot of this; Unity and Unreal (34:58) – Other investors that get this trend (37:43) – Other interesting areas of investment for him, including the creator economy (41:25) – Opportunities to build out and invest in the infrastructure of the creator economy (45:37) – Infrastructure opportunities that need to be built (48:08) – Advice for younger professionals (49:04) – Investment allocation he is most proud of (50:08) – A unique skill he couldn’t teach or train in others (52:27) – Something in gaming he doesn’t understand or wants to learn more about (54:08) – The kindest thing anyone has done for Blake Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at <a href= "http://twitt
Tue, June 23, 2020
Brad Gerstner – Public and Private Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.179]
My guest today is Brad Gerstner, the founder and CIO of Altimeter Capital, a multi-billion dollar technology-focused investment firm. Brad and his team are known for a deep expertise in internet-enabled businesses, including Expedia, Facebook, Uber, and many more. We discuss the evolution of opportunity in this style of investing, including the important shift to private investing, where so much of the value creation now happens. I won’t soon forget our discussion of consumer intent on the internet and how it has shifted, the role that essentialism plays in Brad’s business and life, and the rise of the Chinese internet giants like Bytedance. Please enjoy this great conversation with Brad Gerstner. This episode is brought to you by the MIT investment management company (MITIMCO) Reach out or learn more: Email: partner@mitimco.org Website: https://mitimco.org/partner/ MITIMCo 10 year Letter: https://mitimco.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/MITIMCo-Alumni-Letter.pdf MITIMCo brochure: https://mitimco.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/MITIMCo-Brochure_web_2018-12-05.pdf For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (2:32) – (First question) – Overall investment philosophy at Altimeter (5:12) – Most interesting thing in the landscape today (11:16) – Disrupting the tech giants moving forward (13:56) – The investing opportunity in the backend of the internet (16:42) – His take on old line businesses and how technology could shift his view on them (18:56) – Lessons from company founders whose platforms rely on consumer discovery (21:32) – Running his business on essentialism
Tue, June 16, 2020
John Collison – Growing the Internet Economy - [Invest Like the Best, EP.178]
My guest today is John Collison, the Co-Founder of the digital payments company Stripe. Stripe’s mission is to increase the GDP of the internet, a lofty and deeply interesting pursuit. John is clearly a voracious learner across business and investing, which you’ll hear instantly. He started Stripe with his brother Patrick when he was just 19 years old, and has grown it to, at last valuation, a $36B business. In our conversation, we discuss conglomerates, the internet economy, the power of writing, and why board members are like Pokémon characters, each with different powers. It’s a lively and wide-ranging conversation with one of the entrepreneurs I’ve most enjoyed speaking with. Please enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (1:30) – (First question) – Interest in industrial conglomerates (9:10) – Their thinking on acquisitions vs starting new companies (11:42) – How the payment landscape looked when Stripe was started (15:55) – View on the internet economy (20:09) – Exciting possibilities for the future of the internet economy (22:11) – The forces of size vs speed among startups (26:53) – Driving reasons why employees choose Stripe starting with clear communication (28:55) – Tips for better internal communications (30:09) – The importance of rigor in Stripe’s corporate culture (32:15) – Investors and investing styles that are most intriguing to him (36:02) – Teaching vs experiencing business lessons (37:56) – Lessons from going to market with new ideas (50:58) – Allowing teams to explore new ideas at Stripe (44:11) – Best startup companies to study to understand the history of this space (44:52) – Softwar: An Intimate Portrait of Larry Ellison and Oracle (48:18) – Cable Cowboy: John Malone and the Rise of the Modern Cable Business (48:43) – Infrastructures of internet businesses that are missing (52:03) – Does general accounting practices need to change to capture the true value of a company like Stripe (1:01:53) – Shared playbooks in Silicon Valley (1:02:02) – The transition to the no code movement (1:08:22) – Other businesses that pique his interest outside of software (1:10:21) – Future trends that
Tue, June 09, 2020
Jeremy Grantham – An Uncertain Crisis - [Invest Like the Best, EP.177]
My guest today is Jeremy Grantham. Jeremy is the co-founder and chief investment strategist of Grantham, Mayo, & van Otterloo (aka GMO). GMO, which manages more than $60B for clients, was a firm that helped educate me early in my investing career. They’ve long published thought-provoking research, most of which came from Grantham himself. He is regarded as a highly knowledgeable investor in various stock, bond, and commodity markets, but is particularly noted for his prediction of various bubbles. In this conversation we discuss the current crisis, which he calls the fourth major event of his long and storied career as an investor. As he says, this one is the most uncertain. We also discuss unique topics like commodity-based companies, and how opportunity often lies between fields of expertise. Please enjoy our conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (1:37) – (First question) – What keeps him going in investing (2:54) – Changing approaches to managing money over the decades (7:27) – Their investment forecast for major allocations and how that has evolved (10:06) – How to markets compete with FAANG stocks (16:06) – More opportunity for active investors and where (30:55) – How he talks to clients about major stock market events (34:09) – His interest in natural resources/commodities (47:07) – Long term argument for the three natural resources: oil, metals, and food (47:10) – An Investment Only A Mother Could Love: The Tactical Case (52:01) – Specific case for particular metals (56:46) – Areas in the future that excite him or that he wants to learn more about (1:03:42) – Advice for people interested in investing (1:05:15) – Kindest thing anyone has done for Jeremy Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, June 02, 2020
Ben Thompson – Platforms, Ecosystems, and Aggregators - [Invest Like the Best, EP.176]
My guest today is Ben Thompson. Ben is the author of my favorite business strategy newsletter called Stratechery. He’s also the host of the exponent podcast, and now the Dithering, a podcast he recently launched with John Gruber. I think Ben is among the most interesting business analysts in the world, and I’ve learned from and directly applied many of his ideas. We cover many of the major concepts he’s introduced over the years, including his well know aggregation theory. I think that to understand how the internet has changed the business world for good, you must read Ben and follow his thinking. I’m excited to finally have him as a guest on the show. Please enjoy our conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (01:26) – (First question) – Companies that are built for the next disruption (1:32) – The End of the Beginning (9:58) – Aggregation Theory and the Smiling Curve (13:18) – Steps to creating an aggregator (19:46) – Pattern of successful aggregators or luck? (24:34) – How aggregators interact with suppliers and consumers (30:49) – Taking on other aggregators (34:09) – Platform vs aggregator in the scope of Shopify vs Amazon/Walmart (40:55) – The Moat Map (46:16) – Value chain thinking and profitable business models (51:58) – Future of media and independent content creator’s vs bundles (56:07) – Bundling independent creators (1:00:37) – The infrastructure layer of technology and software companies (1:02:35) – His thoughts on gaming platforms (1:06:13) – The atoms vs the bits in the tech world (1:12:18) – What he’s learned from covering Netflix (1:13:46) – Kindest thing anyone has done for Ben (1:15:56) – Stratechery Podcast Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, May 26, 2020
Shishir Mehrotra – The Art and Science of the Bundle - [Invest Like the Best, EP.175]
My guest today is Shishir Mehrotra and the topic of our conversation is the bundle: offering access to multiple products, services, or providers for a single bundled price. This topic is full of incorrect pre-conceived notions, and as it turns out, the bundle is one of the most powerful ideas in business. Properly harnessed it is good for everyone involved. Shishir explains the ins and outs of bundles in this conversation. Shishir ran product at YouTube for years and sits on the Spotify board of directors. He founded and now leads Coda (which is “A Doc” spelled backwards) in 2014, to bundle together productivity apps like docs, spreadsheets, databases, and applications. I love this wonky, detailed conversation which has me thinking differently about many businesses and business strategy. Please enjoy. This episode is brought to by Koyfin . For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (2:08) – (First question) – The arc of his career (3:32) – Why he has an interest in bundling (7:45) – The concepts of superfan, casualfan, and nonfan businesses (11:05) – Using Spotify as an example of bundles (13:24) – The first myth of bundling: Bundling is bad for consumers (17:53) – The second myth of bundling: 1st vs 3rd party providers and the bundlers (23:03) – Low usage but high Marginal Churn Contribution (MCC) business (24:26) – How insurance fits into these models (26:37) – Myth 3 of bundling: How this impacts consumers (32:12) – How marginal costs play into the thinking of bundling (34:54) – Myth 4: Bundling things that have nothing to do with each other (39:51) – How bundling companies can apply this into their product development (43:21) – Strategic advice to companies building bundles (49:01) – How price and pricing power play into advantages for certain bundlers (54:16) – How does bundling play into his investing thesis (56:47) – Most interesting bundles he’s observed (58:44) – Eigenquestions: The Art of Framing Problems (59:14) – What the future of this trend is (1:02:24) – What is an eigenquestion (1:06:29) – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sig
Tue, May 19, 2020
Hamilton Helmer – Power + Business - [Invest Like the Best, EP.174]
My guest today is Hamilton Helmer, the Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Strategy Capital and the author of one of the best business books in history called 7 Powers, which is the topic of much of our conversation.
Tue, May 12, 2020
Tobi Lutke – Building a Modern Business - [Invest Like the Best, EP.173]
My guest today is Tobi Lutke, the co-founder, and CEO of Shopify. This is both a timely and evergreen conversation. Timely, as the world as moved aggressively digital in the past two months, and Shopify powers so much of digital commerce. Evergreen, because while we touch on Covid and the Shopify business, this is much more a conversation on business and personal principles, learning, design, and growth. Tobi is one of the CEO’s I look up to most for the type of company he is building and for the way he conducts himself. We discuss business focus, why video games help you learn the power of attention, what design means for products and organizations, and much more. Please enjoy my conversation with Tobi Lutke. This episode is brought to you by the MIT investment management company (MITIMCO) Reach out or learn more: Email: partner@mitimco.org Website: https://mitimco.org/partner/ MITIMCo 10 year Letter: https://mitimco.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/MITIMCo-Alumni-Letter.pdf MITIMCo brochure: https://mitimco.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/MITIMCo-Brochure_web_2018-12-05.pdf For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (2:35) – (First question) – The launch of the new Shopify shop app (2:44) – Daniel Ek Podcast Episode (2:45) – Jeff Lawson Podcast Episode (4:56) – Having the right focus and growing a good business (9:06) – Marketplace business model vs the merchant driven business model 9:16 – Bill Gurley Podcast Appea
Tue, May 05, 2020
Ali Hamed – An Update on Private Credit - [Invest Like the Best, EP.172]
My guest today is popular past guest Ali Hamed, who joins us for an update on private credit. We discuss what has happened so far, what parts of the market are frozen, and where opportunities may lie. We also talk about how the world has shifted digitally since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Please enjoy my conversation with my friend Ali Hamed. This episode is brought to by Koyfin . For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (1:41) – (First question) – World of private credit in the pandemic age (4:50) – Bag of uncertainty (6:27) – Important levers in private credit (9:15) – Scary scenarios and systemic risks in this world (13:21) – General trends in the credit data (15:30) – Are investors factoring government response properly (17:02) – Defining advanced rates (20:18) – Focus on quality vs rate of return now (22:26) – Pockets of opportunity as uncertainty declines (26:06) – Online ecommerce platforms, like the YouTube economy (29:40) – Non advertising driven ecommerce platforms (31:54) – How venture capital is responding (38:19) – How junior debt could be am opportunity (40:17) – Trends he’s thinking about; redefining small businesses (43:07) – Ali Hamed Podcast Episode Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Thu, April 30, 2020
Chris Bloomstran - An Update on Public Markets - [Invest Like the Best, EP.171]
My guest today for a flash update is Chris Bloomstran, the founder and CIO of Semper Augustus and a popular past guest on the show. We talk about his view on the state of the public equity market, why it will be hard for the market to deliver great returns for the next decade relative to the last, and where opportunities may lie. Please enjoy. This episode is brought to by Koyfin . For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (1:42) – (First question) – Adjustments to his portfolio in the age of a pandemic (6:41) – Chris Bloomstran Podcast Episode (9:36) – The Federal Reserve Act (12:32) – Surprising action in the markets during the crisis (13:08) – 2020 Investment Letter (15:02) – Why we won’t see the same performance in tech over the future as we’ve seen the last decade (21:00) – The carnage in energy sector and return potential (30:06) – Berkshires activity since the crisis started (35:48) – Where sectors are valued in the current market (41:12) – Expectation for deflation over inflation (48:54) – Characteristics to look for in businesses to own over the next 10 years (52:05) – Economic factors they are focusing on Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, April 28, 2020
Josh Kopelman - The Past, Present, And Future Of Seed Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.170]
My guest today is Josh Kopelman, the founder of famed venture capital firm First Round Capital. Prior to starting First Round, which has invested at the earliest stages in companies like Square, Uber, and Roblox, Josh was a three-time entrepreneur, so our conversation spans early-stage investing, business building, and entrepreneurship. I’ll not sure forget his analogy distinguishing between navigators and cartographers, nor the rest of the interesting ideas he shared after seeing and investing in so many great businesses. We also discuss how First Round has bucked the trend to build what I’d call a platform adjacent to the core investing business which does a lot for their entrepreneurs and is a model for other professional investing firms, both in venture and elsewhere. Please enjoy my conversation with Josh Kopelman. This episode is brought to by Koyfin . For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (2:05) – (First question) – How pandemic has impacted their investing strategies (3:54) – How this stressful environment impacts founders (6:23) – His early career as a founder and how startup culture has changed (10:15) – Most important lessons from his entrepreneurial career and building from just an idea (11:50) – How to analyze a founder (14:05) – Common disagreements when it comes to deciding on an investment (15:33) – How many opportunities they evaluate in a meeting (16:16) – The curvy road to their investment in Roadblox (17:52) – Whether the concept for a platform is overused (19:36) – Founders asking what google search they should build on (20:46) – Solving existing or forecasted problems (25:39) – How the startup scene is impacted by the huge legacy tech companies (30:28) – What makes a great early stage investor (32:19) – Do they focus on founders or themes (33:19) – Where will valuations and returns come back to after the pandemic (36:30) – How are business models evolving in technology entrepreneurship (36:31) – Matt Clifford Podcast Episode (39:40) – The Dorm Room Fund (43:02) – Whether investment funds should have their own platform (47:31) – Product mistakes in software building (51:52) – What he’s most excited about for the future (54:05) – The kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn More
Tue, April 21, 2020
Manny Stotz - Frontier Markets Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.169]
My guest today is Manny Stotz, the founder of Kingsway Capital . Manny is one of the leading investors in Frontier Markets, investing in equities in countries like Egypt, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. We discuss the opportunity in these markets from all angles: demographics, valuations, sectors and beyond. It is important to note that we recorded this conversation before COVID, and these markets have fallen 30% without a similar rebound in prices that we’ve seen in the U.S. As you listen you’ll hear why this may be relevant for the companies Manny focuses on and may accentuate the opportunity in Frontier Markets even relative to the numbers quoted in this conversation. Listeners will know my interest in Frontier Markets runs deep, so I was excited to have one of the categories leading investors join me. Please enjoy my conversation with Manny Stotz. This episode is brought to by Koyfin . For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:07 – (First question) – How Kingsway was conceived, their focus on frontier emerging markets, and his career path 11:57 – What are the best company builders good at when it comes to fostering a brand 18:30 – How country-specific factors impact the tailwind 25:43 – How markets are faring in these special circumstances 32:09 – Building a book in many of the markets they trade-in 37:10 – Understanding your edge in frontier markets, showing up 39:59 – Importance of solid distribution for the companies he invests in 42:12 – Concentration in various markets 44:10 – Moving beyond consumer brands in these markets 47:14 – Some of the most interesting countries they are looking into and the country business model 47:42 – Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies 47:44 – Civilization: The West and the Rest 47:46 – Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty 53:21 – New topics he’s excited to learn about that will impact his business over the next 10-20 years 55:37 – Best way for people to get involved and invest in thes
Tue, April 07, 2020
Sarah Tavel - Consumer & Marketplace Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.168]
My guest this week is Sarah Tavel, a general partner at Benchmark, working alongside past guests Bill Gurley and Chetan Puttagunta . Sarah has a long history as both an investor and as an operator. She was an early product leader at Pinterest before joining Benchmark. Sarah has become one of my go-to resources for topics like networks, consumer technology, and marketplaces among many other topics. I’ve used her framework for how to think about client engagement, company data, and marketplace liquidity and quality over and over again in my business life. I’m so excited to finally have her on the show. Please enjoy our conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:24 – (First question) - Lessons learned from watching the food delivery space 5:44 – Hip camp and how they are thinking about the space rental sector 5:45 - The a16z Marketplace 100 7:47 – Valuing private companies vs public companies 9:37 – Building marketplaces 14:24 – Tipping a market 14:30 – Bill Gurley Podcast Episode 18:09 – How to incorporate reputation scores into a network 19:55 – Search ranking as a tool for marketplaces 21:00 – Size of marketplaces vs their competitors 22:15 – Niching of marketplaces 22:21 - Chetan Puttagunta Podcast Episode 23:26 – State of the consumer social sector 27:50 – The LinkedIn problem and how she would build a social platform 30:42 – Things that are piquing her interest in the consumer space 32:20 – Lessons learned about scaling while working at Pinterest 38:42 – Pricing and the marketplace 41:25 – Identifying and optimizing a Core Action in a digital business 44:18 – Accruing benefits and mounting losses as part of the product design 47:48 – Her investment in Reci 52:18 – How should companies gather the best data from their business 56:03 – Lessons to SaaS investing 56:29 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Sarah 57:45 – Most interesting philosophy lesson 58:09 – Creating a Ki
Sun, April 05, 2020
[BONUS] Boyd Varty - 40 Days and 40 Nights
In the midst of the worldwide quarantine, my friend Boyd Varty decided to begin an adventure he has been considering for a long time: a 40 day and 40 night stay in the African wilderness. I’m releasing this short conversation with Boyd to pique your interest in his daily dispatches. He will be taking short audio journal-like recordings and sharing them with the world as he goes. As of today they are several that you can listen to by subscribing to the Track Your Life podcast on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please enjoy this short chat with my good friend Boyd Varty. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (0:31) – The start of his 40-day trip (1:42) – Origin of the word quarantine and how it led to this journey (3:07) – History of this idea (6:14) – The logistics of this 40-day venture (9:59) – His experience doing this before and how it changed his psyche (12:07) – What is he most fearful of (13:22) – How he feels about sharing this experience when he returns (15:47) – The mental preparation to this journey (15:48) – Priya Parker Podcast Episode (15:49) – The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters (17:33) – How can outsiders make a connection to Boyd while he’s in this isolation (19:55) – How can people actually follow him on this journey (20:23) – Track Your Life with Boyd Varty Podcast – Apple Podcasts | Spotify (20:33) – Instagram - @boyd_varty (20:36) – boydvarty.com (20:43) – 40daysand40nights.com (21:05) – The story of the 17 lions Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Thu, April 02, 2020
Gavin Baker – Investing Through a Bear Market - [Invest Like the Best, EP.167]
My guest today is with past guest Gavin Baker, the founder and CIO of Atreides Management, LP. We discuss investing during a bear market and the major ways in which the COVID19 outbreak has dramatically altered the investment landscape. Please enjoy my second conversation with Gavin Baker. This episode is brought to by Koyfin . For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (1:40) – How he sees the markets right now (3:06) – How he handles information uncertainty and the value spreads (5:53) – Trading in today’s market and the volatility (9:45) – How the economic activity squares with the amount of stimulus being pumped into the market (13:11) – Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders (13:56) – Asset tests for individual companies in this environment (19:09) – This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly (20:45) – His take on software companies during the crisis (28:57) – Fast pace of change during extreme times of duress (35:14) – Space as a service (39:52) – Attention and time inside digital universes and how investors can take advantage (46:17) – Why chaos is a ladder (50:42) – It Was a Very Good Year: Extraordinary Moments in Stock Market History Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, March 31, 2020
D.A. Wallach – Investing in Healthcare - [Invest Like the Best, EP.166]
My guest today is D.A. Wallach, one of the more interesting investors I’ve come across. He is the former lead singer of the group Chester French and the former artist-in-residence at Spotify, where he was also an early investor. While he’s also an early investor in companies like SpaceX, his focus the last 5 years has been on early stage health care investing, which is the topic of this conversation. We discuss the entire life sciences and heath care investing ecosystem. This was recorded in the very early days of the Coronavirus outbreak so while we touch on it briefly it isn’t the primary focus, and I intend on returning to more traditional episodes like this one in the coming weeks, meant to be evergreen conversations. Please enjoy my conversation with D.A. Wallach. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:31 – (First question) – Where is interest in healthcare started 4:04 – How to categorize health services 5:13 – The product of medicine 6:56 – How medicine is changing in 2020 10:17 – What is enabling innovation in medicine 12:41 – Manufacturing of solutions, gene therapy example 17:16 – Using CRISPR 19:47 – Pros and cons, and the morality of gene intervention 23:44 – How progress is being made in medical breakthroughs 26:51 – What is the business and investment world seeing on the longevity side 30:15 – What is next in the wearable medical tracking trend 33:04 – The personalization of medical treatments 34:31 – How he thinks about all of this from an investing standpoint 36:37 – Exiting these companies 39:41 – How he thinks about founders in this space 42:35 – Drug prices 42:46 – The Paradox of Pricing 46:45 – What will lead to a change in the pricing of drugs 49:05 – The delivery side of healthcare 51:09 – Investments that could improve the delivery side of healthcare 53:33 – Thoughts on the anti-interventionist line of thinking in the medical world 57:50 – Lessons from his health portfolio 1:02:33 – Other frontiers that pique his interest, including gut biome 1:06:46 – His career in music 1:08:20 – Lessons he learned during his time in the music industry 1:10:19 – Opportunities in the music industry as an investor 1:12:29 – Kindest thing anyone has done for DA Learn More</
Wed, March 25, 2020
Chad Cascarilla – Update on Tail Risk - [Invest Like the Best, EP.165]
My guest today is Chad Cascarilla, here to discuss some of the tail risks in the economy and markets as of March 24th in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic. Chad was one of the most successful investors during the global financial crisis with a specialty in the banking and finance systems. He now runs Paxos, a trust company which trades and custodies unique products like pax gold, bitcoin, and other tokenized assets including simple pax dollars. I feel it is important to avoid confirmation bias in times like this and not just talk to people are optimistic or long, and while I still believe this is ultimately a positive and optimistic conversation, Chad acknowledges and outlines scenarios that few are talking about yet in the markets. This episode is brought to by Koyfin . For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (2:04) – (First question) – Today’s market and the porridge scenario (7:38) – Risks to the market that people aren’t focused on (10:54) – What lessons from 2008 do we need to heed this time (13:07) – How does he think about inflation on the other side of this crisis (16:02) – What does a too cold recovery look like (20:35) – Benefits of nationalizing the banks vs pumping liquidity (24:13) – What does the just right recovery look like (25:24) – Assets that might be ideal to hold in a too hot or too cold scenario (29:00) – His take on how Bitcoin has performed during this crisis (31:53) – The US’s inherent strengths compared to the rest of the global economy (34:50) – Advice for people (38:59) – Paxos.com (39:48) – What is he monitoring to see which way things shake out Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Fri, March 20, 2020
Brent Beshore – Update on Small Business and Private Equity - [Invest Like the Best, EP.164]
My conversation today is with my close friend Brent Beshore. Brent is a private equity investor who owns and interacts with many small businesses, which have been hit especially hard by COVID. We discuss the various impacts that COVID has had and may have on both small business and the private equity investing community. Brent also proposes some policy actions which he thinks may help those most in need. Please enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:13 – (First question) – What Brent sees as the current landscape for small businesses 3:25 – The real problem for small businesses right now 6:02 – How long can small businesses survive these freezes 9:14 – Ideas to help businesses stay afloat during a global shutdown 11:01 – The cost of restarting businesses on the other side of this 13:41 – Policies that could help 14:30 – government co-paying some business expenses 16:05 – Suspending payroll taxes 16:17 – The small business bond 18:00 – Wider latitude for banks 20:03 – How effective would Brent’s ideas actually be at lessening the pain 22:41 – A look at how things look in the private equity complex 25:39 – What are the potential opportunities out there 29:24 – What is a balance sheet product 32:00 – How this is personally impacting Brent 34:20 – How this is personally impacting Patrick 35:45 – Importance of relationships for personal health Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Mon, March 16, 2020
Dan Rasmussen – Investing Through a Crisis - [Invest Like the Best, EP.163]
My guest this morning is Dan Rasmussen of Verdad Capital. Like me, Dan and his firm focus on quantitative research. Just a month before the COVID crisis hit markets, they completely and published a study on investing during periods of market crisis, which is the topic of this conversation. We discuss what works and what doesn’t during and after acute periods of panic in markets. I think you’ll find it extremely informative. Because Dan’s firm and my own share many beliefs about investing and conduct similar flavors of research, I try to offer devil’s advocate questions throughout. Please enjoy. This episode is brought to by Koyfin . For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:54 – (First question) – What he sees in the markets today given the atmosphere right now 4:26 – An overview of their study: Crisis Investing: How to Maximize Return During Market Panics 8:38 – How things get more predictable during crisis 11:15 – The length of these crises and assets they focused on 12:40 – What happens to bonds and credit during these times 15:50 – Geography of crises 18:14 – How does this impact the philosophy of just index investing 20:40 – Positioning of value in this market 27:50 – Lessons from other crises 32:21 – Importance of a blended factor approach 35:44 – Role of momentum 38:10 – What else he is paying attention to during this crisis Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Fri, March 13, 2020
Bill Gurley and Chetan Puttagunta – An Update on Consumer & Enterprise Venture Capital - [Invest Like the Best, EP.162]
My guests today are Bill Gurley and Chetan Puttagunta, both partners at benchmark capital. We review the early stage investing world in the face of coronavirus in a very timely conversation, which is one that will remain valuable once this crisis is done. We discuss enterprise and consumer, funding and growth, and the entrepreneurial spirit in the face of a crisis. Please enjoy. This episode is brought to by Koyfin . For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:44 – (First question) – Landscape for venture capital ecosystem 6:47 – The experience in 2009 and the entrepreneurs that tend to rise to the top 8:24 – The relationship between early stage companies and public investors 10:45 – How this crisis impacts enterprise businesses vs the broader corporate sector 14:46 – Advice for early stage companies in a period like this 18:23 – What Chetan was doing during the last downturn and what he learned during it 20:27 – Early stage vs late stage companies in this environment 22:57 – On the Road to Recap 23:00 – Benefits of being small in a period like this 25:22 – How portfolio companies are responding and pivoting during this period 29:33 – Best practices for remote companies 31:39 – Themes that stand out during this period 34:51 – Closing thoughts Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Fri, March 13, 2020
Bryan Krug – An Update on Corporate Credit - [Invest Like the Best, EP.161]
My guest in this flash podcast is Bryan Krug of Artisan partners. We discuss what has happened so far in the corporate high yield and investment-grade credit markets, and the loan market. We compare today’s environment to the financial crisis and other past crises with lots of nuances that I hope will be helpful to bond and equity investors. Please enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:08 – (First question) – An overview of what he covers in the corporate credit markets 1:52 – How things have changed in the last couple of weeks 3:56 – Composition of the high yield market 7:07 – Major sectors of the high yield market outside of energy 8:39 – How do they price the risk in securities right now 11:21 – How do they handicap a great unknown 13:00 – Risk for broader contagion in the overall credit markets 14:49 – What’s the downside potential here 16:31 – Potential for upside 18:33 – How does he view companies that are drawing down on their entire line of credit 19:44 – An overview of the loan market 20:42 – What warning signs equity investors should be watching for in the bond markets 21:57 – What do credit spreads look like today compared to before this crisis Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Wed, March 11, 2020
Deep Basin – Oil Price War and Its Implications - [Invest Like the Best, EP.160]
This week, I’ll be recording and immediately releasing a series of conversations on business and market reactions to the spread of coronavirus. The conversations will be on oil and gas, corporate credit, and the reaction within the venture capital community. Today’s conversation is with Matt Smith, Ian Singer, and Kobi Platt of Deep Basin Capital. We are investors in Deep Basin, and they were past guests on the podcast . We discuss the new price war in the oil markets and the impact it might have on equities and especially on U.S. oil producers. Please enjoy. This episode is brought to by Koyfin . For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:59 – (First question) – An overview of the global oil market and demand 3:37 – Supply and demand shocks we’ve seen lately 6:22 – What happened this weekend with Russia and Saudi Arabia and why the outcome was so shocking 9:45 – The knock-on effects of this activity on equities 14:24 – Impact on US energy production 18:29 – What other industries will feel the effect of reduced production in the US 20:35 – Defining a price war and how victory is defined 27:53 – Saudi Arabia’s calculus in this energy fight. 31:11 – How does all of this change what factors they use to analyze companies 35:43 – What it actually looks like within the commodities markets to trade energy 40:01 – What uncertainty is most intriguing to each of them 43:00 – The long-term interest in investing in the energy sector Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, March 10, 2020
Peter Zeihan - Dis-United Nations - [Invest Like the Best, EP.159]
My guest this week is Peter Zeihan, the author of a new book, the Disunited Nations . Peter was an extremely popular guest on the show last year and after reading his new book, I knew we had a lot to discuss in round 2. In this conversation, we discuss two ways of ruling the world, the coming American disinterest in global affairs, and which country are poised to do well int eh future. We explore military and non-military technologies, political changes, and up and coming alliances like that between the United States and Mexico. As with last time, peter packs more information into an hour than just about anybody. Please enjoy our conversation. This episode is brought to by Koyfin . For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:57 – (First question) – What makes for a successful country 6:02 – Five first-tier countries that are well positioned 7:14 – Ruling the world, US carrot model vs British stick model 9:39 – How other countries will use these models in the future 12:59 – The surprising reliance of Iran and Russia on the US 15:24– Key points of his research on the Middle East 18:36 – Advice for how those operating in the US should think about future business investments 23:05 – The future of manufacturing partnerships with the US and the focus on Mexico 27:30 – What Coronavirus has taught us about the world economy 30:01 – What the primaries and election are teaching us 35:09 – What role does Africa play in the future 38:36 – Strong and weak players in Europe and how Brexit has impacted things 44:41 – The future for nuclear power 46:27 – The outlook for South America 50:42 – The trends and future in military technology 55:03 – Non-military technology that will have a major impact 58:26 – Skills young people should focus on for the future 1:00:07 – Coronavirus as a dress rehearsal for large scale disruptions to the world Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at <a href= "https://twitter.com/p
Tue, March 03, 2020
Jeff Lawson – How to Build a Platform - [Invest Like the Best, EP.158]
My guest this week is Jeff Lawson, the Founder, and CEO of Twilio. Twilio is a 15-billion-dollar company offering a cloud communications platform to its customers. Twilio is used by customers like Lyft, Twitch, and Yelp to make communications in their products easy. Jeff and I talk about why it pays to be a platform, how to be a platform, and how to sculpt a company culture. This is a must-listen for anyone building a business whether it’s a tech business or not. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:18 – (First Question) – Company vowels and draw the owl 5:26 – Significance of API’s 12:14 – How non-software businesses can transition into the space 17:50 - Agile way of working at ING Belgium (video) 18:38 – How they strategize their product build 23:27 – The idea of asking your developer and why it’s so important to them 33:02 – How they codified their business culture 45:12 – Parting advice for people building platforms 48:13 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Jeff Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, February 25, 2020
Niko Canner – Become a Perfect Instrument - [Invest Like the Best, EP.157]
Niko Canner is the founder of Incandescent where he and his team help the leaders of large companies in the areas of strategy and innovation. He was also the founder of Katzenbach Partners and a member of Bridgewater’s management committee. Niko is a fantastic writer, and I highly recommend you check out his blog “ On Human Enterprise ,” which has posts on many of the most interesting aspects of business and personal purpose. This conversation was inspired by many of those posts. Please enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:17 – (First Question) – The story of Doctor V 3:24 – Aravind and the Choice of Great Achievement 4:00 – Becoming the perfect instrument 6:05 – What is Niko planning to be the perfect instrument of 8:18 – How should individuals think about finding what they can be the perfect instrument of 8:59 – Brett Victor – Inventing on Principle 10:59 – How do businesses apply this principle 13:20 – Making choices easier 16:43 – Era’s to a company and when it’s time to start a new one 19:52 – How can business culture be cultivated and useful 22:53 – Cultures at the tail end of a distribution 24:33 – Can hierarchy be fluid, or does it need to be a dedicated corporate structure 27:47 – My Unlikeliest Favorite Business Book 28:03 – The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: It's Not About the Money...It's About Being the Best You Can Be! 30:46 – The Red Test and how it can be used by businesses 36:54 - Ten Principles for How to Run a Company 42:25 – Dealing with the sponsor owner brief in the software world 45:24 – How does one choose customers 46:32 – Bill Hubbard passage – A Theory for Practice: Architecture in Three Discourses 49:09 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Niko Learn Mo
Tue, February 04, 2020
[REPLAY] What You Learn About Business Deals After: 12,000 Deals Reviewed, 1,500 Deep Dives, 125 Site Visits, and 7 Portfolio Companies with Brent Beshore - [Invest Like the Best, EP.100]
For the 100th episode, I’ve brought back my good friend Brent Beshore. Brent was the 10th guest on the podcast, after we met because of a mutual interest in capital allocation. I quickly learned that Brent was one of the most unique and thoughtful investors around. He was an entrepreneur from the moment he left school, trying many different things before finding a fit buying smaller business with the intention of owning them forever. What amazes me about Brent is his encyclopedic understanding of business and the nuances of different business models and deal structures. This comes from reps. He and his team have looked at about 12,000 deals over the years, at every kind of business that you could imagine. I’ve been with him when he goes through this process and it’s fun to hear what makes certain businesses stand out from others, which is largely the topic of this conversation. You all know transparency is key for me, so it’s important to know that my family and I are investors in a fund called permanent equity, run by Brent and his firm Adventure.es . To commemorate this milestone episode, I can think of no one better than Brent, because he exemplifies what has made this podcast so fun for me: learning from other people who are willing to share what they themselves have learned through fun, blood, sweat, and tears. Please enjoy our conversation, and thank you so much for coming along on this journey. I can’t tell you how much it means to me. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:02 - (First Question) – How does he think about optimizing risk in terms of the capital stack when looking at deals 5:27 – What conditions would they add debt down the road after investing in a company 6:52 – What business sectors are most intriguing for Morgan to invest in right now 6:57 – Trent Griffin Podcast 9:34 – Why no HVAC businesses if it’s such an attractive sector 13:56 – thoughts on rolling up similar businesses and horizontal scale 16:04 – Another industry Brent would focus on 18:02 – Difference between property management in larger cities vs smaller metro areas 18:51 – What role does profit margin play when Brent is evaluating a business 22:46 – The appeal of a hyper cyclical business 22:52 – Brent Beshore Podcast Episode 27:27 – Favorite counter cyclical busines
Tue, January 28, 2020
Chetan Puttagunta – Go Slow to Go Fast: Software Building and Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.156]
My guest this week is a good friend and a business mentor of mine. Chetan Puttagunta is a general partner at Benchmark Capital and has a remarkable track record of investing in early-stage software businesses, including several like Mulesoft, MongoDB, and Elastic that went on to be public companies. Chetan has been my key guide for understanding the world of enterprise software as we at O’Shaughnessy Asset Management have built an investing platform called Canvas. His advice has been critical to our early success. In this episode, we explore the history of software and software investing, and go into the details on how to build and grow new software businesses. We discuss product, sales and marketing, recruiting, scaling, and everything in between. Please enjoy this great conversation with one of my favorite business and investing thinkers. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:34 – (First Question) – How Chetan found MongoDB and decided to invest in it 8:01 – The evolution of databases in the growth of technology 16:19 – Market penetration of this space and what investors should be thinking about 21:46 – Advice how companies can build software effectively 25:12 – Tactics to effectively implement empathy led product building 30:33 – Companies asking users what to build vs telling users what they want 34:26 – The need for the right capital, and patient capital in particular 37:55 – Creating the perfect customer experience 44:37 – Common reasons they don’t invest in a company 48:48 – Lessons on scaling, especially in sales and marketing 52:47 – Best recruiting pipeline strategies 59:56 – Pitfalls of unit economic traps 1:00:23 – The Dangerous Seduction of the Lifetime Value (LTV) Formula 1:01:34– The Hierarchy of Engagement 1:02:18 – What has changed for Chetan in his time working with the team at Benchmark 1:06:009 – Later stage life cycle business considerations and Amazon’s AWS 1:13:29 – The business model of open-source software 1:15:54 – Being default open 1:17:53 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Chetan Learn More For more episodes go to <a href= "http://investorfieldguide.com/pod
Tue, January 21, 2020
Rebecca Kaden – Thesis Driven Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.155]
My guest today is Rebecca Kaden, a partner at famed venture firm union square ventures. USV is known for thesis-driven investing, which is the topic of our conversation. Rebecca walks us through the evolution of USV’s thesis into its third generation, and from there we explore many of the most interesting and exciting areas of business, technology, and learning. Please enjoy our conversation For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:11 – (First Question) – An overview of Union Square Ventures Thesis 3.0 7:49 – Core changes that can help any community 9:59 – Ways to fix the broken education system 13:41 – Gap between job preparedness and the education system 14:44 – Companies creating education systems to prepare people for careers in their field 18:49 – Most unique technological solution for people to educate themselves 22:00 – Ways to improve access to capital 26:49 – The distribution problem in capital markets 28:19 – How does she assess an early-stage company and its team’s ability to assess their ability to maximize distribution 30:56 – Digital marketing and why it could be broken 34:22 – Examples of masterful marketing 36:07 – How they are focused on improving wellbeing, their first focus on healthcare 39:35 – Wellbeing on their focus on community 41:29– The Art of Community: Seven Principles for Belonging 45:30 – Her thoughts on mentorship 48:23 – What she has learned in her time at USV 51:50 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Rebecca Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, January 14, 2020
Matt Clifford – Investing Pre-Company - [Invest Like the Best, EP.154]
My guest today is Matt Clifford. He’s the co-founder of Entrepreneur First, the world’s leading talent investor. They invest “pre-company” by helping the best people in cities around the world find a co-founder, develop an idea, and start a company. So far, they’ve helped 1000 people start 200 companies worth a combined $1.5B. This conversation covers their entire ecosystem and holds lessons for anyone building a business. I especially loved Matt’s ideas on the history of ambition. Please enjoy our conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:20 – (First Question) – An overview on talent investing 4:37 – The history of ambition 10:08 – How do they search for ambitious people 12:21 – What happens early on for these formed teams 17:43 – Assigning an idea to a talented team 20:52 – Opportunities in deep technology 27:16 – A closer look at the hardware and machinery of the deep technology changes 30:54 – The geographical focus of venture capital investments 37:16 – Problems with the way early-stage investment world works 41:22 – People who are creating value in a management company and how they manage their investments 55:12 – Advice to people creating investment companies and pricing power 1:00:31 – The power of cities 1:02:46 – Topics they cover in their newsletter; technological sovereignty as one example 1:04:11 – Experience and thoughts on China 1:06:51 – A.I. Nationalism 1:12:03 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Matt Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, January 07, 2020
Peter Buffett – Finding Your Note - [Invest Like the Best, EP.153]
My guest today is Peter Buffett. Peter is a musician, composer, author, and philanthropist. Peter is an Emmy Award winner, New York Times best-selling author and co-chair of the NoVo Foundation. We discuss music, community, philanthropy, and finding one's note in life. This is a very different episode much more about life in general, with no business or investing discussed. Like his father Warren, Peter has the gene for phrasing ideas in memorable ways, and I think you’ll find many great phrases in this chat that will stick with you. I’ve been thinking about Peter's idea making sure those in your life are safe, seen, and celebrated ever since our chat. Please enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:27 - (First Question) – Welcome and small talk 1:35 – Why Peter is in Kingston and how it plays into his foundation work 4:01 – How moving from the city to the country changed Peter 6:27 – Seeing connections vs living abstractions 7:30 – What is the Nova Foundation 11:03 – Historical points that inform his views 13:51 – Identifying qualitative negative side effects and which ones they are attacking 17:51 – What makes for effective community 20:22 – Linkage between consumption and individualism 23:55 – The cultivation of work ethic, curiosity, and education 23:57 – Life Is What You Make It: Find Your Own Path to Fulfillment 27:22 – Early exploration of his curiosity 32:26 – What has music taught Peter about music that is unique to that experience 34:26 – Most memorable question a person has asked Peter at his concert and conversation series 36:46 – What makes for good relationships, in particular marriage 42:03 – What keeps people from putting in the work into a relationship 45:11 – What he has learned about being a good friend 46:29 – How does one person have a relationship with a large community 49:21 – Dark sides of the philanthropic world 49:54 – The Charitable-Industrial Complex 53:21 – Dignity: Seeking Respect in Back Row America 55:55 – What one spot would he send everyone to learn 57:48 – Traum
Tue, December 17, 2019
Ben Savage – All Things Fintech Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.152]
My guest today is Ben Savage, a partner at Clocktower ventures. Ben is focused on financial technology, fintech, investing which is the topic of our conversation. I’ve been making the fintech is rounds of late, and plan on making a few of these conversations public. Ben is the first in what may be a mini-series because of the sheer amount I learned in our discussion. We cover all aspects of the fintech ecosystem. I hope you enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:15 (First Question) – The market portfolio and how technology will move us away from liquid markets 7:24 – Businesses that are making assets that weren’t investable, investable 9:11 – Ryan Caldbeck Podcast Episode 12:03 – Most interesting places where technology is creating investment opportunities 18:33 – Assets that are likely to tap into new sources of beta 23:46 – How well are investors prepared for the changes that are coming 28:35 – Trends in asset management with technology 33:05 – View on cryptocurrency and blockchain 36:45 – Places where startups can reduce costs/fees and create efficiencies 40:17 – Views on private equity markets and their future 45:40 – Privilege of access problem 48:50 – Verticals in fintech that are interesting to him 59:53 – The importance of focus and niche 1:02:26 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Ben Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, December 10, 2019
Jeff Ma – Making Decisions with Data - [Invest Like the Best, EP.151]
My guest this week is Jeff Ma. Jeff was on the famous MIT Blackjack team from the book Bringing Down the House but has spent his career in an around fields of analytics and data science. He’s studied sports betting and analytics, built companies for analyzing human capital, and ran the data science and analytics group at Twitter. Here are links to his book , blog , and podcast . Our discussion is about a number of fascinating ways data is being used to make decisions in the worlds of sports and business. Please enjoy! For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:20 - (First Question) – How quantitative analytics have evolved in sports and how they’re being used 4:26 – Best role of humans in the analysis process 8:38 – Sports that are most interesting to observe through analytics 10:26 – How does luck play into sports analysis 11:54 – Team analytics vs better analytics 12:38 – Concentration of success among sports betters and their moats 14:58 – Favorite lessons learned from professional gamblers 16:45 – How analytics got introduced into gambling 19:21 – Understanding one’s own biases 24:04 – How he became VP of analytics at Twitter 28:37 – Primary lessons from the work evaluating human capital and talent with analytics 28:59 – Niel Roberson Podcast Episode 31:40 – How to model people for success when hiring 33:29 – How to hire the right data scientists’ team 37:54 – Most interesting problems they tackled at twitter 42:31 – Responsibility of social platforms to police itself 45:34 – Areas that would interest him in the future as an investor 49:24 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Jeff 51:50 – Values instilled in him by his parents. Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at <a href= "http://investorfieldguide.co
Tue, December 03, 2019
Vaughn Tan – Quality and Innovation - [Invest Like the Best, EP.150]
My guest today is Vaughn Tan, who studies quality, innovation, and organizational behavior. His resume is bonkers. He’s a PhD from Harvard, Was an infantry signals logistician in the Republic of Singapore Army, then worked at Google on advertising, Earth , Maps , spaceflight , and Fusion Tables . He’s also been a wood sculptor. But the topic of our conversation is how to foster quality and innovation in ourselves and inside of companies—lessons he learned in part by studying inside some of the world’s best restaurants. If you enjoy this conversation, I recommend you also check out his new book, The Uncertainty Mindset Innovation Insights from the Frontiers of Food . Please enjoy my conversation with Vaughn Tan. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:33 - (First Question) – Interesting ways to identify high quality 5:06 – The current problem with the way we think about the world 8:56 – How people think about their careers and college 11:21 – Uncertainty vs risk, and productive discomfort 19:08 – Cultivation of discomfort for an individual 24:05 – Successful innovation cultures 32:25 – Analyzing quality and restaurant bread 37:43 – The Slug idea 40:43 – His research project where he observed restaurants 45:44 – How do people mandate their own structure in the face of uncertainty 53:46 – How employees should approach this rent-to-buy hiring structure 57:17 – Example of someone who took advantage of uncertainty time 1:00:05 – Playful adults 1:00:07 – Jerry Neumann Podcast Episode 1:03:10 – Other changes companies can make to their culture to be more innovative 1:08:19 – The difference between simplicity and complexity 1:11:12 – How he applies his thinking into several different ideas, like Cannabis 1:16:17 – Asking the right question 1:19:05 – Andy Rachleff Podcast Episode 1:20:19 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Vaughn Learn More <p
Tue, November 26, 2019
Gavin Baker – Tech and Consumer Growth Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.149]
My guest this week is Gavin Baker, the founder, and manager of Atreides Management. I met Gavin in the same way I meet many of the most interesting people, on twitter. His focus is on consumer and technology growth investing, which is the topic of our conversation. We discuss many of the largest trends in these sectors, several fascinating investment cases, and also explore the videogame industry in detail—which I found especially interesting. Please enjoy my conversation with Gavin Baker. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:16 – (first question) – His unique view on the markets 4:00 – Distilling Apple as a growth investment 6:44 – What is the most important lever for Apple looking forward 9:01 – His view on Intel 11:03 – Most important technological changes that may dictate his investing strategy 16:20 – How do you look at a big idea, like AR, and then apply to an individual business 18:21 – Fortnite isn't a game, it's a place 18:26– Fortnite Is the Future, but Probably Not for the Reasons You Think 18:56 – His insight into video games and their ability to control attention 28:36 – How do you invest in the gaming sector 40:06 – Favorite video games 32:07 – Why gaming and customer sector allows him to find Alpha richness 34:17 – Being in the top 1% of knowledge before investing in a company 36:24 – His view on value investing today and, in the future, 41:15 – Increase of regulatory capture 42:01 – Headwinds to the tech companies today 43:50 – Thoughts on the Chinese internet market and how it impacts US markets 45:36 – How often companies look at China for ideas 46:21 – Role of alternative data in his process 49:36 – Big trends today we should be paying attention to 54:20 – the most interesting company he does not own 58:48 – Advice for new investors 1:00:17 – Non-obvious tech resources - TechMeme 1:00:50 – Favorite sci-fi character 1:01:19 – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor
Tue, November 19, 2019
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger – How to Build a Great Product
My guests this week are Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, the co-founders of Instagram. I met Kevin and Mike a few months ago over a shared interest in business and investing. I have found them both to be extremely good people who have a rare talent for finding and solving interesting problems. Indeed, problem-solving and jobs-to-be-done is a big part of our conversation. I realized walking into the podcast that Kevin and Mike have a rare set of experiences: having both built and sold an extremely successful product from scratch, but then also operated and scaled inside one of the largest businesses in the world. This means they have unique knowledge to offer just about anyone interested in business and products. We dig into all those lessons here. I am working on hosting more founders and CEOs on the podcast, and can’t think of a better pair to show you why I want to do so. Please enjoy my conversation with Kevin and Mike. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:38 – (first question) – Projects they’ve been working on since leaving Instagram 5:22 – How they can apply what they are learning in machine learning 7:18 – Most interesting experience diving back into data and machine learning 8:42 – How startups compare today to when they founded Instagram 13:23 – Judging founders and whether they know how to use their data effectively 14:26 – The jobs-to-be-done framework 19:14 – Laying out a vision vs solving problems that pop up 25:20 – Developing and sharing the principles of the company with the team 30:48 – Creating a community when it includes almost the entire world 39:03 – The most popular ways people used the platform 41:24 – What was the jobs-to-be-done rational behind the stories feature 44:15 – Interesting things that they saw as Instagram entered the developing world 46:40 – Their thoughts on how Instagram shaped culture and if they focused on those 52:58 – The new waves that they are observing right now 55:11 – How their thinking on leadership and teams changed during their time at Instagram and Facebook 1:03:23 – The pillars of a good business, including humility and confidence 1:06:06 – Focus on growth and distribution in a startup 1:10:01 – How early were they thinking about monetization on this free platform 1:13:43 – How do they think about how they invest their money and allocate resources 1:17:36 – Mentors for Kevin and Mike 1:2
Tue, November 12, 2019
Daniel Ek – The Future of Audio - [Invest Like the Best, EP.147]
My guest this week is Daniel Ek, the founder and CEO of Spotify. In my conversations with Daniel, I’ve found him to be one of the most interesting and thoughtful business leaders in the world. You’ll see what I mean as you listen to our conversation. We talk about Spotify plenty, but what I so enjoy about Daniel is his way of thinking in systems and frameworks. He is committed to evolution, innovation, and growth for both himself and for Spotify and is on my shortlist of CEOs to emulate. This was one of my favorite conversations on the podcast, I hope you enjoy it. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:21 – (first question) – Management lessons from a Dubai chocolate maker 4:54 – Trends shaping the business landscape today: globalization, automation, and digitation 7:51 – How he thinks about the vertical integration of his business and scale 10:37 – Are companies doing a good job adjusting to the changes in the global business landscape 14:44 – How does Spotify view scale moving forward 17:59 – What trends has he seen among creators as a result of the Spotify platform 20:32 – The community benefit that has been created by the platform 23:47 – Intimacy of audio 25:31 – Creating an environment that continues to spur innovation 29:12 – Star vs constellation business strategy 32:21 – Measuring network health 35:12 – Spotify Originals and what his competition in the video market is doing 39:36 – How podcasts play into the growth strategy 43:04 – How did he solve the problem of competing with free 47:21 – Is their strategy repeatable, going after fractured suppliers 49:02 – Role of the CEO in a startup 51:22 – Others who have taught him great business lessons 53:18 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Daniel Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, November 05, 2019
George Rzepecki – Investing in Africa - [Invest Like the Best, EP.146
My guest this week is George Rzepecki, the found and managing partner Raba, an Africa focused investment firm. George is making investments across Africa in early-stage companies. Africa represents a fascinating opportunity: a huge and diverse population and enormous room for per capita GDP growth. We cover all aspects of investing in the continent, including unique potential rewards and risks. Please enjoy our conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:18 – (first question) – Interest in emerging markets and the tech landscape in Africa 4:57 – Similarities across all of the different metro markets across Africa 8:05 – Why has the continent lagged behind the rest of the world 10:49 – What is the history and landscape of capital in the African continent 13:32 – The market opportunity given the demographics 15:44 – US investment/involvement in Africa 18:06 – Kinds of companies that he likes to invest in 23:26 – Initiatives and investments that could help lift the population out of poverty: finance 29:33 – The public marketplace landscape in Africa 31:49 – Capacity on the private side 34:24 – How the valuation of deals compares to other markets 36:13 – Unique risks in the investments they are making 38:28 – Most exciting trends or changes he is seeing 40:22 – The professional investor environment 43:25 – How to learn more and get involved 43:49 – China Africa Research Initiative 44:17 – China Africa Project 44:38 – Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, October 29, 2019
Chad Cascarilla – The Future of Blockchain and Financial Services - [Invest Like the Best, EP.145]
My guest today is Chad Cascarilla, the CEO and co-founder of Paxos, which describes itself as a financial technology company “mobilizing assets at the speed of the internet.“ Thanks to more than 20 years of investing and financial services experience, Chad has a unique perspective on integrating blockchain technology with traditional systems. He also has one of my favorite bitcoin origin stories, which we explore. Before Paxos, Charles co-founded institutional asset management complex Cedar Hill Capital Partners in 2005 and its blockchain-focused venture capital subsidiary, Liberty City Ventures (LCV). Our conversation is less about cryptocurrencies and more about the history, current state, and potential future states of our financial system. Please enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:32 - (First Question) – His work in the finance world before crypto’s 5:12 – Experience navigating the subprime mortgage trend and what it taught him about blockchain 9:59 – The levers that matter in the financial services industry today vs when he first started 14:07 – Open vs closed money in financial services 19:16 – How slowdowns are different in the modern era 23:06 – What would lead to a major winding down of global debt 27:09 – What would be his focus as a traditional investor 29:21 – How he first got involved with bitcoin 29:47 – Elliott Wave Newsletter 31:53 – His measured view of Bitcoin and living through the volatility of it 32:03 – Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System 35:57 – Allocation of a portfolio which includes crypto 36:54 – His involvement and feelings on gold 37:56 – The formation of Paxos and the problem it exists to solve 41:34 – How Paxos is impacting the space 44:12 – Advantages of a private blockchain 43:59 – What is Pax Gold and how does it work 48:53 – Bad ways and situations to own gold 52:12 – Using a stable coin 56:00 – Biggest problem they are working on now 57:23 – What should people be paying attention to in the crypto currency space 59:23 – Coindesk Research Archive 59:39 – Has the influx of interest in crypto helped in other spaces 1:02:11 – Ot
Tue, September 24, 2019
Bill Gurley – Direct Listing vs. IPO - [Invest Like the Best, EP.144]
My guest this week is Bill Gurley, general partner at Benchmark Capital. Our conversation is about one specific issue that has popped up as a topic of interest in the investing community in recent months: the comparison between bringing a company public through a traditional IPO vs. what’s known as a direct listing. As a third party observer with no real dog in the hunt (as we don’t buy IPOs at O’Shaughnessy Asset Management), I thought this was a small and nuanced issue. I’ve therefore been surprised by the strength of opinions on both sides of this issue as I’ve explored it behind the scenes this past week. It feels almost like I’ve encountered a political third rail, where one side throws a lot of vitriol towards the other. To be clear, this episode is very much in favor of direct listings instead of traditional IPOs. For those that want a good discussion of the IPO process and its upsides, check out episode 173 of the Exponent podcast with Ben Thompson . Now please enjoy my very interesting conversation with Bill Gurley For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:22 - (First Question) – His view on the IPO process 5:42 – Will now be the turning point for IPO’s 6:40 – The engagement between a new company going public and their counterparty and the IPO process 13:38 – The math of capital costs 18:18 – Banks that underprice the IPO’s 20:45 – The psychology of IPO’s 23:14 – The pop in the IPO and the media 24:54 – The value that shareholders give vs VC’s 25:37 – The Green Shoots 28:17 – The lock-up 31:40 – Direct listings vs IPO’s 36:07 – Spotify’s CEO Reveals Why He’s Not Doing a Traditional IPO 38:23 – The capital raised in an IPO and diluting the company 40:18 – Privilege access and buy-side firms 43:33 – What will actually lead to changes in the IPO space 44:48 – Why he became so interested in the IPO space Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at <a href= "https://twitter
Tue, September 17, 2019
[REPLAY] Albert Wenger - World After Capital - [Invest Like the Best, EP.80]
My guest this week is Albert Wenger, a managing partner at Union Square Ventures and the author of the book World After Capital. Albert studied economics at Harvard and earned a PhD in information from technology, but if you’d asked me to guess before looking those up, I’d have guessed that he studied philosophy because of how widely he has thought about the world and the impact of technology. Our conversation is about how technology is changing the world from an Industrial Age to a knowledge age. We explore how cryptocurrencies, low cost computing, and regulation will impact our future and why the transition may require delicate care. I loved this conversation because of my obsession with the concept of scarcity. We explore what has been scarce through time and what may be scarce in the future. Albert is one of the most interesting thinkers I’ve come across and was a pleasure to speak with. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced World After Capital Show Notes 2:16 – (First Question) – Defining what it means to be human 2:58 – World After Capital 3:56 – Trans-humans vs neo-humans 4:37 – The concept of Qualia 5:25 – Albert’s investment philosophy= 8:27 – How Albert began his exploration into cryptocurrencies 12:59 – Most exciting things blockchains could enable 14:27 – How does Albert view blockchain technology from the view of an venture capital investor 17:00 - Why Albert thinks that the dominate cryptocurrency of our time may not exist just yet and what he is looking for in protocols that will become the leader in the space 20:16 – What are the central functions that will be important in cryptocurrencies 21:22 - The state of regulation in the cryptocurrency space 27:37 – What has Albert most excited for the future of blockchain 29:10 – The idea of universal basic income 32:26 – How do you solve the problem of giving money value in a world of universal basic income 35:00 – How scarcity has changed over time 39:01 – Role of financial capital in the last 200 years of civilization 42:39 – Are we as a society only capable of solving problems once they become an immediate threat 44:15 – Explaining the idea of attention as a scarce resource 47:56 – The
Wed, September 11, 2019
[REPLAY] Deep Basin – Earning Alpha in Energy - [Invest Like the Best, EP.81]
My guest this week are Matt Smith and Ian singer of Deep Basin Capital, a hedge fund specializing in the energy sector. I first met Matt almost 10 years and, in that time, I’ve grown to respect him as much as any investor that I’ve ever met. Now having spent time with Ian, who specializes in oil and gas field exploration companies and the rest of the Deep Basin team, I have similar respect and admiration for all of them. Deep Basin does almost the exact opposite of what us quants do. In fact, their entire goal is to build a portfolio of mostly idiosyncratic or stock specific risk, the very thing us quants mostly remove from portfolios. Deep Basin positions the portfolio to make a series of carefully constructed bets, long and short, without taking market risk, style-factor risk, or even commodity risk. They use a hybrid fundamental and quantitative process which we explore in detail. This is definitely another good example of who we are all up against in public markets. What makes this story unique is that we are investors in Deep Basin’s management company and so have a clear interest in their ongoing success. Listeners know that I want to be as transparent as possible on this podcast so we event spend a little time telling the story about how it all came together a few years ago. I have learned a ton about investing from my countless hours with this team and hope that this conversation gives you a glimpse into what is happening at the cutting edge of investing in the world of hedge funds. Please enjoy my conversation with Deep Basin For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced Expectations Investing: Reading Stock Prices for Better Returns Show Notes 2:47 – (First Question) – Looking at the universe of the energy space that they are focusing on 7:48 – Breaking down the important components and their labels in this space 10:27 – What makes energy companies distinct from the broader market. 12:52 – How the isolate unique value creation 14:58 – Ian’s take on the upstream part of the business where he has spent a lot of time 18:35 – How does Deep Basin use data and what edge do they derive from it. 21:31 – What insight are they looking for from updated well data 23:59 – How do they use combine the business value that they measure with the market price that is being forecasted
Tue, August 27, 2019
[REPLAY] Pat Dorsey - Buying Companies With Economic Moats - [Invest Like the Best, EP.51]
My guest this week is Pat Dorsey, who was the longtime director of equity research at Morningstar, where he specialized in economic moats: sources of sustained competitive advantage that allow a few companies to deliver huge returns over time. Several years ago he left Morningstar to form his own asset management firm, Dorsey asset management, and build a portfolio of companies with wide moats like those he studied at Morningstar. And while moats are critical, equally important is how companies allocate the capital generated--or made possible--by the existence of the moat. A special thank you to Brian Bares who introduced me to Pat, and to Will Thorndike--an earlier guest on the show. In the vast majority of conversations you hear on this show, I'm meeting the guest for the first time. I mention this to encourage you to connect me with anyone whose story or way of looking at the world might resonate. Always feel free to contact me with ideas. Pat and I begin our discussion with the key differences between the sell side and the buy side, and then discuss all aspects of moats and capital allocation. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/dorsey For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:23 – (First question) – Transition from the sell side to the buy side and the biggest surprise 3:40 – What is a moat 5:16 – What part of the stock market universe has a moat 6:57 – Pat’s framework for identifying moat, starting with intangibles 8:32 – The power of brands 9:44 – what chance does an upstart have to come in and usurp a well-established brand 12:24 – Switching costs as part of the framework for identifying a moat 14:55 – The third component of identifying a moat, network effects, and what businesses should do to effectively build one 17:29 – Last component, cost advantages/economies of scale 19:29 – How do you analyze these four components into an investing framework that can be built into an actual strategy 21:13 – How does Pat think about this from a mis-pricing standpoint 23:37 – How does Pat incorporate current price of a company in consideration for future returns when pricing a moat 25:39 – How should a company with a moat operate to protect th
Tue, August 20, 2019
Joe McLean – How to be a Pro’s Pro - [Invest Like the Best, EP.143]
My guest this week is Joe McLean, the founder of Intersect Capital, which provides financial advisory services to a variety of clients, including a number of NBA players and other professional athletes. What I loved about this conversation was the weaving of sport, coaching, and finance into a cohesive whole. There’s so much to take from this discussion—from the importance of service and low self-orientation to the impact of strict standards for who you work with, to common mistakes we all tend to make with money. Please enjoy my conversation with Joe McLean. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:18 - (First Question) – His backstory and the combination of athleticism and finance 2:43 – His time in Ireland 3:29 – Moving away from basketball and into finance 6:08 – What the Intersect business is today and his early lessons 7:55 – Most important coach/mentor 8:59 – Where the name Intersect came from 10:22 – Setting high standards early on 12:35 – Biggest mistakes he saw in his early clients 14:04 – Developing his value proposition to clients 14:24 – Michael Kitces Podcast Episode 16:57 – Process when he’s working with a client signing a new athletic contract 19:53 – The concept of a Pro’s Pro and Top 50 Reasons Professional Athletes Remain Wealthy 22:40 – Managing clients’ interest in creating businesses off their brand 24:20 – The role media plays in athletes’ long-term strategies 25:40 – Getting early clients into compliance with his strategy 28:24 – Daily maintenance role he plays with clients 32:24 – What has impressed him most from his young clients 33:36 – What makes for a great coach 34:50 – The meaning of “all in” to Joe 35:54 – His assessment of the financial services industry today 37:32 – Where his value in service came from 39:05 – Longer term vision for his business 40:33 – Unique ways he finds himself helping his clients 43:49 – Watching his client’s mentor the next generation 45:10 – Historical players and teams he personally admires 46:22 – Athletes and venture capital investing 47:38 – Who makes up his trust network 49:09 – What he’s most excited about for the future of the business 49:46 –
Tue, August 13, 2019
Zack Kanter – All Things Business - [Invest Like the Best, EP.142]
This week’s guest is, Zack Kanter, the founder and CEO of the Stedi. Zack and I decided not to talk much about his business on this podcast and opted instead to explore more generally, so a bit of an introduction to what they do may be helpful here for some extra context. Stedi is a platform for exchanging and automating 300+ types of business-to-business transactions - transactions like purchase orders, invoices, etc. It’s a modern take on an archaic protocol called EDI - electronic data interchange, something I’d never even heard of until several months ago. Learning about EDI is a bit like finding out about the Matrix - every physical object you come across, from the food you ate for breakfast to the clothes you’re wearing and consumer electronics you use - anything with a barcode on it - was likely touched by EDI, often dozens of times before making it into your hands. Stedi is the first update to this messaging later in decades. Our conversation in this podcast is about business in general, starting with Zack’s fascination with Walmart and Amazon. I should also not that my family is a recent investor in Stedi, and I’m thankful to have learned a great deal from him over the past few months. Please enjoy our conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:52 - (First Question) – Interest in Walmart and Amazon 4:02 – Sam Walton: Made In America 4:49 – What from their success can be applied elsewhere 11:07– The idea of tempo with a business 17:17 – Ability for a business to expand laterally 24:33 - Magic of Amazon as a constitution 26:24 – The concept of the OODA loop 26:40 – Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War 31:51 – Orientation within software businesses 32:24 – The Systems Bible: The Beginner's Guide to Systems Large and Small</a
Tue, August 06, 2019
Chris Bloomstran – What Makes a Quality Company - [Invest Like the Best, EP.141]
My guest this week is Chris Bloomstran, the president and chief investment officer of Semper Augustus Investments Group. He became famous in investing circles a few years back for his incredibly detailed investigations of Berkshire Hathaway. While we do cover Berkshire towards the end of the conversation, we spend most of our time talking about what makes for a quality business. I loved some of his angles on the current landscape, including our discussion of companies like Richemont and Disney which are actively taking distribution back in house. Please enjoy our conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:18 - (First Question) – Largest investing error 4:52 – Defining quality investor and their investment strategy 11:48 – Incremental return on capital and other themes that they focus on with investments 15:33 – Importance of unique business models 22:58 – Ownership of the customer relationship 28:06 – Bringing distribution back in house 29:55 – Doing something unique with owned distribution 32:40 – His thoughts on growth and value 32:42 – Chuck Akre podcast episode 37:12 – History of his interest in Berkshire Hathaway and he characterizes the business 53:29 – How is Berkshire protected into the future 59:17 – Most important trends in adjustments 1:08:00 – Which sectors or industries would he focus on 1:10:02 – Most intriguing business he’s unlikely to own 1:11:44 – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, July 30, 2019
Brian Christian – How to Live with Computers - [Invest Like the Best, EP.140]
My guest this week is Brian Christian, the author of two of my favorite recent books: Algorithms to Live By and The Most Human Human . Our conversation covers the present and future of how humans interact with and use computers. Brian’s thoughts on the nature of intelligence and what it means to be human continue to make me think about what works, and life, will be like in the future. I hope you enjoy our conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:11 - (First Question) – Summarizing his collection of interests that led to his three books 2:59 – Biggest questions in AI 3:43 – Defining AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) and its history 5:18 – Computing Machinery and Intelligence 7:54 – The idea of the most human human 9:59 – Tactics that have changed the most in learning to be the most human human 16:10 –Tests for measuring AGI and updates made to them 20:12 – Concerns for once we have AGI 26:06 – Self-awareness as a threshold for AGI 31:58 – Skeptics’ take on AGI 37:14 – Advice for people building careers and how AGI will impact work 38:16 – Explore/Exploit trade-off 44:57 – How to explore/exploit applies to business concepts 49:16 – Impacts of AGI on the economy 52:40 – Highlights from his second book 57:39 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Brian Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, July 23, 2019
Eric Sorensen - How Quant Evolves - [Invest Like the Best, EP.139]
My guest this week is Eric Sorensen, the CEO of Panagora asset management, which manages more than $46B for clients across a variety of strategies. Eric began his career serving in the Air Force as both a pilot and instructor in high-performance jet aircraft. He then accumulated 40 years of quantitative research and investment experience, with a Ph.D. along the way. Please enjoy our conversation on the changing landscape of quantitative investment strategies. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:15 - (First Question) – His background in the Air Force 1:23 – Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War 3:18 – Training people on high-performance machines 4:47 – Traits that made for better pilots 5:51 – The evolution of quantitative equity research and its stages 7:56 – How his research led to becoming a practitioner 9:10 - The early feature sets in his research 10:44 – Tradeoffs in the spectrum of interpretability 12:08 – Early days of his practitioner career 13:24 – Risk Premia and the 5 C’s 14:28 – Quantitative Equity Portfolio Management: Modern Techniques and Applications 17:13 – Applying the 5 C’s to value investing 18:38 – Knowing when a strategy/signal is broken 21:24 – What does this strategy plan mean for his firm today 24:56 – Mixing expert systems and portfolio construction 30:07 – Natural language processing 32:00 – The cultivating the power and creativity to ask good questions 35:13 – The concept of a research graveyard 37:45 – State of risk premia today 40:04 – Active equity process 46:37 – Frontiers of research that he’s excited about 48:53 – Safe havens for non-quantitative investors 52:16– Advice for young quants 54:36 – Quants on the buy-side that he admires 55:41 – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the bo
Tue, July 16, 2019
Jane McGonigal – How Games Make Life Better - [Invest Like the Best, EP.138]
Jane McGonigal, PhD is a world-renowned designer of alternate reality games — or, games that are designed to improve real lives and solve real problems. She is the Author of Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World and is the inventor and co-founder of SuperBetter , a game that has helped nearly a million players tackle real-life health challenges such as depression, anxiety, chronic pain, and traumatic brain injury. Our conversation is about how to design useful games, how games effect us and our kids, and what the future might hold. Please enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:22 - (First Question) – Her take on the history of gaming and studying the players themselves 3:44 – Where her passion for gaming really started 4:55 – Her take on flow states 7:47 – Kids and gaming 10:32 – Advice for parents when it comes to the role of games 11:06 – SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient--Powered by the Science of Games 13:53 – Types of games that develop the right skills for kids 16:20 – Four things all games share in common 16:23 – Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World 20:50 – Her take on Carse’s theory about infinite gaming 21:04 – Finite and Infinite Games 26:28 – How to understand gaming culture if you’ve never played a game before 28:28 – Amazon and gaming 31:18 – How fun makes anything more enjoyable 34:55 – How game designers calibrate feedback loops 39:14 – The good and bad of gamifying life 45:01 – What is the superbetter app 52:43 - Why powerups and bad guys
Tue, July 02, 2019
Bill Gurley – All Things Business and Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.137]
My guest this week is Bill Gurley, a general partner at Benchmark Capital and one my favorite investment thinkers. As you’ll hear, despite enormous success through his career, Bill is clearly still in love with business and investing. Where many might discuss past glories, I’ve been incredibly impressed with how both Bill and his partners emphasize the current portfolio and market landscape. I’m thankful to have had the chance to speak with him in this format. I hope you enjoy our conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:13 - (First Question) – The idea of increasing returns 1:21 – Competiting Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-in By Historical Events 2:07 – Complex Systems Theory – Santa Fe Institute 4:35 – Markers that could be a sign of network effect in a company 6:27 – The opportunities for companies to capture network effect 8:46 – Are there certain teams/leaders that are more conducive to leading a network effect company 11:55 – Liquidity quality 13:35 – How important is the revenue model at the beginning 15:59 – Fascination with Nextdoor 17:56 – Paradox of Choice 18:39 – Finding opportunities 20:17 – Potential marketplaces and assets that could be commoditized 20:20 – All Markets Are Not Created Equal: 10 Factors To Consider When Evaluating Digital Marketplaces 21:39 – Usage yield on the world’s assets 23:50 – Has technology changed the world of value investing 26:28 – Hyper niche marketplaces 27:52 – Challenges of labor marketplaces 30:12 – User generated content businesses 32:44 – People who are capable of building UGC businesses 33:16 – His interest in Discord 34:31 – Factors of a healthy marketplace 37:57 – Fools’ gold in marketplace businesses 39:04 – How influx of cash is impacting the marketplace business landscape 40:43 – All Revenue is Not Created Equal: The Keys to
Tue, June 25, 2019
Jesse Livermore – The Search for the Truth with the Anonymous Master - [Invest Like the Best, EP.136]
This week I have a very special guest years in the making. Like another favorite episode, with anonymous guest Modest Proposal, this conversation is with one of the stars of the financial twitter universe who writes anonymously and goes by the pseudonym Jesse Livermore. I met Jesse 6 years ago after reading his unbelievably unique investing research, which tackled all the big and interesting issues in markets. He now also works with me as a research partner at OSAM, where’s he’s used our data to continue to his search for truth in markets. Despite being one of the brightest minds I’ve encountered he is also as humble and unassuming as they come. I’m at least a slightly better person because of trying to emulate how he conducts himself. I get to have many conversations with him that go from 0-100 fast, and I’m thrilled to be able to share one of those with you. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:33 - (First Question) – Jesse’s origin story for investing 4:37 – Exploring his ways of problem solving starting with intuitive 7:53 – David Epstein Podcast Episode 11:46 – Looking at the analytical way of problem solving 15:42 – Statistical inference 24:45 – Should we opt for simplicity in the investment process 25:26 – Does his own investing include all three, intuition, analysis, and statistics 26:09 – The evolution of his research, process, and thinking on various investment factors. 31:38 – Thoughts on inflation and its impact on market valuation 40:05 – The Earnings Mirage 46:25 – Free Cash flow and valuations 50:51 – What should investors take away from this research 53:01 – Thoughts on trend as an interesting market signal 59:00 – The problems with trend 1:00:34 – Post on “ The Single Greatest Predictor of Future Stock Market Returns ” 1:11:15 – His work into understanding factors 1:15:36 – Looking at momentum 1:18:16 – His curiosity into the current market cycle 1:20:04 – Lessons learned from his time in the military, an effective way to create an environment where people can safely disagree with their co-workers 1:30:10 – The concept of progress in meaningful wor
Tue, June 18, 2019
Chuck Akre – The Three-Legged Stool - [Invest Like the Best, EP.135]
My guest today is Chuck Akre, a now widely famous investor who founded Akre Capital Management in 1989, which now manages approximately $10B dollars. We discuss his investing style and his “three-legged stool” for evaluating companies. Please enjoy this great conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:06 - (First Question) – Advantage of being in Middleburg, Virginia 2:11 – What a day looks like for Chuck 3:06 – Why imagination is more important than knowledge 3:38 – Difference between curiosity and imagination 4:38 – The origins of the Nirvana Three-Legged Stool concept 10:14 – First leg of the stool, Extraordinary business and ROE’s with a focus on Bandag. 14:36 – How his evaluations of value has changed over the last 10-15 years 16:10 – A look at recent businesses that he’s bought and why they are interesting 19:56 – Why they keep things simple 21:35 – Second leg of the stool, the people involved and characteristics of managers he has invested in 23:20 – Role of capital allocation in the people he focuses on 28:03 – Favorite biographies 28:22 – 100 to 1 in the Stock Market: A Distinguished Security Analyst Tells How to Make More of Your Investment Opportunities 29:34 – Third leg of the stool, reinvestment 21:09 – How does he think about diversifying across an investment area 33:32 – Great businesses wrapped in a bad balance sheet 37:35 – What would cause him to sell 38:52 – What does he look for in people 43:27 – How curiosity has impacted his interest in land conservation 43:51 – Advice for investors, especially younger ones 46:14 – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, June 11, 2019
Jerry Neumann – Why Venture is Hard - [Invest Like the Best, EP.134]
My guest this week is Jerry Neumann. Jerry is one of the most thoughtful early stage investors that I’ve encountered, and his writings at reactionwheel.net are my favorite on this topic. He applies an incredibly structured way of thinking to a notoriously mysterious investment category. This is our second conversation, in which we cover why investing with one’s gut is a bad idea and why some of the popular edges in startups, like network effects, may be picked over. Please enjoy our conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:17 - (First Question) – His take on the venture landscape and the type of investments new VC’s are making vs what they should be making 3:44 – Most important implications of excess VC firms 5:32 – Misalignment of incentives in the VC space 8:19 – What he does differently from angel investors or VC’s 10:11 – The notion of risk and the types of risk the people he invests in takes 14:33 – Protections that he thinks about when it comes to the ideas he invests in 19:37 – Is there an area of expertise that provides an edge for startups 20:11 – Network effects are picked over 21:35 – IP protection 23:08 – One of the two most interesting things for VC’s to go after, brands 25:13 – The other most important thing, the value chain 27:42 – A current example of a disruptive value chain 29:14 – Innovation as the source of profit 29:16 – Schumpeter on Strategy 31:50 – Efficiency innovation vs value innovation 31:52 – Energy and Civilization: A History 35:50 – Efficiency investments he’s made 37:13 – Investment in Unsupervised and the machine learning landscape 41:25 – Investment in Sila 43:14 – Investment in Edmit 44:44 – investing on gut 50:32 – Black boxes and their value in investments 53:23 – Metrics about the predictive level of whether people are going to succeed 54:45 – What defines good people worth backing 57:50 – Advice for LP investors in this space and how they should evaluate VC’s in this space Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full
Tue, June 04, 2019
[REPLAY] Sam Hinkie – Data, Decisions, and Basketball - [Invest Like the Best, EP.88]
I came across this week’s guest thanks to the overlap of three passions of mine: data informed investing, value creation, and basketball. Sam Hinkie worked for more than a decade in the NBA with the Houston Rockets, and then most recently as the President and GM of the Philadelphia 76ers. He helped launch basketball's analytics movement when he joined the Houston Rockets in 2005, and is known for unique trade structuring and a keen focus on acquiring undervalued players. Today, he is also an investor and advisor to a limited number of young companies in which he feels his experience can improve outcomes. At one point in our conversation, Sam mentions that he tracked success via future financial outcomes, so I did some research and found many interesting stats about the 76ers surrounding Sam’s tenure. When he took over the franchise, it was 24th in ESPN’s franchise rankings, and today it is 4th. This is the result of an impressive crop of young talent—players like All-Star Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons—which resulted in large part from unconventional decisions Sam and his team made. While I’m sure these estimates are imperfect, Forbes estimated the 76ers value at around $418M when Sam took over and $1.2B a few months ago. NBA teams in general have grown in value, so a lot of that appreciation is obviously “beta,” but given that the 76ers had the top percentage growth number more recently of any team, some of it is “alpha,” too. While we can’t parse the exact amount, it seems his unique approach to building a team clearly created some large amount of current franchise equity value. And it looks like the dividends from those decisions will compound for many years to come. While basketball was where Sam plied his talents in the past, his approach is more elemental. It is about finding great people, using data, and structuring decisions that create the possibility of huge returns, be they financial or otherwise. I don’t know what Sam will do next, be it investing in companies, running one, or taking over another team, but I know it will be fun to watch. Please enjoy this unique episode with Sam Hinkie. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being
Tue, May 28, 2019
David Epstein – Wide or Deep? - [Invest Like the Best, EP.133]
My guest this week is David Epstein. David is a writer and researcher extraordinaire and the author of two great books. His second, Range, is out today and I highly recommend it. We discuss the pros and cons of both the generalist and specialist mindsets in detail and go down many interesting trails along the way. Please enjoy our conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:12 - (First Question) – What he uncovered in “ The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance ” that led him to his latest book 2:38 – Debate with Malcolm Gladwell (YouTube) 4:12 – What did the public pay most attention to and what did they gloss over 7:56 – How his views on nature vs nurture shifted during the process of writing The Sports Gene 10:05 – Blending practice with your nature 13:04 – His process of reading 10 journal articles a day as part of his research 19:06 – Exploring his new book “ Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World ”, and his idea of Martian tennis 23:03 – Idea of the cult of the head start and how we set up our own feedback loops 28:58 – What does his research say about the nations education system 30:42 – The Flynn Effect chapter 33:54 – Hacks for learning 37:52 – The concept of struggle and harnessing the power of it 46:31 – Personality changes and how to drive those changes in a positive way 52:00 – Using the outside perspective in businesses for more productive outcomes and how it applied to Nintendo 52:59 – Josh Wolfe Podcast Episode 1:04:45 – Other examples of using withered technologies, 3M 1:09:00 – The arc of his work and how it has evolved 1:13:54 – Taking a different view on problems 1:17:52 – Ending Medical Reversal: Improving Outcomes, Saving Lives 1:18:04– Anyway to change these bad trends with new strategies Learn More For more episodes go to
Tue, May 21, 2019
Priya Parker – The Art of Gathering - [Invest Like the Best, EP.132]
This week I’m hosting an investor retreat and so thought it fitting to release this conversation with Priya Parker on the art of gathering. I’ve been interested in the topic of community and gathering for some time and along with the book The Art of Community, Priya’s book on the art of gathering is by far the best I’ve read. It is both conceptually interesting and extremely practical. In the book there is literally a table for how big a gathering space should be per person, sorted by the type of vibe you are after. We had a time constraint but I could have talked to Priya for much longer. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did, and that it inspires you to do something new and different with friends, family, or colleagues. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:23 - (First Question) – Overview on what she does as a conflict resolution facilitator 1:38 – The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters 4:45 – Lessons about structuring a gathering from her early very difficult work and the idea of sustained dialogue 7:43 – First event she facilitated 9:38 – Importance of a good opening for any gathering 12:30 – Identifying a good purpose for a gathering 15:06 – Why being specific on rules/code of conduct leads to more success 18:54 – Do rules help facilitate more creativity in groups 21:22 – Segregating a good from bad purpose 24:34 – Identity and good/bad gatherings 26:50 – Purpose and the guest list for a gathering 31:03 – Community building is line drawing 32:27 – Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance 34:29 – Importance of well crafted invitations 35:17 – Making the middle of gatherings interesting 39:21 – Exploring risk at gatherings 41:28 – Patterns of Transformation 41:43 – The hero’s journey 46:54 – Making a meaningful transition out of these gatherings 52:39 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Priya Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions eve
Tue, May 14, 2019
[REPLAY] Tim Urban - Grand Theft Life - [Invest Like the Best, EP.59]
This week’s conversation is about artificial intelligence and interplanetary travel. Its about content creation, thinking from first principles, and death progress units. Its about brain machine interfaces and why it is crucial that you be a chef and not a cook. My guest is Tim Urban, along with his business partner Andrew Finn. Tim is the most entertaining writer I’ve come across in years, who explains complicated and interesting topics to his millions of dedicated readers on the website “Wait, But Why.” As an example, Tim’s last post on Elon Musk’s neurlink venture is 40,000 words long, roughly the length of a short book. It explains almost all of human progress and our potential future using drawings and cartoons. Its impossible to stop reading. While this conversation is wildly entertaining, it is also chock full of metaphors and lessons that will be useful to anyone doing creative work or building a company. I hope this leaves you as energized as it left me. I called this episode Grand Theft Life because that is the name that Tim and Andrew give to their worldview, which I think will change the way you behave, too. Please enjoy my conversation with Tim Urban. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/urban For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies Links Referenced The Cook and the Chef: Musk’s Secret Sauce Wait But Why Neuralink and the Brain’s Magical Future Wait But Hi YouTube Channel Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell Show Notes 1:50 – (First question) – Explaining his concept of planets 1, 2, 3 and 4 and understanding the human colossus 5:46 – Tim’s favorite idea of the human knowledge compounding 7:52 – Die Progress Units (DPU) 9:45
Tue, May 07, 2019
Stephanie Cohen – The Evolution of M&A and Corporate Strategy - [Invest Like the Best, EP.131]
My guest this week is Stephanie Cohen, who is the chief strategy officer for Goldman Sachs and a member of their management committee. Prior to her current role, she spent the majority of her career in the investment banking and M&A divisions at Goldman. We discuss lessons learned from her career in M&A and the many initiatives she now leads at the firm. I really enjoyed her perspective on how a big, established firm like Goldman can balance innovation with improving existing businesses. Please enjoy our conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:15 - (First Question) – Motives on both sides for doing M&A 3:26 – Most difficult deal she worked on 4:50 – Biggest value add she brought from her seat on the Fiat deal 5:59 – Biggest changes since she started to today 8:31 – Smartest ways for companies who want to be acquired to be prepared 10:14 – Best M&A banker she’s seen 11:13 – What should businesses looking to make an acquisition be thinking about 15:16 – What does a strategy from her perspective mean 17:16 – Tension between innovation and change 19:46 – Difference between bottom-up and top-down components of strategy 22:15 – Exploration vs exploitation 26:28 – Submission process within accelerate 29:37 – Next step after you see a good idea 31:05 – Her take on FinTech and Industrials and their collision 35:15 – Lessons from elite early stage investors 37:21 – The origins of the LAUNCH program 40:06 – Important pieces beyond just the capital 42:42 – How they market to women starting business 44:56 – Lessons that she has learned about narrative and communications 47:07 – How she handles developing talent internally 49:28 – Managing her time 59:28 – Biggest concerns about OKR’s? 52:09 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Stephanie 53:07 – Kids in the area of competing Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, April 30, 2019
[REPLAY] Will Thorndike - How Skilled Capital Allocators Compound Capital - [Invest Like the Best, EP.36]
This week’s guest is Will Thorndike, an author and investor whose book The Outsiders is an all-time favorite of mine. Our conversation is in two parts. First, we dive deep into the lessons of his 8-year research project studying CEOs who were master capital allocators. These CEOs include Henry Singleton, John Malone, Tom Murphy, Katherine Graham, and Warren Buffett. We discuss how these CEOs tended to be contrarians on topics like dividends, buybacks, acquisitions, and the use of debt. As we go through each of the tools in the capital allocators toolkit, you’ll hear several useful lessons for running or evaluating a business. In the second part, we cover Will’s career in private equity. Will founded and continues to run Housatonic Partners, investing in buyouts, recaps, and search funds. Will has been one of the most active search fund investors for decades, and given how much time I’ve spent in past episodes on the searchers or operators in the micro-cap, permanent equity space, it was great to get the perspective of an experienced LP. As always, we also take time to survey the dangers and opportunities in today’s private equity market. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/thorndike For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, April 23, 2019
Josh Wolfe – The Tech Imperative - [Invest Like the Best, EP.130]
My guest this week is Josh Wolfe, co-founder and managing partner at Lux Capital. I had Josh on the podcast last year which was one of the most popular episodes in the shows history. This is a continuation of our ongoing conversation about investing in the frontiers of technology. My favorite thing about Josh and the way that he invests is the mosaic that he and his team at Lux are constantly building to understand the world and where new companies may fit in. We cover a crazy variety of topics from business model innovation, roles of a CEO, the military, the death of privacy, and arrows of human progress. Please enjoy round two with Josh Wolfe. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:22 - (First Question) –Ability to tackle massive scale problems 4:05 – Key roles of leaders and his checklist for evaluating them 5:55 – Common traits among founders that make them incredible storytellers and leaders 10:22 – The concept of ill-liquidity 14:53 – Thoughts on the types of companies going public 16:41 – Most innovative business models 19:14 - Advice for LP’s 23:51 – Common devil 24:01 – The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements 25:09 – Big internal debates at his firm, starting with price discipline 28:45 – The value debate internally 33:34 – CRISPR from an investment standpoint 36:50 – Edge cases they are looking at 46:52 – How they target ideas in a single concept 50:01 – The Coast of Utopia: Voyage, Shipwreck, Salvage 51:04 – New theses that they chase 56:31 – Recent adventure with special operations guys Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, April 16, 2019
Katherine Collins – Impact and ESG Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.129]
My guest this week is Katherine Collins, who is the head of sustainable investing at Putnam Investments, a portfolio manager on two of Putnam’s sustainable investing funds, and the author of the book The Nature of Investing: Resilient Investment Strategies through Biomimicry . Our conversation is on the ins and outs of ESG and impact investing, a young but increasingly common topic in the investing world. This is challenging ground for me as a quant, because the data available is so new and limited—so Katherine’s perspective was very helpful as we continue to learn. Given the importance of this topic, I’m also searching for more guests with both positive and negative views on the role of ESG in an investing framework, and welcome suggestions for future guests. Please enjoy my conversation with Katherine Collins. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:29 - (First Question) –Mechanical vs human judgement processes 4:21 – ESG, and the non-utility portion of it. 7:11 – Data behind the objective function that is different from returns 12:34 – What are the most interesting data sets 16:04 – How does she determine what factors to target 19:31 – Why do we know that diversity of experience/opinion/background is good for a company 21:30 – The social vertical and how it plays into her investing system and better returns 25:51 – Corporate Sustainability: First Evidence on Materiality 27:00 – Environmental factors and the issues that jump to mind 29:48 – Importance of signing the UNPRI and is it just box checking 32:33 – Data for companies on the solution oriented companies 34:53 – Why doesn’t the market recognize the Alpha 36:17 – LP interest in ESG investing 38:25 – How other groups of investors approach ESG 40:03 – Best practices at business making an impact in ESG 44:01 – Unique or interesting tactics in environmental 46:33 – Who is the biggest opponent or position in opposition of ESG 47:37 – Most interesting edge 48:20 – Playbook for business managers thinking about social for the first time 49:59 – Measurements vs principles/values 51:21 – Advice to quants trying to use ESG in how they gather data 53:04 – Mos
Tue, April 09, 2019
Geoffrey Batt – The Nature of Transformational Returns - [Invest Like the Best, EP.128]
My guest this week Geoffrey Batt and the topic of our conversation is how to earn transformational returns in very hard markets. In his case, that means Iraqi equities which we cover in detail. He now runs a large pool of capital in Iraqi stocks through his firm Euphrates, but the journey was arduous to say the least. This is one of my favorite boots on the ground contrarian investments stories thus far on the podcast. I hope you enjoy the story and the lessons that Geoff has to offer. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:15 - (First Question) – What does it take to earn transformational returns 4:43 – How he deals with LPs, especially given the volatility of the market he invests in 10:26 – Why LPs have to think about the other investors in a fund 1:17 – How Geoffrey got interested in the Iraqi market 16:15 – Factors he was considering when exploring Iraq 16:53 – Harvey Sawikin Podcast Episode 19:20 – Visiting companies in Iraq 22:30 – Most memorable meeting with a company on his first trip 27:18 – Size and nature of Iraqi market when he first got interested 30:44 – A specific allocator in Iraq 34:37 – Does price reflect the work over there 37:51 - What does he perceive as his role in the changes to Iraq’s equity market 40:12 - How do Iraqi equities look today compared to when he started and is the opportunity still interesting 44:14 – How businesses perceive him now that the market has opened up more 47:28 – Scale of potential return and where it comes from 49:51 – Advice for younger aspiring investors exploring frontier markets 52:16 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Geoffrey Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, April 02, 2019
Brian Singerman – Investing in the Best Founders - [Invest Like the Best, EP.127]
My guest this week is Brian Singerman, a partner at the venture capital firm Founders Fund. Founder’s Fund is widely considered one of the top VC firms and its partners are known to have diverse investment strategies. Brian invests across industries and focuses on backing exceptional founders. You’ll hear right off the bat that he cares about moat, market, and strong execution. I love his point that the only way to become a good investor is to do a lot of investing. He describes himself an investor who uses his gut a lot, which took me a while to get used to in our conversation. But I have to say that at the end of this episode I felt refreshed and generally excited to keep putting in reps in my own way, both in the podcast and the quant research settings. I hope you enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notesd 1:28 - (First Question) – What Brian looks for when evaluating companies 2:38 – What a moat looks like in investing 3:11 – Most memorable initial moat 4:17 – How he evaluates a potential market 5:28 – Attributes they look for in founders 6:24 – Most significant technological changes and how they have impacted his investment strategy 8:57 – The sourcing of his deals 13:00 – Qualities he likes at various stages of deal sourcing 13:46 – How he evaluates the teams he may fund 15:17 – His take on the pricing landscape for deals 16:13 – How he allocates his time as a board member 17:16 – Thoughts on long term stock exchange 18:26 – How much research does he do on an industry in order to stay on top of his investments 20:10 – Outside information he follows 21:20 - Other investors he’s learned a lot from 23:12 – What values does Peter Thiel instill in the partners 24:05 – Process of StemCentrics 26:03 – Other places holding his interest today 26:57 – His interest in e-sports 31:44 – Interactions with LP’s 32:51 – What they look for in recruiting new partners 34:32 – How geography impacts the opportunity for new ideas 36:24 – Opportunities in public companies and other investment types 37:57 – Aspects of overseeing a startup venture 39:26 – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 sugge
Tue, March 26, 2019
Michael Mauboussin – The Four Sources of Alpha - [Invest Like the Best, EP.126]
My guest this week for the third time is Michael Mauboussin. If there is a major question about markets and investing, Michael has usually written one of the best pieces of research on that topic. Today’s conversation is a mix of several of his research pieces, but focuses on the sources of alpha. The framing of the conversation is the brilliant question “who is on the other side” of a given trade. If you are buying, who is selling, and why? Knowing the answer to this question is one key to understanding where excess return comes from. As is usual with Michael, we also explore tons of other interesting ideas that will serve as food for thought. Please enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:23 - (First Question) – An outline of the syllabus for the course he teaches 4:02 – What are smart people missing when it comes to decision making 5:33 – Why Michael went down the path of defining major investing concepts 7:41 – On the impossibility of informational inefficient markets 9:14 – Beware behavioral finance 12:03 – What are the behavioral errors that people can take advantage of in a trade 15:14 – Timing opportunities 17:25 – Modest Proposal Podcast Episode 17:47 – Where the analytical edge comes from 21:16 – Is there an advantage to exhibit time arbitrage 23:53 – Technical arbitrage 29:34 – What impact do flows into ETFs play on the market 32:25 – Informational edge and how you source that edge 36:39 – Biggest changes that he has seen on the buy side 43:18 - How would Michael apply this as a sports GM 48:35 – His views on stock buybacks 51:02 – The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success 52:55 – EBIT to EBITDA paper 54:43 – What Does a PE Multiple Mean? 59:28 – The concept of benign myths 1:02:06 – What the future holds of Michael 1:04:17 – The Myth of Capitalism: Monopolies and the Death of Competition </
Tue, March 19, 2019
Annie Duke – Wanna Bet? - [Invest Like the Best, EP.125]
My guest this week is with Annie Duke, and the topic of our discussion is how to improve decision making. We break decisions down into their component parts: values, beliefs, decisions, randomness, and outcomes. After diving into each, we discuss how to make better decisions, how to work in group settings, and how to harness power of tribes and identity to improve our behavior. Annie has thought about this as much as anyone, and her various tricks for getting us to think in probabilities and to stop evaluating decisions based on outcomes that have been tainted by randomness will be useful for anyone listening. Please enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:23 - (First Question) – Why people don’t take the best investing advice 2:11 – Investing tribes 4:21 – Jay Van Bavel twitter 6:34 – Rule setting as a way of crafting an investment strategy 11:13 – How much control do we have in choosing our values 15:52 – Anatomy of a decision 19:28 – Her concept of resulting 26:47 - How beliefs impact your decision making 34:28 – Tact’s for making the best decision 42:40 – Ego and decision making 47:06 – People who are exceptional at changing their decision making 48:18 – How often do people who change their decision making, stick with the rules of the game 50:07 – Finite and Infinite Games 50:28 – Psychology of making decision that involves other people 59:20 - Never close doors on other people 1:01:57 – Best decision that Annie made 1:04:24 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Annie Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, March 12, 2019
Michael Mayer – Pseudonymous Social Capital and Bottomless Coffee - [Invest Like the Best, EP.124]
My guest this week is unique and so requires a short story. I met our guest Michael Mayer because of twitter. I followed and enjoyed one of several pseudonymous accounts that he maintains to experiment with ideas. His various accounts have wide followings. I think many of the best accounts on twitter are anonymous or pseudonymous, and I’ve always made a point to get to know the ones I like best. As it turns out, Michael was also an entrepreneur. He’d been building a new company and was raising a small amount of outside capital. I didn’t invest personally, in part because he raised it so quickly after I spoke with him. Ever since, I’ve gotten to know him better and followed his company, Bottomless, with interest. You know that I am always hyper transparent about any potential conflicts of interest, so it’s worth noting that while I am not an investor in this company, I expect to be at some point in the future. The topic of our conversation is both his social media activity and his company. I am a coffee fanatic, and the problem he is solving is one I live. I order a weekly bag of coffee beans, but I often have too much coffee or run out. Bottomless solves this by shipping you a simple scale which you keep wherever you store your coffee, connect to your Wi-Fi, and set your bag of coffee on. It automatically orders new coffee for you at the right time. Thus the name: Bottomless. If you like the conversation, check out bottomless.com With this podcast, all I’m really trying to do is find, meet, and learn from interesting people. Michael certainly qualifies. I hope you enjoy this unique episode. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:06 - (First Question) – Why he writes under a pseudonym online 2:58 – Positive impacts of writing this way 3:45 – His background 5:02 – Habits he improved upon 7:03 – Where did his exploration into technology and start-ups come from 7:33 – Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions 10:32 – Elements of business that interest him most 13:26 – Building social capital vs the current state of education 17:06 – What information does he like to consume 18:17 – Z
Tue, March 05, 2019
Peter Zeihan – The Future of Geopolitics - [Invest Like the Best, EP.123]
Peter is a geopolitical strategist who combines expertise in demography, economics, energy, politics, technology, and security to assess an uncertain future. Before founding his own strategy firm, Peter helped develop the analytical models for Stratfor, one of the world’s premier private intelligence companies. I came across Peter via his books the Accidental Superpower and the Absent Superpower. We discuss America’s changing place in the world and four additional countries poised to do well in the future. Spoiler alert: he believes the U.S. is particularly well positioned. While we don’t discuss equity markets per se, all of what we talk about will obviously impact companies across the world for the remainder of our careers. Please enjoy our conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:32 - (First Question) – His model of the world 4:05 – What makes for a strategically advantaged country 5:35 – History of the Bretton Woods agreement and the order that it created 8:47 – The security apparatus that has made globalization of manufacturing possible 12:04 – The US’s pullback from being the naval police of global trade 12:08 – The Absent Superpower: The Shale Revolution and a World Without America 14:57 – How energy has played into America’s disinterest abroad 21:52 – Moving towards global disorder 24:55 – Characterizing factors that will impact countries in any collapse 27:38 – How this manifest in physical conflict 32:44 – How the new world order will end the ease of innovation we are accustomed to today 34:13 – What gets the US to reengage before this new world order 38:08 – Demographics that make a country prepared for this, Japan as an example 40:57 – A look at China 43:59 – What the story is about Argentina 45:52 – How North America fares based on their geography and relationships 49:50 – The trader wars that are currently ongoing 52:17 – US political system 56:15 – Most important policy issues moving forward 58:27 – His view on American infrastructure 1:00:33 – Technologies that interest him the most 1:02:55 – What he is watching most closely in his research, starting with media 1:05:59 – What are and should be the countries of the future 1:06:55 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Peter 1:07:32 – Fav
Tue, February 26, 2019
Michael Kitces – The Past, Present & Future of Financial Advice - [Invest Like the Best, EP.122]
My guest this week is Michael Kitces, who is one of our industries go-to experts on all things financial advise and financial planning. We discuss the past, present, and future of financial advise, financial technology, and investing. If you are a financial advisor or use one, this conversation is full of great history and perspective. Please enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:08 - (First Question) – History of financial planning/advice model 5:26 – Fee changes in the 1970’s 10:01 – The start of the AUM model 10:44 – Value proposition for financial advisors beyond trading vs robo-advsiors 11:49 – Why Robo-Advisors Will Be No Threat To Real Advisors 18:20 – Why are humans still dominating the space 23:58 – Future of advisor fees 32:50 – Viability of the human driven flat fee model 37:50 – The dominance of flat fee models 43:13 – What services are financial advisors offering to justify their fees 47:17 – Dimensions to divide potential customers 52:20 – Exciting updates on the investment side that will help differentiate managers 55:37 – Any investment function beyond the basics that is intriguing to him 58:45 – Most interesting problems to be solved on the investing and non-investing sides 1:04:52 – Advice for young advisors 1:09:24 – How does he invest his own money 1:11:31 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Michael Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, February 12, 2019
Alex Danco – Scarcity, Abundance and Bubbles - [Invest Like the Best, EP.121]
My guest this week is Alex Danco. Alex is a member of the Discover Team at Social Capital, has a background in biology, and has written about all things tech and business. While Alex is only 30, it seems like he has spent decades thinking about all the topics that we discuss, from changing business models, to railroads, to the shift from products to functions, and the rise and fall of asset bubbles. I hope you enjoy this wide ranging conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:15 - (First Question) – A look at his day job on the discover team 2:20 – 40 problems doc 4:27 – How companies get on the list and the turnover 5:21 – Hardest problem they are looking at…housing 11:37 – The investment component that fixes housing 15:35 – Where we are in the technology cycle in the view of abundance vs scarcity 20:54 – Change in distribution and the business vs utility business idea. 28:40 – Bifurcation of small and larger businesses 32:48 – New forms of scarcity today 38:31 – The trend of massive company incumbency 41:07 – The utility of bubbles 49:08 – His favorite bubble 51:18 – Challenges and nuances of bubbles 53:35 – Zero to One Notes on Start-Ups, or How to Build the Future 1:02:22 – Future for VC funding in Silicon Valley 1:04:07 – Advice for business builders 1:08:23 – The Three True Outcomes 1:13:04 – His background in biology and innovation in that space that is coming 1:19:46 – Company examples that are of interest to him and that encapsulate his way of investing 1:24:56 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Alex Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, February 05, 2019
Keith Wasserman – Real Estate Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.120]
My guest this week is Keith Wasserman, co-founder of the real estate investment firm Gelt. This was my first fully dedicated conversation on direct real estate investing, so we cover many different topics, including the pros and cons of different types of real estate, current valuations, risk vs. reward, tax protection, and the most interesting emergent areas. You can tell Keith is an entrepreneur at heart so I enjoyed his energy and all that he has learned. Please enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:15 - (First Question) – Their interest in apartments and mobile homes as investments 2:32 – The returns spectrum for different classes of real estate 4:03 – His early entrepreneurial ventures and the start of Gelt 7:45 – Don’t be afraid of negotiating 8:34 – Going through early deals in real estate 11:57 – How he determines when it’s time to sell a property 14:13 – How do they think about taxes in their investment offerings 16:57 – Depreciation strategies in real estate investing 18:27 – The evolution of the types of real estate properties they’ve invested in 21:41 – Most important factors when evaluating a building to invest in 23:50 – Barriers to entry 25:41 – Changes in his cost of capital 28:51 – Cost of debt and deciding how much to put into a building 30:33 – A look at the competition 34:51 – Effective marketing strategies 37:07 – How demographics impact their strategies 39:11 – The co-living space 40:34 – Cloud kitchens and how he would invest in these 46:11 – How autonomous vehicles will impact real estate 47:52 – Pros and cons of developing new properties vs buying existing ones 49:59 – Early stage investing interest 53:48 – Favorite business/entrepreneur story 55:10 – Advice for younger entrepreneurs 57:09 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Keith Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Tue, January 29, 2019
Alex Mittal – Early Stage Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.119]
My guest this week is Alex Mittal, co-founder of Funders Club. Following past guest Jeremiah Lowin, Alex is my second elementary school friend to appear on the podcast—a trend I hope continues. Funders club is a unique venture firm, because it is build around a network of investors and entrepreneurs who submit deals for consideration and invest together. But as you’ll hear, Alex and his co-founder Boris aren’t just building an open platform for early stage investing: they also then take a very traditional venture approach, making investing decisions themselves when it comes to building a centralized portfolio. Our conversation is about what Alex has learned investing in almost 300 early stage companies over the past 7 years. Please enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:30 - (First Question) – Inception of the Founder’s Club 1:36 – Jeremiah Lowin Podcast Episode 3:59 – How the process of their platform works 5:40 – Role of the network in Founders Club setup and success 8:26 – What he has learned from all of the data he has access to 16:00 – Early stage investing and finding the sweet spot 22:17 – What makes a really intriguing bad idea 25:23 – Why he remains so excited about Ethereum 31:18 – More bad ideas 31:55 – Apoorva Mehta on How I Built This Podcast 37:15 – Thoughts on retail and logistics and how they fit his Venn diagram of boring and crazy 43:13 – Chip and electronic design 45:47 – Companies that are not just increasing efficiencies but actually making foundational changes 45:54 – Energy and Civilization: A History 52:34 – What does he look for in founders 55:26 – Pivot or Fail 57:05 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Alex Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at <a href= "ht
Tue, January 22, 2019
Eugene Wei – Tech, Media, and Culture - [Invest Like the Best, EP.117]
My guest this week, Eugene Wei, has one of the most interesting backgrounds of anyone I’ve had on the podcast. He worked at Amazon early in its life, was the head of product at Hulu and Flipboard, and head of video and Oculus. Our conversation is about the intersection of technology, media, culture. We discuss Eugene’s concept of invisible asymptotes: why growth slows down (for both companies and people) and how some can burst through. I’d list more of the topics, but we covered so much that you should just listen. Finally, I’ll say that after spending a day with Eugene (including a wildly interesting dinner with Eugene, past podcast guest Sam Hinkie, and future podcast guest Kevin Kwok) that he is the type of uniquely interesting and kind person I am always searching for and one that I wish I could bet on somehow. If you know more people like this, reach out and suggest them for this podcast. Now, enjoy our conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:38 - (First Question) – Idea of cuisine and empire 1:52 – Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History 4:20 – Key takeaways from the Defiant Ones Documentary 8;25 – Being convinced to buy a sports coat 11:10 – The concept of invisible asymptote 17:43 – How the medium shapes the messaging and the impact of cameras everywhere on society 17:48– Invisible asymptotes 17:56 – Selfies as a second language 22:57 – Proof of work in building a social network 32:51 – Magnification of inequalities in digital networks 34:01 – The Lessons of History 36:47 – His thoughts on the media industry’s impact on society as a whole 39:42 – His time at Hulu 44:48 – Places where video could replace text 47:30 – The need for media for any business looking to grow 49:35 – Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business 53:08 – Personal asymptotes 57:19 - Habit building and goal setting 1:00:29 –
Tue, January 15, 2019
Michael Duda – Investing In Brands - [Invest Like the Best, EP.117]
My guest this week is Michael Duda, and the topic of our conversation is the role that brand plays in business and investing. Michael has worked on and invested in a wide-range of brands including Birchbox, Casper, Harry's, Citibank, DirecTV, Google, TripAdvisor, Under Armour and vineyard vines. His background in advertising made this a unique and interesting conversation. please enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:11 - (First Question) – Mission of Bullish 2:15 – Typical relationship they have with companies 3:01 – Defining brand 4:35 – Ryan Caldbeck Podcast Episode 5:51 – A dive into how brands make people feel 7:54 – Does the emphasis on brand still matter to consumers and if so, where 10:01 – Process of building up a brand 14:53 – What has changed most in the planning of a brand strategy 18:35 – How does his thinking impact his investing strategy 21:48 – Where does he differ from the rest of the market 23:34 – Advice he would give to companies in general 26:18 – How advertising has changed in the current landscape 28:35 – The screening process for picking potential investments 35:16 – How they analyze valuation 37:31 – Unusual traits he likes in founders 40:12 – Categories most ripe for young companies to disrupt 44:03 – Most interesting marketing channel for direct to consumer businesses 46:45 – Marketing piece he is most proud of 49:23 – Companies that embody the best of what has been discussed 52:31 – His love for people in business 53:41 – Kindest thing done for Michael Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, January 08, 2019
Abby Johnson – Future of Finance - [Invest Like the Best, EP.116]
Over the summer. I spent time with Abby Johnson, who is the chairman and CEO of Fidelity Investments and several other business leads at Fidelity to understand how a very large firm like theirs is navigating change in our industry. What follows is a condensed version of my various conversations with Abby and her team. We discuss the big buzzwords like blockchain and machine learning, but also thoughts on leadership, client centricity and measures of success. I hope you enjoyed this exploration For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:16 - (First Question) – [Abby] A look at the early part of Abby’s career 2:45 – Analyzing the skill of capital allocators 3:27 – A look at the asset management world of today and what to focus on today 7:23 – A set of decision-making principles that guide Abby 12:55 – Their strategy around the digitization of the world 16:07 – Balance between robo-advisors and humans and the markers of a good relationship 18:24 – What is the future of the role of the human in these relationships 20:15 – Their interest in emerging technologies like Blockchain 24:50 – Will crypto be its own asset class in the future 25:58 – [TOM] State of the business and the most interesting points of change 28:14 – Who is winning the battle for the next generation of investors 29:24 – How much of the change in financial business is cyclical 30:17 – What are businesses doing right to bridge that generational gap 31:01 – What does the future of the asset management industry look like 32:13 – What technologies could impact the asset management business the most 33:44 – The difference between machine learning and AI in this format 35:26 – In what way will AI impact these processes and replace humans 36:41 – What has him most excited about the future 37:54 – Advice for people thinking about pursuing a career in financial services 39:20 – Markers of a business that would be attractive for the next generation to consider working for 40:33 – The importance of brand when thinking about their business and those they work with 41:57 – Ways of engendering trust from a branding prospective 43:20 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Tom 44:28 – [VIPIN] Building a team around AI 45:21 – Markers for a good data strategy 47:25 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Vipin 48:58 - [ABBY] – How Fidelity thinks about data as an investing initiati
Tue, December 18, 2018
Keith Rabois - If You Can’t Sell Them, Compete with Them - [Invest Like the Best, EP.115]
My guest this week is Keith Rabois. Keith is currently an investment partner at Khosla Ventures, but has a storied and diverse background as an investor, entrepreneur, and executive. He has worked in senior positions at Paypal, LinkedIn, and Square; has led investments in companies like Stripe, YouTube, Palantir, and AirBnB; and started the company OpenDoor, which aims to transform the process of selling a home through technology. One fun fact about Keith is that he may have the most impressive list of bosses I’ve ever seen, which we discuss during the episode. We cover a lot, but one thing we kept returning to was business strategy. Keith’s frameworks for gaining and building strategic power helped me clarify my thinking on the topic, and his examples of contrarian thinking will hopefully make you question some commonly held beliefs. Please enjoy our conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:35 (First Question) – A look at his investing philosophy 3:16 – Favorite examples of his own investment history 4:40 – 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy 5:07 – Understanding what is anomalous in a given investment 7:07 – How much a secret needs to be protected within a business 11:51 – Why accumulating advantage with data is of interest to Keith 15:12 – Digital health companies and ideas that he finds compelling 16:17 – Nuance around financial services that investors should be mindful of 17:56 – How do they evaluate managers ability to recruit talent 19:36 – How similar are the roles of entrepreneur, board member, investor, etc that Keith has had in his career 24:02 – Ways that Keith is a contrarian, including his feelings on “lean startup.” 27:04 – Is problem identification a specific skill set 28:29 – Objection with experimentation/iteration 30:02 – Bad ideas in venture 31:36 – What he likes about Apple 31:51 – Creative Selection: Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs 32:26 - Interview questions for identifying great talent 35:41 – Elements of good design 37:14 – Impact of platforms on opening new opportunities 38:
Tue, December 11, 2018
Bryan Krug – High Yield Credit Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.114]
My guest today is Bryan Krug, who manages the Artisan Partners Credit Team and overseas more than $3B in high yield credit investments for the firm. This was my first conversation on high yield, so I took it as an opportunity to get an overview on the investment universe and home in on the tools used for analysis and security selection. As an equity investor, I think one of the most fruitful areas of research is into ways that companies fail or go wrong, and credit investors focus almost entirely on this potential for impairment. My guess is that all equity investors will learn something useful from this conversation. Please enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:11 – Overview of the high yield debt markets 5:05 – Why should investors consider this investment class 7:11 – How analyzing a company’s debt is different from what equity analysts look for 8:42 – Primary factors when exploring a company’s ability to de-lever 9:43 – What is their alpha vs others in the space 12:02 – Deep dive into the quantitative factors for them to look into a deal 14:25 – Benchmarks he uses 16:08 – Portfolio construction 17:15 – Their preference for broadband providers over cable tv networks 20:01 – What piques his interest about spreads 21:50 – The ratings of debt 25:40 – A recent example of an opportunity and how the mispricing was identified 29:17 – Most valuable data sets in this world 31:51 – Favorite part of this process 32:26 – Most surprising new learning 33:01 Maintaining your advantage 34:49 – The biggest pools of error in this industry 48:00 – What industries interest Bryan 40:50 – Dedication to this market 41:45 – Evolution of his healthy skepticism 42:38 – Can things in the debt market help to project what will happen in the equity markets 44:56 – Current view of the world based on what is happening in the credit markets 45:51 – Categories of convenience that he cares about 49:15 – Anything that has him worried in high yield markets 50:38 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Bryan Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at Invest
Tue, December 04, 2018
Maureen Chiquet – Leadership Through Hard Conversations - [Invest Like the Best, EP.113]
My guest this week is Maureen Chiquet, the former longtime CEO of Chanel. Maureen also spent much of her career at the Gap, growing Old Navy from scratch, and serving as the president of Banana Republic. The topic of discussion is her experience running large businesses and of finding one’s way in a career and as a leader of others. I hope you enjoy this unique conversation and that it encourages you to, among other things, travel somewhere new and interesting in the coming year. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:15 - (First Question) – The importance of being able to put yourself in other people’s shoes 3:05 – Scott Norton Podcast Episode 4:36 – Most memorable sale from her early career 5:03 – The intersection of facts and emotions in sales 6:40 – Most important emotions in business 7:30 – The importance of identity as part of the selling/marketing of sales and products 9:10 – Difference in strategy for luxury brands vs others 9:21 – The Luxury Strategy: Break the Rules of Marketing to Build Luxury Brands 10:55 – Striking a balance between tradition and innovation 13:46 – Advice for new brand company related to rarity 14:59 – Importance of being organic with your brand purpose 15:01 – Wild Company: The Untold Story of Banana Republic 16:26 – Maureen’s purpose over the years 18:44 – How to harness your purpose for your job 20:53 – Her process for writing and desire to do TV 24:01 – Her time with Micky Drexler 27:40 – As a leader, guiding people to succeed. 32:33 – Strategy for shifting culture at a company 37:54 – The importance of courageous conversations we should all be having 43:45 – Markers of courageous conversations 46:43 – How she thinks about introspection 50:12 – What draws here to certain locations 55:15 – Advice for younger people starting out their career 57:11 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Maureen Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curri
Tue, November 27, 2018
Hunter Walk – Building Picks and Shovels - [Invest Like the Best, EP.112]
My guest this week is Hunter Walk, the co-founder of Homebrew, a unique venture capital firm. Hunter is a tool builder, having spent his career before venture at companies like Google and YouTube. The topic of our conversation is the intersection of creative expression, technology, human behavior, and problem solving. We discuss his time at the company behind the video game Second Life, building tools for creators at YouTube, and why a very hands-on style of early stage venture investing represents an interesting use of his skillset at this stage of his career. Please enjoy my conversation with Hunter Walk. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:24 - (First Question) – Background on Second Life and what role Hunter had there 6:10 – The virtual currency system at use in Second Life 9:51 – Measuring how people behaved in this virtual world 12:21 – How closely is the Second Life world mimicking real life 15:13 – The market for platforms that lets people take on creative ventures 17:58 – Investments that interest Homebrew 20:21 – Lessons learned while working at YouTube 28:34 – The idea behind Homebrew 33:44 – How to best describe good problems to solve for 36:10 – The Shadow economy and investing in companies operating there 42:17 – Monetization of attention 47:22 – His interest in fintech companies 54:03 – Major trends of change he’s observed over his first three funds 1:04:13 – What is there take on the state of returns for VC’s 1:09:52 – What is the most common way that founders need help and what advice is more helpful 1:14:35 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Hunter Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, November 20, 2018
[REPLAY] Alex Moazed – Building Modern Monopolies - [Invest Like the Best, EP.25]
[REPLAY] Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy , which explores the platform business model (Uber, Airbnb, Github). Alex is also the founder and CEO of Applico , a company that he started in his dorm room that is since grown into a huge enterprise that helps startups and Fortune 500 innovate with platforms. Alex and I talk about history and future of businesses and different types of business models. There’s a lot in here for investors, entrepreneurs, and historians. Please enjoy! For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy The Systems Bible: The Beginner's Guide to Systems Large and Small The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future Links Referenced Failed Color App Applico Show Notes 2:39 – (first question) – Exploring the history of business models from linear to platform. 5:46 – A look at the share of overall business platform companies have taken over 7:06 - Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy 7:48 – The potential for platform businesses over the next 20 years 9:18 – Detailing the difference between a linear and a platform business 12:08 – Exploring transaction costs and core transactions across different business models 19:49 – Is the platform business model good for investors and VC’s since so many can get crushed when there’s a sole victor, or is it just for the founders and entrepreneurs. 2
Tue, November 13, 2018
Cliff Asness – The Past, The Present & Future of Quant [Invest Like the Best, EP.111]
My guest this week is Cliff Asness, the managing and founding principal at AQR Capital Management. 20 years after its founding in 1998, AQR manages $226 Billion dollars across a number of quantitatively based investing strategies. Cliff was an original quant researcher and he has long been one of the financial writers and thinkers that I look to for education and for inspiration. I distinctly remember reading one paper in particular—value and momentum everywhere—somewhat early in my career and thinking: this is the kind of research I want to do forever. You can always tell when talking to Cliff or hearing him speak that he just loves researching markets. There is a deep intellectual honesty in his work, and a respect for thinkers at different ends of the market spectrum, from Gene Fama and Ken French, to Jack Bogle, to Dick Thaler and Robert Shiller. Our conversation is about all things quant—past, present, and future. Cliff touches on many of the big issues facing quant investing and tells some great strong along the way. I hope you enjoy our discussion. Let’s dive in. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:47 - (First Question) – Favorite superhero 2:43 – Why ‘Ka nama kaa lajerama’ is part of his twitter profile . 3:38 – How portfolios have shifted the way they use factors in a portfolio 10:15 – What are good questions clients are asking right now 13:24 – Contrarian Factor Timing Is Deceptively Difficult 15:40 – Does technology impact investing strategy 22:14 – When to share information vs keep it proprietary for clients sake 26:40 – How their research process is governed 31:14 – How they will incorporate machine learning into their process 34:21 – What they will do when red flags show up 37:01 – Wackiest question from a client 41:47 – The Three Sharpe Ratio Strategy 41:53 – Liquid Alt Ragnarök 48:10 – Does his thinking change when it comes to asset allocation vs portfolio building 50:17 – Parallels Between the Cross-Sectional Predictability
Tue, November 06, 2018
[REPLAY] Peter Attia, M.D. - How to Live a Longer, Higher Quality Life - [Invest Like the Best, EP.27]
[REPLAY] My guest this week is Peter Attia, M.D., whose mission is to understand and improve human lifespan and healthspan (or quality of life). Reading Peter’s research, you find that there are many similarities between health and investing—ideas like compounding—which we explore in detail. We spend a lot of time on mind, body, spirit and performance as it relates to living a better life. Of particular interest is the strategic problem that we face when studying longevity. As Peter puts it in our conversation: we are the species of interest, but we can’t conduct the kinds of experiments on humans—randomized trials, with control groups—that we apply to solve other big problems. So we have to back our way into a better understanding of longevity and quality of life. To that end, we discuss what we can learn from studying centenarians, the problem of progress in science, a drug called Rapamycin (which Peter believes could be revolutionary), eating, the importance of muscle mass, and the idea of distressed tolerance. We emerge with a framework for thinking about health and well-being which can hopefully help us all live longer, better lives. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/attia For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag Posts From Peter Attia That You Should Read Do Calories Matter How You Move Defines How You Live 2016 Update Long List of Questions Answered: Part 1 and Part 2 Links Referenced The Scientific Method-Richard Feynman Knowing Versus Understanding-Feynman again Books Referenced Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco Diffusion of Innovations <a href= "https://www.amazon.com
Tue, October 30, 2018
Ryan Caldbeck – Quant in Private Markets - [Invest Like the Best, EP.110]
My guest this week is Ryan Caldbeck, a private equity investor who wants to bring quantitative rigor to the private markets. Ryan is the CEO of Circle Up, which uses a system it calls Helio to identify attractive investments in early stage consumer brands. While I am of course a fan of quantitative investing, I also know from experience how much harder private markets are than public markets when it comes to the transactions themselves. We discuss this and many other potential roadblocks to bringing models to private markets. Using many individual companies as examples, Ryan explains some of the major predictive factors they’ve uncovered in their research. We also discuss which parts of the private markets might be infiltrated by quant processes first, and which may never be. I expect many more to go on a journey similar to Ryan’s in the years to come. They serve as an interesting example for ambitious investors out there. Please enjoy our conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:39 - (First Question) – Formation of Helio 6:57 – How they handle the relationship building needed to make investments in private markets 10:26 – Why consumer and retail are interesting spaces to apply their quantitative approach in private markets 12:54 – Searching for new relevant data 16:14 – How do they stay ahead of the commoditization of uniqueness 16:21 – Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning 17:24 – Sam Hinkie Podcast Episode 18:00 – Dominant predictive factors in this world 21:05 – Which is more important, relative value or rate of change 21:48 – What does the data say about online sales vs offline (being in a store) 23:30 – Variable that consumer investors think matters but it doesn’t 24:53 – Valuing companies and accounting for mispricing’s 25:36 – Michael Recce Podcast Episode 26:41 – Goes through the process using Liquid Ivy as an example 28:46 – Most interesting sub-categories 29:33 – Future for this model 32:10 – Albert Wenger Podcast Episode 35:19 – Othe
Tue, October 23, 2018
Howard Lindzon – Fintech and Trend Following - [Invest Like the Best, EP.109]
My guest this week aspires to be the Larry David of investing, and we discuss why. Howard Lindzon is hard to categorize. He’s primarily an early stage investor right now, but he’s participated in all types of investing. He describes himself as a trend follower and always has a unique take on popular topics. In this conversation, we cover his investing history and his take on the fintech investing landscape. What I’ll remember most is the idea that we should focus on what is happening versus what we think will happen or might happen. There is a Peter Lynch like quality to some of Howard’s thinking, and a willingness to embrace the weird that I find very appealing. The few times I’ve met Howard, I’ve smiled or laughed most of the time, which is about as nice a thing as I could say about someone. He’s a good example of why I like this podcast format. His investing style bears literally no resemblance to my own, but it got me thinking about a lot of new things. I hope you enjoy our chat. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:42 - (First Question) – Why he wants to be the Larry David of investing 2:00 – Why his investing style is best described as trend following 4:05 – The biggest inspirations/influencers on Howard’s investing 6:39 – What made his second mentor, Fred Wilson such a great investor 9:52 – Formation of Wall Strip 12:33 – Why weird is so important in his investment philosophy 14:56 – Understanding his investment philosophy through his investment in Rally Road. 21:02 – His assessment of the fintech space 28:54 – Why fintech pushes away from human nature 30:50 – Major trends in fintech that have his attention 35:02 – What stands out about the teams at these companies he invests in 36:37 – Thoughts on fractionalization plays 36:44 – Capital Allocators podcast episode 36:54 – Venture Stories Podcast 40:03 – Any major trends that are changing and worth attention 42:06 – The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference 43:26 – His take on the media landscape 45:10 – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn More <p
Tue, October 16, 2018
CoVenture Credit - Esoteric Credit with Ail Hamed, Brian Harwitt, and Marc Porzecanski - [Invest Like the Best, EP.108]
My guests this week are Ali Hamed, Brian Harwitt and Marc Porzecanski who work together at CoVenture Credit. When I first had Ali on as a podcast guest, we discussed the many aspects of what his firm does, ranging from venture, to crypto, to credit. We glossed over the lending side of the business, but having since learned a lot from them on the topic, I was excited to get the chance to talk with members of their credit team for today’s longer exploration of esoteric high yield lending. I am always proselytizing the value of investor education, s this week we have a podcast first. The CoVenture team has prepared a long series of posts that correspond to our conversation and go even deeper into the topic of credit investing. You can find them in the shownotes at investorfieldguide.com/credit This is entirely differently from any conversation I’ve shared before, so I hope you learn as much as I did. Please enjoy my discussion with team CoVenture Credit. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:42 - (First Question) – The formation of their unique credit business 7:09 – Their advantage in seeing both the equity and credit side of their investments 10:23 – Looking at the Returnly deal as an example 14:07 – How they view these deals and are able to sustain them as long-term investments 18:09 – Their interest in payroll deduction lending 20:08 – Finding unique types of default risk 21:31 – What stands out in a platform that makes CoVenture want to take a deeper look 26:43 – Most interesting types of problem they have come across that they have yet to do a deal in 31:35 – What is going to change to make for more thoughtful underwriting of subprime lending 35:51 – Major structures of asset backed lending 39:49 – Whether the home serves as an interesting playground for credit opportunities and whether people will own anything again 42:44 – Mark’s experience working at a huge firm vs his experience at CoVenture 44:31 – How does the current credit cycle impact their view 47:04 – Lending against bitcoin 50:06 – Who is interested in these loans against bitcoin 50:57 – How to set interest rates against a weird asset like this 53:00 – What are the key determents of success in this business 1:02:27 – Kindest thing anyone has team for the team 1:03:52 – How to treat people that you pass on Learn More
Tue, October 09, 2018
Saifedean Ammous – The Bitcoin Standard - [Invest Like the Best, EP.107]
My guest this week is Saifedean Ammous, author of the book the Bitcoin Standard. This was one of the more interesting conversations I’ve had in the world of cryptocurrency, primarily because we don’t talk about Bitcoin or Crypto until 25 minutes into the talk. Instead, we focus on history, economics, sound money, low time preference, and gold—all interesting topics. Saif’s thinking on cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin—which is that they are worthless—is unique and thought provoking. His reasoning around why gold shouldn’t be compared to the returns generated by assets like equities was also compelling. If you’ve followed my Hash Power episodes, this is a new a differentiated interpretation of Bitcoin as a technology for the store of value use case. Please enjoy our conversation. Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:10 - (First Question) – Explain Sound Money 4:25 – Examples of hard vs easy money 7:36 – the even money trap 9:36 – The benefits of hard money vs today’s standards 14:05 – Why this interests him 14:16 – Gold Wars: The Battle Against Sound Money As Seen From A Swiss Perspective 14:56 – Democracy – The God That Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy and Natural Order 16:17 – Correlation between time preference and people’s ability to succeed in life 19:59 – How money markets worked in the late 18th century vs today 27:57 – How he came across Bitcoin and how he thinks of it as a digital gold 35:42 – How will the world transition to a sound money standard 42:15 – The impacts of hyperinflation on crypto currencies 45:04 – The idea of a orderly upgrade of the world currency 48:20 – His thinking on alternative coins 54:05 – What it takes to compete with bitcoin 1:01:43 – How he diversifies 1:04:35 – Stalling bitcoins demand 1:06:11 – Does he apply his thinking of lower time preference elsewhere in his life 1:07:09 – Kindest thing anyone has done for him Learn More For more episodes go to <a href= "http://investorfieldguid
Fri, September 28, 2018
Danny Moses – Pot Stocks, Tesla, & The “Wild Bill” Rule for Quants – [Invest Like the Best, EP.106]
“This is an unusual early episode release thanks to the timing of the recent news on Tesla. In this short episode, Danny and I discuss cannabis stocks, Tesla, and his “wild bill” story about quant investing.” For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, September 25, 2018
Jeremiah Lowin – Machine Learning in Investing – [Invest Like the Best, EP.105]
My guest this week is one of my best and oldest friends, Jeremiah Lowin. Jeremiah has had a fascinating career, starting with advanced work in statistics before moving into the risk management field in the hedge fund world. Through his career he has studied data, risk, statistics, and machine learning—the last of which is the topic of our conversation today. He has now left the world of finance to found a company called Prefect, which is a framework for building data infrastructure. Prefect was inspired by observing frictions between data scientists and data engineers, and solves these problems with a functional API for defining and executing data workflows. These problems, while wonky, are ones I can relate to working in quantitative investing—and others that suffer from them out there will be nodding their heads. In full and fair disclosure, both me and my family are investors in Jeremiah’s business. You won’t have to worry about that potential conflict of interest in today’s conversation, though, because our focus is on the deployment of machine learning technologies in the realm of investing. What I love about talking to Jeremiah is that he is an optimist and a skeptic. He loves working with new statistical learning technologies, but often thinks they are overhyped or entirely unsuited to the tasks they are being used for. We get into some deep detail on how tests are set up, the importance of data, and how the minimization of error is a guiding light in machine learning and perhaps all of human learning, too. Let’s dive in. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:06 - (First Question) – What do people need to think about when considering using machine learning tools 3:19 – Types of problems that AI is perfect for 6:09 – Walking through an actual test and understanding the terminology 11:52 – Data in training: training set, test set, validation set 13:55 – The difference between machine learning and classical academic finance modelling 16:09 – What will the future of investing look like using these technologies 19:53 – The concept of stationarity 21:31 – Why you shouldn’t take for granted label formation in tests 24:12 – Ability for a model to shrug 26:13 – Hyper parameter tuning 28:16 – Categories of types of models 30:49 – Idea of a nearest neighbor or K-Means Algorithm 34:48 – Trees as the ultimate utility player in this landscape 38:00 – Features and data sets as the driver of edge in Machine Learning 40:12 –
Tue, September 18, 2018
Trail Magic - Lessons from Two Years of the Podcast [Invest Like the Best, EP.104]
(0:49) This week, to mark the two-year anniversary of the podcast, I offer a quick summary looking back and forward. (0:55) Yesterday I heard about an Appalachian Trail thru hiker named Croatoan, or Crow for short. Crow was his trail name, which all A.T. thru hikers carry. Importantly, you can’t give yourself a trail name. Someone else has to name you along the way. Crow’s girlfriend was named Porridge. Another hiker he encountered along the way was named Bear Wrestler…more on him in a few minutes. Crow was a Sobo, a south bound hiker heading from Maine to Georgia. This is a far more unique route, as most thru hikers are Nobos, hiking north. These hikers maintain a rich culture. Each wears their own trail flare, and has their own trail style. They are obsessed with their gear and food. They develop their own improved walking method to cover ground efficiently. Hikers typically won’t veer far off course, no more than a tenth of a mile, for almost any reason. Crow once left a meaningful gift he had received by a river bed, realized it two tenths of a mile later, and just kept moving. Two exception to this rule are to visit a brewery or find some homemade ice cream. (1:50) There are different types of thru hikers. White blazers are hikers who follow the main trail, lit by the famous white blazes marking the way. Blue blazers often go a step further, exploring side trails in addition to the main trail. Green blazers smoke weed the whole time. There are other colorful ones I’ll stay away from here as they aren’t safe for work. Apparently you can spot an imposter in a number of ways. My favorite was that anyone wearing big, sturdy hiking books should be questioned, because most thru hikers realize quickly that they are way too heavy and opt instead for lightweight shoes. Crow had a nice pair of Altras. (2:22) This brings us back to Bear Wrestler. Around a campfire, Bear Wrestler was telling Crow and his girlfriend all about his long trail adventures and feats, but Crow noticed that Bear Wrestler was still chubby, carrying 40 pounds of fat. This is a second way to spot a potential imposter. When hiking intensely for months on end, it is impossible to keep any weight on, so Bear Wrestler was clearly a yellow blazer, a type of hiker who drives between trail heads instead of hiking the entire way like the purists. As I heard about Crow and his adventure, I was thinking about what to say in this short episode about what I’ve learned across two years running this podcast. What I quickly realized is how many yellow blazers there are in the world, and that at many times in my life, I too have been a yellow blazer—opting for easier but less authentic, and less interesting, routes. The podcast is part of a portfolio of things that I’ve put in place in my life to try to avoid being a yellow blazer. To instead push myself to be more like a blue blazer, exploring anywhere I can. (3:16) Looking back on the incredib
Tue, September 11, 2018
Kathryn Minshew - How Employers and Employees Should Build Careers - [Invest Like the Best, EP.103]
My guest this week is Kathryn Minshew, the co-founder and CEO of the Muse, and the co-author of The New Rules for Work: the Modern Playbook for Navigating Your Career. I’ve learned in business is that the quality of people and the culture they create dictate outcomes. Having made plenty of mistakes hiring, and having had many enormous successes, I am always interested in best practices for finding and successfully recruiting the right people. Given that Kathryn runs a jobs marketplace and has written a book on the topic, she is the perfect person to explore some the core concepts around pairing people with the right positions. We discuss how companies should market to prospective employees, how employees should represent themselves to employers, and the most common mistakes she sees across the hiring landscape. Please enjoy our conversation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:31 - (First Question) Largest changes in the nature of work and how people approach finding the right job for them 3:27 – Can this work be jammed into a formula 5:18 – What strategies is she sharing with employers when it comes to hiring 8:31 – How long should the process take 9:33 – Biggest mistakes employers make in this process 10:39 – Besides the usual stuff, what can perspective employees do to bolster their chances 12:50 – How much more efficient will matching technology get in the years to come 16:00 – What will be the largest changes to work itself 19:09 – Will we move away from full time work into parsels of work units 20:50 – Most successful piece of content or content strategy the Muse has employed 22:34 – Advice for early stage entrepreneurs 26:24 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Kathryn Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, September 04, 2018
Richard Craib - Crowdsourcing Predictive Algorithms - [Invest Like the Best, EP.102]
I intentionally avoid the world of quantitative investing on this podcast. The whole point of this format is to learn about many different fields, and the vast majority of my time is already spent in quant world. Occasionally I’ve broken this rule because of something unique, including this week’s conversation with Richard Craib, the founder and CEO of Numerai. If you listen to the podcast often you’ll have heard me reference Numerai, a hedge fund which blends quant investing, cryptocurrencies, crowdsourcing, and machine learning — talk about a PR company’s dream. One important note: Numerai is both incredibly open and very secretive. You may sense a bit of frustration on my part, but that is only because, as a fellow quant who loves details about data and modeling, we couldn’t go deeper into the details on the record. We discuss how Numerai has created an incentive structure to work with data scientists around the world in an attempt to build better investing models. The idea of having data scientists stake cryptocurrency in support of the quality of their models is fascinating. Like many hedge funds, Numerai doesn’t share its track record, so we don’t know if this works—but I hope you, like me, use this conversation as inspiration for how different technologies can intersect. Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments Please enjoy my conversation with Richard Craib. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:32 - (First Question) – How he came up with Numerai and how its related to his background 4:08 – How he works with and models the data for his system 5:24 – Describing machine learning as it relates to his work, and specifically linear regression 7:11 – The important stages in his sequence 8:46 – How the scale in the number of data scientists they use is different from other areas 11:30 – Which is the most important aspect of creating alpha; their data, algorithm work, proprietary ensembling of those algorithms. 14:30 – The idea of staking in blockchain 17:30 – Does the magnitude of the stake matter in blockchain 19:10 – Understanding the full incentive structure for both staked and unstaked work 21:07 – How is the prize pool determined 22:29 – Philosophy on how to source interesting data 26:11 – His thoughts on the crowd model and the wisdom of crowds 27:12 – The size of stakers for Numerai 27:51 – Interpreting the models and knowing when some
Tue, August 28, 2018
Elad Gil – How to Identify Interesting Markets - [Invest Like the Best, EP.101]
My guest this week has a fascinating background. He has a PhD in biology but has split his time as both an investor and an operator. As an investor, he’s involved in companies like Airbnb, Coinbase, Instacart, Opendoor, Stripe, Square, and Pinterest—not too shabby. As an operator, he helped both Google and Twitter scale their businesses, in the case of Twitter from 100 employees to 1500 over two years. He’s just written a book about these experiences called the High Growth Handbook. Our talk centered on what makes for a good investment and more specifically how Elad identifies an interesting market. Operators and early stage investors will find lots of nuggets in this fun conversation. Please enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:31 - (First Question) – Process for evaluating a young business 2:43 – Andy Rachleff Podcast Episode 3:09 – Data factors for evaluating a business 5:08 – Reference checks 6:42 – Advice for companies that are reliant on product cyclicality 7:01 – Where to Go After Product-Market Fit: An Interview with Marc Andreessen 7:31 – High Growth Handbook 9:30 - Lessons learned from marketing and growing companies 12:09 – How do you hire the best people to improve your distribution 13:16 – How does he think about lifetime customer value vs customer acquisition cost 15:57 – Should companies just focus on the high margin power users 16:35 – Best ways to organize a company hierarchy 19:16 – His interest and background in the area of longevity research 21:52 – Changes he has made in his own life as a result of this longevity research 22:56 – Most effective use of a CEO’s time 24:58 – How he evaluates or identifies interesting markets for potential businesses 28:03 – Any markets that fit his criteria that are underappreciated by investors 30:02 – Worst practices for businesses 32:19 – Kindest thing anyone has done for him 33:20 – What would be the topic of his next book 34:40 – Biggest lessons he’s learned about markets Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcas
Tue, August 21, 2018
What You Learn About Business Deals After: 12,000 Deals Reviewed, 1,500 Deep Dives, 125 Site Visits, and 7 Portfolio Companies with Brent Beshore - [Invest Like the Best, EP.100]
For the 100th episode, I’ve brought back my good friend Brent Beshore. Brent was the 10th guest on the podcast, after we met because of a mutual interest in capital allocation. I quickly learned that Brent was one of the most unique and thoughtful investors around. He was an entrepreneur from the moment he left school, trying many different things before finding a fit buying smaller business with the intention of owning them forever. What amazes me about Brent is his encyclopedic understanding of business and the nuances of different business models and deal structures. This comes from reps. He and his team have looked at about 12,000 deals over the years, at every kind of business that you could imagine. I’ve been with him when he goes through this process and it’s fun to hear what makes certain businesses stand out from others, which is largely the topic of this conversation. You all know transparency is key for me, so it’s important to know that my family and I are investors in a fund called permanent equity, run by Brent and his firm Adventure.es . To commemorate this milestone episode, I can think of no one better than Brent, because he exemplifies what has made this podcast so fun for me: learning from other people who are willing to share what they themselves have learned through fun, blood, sweat, and tears. Please enjoy our conversation, and thank you so much for coming along on this journey. I can’t tell you how much it means to me. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:02 - (First Question) – How does he think about optimizing risk in terms of the capital stack when looking at deals 5:27 – What conditions would they add debt down the road after investing in a company 6:52 – What business sectors are most intriguing for Morgan to invest in right now 6:57 – Trent Griffin Podcast 9:34 – Why no HVAC businesses if it’s such an attractive sector 13:56 – thoughts on rolling up similar businesses and horizontal scale 16:04 – Another industry Brent would focus on 18:02 – Difference between property management in larger cities vs smaller metro areas 18:51 – What role does profit margin play when Brent is evaluating a business 22:46 – The appeal of a hyper cyclical business 22:52 – Brent Beshore Podcast Episode 27:27 – Favorit
Wed, August 15, 2018
Boyd and Bronwyn Varty – Track Your Life - [Invest Like the Best, EP.99b]
Today’s conversation is a continuation of my discussion on applying the lessons of tracking animals in the wild to tracking in your own life. I encourage to listen to that episode first. In this second part, Boyd’s sister Bronwyn joins and offers perspective on business and life. Given that Boyd and Bron grew up in this wild place, their perspective on the world is refreshing and very different. We discuss a wide range of things, But the section on restoration near the end is just phenomenal stuff. Please enjoy part two of my conversation with the Varty family. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:21 - (First Question) – Concept of shame and the role it plays in the lives of the people that visit 3:11 – Bron’s take on shame and if this is uniquely male issue 5:15 – How the Varty’s think about the concept of presence, and time with Nelson Mandela 13:34 – Selfishness as an impediment to presence 20:26 – Tending the cup 20:37 – Life is not a zero-sum game 23:15 – How they run the reserve as a business 30:18 – Importance of motivation as a business 33:55 – Cultivating a culture that makes a business a family 40:15 – How they help other family businesses 45:29 – The idea of restoration as a business and legacy 51:23 -Restoration model in investment 53:49 – The age of restoration will be born on the age of information 54:48 – Places that have given Varty’s deep connections (other than Africa) 1:00:46 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Bron Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, August 14, 2018
Boyd Varty – Live Like a Tracker - [Invest Like the Best, EP.99a]
An interesting question that I think about a lot: how do you balance exploring the new with savoring what you already know and love? Most of the time I prefer to explore, but the best part of this podcast experience for me has been meeting people who become close friends. For episodes 99 and 100, I’m bringing back two of the most popular past guest who are both now dear friends. This week’s episode is split into two parts, today and tomorrow. Today’s episode is with Boyd Varty and tomorrow is with both Boyd and his sister Bronwyn. The incredible Varty family hosted me in South Africa, so you’ll hear birds and elephants in the background as we talk. This conversation with Boyd is about our shared experience called “track your life” which I couldn’t recommend more highly. We tracked animals on foot for five days, and learned a lot from the environment itself. While we discuss our time together, this is much more about how to live. My original conversation with Boyd had a huge impact on me, and this continues the exploration of Boyd’s idea that we should all be going our own way, in the right way, instead of simply following well trodden paths. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Boyd and check back tomorrow for another conversation with the Vartys. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:55 - (First Question) – Encounter with five wild dogs 10:19 – The idea of a perfect day on the track 15:59 – The importance of silence 19:42 – Why we could all benefit from the power of silence 21:37 – Side effects of being on the track 23:49 – Following the smaller paths 25:20 – How culture can keep us from forging our own path 29:34 – The stress he puts on the watch at night 33:34 – The power of going from alert to rest and back again 35:11 – Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers 38:25 – Disconnecting from the modern world and reconnecting with your life’s purpose 41:42 – How much does skill play into finding your life’s calling 43:23 – Common objections to what they do 49:58 – Importance of end of day on the track 52:33 – Silence and feeling of thousands of years of time passing through hallucinogenic 56:22 – His experience with bees Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for
Tue, August 07, 2018
Ryan Selkis - The Crypto Barbell and Token Curated Registries - [Invest Like the Best, EP.98]
Ryan Selkis - The Crypto Barbell and Token Curated Registries - [Invest Like the Best, EP.98] This week’s conversation is for those interested in the nitty gritty of cryptocurrencies and for those who, like me, are fascinated by that world but more than a bit skeptical of the investing prospects for the many cryptocurrencies now in existence. My guest is Ryan Selkis, who I met at an event hosted by Union Square Ventures and Blocktower Capital. At that event, in a crowd of many brilliant people, Ryan was consistently asking hard questions and raising counterpoints. I love his perspective because he is both passionate, but realistic, excited about crypto, but worried about many aspects of the ecosystem. We discuss many new topics like his barbell analogy for thinking about different kinds of coins, token curated registries, and the need to better transparency around decentralized projects. Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments Please enjoy our conversation. March for the Fallen Want to meet other curious investors, get in good shape, and support a fantastic cause? Consider joining a great group to hike 28 miles in honor of those who have fallen in defense of our nation. Learn more and sign up at alphaarchitect.com/mftf . For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:55 - (First Question) – how he best explains blockchain technology 4:12 – How does he categorize each cryptocurrency 9:11 – How Numeraii is valued 10:04 – Explaining token curated registries (TCR) 12:58 – How Token Curated Registries are being applied 15:05 – Innovations that will protect against nefarious actors in the crypto space 16:37 – How do you convince investors to commit to TCR’s 18:40 – Biggest headwinds to this industry 22:12 – What are the quality filters to root out the bad actors 25:42 – Thoughts on the ICO market as an alternative to capital raising 29:23 – Litmus test for who should use an ICO to raise capital 34:28 – What is unique about creation of a token vs the normal exchange of cash to determine if a company needs a token 36:21 – How many ICO projects are really necessary 38:28 – How should people form an investment opinion about this space 41:35 – Core mission of his company 44:28 – What are some of the reasons his goals won’t ha
Tue, July 31, 2018
Cathie Wood – Investing in Innovation - [Invest Like the Best, EP.97]
My guest this week is Cathie Wood, the founder of ARK invest. Cathie and her team believe that disruptive innovation is the key to long-term growth and, therefore, alpha in the public markets. Because their style of investing is entirely contingent on what will happen and change in the future, it is about as different a style as exists from the quantitative approach to investing, which relies on what is currently knowable about stocks and businesses. The future is notoriously hard to predict, so I am always interested to hear about investing approaches which try to model or handicap the future and build portfolios against that work. In this conversation, we explore all the most interesting and exciting technology trends at play in the world today—and how those trends may play out for investors. We discuss genome sequencing, blockchain, software 2.0, mobility as a service, automation, and more. We also discuss Cathie’s take on building a bridge between the worlds of finance and Silicon Valley, and why starting with a benchmark is anathema to their process. It is hard to deny Cathie’s passion and enthusiasm, and I credit her for building a unique firm culture that emphasizes openness and collaboration. Please enjoy our conversation on investing in innovation. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:30 - (First Question) – Cathie’s idea of bringing open source to Wall Street 4:47 – Deep dive into the platform 6:09 – White Paper on Bitcoin – Could Bitoin serve as the role of money 7:43 – Why disruptive innovation is so inefficiently priced 10:04 – How well does the market discount cash flow of disruptive businesses 14:09 – A look at their investing strategies, starting with top-down. 16:10 – How they picked their 5 categories of technological change, starting with foundational 19:42 – Changes in energy 21:53 – Robotics 24:17 – Excitement over deep learning 28:03 – How they express their top-down ideas from the bottom up 36:06 – Mobility as a service as a key area of focus 45:25 – The power of public mistakes 46:39 – What she looks for when hiring 51:14 – her philosophy on building and maintain a portfolio 56:38 – Behind the growth of the company 1:04:01 – Most exciting area for her right now 1:07:52 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Cathie Learn More For more episodes go to <a href= "http://in
Tue, July 24, 2018
Bethany McLean - Business Gone Bad and the Art of Persistence - [Invest Like the Best, EP.96]
I’ve often heard that good investors are a bit like journalists: doggedly collecting evidence and building an understanding of how all the pieces of a company or investment fit together. My guest this week is one of my favorite writers and journalists, Bethany McLean. Across her career, Bethany has covered many of the most interesting stories in business and investing, including Enron (which became the famous book and documentary, the Smartest Guys in the Room), Valeant, Wells Fargo, SAC Capital, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the great financial crisis, and most recently, fracking and the energy revolution. Given how deeply she has investigated all of these topics-- and thought about the common threads across them all--this was an amazing conversation. When talking to her, you can feel how much she cares and how diligent and fair she is when analyzing a topic. In addition to all of the great stories already listed, we discuss the art of persistence and other lessons she has learned about businesses and people gone bad. I especially loved her evolving take on housing in America. Please enjoy my conversation with Bethany McLean For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced Mindsets: Optimism vs. Complacency vs. Pessimism Disgraced ex-BofA exec raises uncomfortable questions about #MeToo The Hunt for Steve Cohen Books Referenced The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron ” Free Radicals: The Secret Anarchy of Science Shaky Ground: The Strange Saga of the U.S. Mortgage Giants Saudi America: The Truth About Fracking and How It's Changing the World <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Desert-Coming-Saudi-Economy/dp/0
Tue, July 17, 2018
Modest Proposal – Value is Dead, Long Live Value - [Invest Like the Best, EP.95]
A very short introduction today because my guest is anonymous. Suffice it to say he manages a large pool of private capital. He goes by the pseudonym “modest proposal” and his twitter presence is one of the reasons I first got on and now stay on the platform. He is level headed, smart, and skeptical by nature, all of which made for a great conversation. We discuss how difficult the market has become for active investors, thematic investment opportunities, and the potential sources of market mispricings. Please enjoy our conversation, and let me know which other anonymous accounts you’d like to hear from. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced Factors from Scratch: A look back, and forward, at how, when, and why factors work Josh Wolf Podcast Episode Mike Zapata Podcast Episode Michael Mauboussin Podcast Episode Show Notes 1:55 - (First Question) - How value investing has changed 5:45 – How does he apply the lens of market over-reaction to the current market today 5:47 – Factors from Scratch: A look back, and forward, at how, when, and why factors work 7:06 – Josh Wolf Podcast Episode 8:35 – Areas where he prepares most 8:36 – Mike Zapata Podcast Episode 12:18 – Where markets may be over reacting in media 20:10 – How does he invest on this thinking 20:44 – Michael Mauboussin Podcast Episode 22:35 – Other parts of media that he finds interesting 27:35 – Aggregation theory and how it plays into his investment philosophy 31:06 – Structuring a long-short portfolio in today’s media market 35:59 – Customer acquisition costs and how it’s impacting retailers 40:51 – The role of physical locations in a world that was upended by virtual retailers 49:41 – Consumer Internet Story thes
Tue, July 10, 2018
[REPLAY] Eric Maddox – The Ace of Spades - [Invest Like the Best, EP.15]
With Patrick out of the country this week, we thought we'd play an old favorite that many of you have not heard. Please Enjoy! This week we explore a rare and underappreciated skill through the lens of an incredible story. My guest is Eric Maddox, whose name you probably don’t know but won’t soon forget. Just trust me that you need to listen to this entire episode, and listen carefully—because that is what the episode is ultimately all about: how to listen to others, with care and empathy, in the age of distraction. Sometimes it’s fun not to know what’s coming and be surprised, so I won’t say anymore. After the episode, you can learn more about Eric at Ericmaddox.com . On his wall, Eric has a framed Cuban cigar, he starts his story by explaining the significance of that cigar. Enjoy this episode, and try Eric’s method. It has worked wonders for me. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/maddox/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, July 03, 2018
Niel Robertson – The Future of Media - [Invest Like the Best, EP.94]
This week’s episode covers a new set of topics. The conversation, with Niel Robertson, covers media, e-sports, content distribution, marketing, and a lot more. Niel started a software company out of his bedroom when he was 14, and sold his first company in 1999 for $280 million, when he was 24 years old. He has started and sold other companies to Twitter and Cisco. He started another large business that ultimately failed. He’s been an investor, venture partner, and serial entrepreneur. You can find more in the shownotes. As I often do, I cut the long background section from the interview so we can get right to the meat of things, but Niel concluded that section saying: “I think that could be all summed up by I just liked building things and I can't stop doing it.” In addition to the overall media landscape, we discuss the role that the biggest media platforms will play, and where other opportunities may exist. We cover digital collectibles stored on blockchain, and what type of digital assets may be leased to others. We close with a discussion of leadership, company structure, content creation, and something you should do each year. Please enjoy this unique conversation with Niel Robertson. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced The Start-up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career Show Notes 2:30 - (First Question) – Overview of the media landscape as it relates to influencer marketing 6:42 – How does he think about this space as an investor 12:21 – What is the future of distribution of products 17:01 - An overview of the e-sports ecosystem 18:20 – The shift of people watching others play video games 20:06 – Will we see power shift from the platform to the influencer 27:03 – Why Amazon is the sleeper in this game 29:38 – Reviewing some of the other platforms, starting with Snapchat 30:54 – Twitter 32:06 – Other platforms that should be focused on…Pinterest 33:38 – His interest in blockchain and digital collectibles 36:34 – Who will be disrupted by digital collectibles 37:55 – Why does the decentralization of these assets matter 39:49 – The tokenization of assets 42:11 – What companies have the largest hurdles to innovate in these spaces 44:57 – His thoughts on leadership
Tue, June 26, 2018
Eric Balchunas – The Past, Present & Future of ETFs - [Invest Like the Best, EP.93]
My guest this week is Eric Balchunas, the senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg and the author of the Institutional ETF toolbox. This episode is intended for those in the asset or wealth management industry who have considered using ETFs in their portfolios, or for the individual investor who likes to stay up to date on trends in the market for asset management products. We cover all aspects of ETFs in some detail, and luckily in ways that have little overlap with a few other recent ETF-centric episodes on two of my favorite podcasts: the Meb Faber Show and Capital Allocators with Ted Seides with Matt Hougan and Tom Lydon respectively. We open with Eric’s favorite ETF tickers, discuss the pros and cons of ETFs versus other investment vehicles, and explore the largest areas of opportunities for new ETFs coming to market in the years to come. ETFs have become the vehicle of choice for many investors, so it was about time we covered them in depth in this forum. As you’ll hear, Eric is the right person to teach the world about ETFs, thanks to deep domain knowledge and unflagging enthusiasm. Please enjoy my conversation with Eric Balchunas on the past, present, and future of ETFs. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced Quantitative Momentum: A Practitioner's Guide to Building a Momentum-Based Stock Selection System Links Referenced Chart – There Are Now More Indexes Than Stocks Show Notes 2:32 - (First Question) – Eric’s favorite ETF tickers 4:07 – How Eric got started into his career and how it led him into the ETF world 8:04 – An overview of the ETF landscape 10:10 – Active managed ETFs 12:17 – Chart – There Are Now More Indexes Than Stocks 13:32 – Key variables he thinks about when assessing a new ETF 15:18 – Evaluating shiny object ETFs 17:30 – The appeal of ETFs 20:18 – Future regulatory concern of the tax treatments of ETFs 22:10 – The liquidity advantage of ETFs and why that can actually be bad for investors 24:19 – What would Eric do to build the perfect ETF 26:03 – What are the future trends for new ETF’s launched 29:40 – Categories that wor
Tue, June 19, 2018
New Angles on Crypto - Kyle Samani and Tushar Jain - [Invest Like the Best, EP.92]
My guests this week are Kyle Samani and Tushar Jain, both managing partners at Multicoin Capital. I’ve taken a bit of a break from crypto because I hadn’t sensed many new angles to explore in this forum, from an investor’s point of view. I felt that while things keep evolving, the major investment theses have been established and explored. Kyle and Tushar are interesting because of their often divergent views. For example, Kyle has been an outspoken supporter of Ethereum relative to bitcoin. This conversation, which is meant for those still curious about crypto, offers lots of new food for thought. We discuss smart contract platforms, network effects, the coming platform wars, and why blockchains may not matter in ten years. Please enjoy my conversation with the partners of Multicoin Capital. Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced Paths to Tens of Trillions An (Institutional) Investor’s Take on Cryptoassets On the Network Effects of Store Value If SaaS Products Sell Themselves, Why Do We Need Sales? Money, blockchains, and social scalability Nakamoto Institute Token Economy Multicoin.capital Crypto Cannon Show Notes 2:11 - (First Question) – What would get the entire cryptocurrencies ecosphere to 5-10 trillion dollars 2:53 – Paths to Tens of Trillions 4:37 – What will be the effective uses for crypto currencies, store value vs utility value 4:38 – An (Institutional) Investor’s Take on Cryptoassets</a
Tue, June 12, 2018
Michael Recce – Tim Cook’s Dashboard - [Invest Like the Best, EP.91]
My guest this week is Michael Recce, the chief data scientist for Neuberger Berman. The topic of our conversation is the use of data in the investment process, to help cultivate what is commonly referred to as an information edge. I call the episode “Tim Cook’s Dashboard” because of an interesting question that Michael poses: if you armed the best apple analyst in the world with Tim Cook’s private business dashboard, what might that be worth? Effectively Michael’s goal is to recreate the equivalent of a company dashboard for many businesses, helping analysts understand the fundamental health and direction of companies a bit better than the market does, and in so doing create an actionable edge. This is a daunting task, and you will hear why. It requires both a fundamental understanding of business and of data, statistics, and methods like machine learning. In our own work, we’ve found machine learning to be useless for predicting future stock prices, but extremely useful for other things, like extracting and classifying data. This conversation can get wonky at times, but as listeners know that is the best kind of conversation, even if it requires a second, slower listen. I hope you enjoy this talk with Michael Reece. Afterwards, I highly recommend you invest the time to read a series of posts called Machine Learning for Humans, which I will link to in the show notes. It helps demystify the buzz words and explain how these new technologies are being used. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced Crossing the Chasm One Two Three Infinity Links Referenced Sam Hinkie Podcast Episode Show Notes 2:44 - (First Question) – Changes in data science through the lens of Michael’s career 5:17 – The basic overview of using data and machine learning to create an edge 6:58 – How the state of business is more than just a single data point 7:53 – How you know when you’ve pulled a real signal from the noise of data 10:49 – The advantages that data provides 13:01 – Is there still an edge in decaying data 15:34 – Building data that would predict stock pric
Tue, June 05, 2018
Ash Fontana – Investing in Artificial Intelligence - [Invest Like the Best, EP.90]
My guest this week is Ash Fontana, a managing partner at venture capital firm Zetta, who invests in companies which build software that uses artificial intelligence methods like machine learning to predict and prescribe outcomes. Ash’s combined experience as a founder, entrepreneur, and investor give him the perfect background to discuss with us one of the hottest topics in business and investing. This conversation is useful for anyone trying to evolve their own way of dealing with data. Of particular interest are the ways that Ash and his team evaluate data sets and how they think about competitive advantage in this new world—where he advocates a new term to replace the concept of moat: loops. If we can use data to do things better than humans, or if we can supercharge our intuitions with predictive models, we can harness the power of this new technology. What Ash has taught me is that data itself is dumb. But great data sets can represent the fuel for incredible companies. Let’s dive into how that may be. Please enjoy this conversation on how AI is changing business, and how we might profit from that change. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for The Thoughtful Investor Links Referenced Jerry Neumann Podcast Episode Ali Hamed Podcast Episode Show Notes 2:25 - (First Question) – A look at their very specific investment strategy 3:35 – Future of competitive advantage in the SaaS industry 6:45 – How startups and new companies can compete against software giants that are pretty well entrenched in the market 8:38 – How do copies with narrow focuses attract VC money which is looking for massive returns 12:28 – The stages in which AI will be enabled 15:55 – Framework of an AI company 18:49 – Importance of the feedback in the AI company framework 20:56 – Examples of AI companies 23:50 – Why companies that are AI from the start will have a significant advantage in the space 26:21 – How do companies change their thinking about compiling useful data 32:18 – Regulation of AI 35:03 – Preventing other companies from leap frogging you in the AI space 37:57 – Some of his favorite AI co
Tue, May 29, 2018
Mike Zapata – The Darkest Night: Lessons from Battle and Value Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.89]
My guest this week is remarkable. He now applies his talents on Wall Street, searching for smaller cap companies trading at huge discounts in an effort to compound wealth for his investors. He is classically trained, having earned his graduate degree from Colombia, a school known for producing value investors. But his method also reflects what he learned across more than a decade of active duty in the U.S. military. Mike Zapata served us all as a Navy SEAL in the aftermath of 9/11 and ultimately as a member of the SEAL’s “Development Group,” commonly known as SEAL team 6. I think everyone listening strives for excellence in what they do. This week we get to hear from someone who has pursued excellence on our behalf. I’ll let him explain the meaning of his firm’s name, Sententia, but for now suffice to say we are lucky to have quiet professionals like Mike. If you are interested in supporting the families of soldiers who fought with Mike and lost their lives, I encourage you to check out the Tip of the Spear foundation and make a donation along with me, small or large. Please enjoy my conversation with Mike Zapata. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War Show Notes 2:23 2:23 – (First Question) – A quick overview of Mike’s career leading up to his time at Columbia 3:43 – What led him down the path of value investing at Columbia 3:51 – The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel 5:57 – The focus and goal of the firm 7:12 – Where the name of the firm, Sententia comes from 8:04 – His experience in the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) program and lessons learned from it 13:14 – How much grit is innate vs can be learned 14:59 – What the act
Tue, May 22, 2018
Sam Hinkie – Data, Decisions, and Basketball - [Invest Like the Best, EP.88]
I came across this week’s guest thanks to the overlap of three passions of mine: data informed investing, value creation, and basketball. Sam Hinkie worked for more than a decade in the NBA with the Houston Rockets, and then most recently as the President and GM of the Philadelphia 76ers. He helped launch basketball's analytics movement when he joined the Houston Rockets in 2005, and is known for unique trade structuring and a keen focus on acquiring undervalued players. Today, he is also an investor and advisor to a limited number of young companies in which he feels his experience can improve outcomes. At one point in our conversation, Sam mentions that he tracked success via future financial outcomes, so I did some research and found many interesting stats about the 76ers surrounding Sam’s tenure. When he took over the franchise, it was 24th in ESPN’s franchise rankings, and today it is 4th. This is the result of an impressive crop of young talent—players like All-Star Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons—which resulted in large part from unconventional decisions Sam and his team made. While I’m sure these estimates are imperfect, Forbes estimated the 76ers value at around $418M when Sam took over and $1.2B a few months ago. NBA teams in general have grown in value, so a lot of that appreciation is obviously “beta,” but given that the 76ers had the top percentage growth number more recently of any team, some of it is “alpha,” too. While we can’t parse the exact amount, it seems his unique approach to building a team clearly created some large amount of current franchise equity value. And it looks like the dividends from those decisions will compound for many years to come. While basketball was where Sam plied his talents in the past, his approach is more elemental. It is about finding great people, using data, and structuring decisions that create the possibility of huge returns, be they financial or otherwise. I don’t know what Sam will do next, be it investing in companies, running one, or taking over another team, but I know it will be fun to watch. Please enjoy this unique episode with Sam Hinkie. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History Selfish Reasons to
Tue, May 15, 2018
Tren Griffin – Pulling the Thread - [Invest Like the Best, EP.87]
My guest this week is a bundle of curiosity, and that is one of the nicest things I could say about someone. For several years, Tren Griffin has been writing a weekly blog post that highlights things he has learned from various investors, businesspeople, musicians, comedians, and more. Lately, he has also been tackling individual businesses, and broad topics like scaling, competitive forces, and product market fit. Tren’s full time job is serving as a director at Microsoft. He’s also worked with or for several well know businesspeople and investors like Craig McCaw, and written several books including one on lessons for entrepreneurs, one on Charlie Munger, and another on negotiation. We discuss value creation vs. value capture, alpha in investing, sales, hip hop, and why he’d teach high school students about convexity through a drunk driving analogy. I could have talked to Tren for much longer than I did, but sadly, we both had flights to catch. If you take anything away from this, I hope its just how much fun it is to just be curious about business, and how you can learn a tremendous amount if you just keep reading about the things that interest you and talking to others. Please enjoy my conversation with Tren Griffin. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:26 – (First question) – key levers of the universal business model 4:26 – How do you know when you’ve achieved real value creation 6:24 – Importance of value capture and how they enhance value creation 6:31 – Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future 9:08 – Price power 10:28 – Are discussions of moats more useful to businesses than to investors 13:12 - What Tren learned during his early years working with Craig McCaw 16:28 – The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success 16:36 – The skill of capital allocation 18:37 – How would Buffett and Munger bet on tech if they were starting out today and their philosophy of betting against change 21:57 – How Tren became so fascinated with Charlie and what he’s learned from him 22:32 – The Alchemy of Finance 23:17 – <a
Tue, May 08, 2018
Jason Karp – Opportunities in Public and Private Markets - [Invest Like the Best, EP.86]
I believe that any investment strategy that will deliver strong returns in the future must evolve. Any strategy should rest on rock solid foundational principles, which change rarely if ever—things like price discipline, or business growth. But the features of the strategy must keep getting better, because the marketplace is incredibly competitive. That evolution is the topic of today’s conversation with Jason Karp. Jason is the founder and CIO of Tourbillon Capital Partners, a multi-billion dollar asset manager based in New York City. We cover a ton of interesting ground. We start with what has happened in public and private markets, discussing the role of quants, passive indexes, and value vs. deep value investing. We compare the relative merits of investing in private equities, and where and how opportunities arise. We then focus in on two interesting private investing trends: the health and wellness sector and the cannabis industry. First, we discuss Hu kitchen and Hu Products, the food business that Jason started with his family several years ago in response to personal health challenges. Second, we discuss his evolved views on Cannabis as an investment space and why it may also represent a massive growth opportunity. You all know I value transparency, so it is important to note that since I recorded the conversation, my family became an investor in Hu Products. It has been a fascinating means to learn about the food, health, and wellness industry which has grown rapidly in recent years. We were customers of Hu in New York City long before I even knew Jason, which made that part of the conversation especially interesting for me. This episode re-enforced my believe in pushing one’s investing strategy to adapt to change market conditions and competitive pressures. If we have any hope of beating Vanguard, we can’t ever rest on our laurels. This was an especially eclectic and fun conversation, I hope you enjoy my chat with Jason Karp. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 3:06 – (First question) – Jason’s view on private markets vs public markets and how his view has evolved 6:02 – Phase of the private markets where companies can achieve huge size and scale without going public 10:31 – Framework of Jason’s value-based investing strategy 13:47 – Reverse discounted cash flow 16:27 – Are there areas of the market that are easier to predict using Jason’s models 20:29 – Tech dominance the longer they are around 21:01 – <a href
Tue, May 01, 2018
Chris Douvos – A Value Investor Lost in the Valley - [Invest Like the Best, EP.85]
My guest this week is Chris Douvos, a managing partner at Venture Investment Associates, which allocates 1.6B in behalf of investors. Chris is the first professional allocator I’ve spoken with who focuses specifically on venture capital funds, so I had a ton of questions for him on how to build a portfolio in an asset class known for uncertain, but often enormous, outcomes. We discuss the major recent changes in the asset class and where things might be going. I sought Chris out because while this is an investment style that is full of creativity and hope, I’ve always felt it could use a healthy dose of skepticism and a value investor’s mindset. He delivers in spades as we try to separate the real from the ideal. We didn’t record it, but Chris’s tour of Palo Alto was one of the most interesting and entertaining hours I’ve spent. He is a student of history and markets, and I look forward to learning more from him in the future. Please enjoy our conversation For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced Pioneering Portfolio Management: An Unconventional Approach to Institutional Investment Links Referenced Domino Rally Business Models All About the Benjamins Speak Like the Locals David Salem podcast episode Curveball Show Notes 2:18 – (First question) – Four factors that Chris thinks are important for future success of venture firms; portfolio concentration; repeatability; being early; size discipline 7:40 – What the venture landscape looks like today from Chris’s viewpoint 8:32 – Pioneering Portfolio Management: An Unconventional Approach to Institutional Investment 14:07 – Is there a glut of startups making it difficult for investors 17:33 – How does Chris think about the investments that are a bit different from what everyone else is investing in in Silicon Valle
Tue, April 24, 2018
Arianna Simpson – The Crypto Landscape - [Invest Like the Best, EP.84]
My guest today is Arianna Simpson, who has spent her career in an around the world of technology working at startups, Facebook, and now in venture capital as an investor focused on the world of cryptocurrencies. I met Arianna when I hosted a panel at a big investing conference in New York City and she was one of the panelists. On the panel, I found her style to be very straightforward and compelling. It is clear that she loves to learn and that the best manifestation of her style of learning is investing in technology. In our conversation we discuss broad trends in crypto that we haven’t spent much time on before: decentralized versus centralized exchanges, privacy coins, and evaluating a found or early team. We build a framework for learning about this new asset class, discuss the importance of travel, and the value of pushing oneself outside of comfort zones. Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments Please enjoy our conversation For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:12 – (First question) – How to teach someone else to build an investing philosophy around crypto 4:00 – The major risk factors to investing in crypto 6:28 – best practices for mitigating risk 7:39 – What factors to think about when it comes to whether a token will lose all value or not 8:39 - Taking a pulse of the investment community on crypto 11:36 – How she heard about and became interested in crypto currencies 12:34 – Are people really using crypto currency as a hedge against rampant inflation 13:52 – Investing thesis in the space 14:07 – Arianna’s systems for learning about cryptocurrencies and staying up to date on them 15:19 – Arianna’s take on the issue of increasing transactional through put 16:49 – Layer 1 solutions and making it all scalable on a blockchain 17:56 – her take on the fat protocol thesis 20:32 – Defining utility vs security tokens 21:54 – evaluating different coins 21:02 – Why cross currency swaps are important and how they work 26:17 – What are the chances of a scenario where there’s just one token and everything is built off of that one 28:02 - Comparing centralized and decentralized exchanges 29:47 – How the traditional investing world is going to regulate transaction involving cryptocurrencies and view security around those transactions 31:54– Impact this will have on capital formation 33:44 – Evaluating teams behind crypto companies 3
Tue, April 17, 2018
Shark Tank with Thatcher Bell and Taylor Greene - [Invest Like the Best, EP.83]
We’ve always found that even in public equities, you learn more once you have a live portfolio. One of the best ways to learn is to put some capital at risk. To learn about the venture capital world, for example, I made an investment in a startup called Ladder, a platform business which connects coaches (fitness trainers to begin with) with consumers who need or want a coach to help them improve their fitness and their health. The idea is by making the entire coaching system more efficient, Ladder can provide consumers with a real person as a coach, but at a fraction of the cost, and provide coaches with both new customers and a much better way of managing their existing businesses. If you are interested in the businesses backstory, you can listen to episode #60 of the podcast to hear founder Brett Maloley’s story and his vision for Ladder. We are now six months into the launch of the business, with thousands of users and coaches on the platform and run rate revenue past a million dollars. What I was most curious about at this stage, aside from building something useful, was the relationship between a startup and institutional venture capitalists, who are allocating capital from their funds into startups at various stages. For this episode, I asked two VCs to sit down with me and Brett and treat the conversation as they would a normal pitch meeting, so that we, the audience, can get a peek into their world and the types of questions they ask. The venture capitalists in question are Thatcher Bell, of CoVenture, and Taylor Greene, of Collaborative Fund. Both have experience evaluating new companies, but also have specifically spent time on companies like ladder, which follow the platform or marketplace model. While we do cover a little bit of background on the company, I’ve edited most of that part out so we can talk about the business model itself. While I don’t spend much time talking in this episode, you will hear me asking Thatcher and Taylor some questions to better understand why they care or don’t care about certain aspects of a business. Lastly, I love the data aspect of all this. The interaction between coaches and customers produces a wealth of data of different types, all of which is analyzed and used to improve each aspect of the process. To help gather more data—about onboarding, working with a coach, and tracking results—Brett and the Ladder team set up a little promo code for listeners, which can be accessed by going to joinladder.com and using the promo code ILTB2 as in Invest Like the Best 2. The first voice that you’ll hear is Thatcher, and the next person asking questions is Taylor. I began by asking Thatcher to give us a bit of background on how he approaches young companies before diving in with questions of his own. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . <p
Tue, April 10, 2018
Nikhil Kalghatgi – Moonshot Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.82]
My guest this week helps me complete the first trilogy of guests on the podcast. His name is Nikhil Kalghatgi. Along with past guests Ali Hamed and Savneet Singh, Nikhil is a partner at the asset management firm CoVenture. If you liked those two conversations, you will love this one—it is somehow even more wide-ranging than the first two. Nikhil is the CEO of CoVenture Crypto, but he ended up there because of an overarching investing style that he calls moonshot investing, which we explore right from the start and in great detail. He is obsessed with productivity and happiness, and we spend a long time on those topics. One of the most interesting experiments I’ve heard about on the podcast is his Happiness project, for which he interviewed more than 100 of the wealthiest people in the world. The lessons he gleaned from those conversations are very helpful, and I won’t soon forget the lesson related to sacrifice. We also discuss asteroid mining, networking, shared experience, and philosophy. Oh and crypto currencies. Nikhil’s take on crypto has always been refreshing to me. In fact the first time I met him he was throwing cold water on a room full of enthusiastic crypto investors. Within crypto we discuss business opportunities, mining, and how new retail and institutional capital will affect the asset class. Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments. Please enjoy this sparkling conversation with Nikhil Kalghatgi. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:42 – (First Question) – What moonshot investing is 4:41 – Creating sustainable differential investment advantage 9:30 – Assessing the market for moonshots 12:15 – Types of people suited for moonshots 13:42 – The Happiness Project 17:45 – Commonalities among successful people 25:15 – The importance of humor in life 17:16 – Recipe for a good joke 28:00 – The night Patrick and Nikhil met 29:17 – His perspective on the world of venture capital 33:26 – What did Nikhil learn from his time at SoftBank 34:52 – Craziest thing Nikhil has done 40:27 – What he took away from his time in military intelligence 46:10 – The idea of manufactured serendipity 47:13 – Nikhil’s approach to investing in cryptocurrency and what he finds interesting about it 53:23 – How Nikhil reconciles the excitement of crypto with the lack of tangible asset 58:10– The timeline of retail and institutional investo
Tue, March 27, 2018
Live EP.01 – Peter Attia, M.D. [Invest Like the Best]
This week’s episode was the first one that I’ve recorded live. It was the second dinner in what I expect to be a long series where I bring together 30 people from a variety of backgrounds to discuss an interesting and emerging topic, whether that be cryptocurrencies, health, cannabis investing, or some other compelling, emergent thing. My guest, for the second time on the podcast, is Peter Attia, who has lead one of the more interesting careers I’ve ever come across and who is focused on understanding longevity, health span, and quality of life. We dive into many dimensions of health, scientific research, what we can and cannot learn from evolution and our ancestors, and the 7 primary modalities we should focus on when it comes to our health and well-being. Excuse the lack of clear audio quality on some of the audience questions—the ones that are a little difficult to hear are fairly short and I felt it was better to include them for some context. As have all of my conversations with Peter, this one has sparked countless subsequent conversations with my wife, my friends, and my colleagues on what is important and how we can change out behavior to improve our quality of life. My partner and sponsor at these events is Peter Tiboris of Strongpoint Wealth Advisors, who with me loves exploring these topics and understanding how they might affect our lives and out portfolios. Thanks to Peter for helping me realize this series in New York City. Now, please enjoy my live conversation with Peter Attia. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced Marvin HAGLER vs Tommy HEARNS: FULL FIGHT longevity chart Senescence Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life Show Notes 2:07 – (First Question) – Peter’s career journey that led him to where he is today 2:31 – Marvin HAGLER vs Tommy HEARNS: FULL FIGHT 3:46 – How he thinks about longevity 4:37 – Peter’s longevity chart 6:31 – Four things most likely to kill you 7:47 – The quality of your life in the later part of your life 9:03 – Four ways he d
Tue, March 20, 2018
[REPLAY] Boyd Varty – The Art of Tracking - [Invest Like the Best, EP.32]
[ After talking to the brilliant string of guests the past several weeks, Patrick’s brain needed a rest—oh and a concussion didn’t help matters. To hold you over until next week, here is one of the most interesting but less well known conversations from the invest like the best archives.] This week’s episode is the most unique to date. My guest is Boyd Varty, who grew up in the South African Bush, living among and tracking wild leopards. The main theme of our conversation is tracking, and how the same strategy for pursuing animals in the wild can be applied to all aspects of our lives. Boyd’s family has been tracking animals for four generations, and he is bringing what they have learned to a larger audience around the world. The episode includes the best answer I’ve ever heard (which comes when I ask Boyd to describe his most memorable experience). We also discuss the dangers of an achievement or goal oriented mindset, and what he learned from spending time with Nelson Mandela as a boy. This episode is one I hope you share with those you love, because I think Boyd’s ideas will have a profound impact on many who are thinking about what to do with their lives—whether they are young or old. Please enjoy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag 0:00 – Exploring Boyd’s childhood through a story about a black mamba 3:13 – Looking at the early history of Boyd’s family and their foundation in the bush of South Africa 7:00 – The launch of their safari business 8:06 – How they connected with an ecologist that encouraged them to “partner” with the land and how that led to the leopards of Londolozi 14:25 – Expanding their model to other areas and creating an economy of wildlife. </spa
Tue, March 13, 2018
Albert Wenger - World After Capital - [Invest Like the Best, EP.80]
My guest this week is Albert Wenger, a managing partner at Union Square Ventures and the author of the book World After Capital. Albert studied economics at Harvard and earned a PhD in information from technology, but if you’d asked me to guess before looking those up, I’d have guessed that he studied philosophy because of how widely he has thought about the world and the impact of technology. Our conversation is about how technology is changing the world from an Industrial Age to a knowledge age. We explore how cryptocurrencies, low cost computing, and regulation will impact our future and why the transition may require delicate care. I loved this conversation because of my obsession with the concept of scarcity. We explore what has been scarce through time and what may be scarce in the future. Albert is one of the most interesting thinkers I’ve come across and was a pleasure to speak with. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced World After Capital Show Notes 2:16 – (First Question) – Defining what it means to be human 2:58 – World After Capital 3:56 – Trans-humans vs neo-humans 4:37 – The concept of Qualia 5:25 – Albert’s investment philosophy= 8:27 – How Albert began his exploration into cryptocurrencies 12:59 – Most exciting things blockchains could enable 14:27 – How does Albert view blockchain technology from the view of an venture capital investor 17:00 - Why Albert thinks that the dominate cryptocurrency of our time may not exist just yet and what he is looking for in protocols that will become the leader in the space 20:16 – What are the central functions that will be important in cryptocurrencies 21:22 - The state of regulation in the cryptocurrency space 27:37 – What has Albert most excited for the future of blockchain 29:10 – The idea of universal basic income 32:26 – How do you solve the problem of giving money value in a world of universal basic income 35:00 – How scarcity has changed over time 39:01 – Role of financial capital in the last 200 years of civilization 42:39 – Are we as a society only capable of solving problems once they become an immediate threat 44:15 – Explaining the idea of attention as a scarce resource 47:56 – The
Tue, March 06, 2018
Savneet Singh - The Berkshire of Software - [Invest Like the Best, EP.79]
My guest this week is another in a recent series of people that makes me want to work harder, learn more, and do more for others. His name is Savneet Singh, and he has already accomplished a remarkable amount in the worlds of business and investing. He’s preferred to keep a bit of a low profile, but I’m hoping, for everyone’s sake, to change that a little bit. Savneet has invested in unique things like Spanish real estate, famous startups like Uber, cryptocurrencies before they were cool, and even websites. He founded and built a fintech company. And now, he both a partner at the wide-ranging investment firm CoVenture, with my previous guest Ali Hamed, and the co-founder of Tera Holdings, which is trying to become the Berkshire Hathaway of software companies. To say this conversation is wide-ranging is an understatement. What’s neat is that my favorite parts aren’t even on investing, but are instead on principles for living. Savneet is one of the best people I’ve met in this journey. I’ve had several other conversations with him with shockingly low overlap with the one you are about to hear—a testament to his active and curious mind. I hope you enjoy learning from him as much as I have. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced Ali Hamed podcast episolde The VERY simple bear case for bitcoin Owl Mountain Books Referenced Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist The Gorilla Game: Picking Winners in High Technology Show Notes 2:30 – (First Question) – How Savneet started thinking about Spanish real estate. 4:29 – Why Airbnb could be the most impactful and interesting of the companies like this 5:25 – Savneet’s early entrepreneurial ventures 6:42 – His big investing influences 7:02 – Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist 7:40 – What did Savneet learn in his two years on the
Tue, February 27, 2018
Dan Rasmussen - Private Equity Returns in Public Markets - [Invest Like the Best, EP.78]
It has been a while since we discussed private equity on the show, so I was excited for this week’s conversation. My guest is Dan Rasmussen, the founder of Verdad advisers. Dan worked in private equity and has spent years studying the entire field. Dan identified several key drivers of private equity’s outsized returns: size, value, and leverage. His firm uses these factors as a starting point to build a portfolio of public equities that behave like their private brethren. We cover a ton of ground, discussing the prospective returns for equities, forecasting, and tons of investing strategies. Please enjoy this conversation with Dan Rasmussen. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced Subscribe to Dan The Gospel According to Michael Porter Tobias Carlisle Steven Pinker E.O. Wilson Books Referenced What Works on Wall Street, Fourth Edition: The Classic Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time Quantitative Value, + Web Site: A Practitioner's Guide to Automating Intelligent Investment and Eliminating Behavioral Errors Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know? Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction Show Notes 2:03 – (First Question) – The current state of private equity investing 4:09 – The three myths of private equity 6:51 – Taking a de
Tue, February 20, 2018
Pat Dorsey Returns - The Moat Portfolio - [Invest Like the Best, EP.77]
My guest this week, back for a second conversation, is Pat Dorsey. Pat ran equity research at Morningstar before leaving to start his own asset management company: Dorsey Asset Management. His areas of deep interest are competitive advantage and capital allocation. He believes that capital allocation should be in service of competitive advantage and invests in a concentrated portfolio that he and his team feel embody these ideas. If you have not already, I strongly recommend listening to our first conversation, which is a sort of crash course on moats. In this conversation, we cover different ground. We spend much more time on individual stocks like Facebook, Google, and Chegg, using them as examples to explore Pat’s investment philosophy and strategy. Across a few conversations with Pat, I can tell he is in love with this stuff, and I always enjoy talking to investors like him who so passionately pursue and edge. Please enjoy round two with Pat Dorsey. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced Pat Dorsey's first appearance on the podcast HQ - Live Trivia Game Show Books Referenced World After Capital Principles: Life and Work Show Notes 2:15 – (First Question) – Pat’s methods for valuing a business 4:17 – Is this process done after they would first identify potential targets for investment 5:11 – Pat’s take on how the market classifies stocks as growth vs value 6:40 – Qualitative insights and why the market can’t price them very accurately 9:57 – The business model behind zero marginal cost distribution business model 12:00 – Network effects and the potential downside to them down the road 13:54 – Valuing Facebook as a business heavily reliant on network effects 16:45 – What would have to change for Pat’s position on Facebook to radically change 18:58 – Most important lessons that a smaller/private business could learn from Facebook or Google’s business models 19:48 – Where is Amazon in Pat’s portfolio 20:27 – Primary research and the value that is derived from it 22:06 – An example of where primary research led to a big surprise about a company 2
Tue, February 13, 2018
Josh Wolfe - This is Who You Are Up Against - [Invest Like the Best, EP.76]
Long-time listeners will have heard me joke before that this podcast should really be called “this is who are you up against.” I’ve been waiting for the right episode to deploy the joke as a title, and this week we have it. The joke is meant to convey how incredibly impressive these people are who we get to hear from every week. My guest this week is Josh Wolfe, a founding and managing partner at Lux Capital in New York City. Lux is a venture capital firm, but a highly unique one. They’ve spent more time in hard sciences and interesting nooks and crannies of the market than the typical VC firm. Some of investing is zero sum: my outperformance is someone else’s underperformance. Sometimes, though, investing is positive sum. The combination of capital, ideas, people, drive, and raw energy leads to amazing new things. I think the best investing and best investors of the future will be more collaborative than competitive. After finishing with Josh, I couldn’t stop thinking “god, do I want to be involved with whatever he’s doing, if only just to learn.” This conversation made me rethink my joke “this is who are you up against.” Now I won’t think of it as a zero-sum joke, but instead as a reminder: this is the kind of person who is out there. You better find your niche, and still be the absolute best you can within that niche. Please enjoy this killer conversation with Josh Wolfe. We cover just about everything. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced Investing in Biofuels or Biofools? Ali Hamed podcast Alex Moazed podcast Andy Rachleff podcast Popplet @wolfejosh Books Referenced Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy World After Capital Show Notes 2:35 – (First Question) – Lux Capital and the kind of investments they have made over the years 5:42 – The formation of the investment philosophy for Lux 8:17 – Why randomness and optional
Tue, February 06, 2018
Harvey Sawikin - Emerging Market Opportunities - [Invest Like the Best, EP.75]
My guest this week is Harvey Sawikin, a co-founder and lead portfolio manager at Firebird Management, which manages funds dedicated to investing in emerging market equities. Emerging markets are often a blind spot for investors of all types: most of us have never traveled to the far east or eastern Europe, where many of the thousands of emerging market public equities operate. I’ve been very lucky to travel quite a bit in Asia and the Middle East, but never to eastern Europe, which where Firebird focuses its investments. Harvey and I discuss his 24 years of experience evaluating emerging and frontier market countries, industries, and individual stocks. We discuss his experience buying privatization vouchers in Russia, banks in the Baltics, and how today’s emerging market opportunity set compares to the past. Like so many of these conversations with investors who have earned significant excess returns, its clear investing opportunities in emerging markets are often disguised. Finding them requires risk, hard work, discipline, and a dose of luck and timing. Please enjoy my conversation with Harvey on Emerging Market Opportunities. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced Via Books Referenced The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel Education of Rick Green, Esquire Show Notes 2:26 – (First Question) – Most memorable travel experience since the beginning of Firebird 5:41 - How Harvey got interested in emerging markets investing, specifically, Eastern Europe and Russia 10:00 – How does the landscape for emerging markets today compare to when he first started 12:30 – What are the factors of an emerging market to look at and why do some not pan out 15:04 – Do countries have to meet minimum criteria before Harvey and his team will even start to do work on an emerging market 17:33 – How does Harvey distinguish between frontier and emerging markets 18:37 – Thoughts on the access points that regular investors have into emerging markets, such as ETF’s and Mutual Funds 23:48 – How does Harvey think about risk exposure when
Tue, January 30, 2018
Anthony Pompliano - Full Tilt Investing- [Invest Like the Best, EP.74]
My guest this week is Anthony Pompliano. Pomp began his career in the military, and has since been a successful entrepreneur, worked as a head of growth at Facebook, and started Full Tilt Capital, an early stage investing firm in North Carolina. This conversation has three memorable sections. Early on, we discuss the four traits Pomp looks for in founders, which we cover in detail. These double as traits that are important when hiring anyone. Next, we discuss his unique take on cryptocurrencies, where he is excited about the prospects for tokenized securities. Finally, we explore a unique media company, Bar Stool Sports, and what makes it such a powerful brand. Please enjoy our somewhat abbreviated discussion and know we will continue the conversation soon. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced Dave Portnoy and Barstool Sports’ Secret Billion Dollar Plan Books Referenced Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don't Matter Show Notes 2:06 - (First Question) – Recap of Anthony’s military career 4:07 – Most memorable experience while deployed 5:27 – Transition out of the military and how it shaped his investing philosophy 11:19 – investing philosophy of Full Tilt, starting with deal economics 10:00 – Attributes of an ideal founder 13:50 - Where you actual learn the attributes that make you a good founder 14:40 – Time that Anthony has taken the biggest risk in life 16:45 – What is the viewpoint that Full Tilt has today that gives it Alpha in the market 18:47 – Why tokenized securities could be advantageous for investors in a company 19:51 – Anthony’s explanation of a tokenized security and what needs to happen for this idea to be fully realized in the market 22:22 – What could be the impact on the markets of making liquidity in venture so readily available 24:39 – What are tokenized securities actually invested in in the real world 27:42 – What does Anthony think about the commodity risk 29:04 – Describing Standard American Mining, a company they incubated 29:58 – Exploring the shift from a CPU world to a GPU world 31:49 – Getting involved in places where we haven’t caught up with the rest of the world 33:05 – Ant
Tue, January 23, 2018
Dr. Ben Hunt - The Three-Body Portfolio - [Invest Like the Best, EP.73]
My guest this week is Dr. Ben Hunt, the chief investment strategist at Salient and the author of the extremely popular epsilon theory. I’ve always enjoyed Ben’s writing style, particularly his use of farm and animal based analogies to describe market phenomenon. In this conversation, we discuss his recent post the three body problem, why growth has been beating value, and why a strategy that he calls profound agnosticism—a take on risk parity—may be the most appropriate investing strategy in what he views as a very uncertain world. We also discuss some of his favorite lessons from the farm. Please enjoy our conversation! For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced The Three-Body Problem Show Notes 1:54 - (First Question) – Applying the three-body problem to investing 7:24 – Fundamental view of investing, Profound Agnosticism 8:24 – Why has value done so poorly relative to growth in this framework 11:01 - Ben’s thoughts on why value has been underperforming for so long 13:52 – Investors should be able to adapt 17:49 – Thoughts on the risk parity approach 23:23 – Ben’s strategy for working with several teams 26:48 – What’s the best way to gain an edge, top down factors vs company/bond individual analysis 28:29 – How do you measure risk amid the large amount of uncertainty that exists in markets 32:40 – How does Ben personally think about investing 34:41 – Ben’s farm and the investing lessons learned by some of the animals 39:55 – How bees can plan out their entire work structure by the angle of the sun 42:58 – Defining basis risk 44:59 – Personal risk vs portfolio risk 49:30 – The concept of fingernail clean and our perception of what eggs are 53:57 – How ETFs are like mass produced eggs 54:56 – Exploring the idea of quality vs scaling 58:39 – What is the current challenge/puzzle that Ben is focused on right now 1:01:59 – What is Ben looking for when looking into game theory and applying it to the words that are published and spoken about investing 1:03:57 – Most memorable day on Ben’s farm 1:05:04 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Ben Learn More For more episodes go to <a href= "http://invest
Tue, January 16, 2018
Preston Byrne - Crypto-pocalypse - [Invest Like the Best, EP.72]
My guest this week is Preston Byrne. Preston is vocal critic of crazy prices and projects in the world cryptocurrencies. His background is in the legal world and also as a founder and former COO of Monax, which made the first open-source permissioned blockchain client. As Preston says, he is a “blockchain without bitcoin” guy, who believes that this crypto mania will end in some sort of apocalypse for token holders and ICO issuers . We tackle several issues, from his broad skepticism of crypto assets, to the potential regulatory reaction from major governments, to types of coins like stable coins, which Preston views as analogous to perpetual motion machines. Please enjoy our conversation and for any crypto investors out there, let me know if this conversation affects your opinion of the investing prospects for cryptocurrencies. Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced Bitcoin white paper The Bear Case for Crypto Hash Power series Zero Hedge Preston tweet on Reverse network effect Show Notes 2:12 - (First Question) –Ponzi scheme vs pyramid scheme vs Nakimoto scheme 5:29 – Why there are regulatory challenges to cryptocurrency 5:33 – The Bear Case for Crypto 9:59 – Who are the most influential people supporting this and how are they swaying the regulatory minefield on this issue 10:28 – Hash Power series 13:23 – Looking into the idea of a digital asset and the difference between blockchain and the token itself 16:09 – What about the idea that cryptocurrency’s only feature is that it’s censorship resistant 18:39 – Why cryptocurrencies become less usable the more successful they are 18:59 – Zero Hedge 21:04 – Why can’t we rely on offchain solutions to solve the scaling issue 22:29 – The idea of bubbles and what happens next in this one 25:41 – What are the incenti
Tue, January 09, 2018
Ali Hamed – Creative Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.71]
I have a special request this week: share this episode with every curious person in your life. The conversation, with a 26-year old investor named Ali Hamed, serves as an example of what’s possible when you think creatively. Ali views the world with a fresh set of eyes, and has already become an expert at identifying new investment opportunities where others have not. As the second prodigy 26 year old in as many weeks on the podcast, these young guns are making me feel like an ancient 32 year old. We talk a lot about “alpha” in our world, earning returns better than the market. But the key word in that last sentence isn’t alpha, it’s earning. Hopefully you, like me, will use this conversation as a reminder of what it takes to earn differentiated returns. It’s not just the hard work, but also the mindset. We explore many examples of how to create new investment opportunities, from rolling up Instagram accounts, to financing perishable fruit like watermelons, to heavy machinery software. Please enjoy this special conversation with Ali Hamed. Follow him and his partners. And then go figure out how to earn success yourself in whatever it is you do by helping other people solve problems with empathy. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine Links Referenced Sheel Tyle Podcast Seed Investing is a B2C Business, While Growth Stage investing is a B2B Business Ira Judelson podcast Free Content and Digital Media Are Increasing Socio-Economic Disparity Show Notes 2:24 - (First Question) Ali’s investment philosophy 3:33 – History of Coventure and its unique structure 6:30 – The story of how Coventure was seeded 12:29 – What makes cost of capital such an interesting topic for Ali 14:13 – Exploring fee structures and the expectations for return in the current environment 17:02 – The current state of the VC world 21:42 – Ali’s inve
Tue, January 02, 2018
Sheel Tyle - The Future of Venture Capital - [Invest Like the Best, EP.70]
My guest this week is Sheel Tyle, who at just 26 years old has already had a successful career in venture capital. His most recent stint was as the co-head of the seed investing business at NEA, the largest venture capital firm in the world, where Sheel was also a partner. Now, Sheel has set off on his own, setting up his own firm called Amplo and having recently raised a $100M venture fund where he is the sole general partner. He aims to invest with young, mission driven entrepreneurs with a global focus. As you can tell from this resume, which also includes a degree from Stanford and a law degree from Harvard, this is one ambitious guy. There are several aspects of this conversation that will really stick with me, specifically his points on networking and the smartest decision that he’s seen entrepreneurs make. I also loved our discussion of some of the same trends we explored last week with Chris Dixon—topics like drones, automated cars, and blockchain, where Sheel often has a different take than the consensus. Please enjoy my conversation on Africa, entrepreneurship, venture capital trends, technology, and more with Sheel Tyle. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World Links Referenced Andela OneConcern Andy Rachleff Podcast Episode Mark43 TechCrunch VentureBeat Bill Draper (author) Show Notes 2:20 - (First Question) Sheel’s upbringing and how it shaped his interest in Africa 4:43 – The outlook for Africa 6:10 – Primary differences in valuations and momentum in Africa vs opportunities in other places which Sheel conveys through the story of Andela 10:45 – The perspective returns of venture capital investments 15:16 – Does the hyperfroth in ICO’s serve as a threat to traditional venture capital 17:53 – Where Sheel falls on the importance of n
Tue, December 26, 2017
Chris Dixon – The Future of Tech - [Invest Like the Best, EP.69]
My guest this week is Chris Dixon, who has written some of my favorite essays on technology and venture investing. Chris is a prolific investor and thinker, having been an entrepreneur, angel investor, and now partner at the well-known venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. Our conversation focuses on major trends in technology, including cryptocurrencies and the future of autonomous vehicles and drones. Chris has a rule of thumb for technology trends: find out what smart people are working on during the weekend, and you’ll know what other will be doing years in the future. After surveying his old essays, it’s clear you use Chris’s writings as a similar litmus test. Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments Please enjoy this great conversation with Chris Dixon on the future of tech. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World Links Referenced Douglas Hofstadter Daniel Dennett How Aristotle Created the Computer New Yorker Cover on automation The World of Numbers website Jerry Neumann podcast episode David Tisch podcast ERC-20 Token Standard Eleven Reasons To Be Excited About The Future of Technology Show Notes 2:04 (First Question) – Why did Chris choose to study philosophy 2:23 – Douglas Hofstad
Tue, December 19, 2017
Sorin Capital – Retail Contrarians - [Invest Like the Best, EP.68]
So far I’ve spent no time in the podcast discussing real estate, so I was excited to get the chance to talk to the team at Sorin Capital, a billion dollar hedge fund which specializes in commercial real estate, REITs, and commercial mortgage backed securities. Sorin is lead by Jim Higgins, who founded the firm, and Tom Digan, who coincidentally was a college classmate of mine at Notre Dame. The conversation has two unique angles. The first, which starts about 20 minutes into the conversation after we introduce the sector and opportunity set, is a deep dive into a specific trade: a fairly contrarian take on the retail industry, specifically comparing different types of retail real estate. As you’ll hear, the dispersion of mispricings in the sector may be huge, creating opportunities for specialists to earn real alpha by doing bottom up work. The second angle we explore is what I believe to be a strong model for the future of asset management businesses, that is tailoring products, strategies, and even specific trades to the needs and risk-return profiles that clients want and need, instead of just selling a one-size-fits-all comingled fund. You’ve probably heard me joke that this podcast should be called “This is who you are up against,” and this episode is a good example. I always enjoy exploring a niche part of the market, and this conversation on real estate is a perfect example of the type of work that firms do on behalf of their clients. Please enjoy my conversation with the team from Sorin Capital. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions Liars Poker Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco Show Notes 2:43 - (First Question) –Outline the Real Estate Investment Trust world and what the assets and total value look like 6:10 – What does the profile of investors in the space look like compared to investors in the broader debt markets 9:43 – What are the characteristics of a liquid real estate portfolio that mak
Tue, December 12, 2017
Franklin Foer – World Without Mind - [Invest Like the Best, EP.67]
My guest this week is Franklin Foer, the author the recently published book “World Without Mind.” The topic of our conversation is one that I’ve been thinking through often this past year: the impact that large technology companies have on our minds and behavior. This conversation is only indirectly related to markets, but given that the companies we discuss are now several of the largest by market cap in the global stock market, what happens to them likely impacts all of our portfolios whether we own them or not. Given that these companies compete for our attention and dollars, they also affect our businesses. As an example, My friend Brent Beshore and his team at Adventures wrote a long and incredibly thoughtful piece on how they think about Amazon as a force in the market, and how they plan on navigating around such a fierce competitor. Franklin’s book, especially the early history, is very thought-provoking, so it was no surprise that our conversation was too. Please enjoy our talk on the tech giants. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced Free PDF of The Whole Earth Catalog Amazon Must Be Stopped (New Republic) Hannah Arendt Philosophy Time Well Spent Books Referenced World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech The Whole Earth Catalog The Lessons of History Show Notes 1:40 - (First Question) – As part of Jonathan’s new book, World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech , exploring the idea of the whole earth catalogue. 4:09 – The Whole Earth Catalog 4:36 – Free PDF of The Whole Earth Catalog 4:49 – What happened ne
Tue, December 05, 2017
Adam Ludwin - A Sober View on Crypto - [Invest Like the Best, EP.66]
My guest this week is Adam Ludwin, the founder and CEO of Chain, a blockchain technology company targeted at large enterprises. Before shifting his career to focus solely on crypto, Adam was a venture capitalist focused on FinTech, which is how he came across the Bitcoin whitepaper earlier than most. I called this episode “a Sober View on Crypto” because Adam’s take is so balanced. He is certainly long crypto, both in his portfolio and career, but he is very skeptical of much of what is happening in the ecosystem today. For example, he offers the best reason I’ve heard for not launching an ICO or investing in them. If you haven’t read Adam’s widely shared open letter to Jamie Dimon, it has become a must-read piece for crypto-enthusiasts. Read it as soon as you can. I edited out an earlier chunk of our conversation as it was largely introductory. If you need a broader introduction to cryptocurrencies, I suggest starting with episode one of Hash Power and working your way forward. One key insight from Adam in our offline discussion what how cryptocurrencies function very much like equities or bonds. Just as equity financing enables the activity of joint stock corporations, cryptocurrencies enable activity in decentralized applications. We pick up our discussion with Adam discussing whether anyone really uses these decentralized apps today. Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:35 - (First Question) – Will anyone use cryptocurrency in the real world at a large scale 3:43 – The idea of censorship resistance 12:29 – Will society be accepting of this technology 14:39 – Why decentralized apps can’t be acquired 18:24 – The idea of exponential vs linear improvements on a trend and if there are limits to the growth of decentralized technologies 23:26 – The struggle with early adaption of blockchain 25:41 – Best application for bitcoin, storing value 29:52 – Adam’s introduction to cryptoassets and how his thinking has evolved in the space 36:44 – In this hyper frothy market, is there a situation that makes an ICO exciting to Adam 43:51 – Even though it appears to be easy money, Adam explains why you shouldn’t just create an ICO 50:59 – A look at what Chain is doing and what Adam is excited about 53:23 – How does what Adam is working on help to improve the ledger of his clients 1:02:00 – Why you can easily be an early investor in crypto currency <p
Tue, November 28, 2017
Joanne Wilson - Angel Investing and Trend Spotting - [Invest Like the Best, EP.65]
My guest today is Joanne Wilson, a New York City based angel investor, writer, podcaster, trend spotter, and self-described “woman around town.” Joanne has had a multifaceted and winding career, and began angel investing a decade ago when she put money into NYC-based media company Curbed media which we discuss in detail. Since then, she’s invested in more than 90 companies and been pitched by countless more. She is an instantly likeable person, you can literally tell in 10 seconds you are going to have a great conversation, so it’s no surprise that part of what makes her unique among angels is a very close relationship with many of the founders she backs. We cover a lot of ground. We talk about the personality traits of entrepreneurs, Joanne’s evolving investment style, her focus on female founders, fashion, business models, restaurants and a lot more. Please my conversation with the Gotham Gal, Joanne Wilson. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:12 - (First Question) – How does Joanne orient herself towards what’s new, in the context of food in New York city 4:10 – Can that mindset of forward thinking be cultivated 5:18 – Latest thing that got Joanne excited before everyone else 6:57 – Why the new frontier is going niche and local 10:23 – Joanne’s first investment 11:48 – Why do VC’s typically stay away from media 12:55 – How Joanne got into her first investment as a customer 14:11 – What is the skillset of making money that Joanne as 14:45 – Can you sense if a founder has that innate ability to just make money 17:04 – Are there common traits in founders 18:07 – Joanne’s progression into angel investing after her first investment 19:58 – Red flags when looking at investments 20:40 – Impression on growth without goals 23:30 – Trends among Joanne’s investments 25:56 – How much knowledge is transferrable between different industries that Joanne invests in 27:06 – The dichotomy and unique challenges between raising capital with female founders vs male founders 29:07 – How does Joanne balance her time and stay engaged with all of her investments 30:50 – Time when Joanne has helped a founder side step a pothole 31:35 – Most memorable first impression Joanne experienced 35:05 – How often does someone not have the right i
Tue, November 21, 2017
Connor Leonard - Capital Light Compounders & Reinvestment Moats - [Invest Like the Best, EP.64]
This week’s conversation is an ode to old school, fundamental public market investing. My conversation is with IMC’s Connor Leonard, who spends most waking hours thinking and reading about markets. His mandate is to invest purely as if it was his own money, with no pressure to hug a benchmark, and no pressure to do much of anything other than earn strong long-term returns. The portfolio that results from this approach is highly concentrated and unique. Connor’s strategy is to sort companies into four categories based on their type of sustainable competitive advantage. As you’ll hear, the vast majority fall into the first category, which means they don’t have such an advantage and therefore should be largely set aside. We spend the majority of our conversation talking about the other three categories: 1) companies with a legacy moat, 2) companies with a re-investment moat, and 3) an interesting category Connor calls “capital light compounders,” which we explore in detail. When you step back and think about public markets, you realize how amazing it is that we can, from afar, buy an interest in so many companies around the world. A select few go on to deliver outstanding returns. This conversation highlights how hard that can be, but also how fun and ultimately rewarding. Please enjoy my talk with Connor Leonard. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success Links Referenced Pat Dorsey Podcast Episode David Tisch podcast Will Thorndike Podcast episode Show Notes 2:31 - (First Question) – Trends in value investing 2:52 –
Tue, November 14, 2017
Dhani Jones - Adventures in Sports, Business, and Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.63]
My guest this week is unique. As you will hear early and often, he is programmed to go his own way, to, as he says, go one way when everyone else is going another. His name is Dhani Jones, a name I knew as a Notre Dame football fan, because he won a championship with our arch-rivals, the University of Michigan, in the late 90’s. Dhani went on to a long and successful career in the NFL, but even more interesting has been his many pursuits in business and investing outside of football. Like my conversation with Tim Urban, I’ll remember this conversation as a reminder to use a first principles mindset. Dhani seems to have this fresh mindset baked into his character, and as you’ll hear this has led to many a great adventure. Please enjoy my conversation with athlete, businessman, investor, philanthropist, movie buff, and bowtie wearer, Dhani Jones. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:30 - (First Question) – A introduction into Dhani Jones and everything he’s done 5:35 – How did Dhani change throughout his football career 9:55 – The power of your mind in every aspect of life 10:34 – Most memorable experience in the NFL 13:10 – Making the transition from the NFL to the business world 18:20 – Looking at Bowtie Cause 22:40 – The role of creative agencies in Dhani’s ventures and why story telling is so important for him 26:48 – Looking at some of the TV stuff that Dhani has done, particularly around travel 28:21 – Dhani’s favorite movie 30:35 – Back to the joy of travel and “Dhani Tackles the Globe.” 36:54 – How does Dhani think about risk 38:56 – Some of the other sports and activities Dhani did while filming his show 41:45 – The psychological benefit of travel in your personal and business life 44:41 – Looking into the business part of Dhani’s career 51:19 – How to expand diversity in the financial world 54:56 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Dhani Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at <a href= "http://investorfieldguide.com/bookclu
Tue, November 07, 2017
Chris Burniske - How to Value a Cryptoasset - [Invest Like the Best, EP.62]
This episode is a continuation of the Hash Power series. It is the first of what we will call a Hash Power single—a series of conversations each with a single guest on a specific topic. In this case my guest is Chris Burniske, and the topic is cryptoasset valuation. This conversation is loaded with information, I think you are going to love it. Chris recently released book called Cryptoassets, which is a must read for those interested in this field. Chris was at one point the only tradintional buy side analyst covering bitcoin, and is now a partner at a new crypto firm called Placeholder. Chris has developed new frameworks for evaluating and valuing cryptocurrencies, marrying techniques and ways of thinking for several different asset classes to assess the newest asset class. Chris prefers the term cryptoassets because as you’ll hear, several of these tokens aren’t really currencies at all. We discuss the differences between cryptocurrencies, cryptocommodities, and cryptotokens. We begin our conversation with a deep dive into the equation of exchange, which Chris has been using as a starting point for understanding utility value. You can see all crypto related conversations at investorfieldguide.com/Hashpower . Please enjoy this conversation with Chris Burniske. Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond Links Referenced Hash Power Podcast Documentary Nic Carter (twitter) Cryptoasset Valuations (Medium) Show Notes 4:58 - (First Question) – Chris’s overall method for evaluating cryptocurrencies 5:14– Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond 6:47 – The equation exchange 11:19 – Bonding 12:3
Tue, October 31, 2017
Brad Katsuyama - What Happens When You Hit “Buy” - [Invest Like the Best, EP.61]
My guest this week is Brad Katsuyama, the founder of the IEX exchange and protagonist of Michael Lewis’s famous book Flash Boys, which chronicled the role of high frequency trading in markets. This conversation was yet another reminder of how complicated markets can be, and that very few participants know all aspects of the process well. Brad and I get deep into the history behind his company, and the ways in which markets and exchanges have evolved, better or worse. One of my favorite parts of this conversation was our exploration of entrepreneurship. Brad’s whole story is one that entrepreneurs will appreciate, and is full of lessons for those aspiring to start their own business. Please enjoy my conversation with Brad Katsuyama For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt Show Notes 2:10 – (First Question) Brad’s original discovery of a latency problem in trading stocks 12:51 – how the business model of the NASDAQ and exchanges and how it may surprise people 14:16 – The edge that exchanges are now monetizing 16:46 – How Brad went from finding a solution to his current firm 20:18 – Types of high frequency traders that there are 24:33 – The formation of IEX 27:56 – Funding IEX 30:48 – What happens to the initial funding 32:30 – Describe what IEX is as it was sold to early buy side investors 34:31 – Explaining the concept of a speedbump 38:18 – Pitching companies so they will be listed on their index 40:37 – Explains maker-taker fees 44:47 – The sources of revenue for IEX vs traditional exchanges 46:53 – Most memorable meeting Brad has had in establishing IEX 49:39 – How did he do this with young kids? 52:38 – Has the pool of potential profits that high-frequency trading firms can earn gone down 53:53 – What has Brad most excited about the future in terms of helping the buyside 55:17 – What was it like to see Brad’s venture get turned into a best-selling book. ( Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt ) 59:00 – Biggest thing that Brad has learned 1:00:56 – What would B
Tue, October 24, 2017
Brett Maloley - Ladder: The Fitness Marketplace - [Invest Like the Best, EP.60]
This week’s episode is part of an experiment and so requires a longer than normal introduction. I’ve come to view this podcast as a learning tool, a means to understand a new topic in a short window of time. One of those areas is venture capital and startups—an area that one year ago was completely foreign to me. I think the best way to learn is aggressive immersion in a topic along with some consequences, what we often call some skin in the game. Accordingly, this is a conversation with the founder of a startup in which I am an investor. I say this in full disclosure because I believe in being very transparent with you, but also obviously want this business to do well. Part of the reason I invested was because I thought I could affect the outcome of the business personally, in part by exposing the model and ideas to you all. I deeply respect your opinions and collective breadth of knowledge, and welcome thoughts you have on this topic. The founder is Brett Maloley and his company is called Ladder. Ladder represents an overlap of many topics we’ve explore together over the last year. We’ve talked about venture capital, health and wellbeing, the difficultly of fundraising and power law outcomes in startups. We also spent an entire episode, with Alex Moazed, talking about the business model that Ladder is pursing: what Alex calls platform business model and what my favorite technology writer Ben Thompson calls the Aggregator model. Alex wrote the book Modern Monopolies about this model, which describes how companies like Uber, Airbnb, and others serve clients. Platform companies sit at the intersection between consumers and producers in a given category, helping make life easier, cheaper, and/or better for consumers and more profitable and flexible for producers. But the value creation itself is about the facilitating the exchange of value more efficiently than it is about actually creating the underlying product. Airbnb, for example, doesn’t own real estate (the value in this case), but they unlock the potential of real estate owned by others. Same for Uber which, so far, doesn’t own cars. As Alex explained to me in our discussion, a key sign of a market which might benefit from a platform company is some form of latent, untapped supply. Which brings me back to Ladder. The company is being built to unlock latent potential in fitness and potentially other types of coaching. Personal trainers are typically on the job [or; "at work'] 11 horus a day, of which four on average are downtime. That is the untapped supply. Ladder will allow two key things: much cheaper access to a real fitness coach for consumers who don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars a month in the current format, and a way for trainers with lots of free time to both get new customers and to better engage with their existing customers. Think of it almost like Opentable—which started as a way for restaurants to better manage their reservations, b
Tue, October 17, 2017
Tim Urban - Grand Theft Life - [Invest Like the Best, EP.59]
This week’s conversation is about artificial intelligence and interplanetary travel. Its about content creation, thinking from first principles, and death progress units. Its about brain machine interfaces and why it is crucial that you be a chef and not a cook. My guest is Tim Urban, along with his business partner Andrew Finn. Tim is the most entertaining writer I’ve come across in years, who explains complicated and interesting topics to his millions of dedicated readers on the website “Wait, But Why.” As an example, Tim’s last post on Elon Musk’s neurlink venture is 40,000 words long, roughly the length of a short book. It explains almost all of human progress and our potential future using drawings and cartoons. Its impossible to stop reading. While this conversation is wildly entertaining, it is also chock full of metaphors and lessons that will be useful to anyone doing creative work or building a company. I hope this leaves you as energized as it left me. I called this episode Grand Theft Life because that is the name that Tim and Andrew give to their worldview, which I think will change the way you behave, too. Please enjoy my conversation with Tim Urban. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/urban For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies Links Referenced The Cook and the Chef: Musk’s Secret Sauce Wait But Why Neuralink and the Brain’s Magical Future Wait But Hi YouTube Channel Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell Show Notes 1:50 – (First question) – Explaining his concept of planets 1, 2, 3 and 4 and understanding the human colossus 5:46 – Tim’s favorite idea of the human knowledge compounding 7:52 – Die Progress Units (DPU) 9:45
Tue, October 10, 2017
Hash Power – Ep. 3 - Funding, Forking, and a Creative Future
In episodes one and two of Hash Power, we explored blockchain technology and cryptocurrency investing. In this episode, we discuss the current and potential future states of the crypto world. We cover new forms of cooperation, regulation, security and storage, and why blockchains allow systems to evolve at such a rapid pace. Be sure to listen until the end, where we close with some advice about conducting ourselves in a new world where creativity reigns and repetitive jobs disappear—a trend that may only accelerate thanks to blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/hashpower For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 0:05 – Intro to episode 3 and what to expect 4:00 - Olaf Carlson-Wee , founder of Polychain , on how the funding and investing in cryptocurrencies could easily get out of hand 5:00 – How people are creating holding companies to fund cryptocurrencies protocols 6:45 – Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) and how they will replace the aforementioned holding companies 8:32 – Could fully decentralized organizations replace other more traditional organizational structures, even outside of crypto currency 9:59 – How can DAO’s impact everyday lives 12:39 – Why your skills and accomplishments will become more important than who you are or where you are from 15:38 – Ready Player One: A Novel 16:09 - Naval Ravikant , CEO of Angellist , on the way humans cooperate and build new entities 17:51 – When people will demand oversight and regulation over crypto currency 20:42 - Peter Van Valkenburg , Director of Research at Coincenter on the current state of regulation 26:06 - <a href= "https://twitter.com/lopp?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Tue, October 03, 2017
Hash Power – Ep. 2 - Investing in Cryptocurrencies
In episode 1 of Hash Power, we explored blockchains as a technology—how they work, why tokens (also known as cryptocurrencies) are an integral part of any blockchain, and how these new networks might change the world. In episode two, we spend time with the leading investors in the field. Like any frenzied asset class, there are countless cryptocurrency hedge funds popping up everywhere. But founders from three of the original firms—Polychain, Metastable, and Blocktower Capital—are our primary guides this week. As I speak, the total market cap of cryptocurrencies is $136B. There are hundreds of tokens currently available, but bitcoin and Ethereum represent 75% of the total market cap. $136B sounds like a big number, but its tiny relative to any other asset class—and I use that term with hesitation. To put it in perspective, that’s exactly the same size as the market cap of IBM. But IBM had more than $10B of earnings in 2016. Tokens have none. As you will hear, valuing tokens is a very hard exercise. In such a nascent world, we are seeing investing strategies take hold. Olaf Carlson-Wee, Josh Seims, and Ari Paul walk us through different takes on cryptocurrency investing, be it early stage, long term buy and hold, or more hedge fund style strategies. Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/hashpower For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced Fat Protocols (Joel Monegro) Show Notes 0:05 – Recap of part 1 and introduction to part 2 of Hash Power 2:58 – Ari Paul , CIO of Blocktower explains how he got involved in cryptocurrencies 5:23 – Why do we need bitcoin 7:23 – Polychain Capital founder Olaf Carlson-Wee on why the value of tokens accrue 9:23 – How main stream money is getting into this space 12:26- Useful comparisons when talking about ICOs when compared to IPOs 15:01 - Naval Ravikant , CEO
Tue, September 26, 2017
Hash Power – Ep. 1 - Understanding Blockchains
Welcome to the first episode of Hash Power, an audio documentary that explores the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies with leaders in the field like Naval Ravikant, Olaf Carlson-Wee, Fred Ehrsam, & Ari Paul. Hash Power is meant to be an introduction, but really, it is an invitation to explore this emerging world on your own. In the coming weeks, we will cover the technology, the power of decentralization, bitcoin, Ethereum, ICOs, cryptography and hashing. We will spend time with the leading active hedge fund managers in the field, and with outside investors who are both optimistic and skeptical. Episode one covers the big picture, and answers the question: what is blockchain and why might it significantly affect our world? If you enjoy what follows, you’ll still be very early in understanding this field. Most don’t. So help me spread it like wildfire, because the more people that understand blockchain, the better its impact might become. Please enjoy episode one, and stay tuned next week for episode 2, which explores investing in cryptocurrencies. Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/hashpower For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age Nostalgia for the Absolute Links Referenced Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System Reddit User jav_rddt SHA-256 Calculator The BitCoin Model for Crowdfunding Fat Protocols #cryptotwitter Show Notes 0:05 – Introduction CHAPTER 1 – Understanding the Concept
Tue, September 19, 2017
David Tisch - Tech Investing Outside of Silicon Valley - [Invest Like the Best, EP.55]
My guest this week is David Tisch, who was instrumental in building and fostering venture capital investing in New York City. If you liked my conversation with Jerry Neumann--who, incidentally, introduced me to David--you are going to love this one. David was a co-founder at tech stars, New York's answer to Silicon Valley’s famous tech incubator Y Combinator. He now runs the Box Group, a prominent seed stage venture capital firm, which has looked at thousands of startups and invested in more than 200. We explore tech investing outside of Silicon Valley, the tech accelerator model, the evolution of early stage investing, and why the best companies may start coming out of non-traditional venture hubs. David does a great job of explaining how things have changed for technology startups and why certain strategies--especially those for acquiring customers--won't work nearly as well in the future. I learned a lot during this hour, and I think you will too. Please enjoy. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/tisch For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:16 – (First question) – Looking at David’s motivation and role in building up the venture capital tech investment scene in New York 6:14 – What David did to further the mission of fostering tech startups in New York, namely his work with TechStars 10:11 – What is Y Combinator and how does that differ from Tech Stars 13:02 – What is the procedure for getting into a startup incubator 17:08 – Most memorable applications 19:12 – What is the boot camp/incubator experience like 20:34 – What should future incubators be focused on to help develop the right ideas 23:46 – What aspects of the business should a start up be focused on in the beginning 26:46 – What got David interested in investing 28:47 – The challenges of launching new tech today and the colonization of identity 32:04 – Exploring David’s investing strategy 35:45 – Finding the consumer facing companies that can scale and provide a return for venture capitalists 38:03 – The problem of scaling up for start ups 39:20 – What business models does David prefer when making venture investments 40:53 – What’s important to look at when investing in other s
Tue, September 12, 2017
David Gardner - Finding Companies That Break the Rules - [Invest Like the Best, EP.54]
The investment strategy discussed in this week's episode is diametrically opposed to my own value tendencies, but it still one that has done exceptionally well. My guest is David Gardner, co-founder of the Motley Fool. He is unique in that he is both a pure investor--a true stock junkie--and an entrepreneur. His energy is remarkable. His positive vibes are something to behold. You'll hear it over audio, but it's ever more palpable in person. Our conversation is about finding companies which are breaking rules in the right way and reshaping industries. David's goal is to find these companies early in and hold them forever. If you love investing, you are going to love this regardless of your prior beliefs. Please enjoy my conversation with David Gardner on rule breakers. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/gardner For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail (Management of Innovation and Change) The New Penguin Dictionary of Modern Quotations Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game The Motley Fool Investment Guide: How The Fool Beats Wall Street's Wise Men And How You Can Too The Wisdom of Crowds The Motley Fools Rule Breakers Rule Makers : The Foolish Guide To Picking Stocks Links Referenced Totally Absorbed FANG stocks Henry Cloud (aut
Thu, September 07, 2017
Meb Faber - Factors, Dividends, and Angel Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.53]
My guest this week is Meb Faber, who started a podcast similar to this one right before mine and was a big reason I was open to the idea in the first place. Meb is a quantitative researcher whose firm Cambria has been behind many interesting investment strategies that break the Wall Street mold. We talk investing factors, dividends, angel investing, podcasts and more. This was a fun catch up with a close friend in the industry who has been in a leader in using data to explore the best active strategies in a variety of asset classes. Please enjoy our conversation, which begins with a factor draft. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/meb For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation: The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex Links Referenced Update on the Valuation Metric Horserace: 2011-2015 Jason Calacanis on Meb Faber Show Brent BeShore episode of Invest Like the Best Team Ritholtz episode of Invest Like the Best Show Notes 1:55 – (First question) – Drafting quant factors 4:10 – Update on the Valuation Metric Horserace: 2011-2015 10:25 – Most interesting thing Meb’s learned over the past year 14:05 – Jason Calacanis on Meb Faber Show 14:49 – Brent BeShore episode of Invest Like the Best 16:10 – What is Meb’s process for investing in private companies 18:35 – What part of the fintech landsc
Tue, August 29, 2017
Team Ritholtz - The Wu Tang Clan of Finance - [Invest Like the Best, EP.52]
My guests this week don't need to be introduced. In celebration of the one year anniversary of invest like the best, I asked Josh Brown, Mike Batnick, and Barry Ritholtz to join me for a hour, during which I spent more time laughing than asking questions. I chose this team because they are the pioneers of mold breaking honesty and personality in our industry. They all figured out that just being themselves yields incredible results. This is a strategy that everyone should try, but very few do. Honesty and transparency require vulnerability, which is hard for most of us. I still struggle with it. But the evidence is in. The Ritholtz team has grown as fast as almost any RIA. Listen to this and tell me you wouldn't want to spend your career working with people this friendly, funny and open. Hell, I want to give them some money just so I have an excuse to drop by more often. Thanks to everyone who has listened in the past year. We are past 1.25mm listens, and growing fast. You own this thing as much as I do, because the size helps me penetrate deeper and get the best people, which begets more listeners. This podcast is one hell of a discovery machine, and the first year was our warm up. We have a ton of new angles, formats, and events coming in year two. Stay tuned. But first, time to laugh in celebration of year one. Please enjoy my conversation with team Ritholtz For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/ritholtz For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced Barry @ritholtz on twitter a16z Podcast Scott Galloway and Aswath Damodaran on Bitcoin vs Gold Latest 'These Are the Goods' post Show Notes 2:35 – (First question) – What stock best represents you 5:09 – How was this team assembled at Ritholtz 8:50 – Why larger asset management firms are slow to pivot on new technology 10:00 – The humor of Ba
Tue, August 22, 2017
Pat Dorsey - Buying Companies With Economic Moats - [Invest Like the Best, EP.51]
My guest this week is Pat Dorsey, who was the longtime director of equity research at Morningstar, where he specialized in economic moats: sources of sustained competitive advantage that allow a few companies to deliver huge returns over time. Several years ago he left Morningstar to form his own asset management firm, Dorsey asset management, and build a portfolio of companies with wide moats like those he studied at Morningstar. And while moats are critical, equally important is how companies allocate the capital generated--or made possible--by the existence of the moat. A special thank you to Brian Bares who introduced me to Pat, and to Will Thorndike--an earlier guest on the show. In the vast majority of conversations you hear on this show, I'm meeting the guest for the first time. I mention this to encourage you to connect me with anyone whose story or way of looking at the world might resonate. Always feel free to contact me with ideas. Pat and I begin our discussion with the key differences between the sell side and the buy side, and then discuss all aspects of moats and capital allocation. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/dorsey For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:23 – (First question) – Transition from the sell side to the buy side and the biggest surprise 3:40 – What is a moat 5:16 – What part of the stock market universe has a moat 6:57 – Pat’s framework for identifying moat, starting with intangibles 8:32 – The power of brands 9:44 – what chance does an upstart have to come in and usurp a well-established brand 12:24 – Switching costs as part of the framework for identifying a moat 14:55 – The third component of identifying a moat, network effects, and what businesses should do to effectively build one 17:29 – Last component, cost advantages/economies of scale 19:29 – How do you analyze these four components into an investing framework that can be built into an actual strategy 21:13 – How does Pat think about this from a mis-pricing standpoint 23:37 – How does Pat incorporate current price of a company in consideration for future returns when pricing a moat 25:39 – How should a company with a moat operate to protect th
Tue, August 15, 2017
Jason Zweig and Morgan Housel - Business vs. Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.50]
My guests this week are both veterans of the podcast, Jason Zweig and Morgan Housel. They are two of the best in the world at making the complicated simple, and in that spirit, I’ll keep this introduction short. Morgan shifted from public markets to the private markets a year ago when he joined the Collaborative Fund, so we begin with what he has learned about venture capital in his first year on the job. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/writers For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced The Devil's Financial Dictionary Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy Thinking, Fast and Slow Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike Life and Fate Online References A Rediscovered Masterpiece by Benjamin Graham Rishi Ganti podcast Small Companies Are Gone, But Should they Be Forgotten (Zweig Column) Show Notes 1:43 – (First question) – Morgan on why he got disenchanted with the investment industry and shifted to venture capital 4:05 – Jason’s thoughts about investing in the private markets 5:19 - A Rediscovered Masterpiece by Benjamin Graham 7:57 – Morgan’s thoughts on how private market investments differ from public market investments 10:24 – Exploring valuations of businesses and what they say about broader trends in the market 13:21 – How much does Jason think about individual companies when exploring the overall market trends <
Tue, August 08, 2017
Brad Stulberg - Just Manageable Challenges - [Invest Like the Best, EP.49]
This week's conversation is about performance. More specifically, it is about the ins and outs of steady progress and growth. My guest is Brad Stulberg who coauthored the book Peak Performance, which combines research from many fields into a description of how athletes, creatives and others continue to push boundaries in their respective crafts. As someone who is intermittently lazy, the growth equation framework that Brad and I explore has impacted me often since I first read the book several months ago. I hope you enjoy this conversation, which isn't about investing, but which is, at its heart, still about the power of compounding. Books Referenced Outliers: The Story of Success Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise Online References Jool Health Show Notes 1:32 – (First question) – How Vick Stretcher influenced the book, Peak Performance 4:32 – Looking at some of the preliminary research at the science of purpose 7:58 – The idea of a growth equation and the components that can lead to success 11:47 – How the introduction of stress can help in all sorts of creative and entrepreneurial pursuits. 13:39 – The ratio between physical and mental as an impact on this formula 14:56 – Just manageable challenges and the role that they play in the growth equation 18:06 – The idea of just manageable challenges through the example of an athlete 22:19 – Favorite example of a crazy feat of physical performance, stress on older athletes operating at high levels 23:30 – Thoughts about outside influences like mentors/coaches and how they help high performance individuals advance 25:51 – Describe catabolic and anabolic states and why anabolic is so important 29:13 – How the relationship of catabolic and anabolic states also helps the mind 30:47 – How does the idea of practice play into the growth equation 32:49 – Exploring the nuances of practice and why you don’t go all out 32:56 – Outliers: The Story of Success 33:00 - Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise 34:24 – The idea of designing of a day 42:06 – What role can environment play on us 43:40 – How far is it healthy to run 46:25 – How does ego play into all of this 48:06 – The idea of camaraderie and study of Air Force Cadet
Tue, August 01, 2017
Leigh Drogen - Sink or Swim--How to Combine Quant and Traditional Asset Management Techniques - Invest Like the Best, EP.48]
Several weeks ago my conversation with Leigh Drogen on quant investing proved timely and popular--because everyone in asset management is facing the rise of big data, and the use of data science in investing strategies. Because of the rise of quants, many are asking themselves how to survive and thrive in a changing industry. In short, how can traditional managers compete with quants? This second conversation with Leigh was set up to answer many of the questions posed in the first one. If quants are taking over, what should other investors do about it? Leigh proposes a method by which old school asset managers can restructure their thinking and their process to compete with and even beat purely quantitative competitors. The method involves pulling the best from both worlds and combining them into a hybrid structure. But it will be impossible without a wholesale change in mindset, which is where we begin. Please enjoy round two with Leigh Drogen. Links Referenced Revenge of the Humans Part II: A New Blueprint For Discretionary Management Show Notes 2:14 – (First question) – What role will ego and mindset play for traditional hedge funds looking to transition into quantitative investing strategies 4:21 – Describes the traditional process that hedge funds use to make investment decisions and how the internal politics can hamper it 6:08 – What value has portfolio managers played at hedge funds traditionally as the quarterback of a fund 9:57 – A look at what Leigh has seen as he sits with teams 12:20 – A look at places that have tried to simply add quant to their firm’s strategies without “tearing it down to the studs” and properly integrating them into the process 15:00 – Leigh is asked to define the basics of a good investment firm’s strategies 16:57 – Strategies for writing down core beliefs, whether it’s for yourself or your firm 17:49 – Exploring the second step, finding a differentiating view and how to succeed with it. 21:43 – The importance of force ranking and structuring the unstructured 26:14 – Building factor models 29:42 – How the portfolio manager position should have less room for subjectivity than at the analyst level 33:44 – Is anyone integrating this kind of high level data at the portfolio manager level into the decision making the way Leigh describes 35:07 – What blind spots are created by systematizing their processes 36:18 – Why much of this applies more to shorter and structured periods 38:23 – Shifting to portfolio constructions and what Leigh would do to create the right mix 43:39 – Shifting to management structures in these firms starting with the role of the CIO 45:24 – Looking at th
Tue, July 25, 2017
Wes Gray - Compound Your Face Off - [Invest Like the Best, EP.47]
My guest this week is a version of me—a funnier, cooler version who has a PhD and served as an active duty marine. Lots of you will already be familiar with Wes Gray, and those of you who are not are in for a treat. Wes is the founder of Alpha Architect, a firm which manages quantitative equity strategies for clients using factors like value and momentum. He also advocates for a more concentrated, pure approach to factor investing, which listeners know is music to my ears. While we share a lot of the same views on markets and investing, you will still find this refreshing. The conversation was easy to structure--I just took all the questions clients and prospective investors always ask of me and my firm, and turned them on Wes. These range from very specific questions on quant investing to big existential ones. I listened to this on a long drive home and laughed out loud in the car at least 5 times. You are going to love it all. I close this introduction by offering you an opportunity which is not for the faint of heart. On September 16th, I will be joining Wes and his crew on a 28-mile trek called “March for the Fallen” which is a small but important way of honoring those who have given their lives in service of our country. Wes and I invite you to join as well. If you are interested, check out the post on Wes’s site with all the details. I will link to it in the shownotes at investorfieldguide.com/wes . If you are still interested, then email me with the subject heading “March for the Fallen.” I told you Wes is a much cooler version of me, and true to form he will be doing the hike with a 40-pound rucksack. I will be doing the version without a rucksack. Either way, it will be a day of comradery and remembrance that we won’t soon forget. Join us. Books Referenced The Devil Dogs at Belleau Wood: U.S. Marines in World War I Thinking, Fast and Slow Online References The Limits of Arbitrage Show Notes 3:07 – (First question) – Exploring the mindset that is ingrained into Marines 3:16 – The Devil Dogs at Belleau Wood: U.S. Marines in World War I 5:27 – Most memorable experience growing up in the mountains of Colorado 6:29 – What experiences in the military have transferred to what Wes sees in the public markets 6:48 – Thinking, Fast and Slow 7:51 – Wes’s first foray into stocks 10:51 –
Tue, July 18, 2017
Rishi Ganti - Esoteric Assets - [Invest Like the Best, EP.46]
My guest this week is Rishi Ganti, who invests in what he calls esoteric assets. I'm not sure what to do other than laugh in amazement at his professional credentials -- PhD in economics, CFA, CPA, lawyer, speaks six languages, and so on. The best part is he isn't lording those over anyone and in fact casts some shade on the whole idea of credentials in our conversation. He just did it all because he's a learning fiend. Rishi's core idea about markets is this: avoid markets at all costs. As he explains off the bat, the minute there are multiple buyers for anything, prices get efficient very quickly and there opportunity to find alpha shrinks. Instead he searches for what esoteric assets: things without a market, orphaned assets that require high human capital and human touch. We explore several interesting examples, from charter school financing to A stark realization I had during he episode is how big the worlds asset base is. Almost all of our attention goes to the most highly refined ones: stocks and bonds. But there is a whole other world out there. The closing sections, on what Rishi would do if not investing, and his answer for the kindest thing anyone has done for him were among the best answers I've heard. Show Notes 3:30 – (First question) – Rishi’s broad take on markets and whether or not he really likes them 5:30 – Defining esoteric markets 8:31 – Looking at the mountain of assets that are most impacted or made most efficient by markets and how Rishi describes each level of that pyramid 12:28 – Looking at an esoteric asset at the early part of Rishi’s career 16:23 – Why is there little competition in these types of investment opportunities 23:06 – How they created a market and turned an esoteric asset into a return opportunity, starting with the charter school funding example 31:54 – Looking at how this is done internationally 38:55 – What they consider a platform 41:08 – How they are able to provide their service and skirt the government, legally 44:18 – A simplified explanation of what Orthogon does 50:30 – What are the main reasons people don’t want to go down this road since it seems like an obvious choice 59:00 – Looking at the most memorable experiences in esoteric investing 1:01:10 – What value has Rishi found in his extensive education, credentials, and certifications 1:07:31 – Another topic that Rishi finds interesting and he’d want to lecture on if he could other than investing. 1:09:48 – What is the right formula and types of goals you should consider in planning your life 1:14:39 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Rishi Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-
Tue, July 11, 2017
Jerry Neumann - The Deployment Age, Power Laws, and Venture Capital - [Invest Like the Best, EP.45]
I am drawn to a group of investors that I call practitioner philosophers. These are people who have gotten their hands dirty in their respective fields, but despite being doers, they still often sit back and ponder the big questions in business and life. My guest this week is one such practitioner philosopher, NYC based venture capitalist Jerry Neumann. I came across Jerry's essays a year ago, and he is on a very short list of writers whose work I read without fail and almost always more than once. You can think about this conversation on business, investing, and venture capital as a big funnel. We start very broad, discussing where we may be in a large 70-year economic cycle. We then break down the so-called power law which seems to govern venture capital returns and business outcomes. Then we get even more specific, discussing Jerry's process for evaluating early stage companies, and the particulars of what might make a good venture capitalist. I say "might" because as Jerry explains often, nothing is certain, and luck may always play a huge role. I just loved this conversation. It is the type that without the podcast as an excuse would be a very odd and intense one if I were just meeting someone for the first time. You'll find no small talk or even medium talk here. This is a meaty discussion with one of the smartest and most straightforward people I've come across. Books Referenced Carlotta’s Perez - Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages Thomas Hughes – Networks of Power: Electrification in the Western Society, 1880 – 1930 Frank Knight – Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit Jeffrey West - Scale: The Universal Laws of Growth, Innovation, Sustainability, and the Pace of Life in Organisms, Cities, Economies, and Companies Links Referenced Deployment Age Oswald Spangler About Men; Corporate Man Howard Mark’s 2x2 matrix of superior investment results Michael E. Porter - How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy <a href= "http://www.edegan.com/wiki/index.php/Teece_(1986)_
Wed, July 05, 2017
Top Ten Lessons After Almost a Year - [Invest Like the Best, EP.44]
A future guest just told me, every band has a song about being in a band, so today I give you my version. I won’t do this often, and only do it this week in case listenership drops due to the holiday—I didn’t want any guest to have a smaller than normal audience. I have now been doing this for almost one year, and have learned a tremendous amount. Since the whole idea behind the show is to learn in public, I am going to share a few of the lessons I’ve learned with you today. I’ll shape it as a top ten list, which ends with a fun story about my recent dinner with Warren Buffett. You’ll notice that many of these are just good business and life lessons applied to something specific: a podcast. I hope you can pull the essence of one or more of these and change how you do things, especially if you create any sort of content as part of your job. (1:35) Conversation is my new favorite way to learn. I love books, and always will, but conversations are even more efficient and engaging. Talking with people who know their field deeply is the most fun thing in the world, and it is an underused method of learning. Lectures are too one-sided. Books often don’t flow the direction you want them to. Conversations are alive and interactive. I have been doing this very publicly on the podcast, but I’ve also been doing it more in private after realizing how powerful it can be. If you can commit to having conversations with new people where you tell them as little about yourself as possible, you’ll be off to a good start. I don’t mean that talking about yourself is bad—not at all--only that in each conversation, the time you spend talking about you is time that you aren’t learning something new. The less your ego gets involved, the more you will learn—and I should know because I used to have a big ego. This means asking dumb questions, sometimes more than once. It means probing on the simplest parts of a person’s field or knowledge. As everyone knows, it is fun to explain something you love to people that don’t know as much about the topic in question, but are eager to learn. So it logically follows that you should want to be the less knowledgeable person in most conversations. If everyone took this tact, things would be a mess, but I wouldn’t worry too much about that! One side effect of learning to ask good and interesting questions is that you realize how rarely anyone asks you good or interesting questions. An example of why it pays to remove ego: A month ago I didn’t even know what a cryptocurrency token was. Now I can have a fairly in-depth conversation on the topic because I made small incremental improvement improvements across ten different conversations. In each of those, I was the moron, trying to get up to speed. The more times you are willing to be the idiot, the faster you will learn. It is a pretty cool formula: ten times the idiot, one time the (relative) expert. They should teach you how to have a good conversation in element
Tue, June 27, 2017
Scott Norton - Seek to Learn That Which Cannot be Taught - [Invest Like the Best, EP.43]
If you told me a year ago that I’d be learning critical life and business lessons from the founder of a ketchup company, and that thirty to fifty thousand people would listen to our conversation, well, I’d have told you that’s impossible. But the fact that it is true proves many of the points laid out by this week’s guest Scott Norton, co-founder of Sir Kensington’s which was recently acquired by Uni-Lever. Sir Kensington’s, which makes “condiments with character” is no ordinary Ketchup company, and Scott is no ordinary founder. We talk about the most elemental aspects of business: product, relationships, sales, marketing, and culture. I love that we can do so through the lens of such a seemingly simple product, something that we use all the time with our families at a BBQ. Scott’s observations on culture, the importance of relationships in sales, and competitive edge are all memorable. But above all, I’ll remember his line: seek to learn that which cannot be taught. And I will continually return to the mental image of the Temple of Poseidon. Oh, and as a bonus we also talk about biking around Asia, which like all of Scott’s stories comes complete with thought provoking lessons. Enjoy this unique conversation with one of the most interesting people I’ve met on this journey. We begin with the history of ketchup. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/norton For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced They Call Me Supermensch: A Backstage Pass to the Amazing Worlds of Film, Food, and Rock’n’Roll ( Movie ) Books Referenced Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In How to Win Friends & Influence People They Call Me Supermensch: A Backstage Pass to the Amazing Worlds of Film, Food, and Rock’n’Roll ( Book
Tue, June 20, 2017
Andy Rachleff - Building Something People Want to Buy - [Invest Like the Best, EP.42]
My guest this week is Andy Rachleff, who is the CEO of the automated investing platform Wealthfront . Andy was also a co-founder and long-time partner at Benchmark capital--one of the most interesting and successful venture capital firms in the world. We spend most of our conversation discussing venture capital investing and entrepreneurship. Andy coined the now ubiquitous term “product/market fit,” and has great insight into how investors and entrepreneurs should think about business. In that vein, we discuss both what we refer to as the value hypothesis: building a product or service that customers love, and the growth hypothesis: scaling that product or service to a large market. We finish our conversation by talking about Andy and his teams mission at Wealthfront, and this conversation is perfectly timed, as Wealthfront just released a new feature that allows investors to buy factor portfolios, similar to Smart Beta ETFs. Above all, I’ll remember Andy’s advice to “put the gun in the other person’s hand,” a strategy that we explore in the middle of our talk. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/andy For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced The Four Steps to the Epiphany The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses Millennial Money: How Young Investors Can Build a Fortune Diffusion of Innovations Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers Show Notes 2:36 – (First question) – The partnership setup and how they came to be 5 equal partners 7:57 – Why benchmark would not take on the chairman role in companies they invested
Tue, June 13, 2017
Leigh Drogen - Quant vs Traditional Investors and How Alphas Become Betas - [Invest Like the Best, EP.41]
I’ve often joked that this show should be called “this is who you are up against,” because I am so often having conversations with brilliant people across the investment landscape who are effectively my competition and yours. This week’s conversation fits that description because it gives you an inside view into how things work among some of Wall Street’s most competitive investment firms. My guest is Leigh Drogen, who has worked as a statistical arbitrage portfolio manager and who founded and now runs Estimize, a data company which works with some of the world’s largest hedge funds. Our conversation centers on the massive shift from what we call discretionary portfolio management—basically stock picking—to a landscape that is increasingly dominated by quantitative investors of various types. We talk about how any investor might hope to earn alpha, and how doing so is harder and harder. There are so many great stories in this episode, told by someone with the perfect career experience to know how the system actually works. After many episodes where I’ve been learning on the fly about topics like venture capital, permanent equity, or health, this episode marks a return to my world of quantitative investing. I think you’ll learn a lot, and that you’ll likely finish with an even deeper appreciation of just the type of investors that we are all up against. Books Referenced Revenge of the Humans: How Discretionary Managers Can Crush Systematics Links Referenced The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds Force Rank (App) Founder of Estimize Explains How He Plans To Disrupt The World Of Wall Street Research Show Notes 2:45 – (First question) – A look at Leigh’s early career and how he got started in investing 3:13 – Revenge of the Humans: How Discretionary Managers Can Crush Systematics 5:39 – Leigh is asked to describe the inefficiency in sell-side analysts’ estimate set 8:04 – What happened when things stopped working towards the end of 2007. 9:35 – The proper dimensions to separate any sort of potential Alpha edge 11:15 – The traits that help a fund perform well 11:42 – The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds 14:05 – <a href="http://www.forc
Tue, June 06, 2017
Ira Judelson - Bail Street, with NYC's Leading Bail Bondsman - [Invest Like the Best, EP.40]
This week’s episode is very unique. It is the first episode devoted to bonds, just not the kind of bonds you are used to. My guest is Ira Judelson, who is the leading bail bondsman in New York City. I met Ira through my friend and former podcast guest Danny Moses, who is also a part of this conversation. I have always had a passion for understanding how different businesses work. In this case, this week we are exploring a different business, but also a different world. Ira’s story is larger than life. He is as authentic and hard working as they come. In both his book and this conversation, there is a lot about family, loyalty, and hard work—principles which really resonate with me. You’ll emerge from this hour with an appreciation of hustle and what it takes to get ahead. I can’t stop thinking about our discussion on how sources of power in any career morph through time, a framework that can help anyone think about their work and where to apply effort. The conversation goes all over the place, but suffice it to say we discuss bond collateral, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and DMX—and that is but one small fraction. Please enjoy my conversation with Ira Judelson and Danny Moses. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/ira For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Books Referenced The Fixer: The Notorious Life of a Front-Page Bail Bondsman Links Referenced Rao’s Restaurant Show Notes 1:55 – (First question) – The role that Rao’s restaurant has meant to Ira’s business and career 6:11 – A look at Ira’s bail bonds business and how that industry works 6:22 – The Fixer: The Notorious Life of a Front-Page Bail Bondsman 8:31 – The story of how a pizzeria was a bad piece of collateral 11:10 – How often does Ira deal with bail jumpers 12:10 – What is the size of the open liabilities 13:14 – How long will the open liabilities last 14:55 – Ira’s relationship with his clients and the importance of characte
Tue, May 30, 2017
David Chilton - The Human Blitzkrieg - [Invest Like the Best, EP.39]
This week's conversation was especially fun. I have a long history with my guest, Dave Chilton, but this was the first time we'd met in person. I'd heard stories about him from people I work with for twenty years, so getting to finally spend time with him was a real treat. I'll let him reveal the connection. This episode will also be fun for listeners in the US, as Dave is one of the best-known people in Canada because of his famous book the wealthy barber and his more recent stint as a dragon on Dragon’s Den, which is Canada's version of shark tank. I called this episode the human blitzkrieg because of Dave's relentlessly positive style and curiosity. He has dabbled in many parts of the business and investing worlds. He is one of the most successful authors in history, has invested in dozens of interesting businesses, and is a Jedi master in the long-lost art of the phone conversation. We discuss business, investing, and writing. If you enjoy this conversation and have any aspirations as a writer, I highly recommend you check out the series of videos Dave and his son recently released called the Chilton method, which I will link in the show notes. I have no financial interest in this recommendation, and neither does Dave! He put it together in large part to stop people from calling him for advice. We discuss a few of the hundred plus lessons from his course in this conversation. As you'll be able to tell early and often, it is hard not to have a good time with Dave. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/chilton For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, May 23, 2017
David Salem - The Art of Asset Allocation - [Invest Like the Best, EP.38]
My guest this week is David Salem. David was the founding president and CIO for The Investment Fund for Foundations, which served 800 endowed charities under David’s 18-year tenure. He's now the CIO of the Windhorse Group, which focuses on long-term, value oriented investing. This conversation wanders into and explores many different areas of investing and life. The theme is how to think about asset allocation and investing holistically--from first principles--but we talk a lot about motivation, incentives, human behavior, and the fear of missing out as key variables in money management. We discuss the history of the Yale and Harvard endowment models and how their success has affected the asset management world for better or worse. I had never heard such an interesting take on two very important institutions. I also can't stop thinking about David’s "Mt. Everest" question, which we explore early in our conversation. I'd love to hear your answers to that question, so email me or message me with your thoughts. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/salem For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, May 16, 2017
Michael Mauboussin - Man + Machine, Moats, and Power of the Outside View - [Invest Like the Best, EP.37]
My guest today is Michael Mauboussin, who is the head of global financial strategies at Credit Suisse and is on my short list of must read writers on all things investing. If you read his entire catalogue, Howard Marks's memos, and Buffett's shareholder letters, you be sitting pretty. Michael was also a big reason for the early success of this show appearing as my second guest and now my 37th. He and his team have been prolific in the last six months, publishing several long research reports on the most interesting aspects of the investing landscape. In this conversation, we talk about business moats, industry analysis, and how to combine man and machine when building an investment strategy and portfolio. As I tell Michael at the end, you won't be able to listen to this episode at two times speed, because we go deep quickly. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/michael For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, May 09, 2017
Will Thorndike - How Skilled Capital Allocators Compound Capital - [Invest Like the Best, EP.36]
This week’s guest is Will Thorndike, an author and investor whose book The Outsiders is an all-time favorite of mine. Our conversation is in two parts. First, we dive deep into the lessons of his 8-year research project studying CEOs who were master capital allocators. These CEOs include Henry Singleton, John Malone, Tom Murphy, Katherine Graham, and Warren Buffett. We discuss how these CEOs tended to be contrarians on topics like dividends, buybacks, acquisitions, and the use of debt. As we go through each of the tools in the capital allocators toolkit, you’ll hear several useful lessons for running or evaluating a business. In the second part, we cover Will’s career in private equity. Will founded and continues to run Housatonic Partners, investing in buyouts, recaps, and search funds. Will has been one of the most active search fund investors for decades, and given how much time I’ve spent in past episodes on the searchers or operators in the micro-cap, permanent equity space, it was great to get the perspective of an experienced LP. As always, we also take time to survey the dangers and opportunities in today’s private equity market. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/thorndike For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, May 02, 2017
Ted Seides - The Bet with Buffett – Hedge Funds vs. The S&P 500 - [Invest Like the Best, EP.35]
This coming weekend is the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting in Omaha. That means this week is the perfect opportunity to discuss a topic which will likely figure prominently at Berkshire this weekend: Ted Seides’s famous bet with Buffett. Ted and I discuss the origins of the bet, the nuances beneath the headlines, and whether he’d make the bet again for the next ten years. Along the way, we cover many hot topics like hedge funds, alternatives, fees, and indexing. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/bet For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, April 25, 2017
Danny Moses - The Big Short and Beyond - [Invest Like the Best, EP.34]
My guest this week is Danny Moses, who was directly in the middle of the biggest trades in market history, chronicled by Michael Lewis in his book the Big Short. Danny was the head trader on the Frontpoint team led by Steve Eisman, which was one of a small group of firms that figured out, in real time, the dire situation with mortgage-backed securities during the financial crisis, and how to build a portfolio to bet against the U.S. housing market. We cover his part in the Big Short story, but also lots of other interesting ground, including the state of sell-side research and financial markets. I love conversations with traders because they live and breathe market risk. You’ll be able to see why quickly in this great conversation with Danny Moses. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/danny For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub . Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, April 18, 2017
Royce Yudkoff and Rick Ruback – REALLY Private Equity - [Invest Like the Best, EP.33]
In this episode, I continue to pull on one of the most interesting threads that I have uncovered while producing this podcast: the world of permanent equity. My guests today are Royce Yudkoff and Rick Ruback, two Harvard Business School professors who have partnered to create a popular class that teaches students how to search for, acquire, and run a small business directly after graduation. I approach this conversation from an investors standpoint. LP investors usually partner with these searchers to form what is called a search fund. A search fund allows recent MBA grads to spend time looking for a business and ultimately acquire it. The result is a small scale but often high return proposition for investors. I loved our discussion of what to look for in a business and what to avoid. The principles we list are useful for investors of any kind, and will particularly appeal to those from the buy and hold, value investing, and quality investing camps. One point of note which wasn’t captured during the recording. One of the reasons this style of investing isn’t more well known that it is extremely costly upfront. It can take years to find a company, and once found, the transaction costs can be 20% of the total purchase price. Rick calls this category “REALLY private equity. If you enjoy this conversation, be sure to check our Royce and Rick’s book. HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business, which goes into many of the topics we cover in even greater detail. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/hbs For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Thu, April 13, 2017
SPECIAL EPISODE: Introducing Capital Allocators Podcast with Host Ted Seides
SPECIAL EPISODE: Introducing Capital Allocators Podcast with Host Ted Seides This is a special episode to premiere a new podcast from my friend, Ted Seides. In this show, Capital Allocators, Ted will feature a broad range of people that control the flow of money through the capital markets. Ted is in a unique position to this; he knows this world as well as anyone having spent with both allocators and the money managers who invest on their behalf. Below is the information about this first episode including a link to the homepage of this show, where you can subscribe. Enjoy the first full episode of Capital Allocators. ———————————————————————— Steven Galbraith is best known as the former Chief Investment Strategist at Morgan Stanley. He also sat in every seat in the asset management industry – credit and equity analyst, portfolio manager, business executive, entrepreneur, and Board member at an endowment and a large family office. We discuss Steve's journey, incorporating his deep insights in the investing world alongside colorful anecdotes of market inefficiencies in European football, college sports gambling, local breweries, and Charter Schools. For more episodes, go to capitalallocatorspodcast.com/podcast Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides
Tue, April 11, 2017
Boyd Varty – The Art of Tracking - [Invest Like the Best, EP.32]
This week’s episode is the most unique to date. My guest is Boyd Varty, who grew up in the South African Bush, living among and tracking wild leopards. The main theme of our conversation is tracking, and how the same strategy for pursuing animals in the wild can be applied to all aspects of our lives. Boyd’s family has been tracking animals for four generations, and he is bringing what they have learned to a larger audience around the world. The episode includes the best answer I’ve ever heard (which comes when I ask Boyd to describe his most memorable experience). We also discuss the dangers of an achievement or goal oriented mindset, and what he learned from spending time with Nelson Mandela as a boy. This episode is one I hope you share with those you love, because I think Boyd’s ideas will have a profound impact on many who are thinking about what to do with their lives—whether they are young or old. Please enjoy. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/boyd For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, April 04, 2017
Khe Hy – Quant Hedge Funds and the Fear of Death - [Invest Like the Best, EP.31]
My guest this week is Khe Hy. Khe has a very interesting, two-part story. We start with Khe's career at Blackrock, where he rose to be one of the youngest MDs at the firm, specializing in quantitative hedge funds. Khe shares his perspective on how the hedge fund landscape has changed and what investors should look for in hedge fund managers in the future. The second part of the story is about Khe's attempt to understand himself. We get into fear, joy, and all that he has learned across several years of introspection and exploration. His lessons coalesce around four key pillars--compassion, stillness, uncomfortable introspection, and finding truth. We explore what he means by each of these ideas in detail. I don’t think that Khe is capable of lying. He is one of the most honest people I've met, for better or worse, and was kind to share both his struggles and moments of clarity on investing and life. With Deep questions about purpose and deep questions about how to evaluate a quant hedge fund, This was my kind of conversation. Please enjoy For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/khe For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, March 28, 2017
Ted Seides and Brent Beshore – The Future of Asset Management - [Invest Like the Best, EP.30]
This week, my good friends Ted Seides and Brent Beshore join me to discuss the future of asset management and a ton of fun side topics. While we are all passionate about investing, we’ve had very different careers: Ted in alternatives, hedge funds and fund of funds, Brent in lower middle market private equity, and my own in quantitative equities. What we share is a passion for investing in general, and a deep interest in where the asset management business and profession is going. This conversation starts like most episodes—a somewhat structured exploration of the investing business –but morphs to be a bit more fun and informal as we work our way through a bottle or two of wine. In the later half, we talk about how to dissect an industry, common features of good businesses within a given industry, books we’d like to write, books we wish existed, and things we’ve learned in our careers. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/brentandted For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, March 21, 2017
Jim O’Shaughnessy - Premeditated Success - [Invest Like the Best, EP.29]
My guest this week is my father, Jim O’Shaughnessy. He was a pioneer in quantitative equity research, part of an early group of explorers who combed through data to find factors which predicted future stock returns. While we’ve both written extensively on factor investing, we chose to mostly avoid that topic for this conversation. Instead, we discuss what has been a fascinating and colorful career on Wall Street. We talk about the power of premeditation, formative books, and his crazy experience during the dot-com boom when he ran a robo-advisor 15-years ahead of its time. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/jim For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, March 14, 2017
Trish and James Higgins of Chenmark Capital - Permanent Equity - [Invest Like the Best, EP.28]
My guests this week are Trish and James Higgins, who run Chenmark Capital Management . In this episode we continue to explore a style of investing I call Permanent Equity. Returns in permanent equity come first from the ongoing cash flows of portfolio companies, not from reselling businesses down the line. The partners are Chenmark are pioneering this style of small business investing and share their experience with us thus far. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/chenmark For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, March 07, 2017
Peter Attia, M.D. - How to Live a Longer, Higher Quality Life - [Invest Like the Best, EP.27]
My guest this week is Peter Attia, M.D., whose mission is to understand and improve human lifespan and healthspan (or quality of life). Reading Peter’s research, you find that there are many similarities between health and investing—ideas like compounding—which we explore in detail. We spend a lot of time on mind, body, spirit and performance as it relates to living a better life. Of particular interest is the strategic problem that we face when studying longevity. As Peter puts it in our conversation: we are the species of interest, but we can’t conduct the kinds of experiments on humans—randomized trials, with control groups—that we apply to solve other big problems. So we have to back our way into a better understanding of longevity and quality of life. To that end, we discuss what we can learn from studying centenarians, the problem of progress in science, a drug called Rapamycin (which Peter believes could be revolutionary), eating, the importance of muscle mass, and the idea of distressed tolerance. We emerge with a framework for thinking about health and well-being which can hopefully help us all live longer, better lives. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/attia For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, February 28, 2017
John Rogers – Slow and Steady Wins the Race - [Invest Like the Best, EP.26]
My guest this week is John Rogers, founder, CEO and CIO of Ariel investments , one of the longest standing asset management businesses still in existence. John has a very impressive resume. In addition to his success at Ariel, he was the captain of the Princeton University men’s basketball team, he was the co-chair of Barack Obama’s Presidential Inauguration, he sits on the board of McDonald’s, and he has given back to his community more than I can list here. John and I discuss Ariel’s investment process and its evolution over the years, lessons from John’s basketball career, value investing, and asset management’s diversity problem among many other interesting issues. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/rogers/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, February 21, 2017
Alex Moazed – Building Modern Monopolies - [Invest Like the Best, EP.25]
My guest this week is Alex Moazed, the co-author of Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy , which explores the platform business model (Uber, Airbnb, Github). Alex is also the founder and CEO of Applico , a company that he started in his dorm room that is since grown into a huge enterprise that helps startups and Fortune 500 innovate with platforms. Alex and I talk about history and future of businesses and different types of business models. There’s a lot in here for investors, entrepreneurs, and historians. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/alex/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, February 14, 2017
Ian Cassel – Investing In Tiny Stocks - [Invest Like the Best, EP.24]
My guest this week is Ian Cassel, a microcap investor who is always on the lookout for small companies which are run by men and women who are what he calls intelligent fanatics. Ian’s livelihood is based on the success or failure of a small group of companies that you have never heard of—he takes the idea of “skin in the game” to another level. We explore what Ian looks for in managers, why investors might want to invest in microcap companies, and the benefits of a frugal approach to life. Buying public companies that are as small as the ones which Ian considers is an entirely different style of investing than what most of us are used to in the public markets. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/ian/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, February 07, 2017
Joe Mansueto – Lessons From the Founder of Morningstar - [Invest Like the Best, EP.23]
My guest this week is Joe Mansueto, the founder, longtime CEO and current executive chairman of Morningstar, Inc. Joe is an entrepreneur at heart. He has the gene for spotting good business ideas and building them out with the customer in mind, so it is no surprise that the story behind Morningstar’s birth and growth is both entertaining and enlightening. While there are many business lessons in this episode, there is just as much to be learned from the way Joe conducts himself. He was kind, welcoming, and humble—you’ll see what I mean. There is something timeless and classic about his journey—I hope you enjoy hearing about it as much as I did. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/joe/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, January 31, 2017
Brent Beshore Returns – Private Equity, Venture Capital, and the Future of Money Management - [Invest Like the Best, EP.22]
Brent Beshore and I spoke for 10 hours about all things investing and business, and decided to record a 2-hour chunk of our conversation. We start by discussing private equity, venture capital, and the importance of brand. We then explore the difference between public and private company valuation, and the potent idea of peer mentorship. The conversation wraps up with Brent’s recent experience with one of the greatest investors and thinkers of all time. Above all, this is a conversation about what is right and wrong in the world of money management and investing, and where the business is heading. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/adventures/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, January 24, 2017
Brian Koppelman – Chasing Curiosity - [Invest Like the Best, EP.21]
My guest this week is writer, director, producer, and podcast host Brian Koppelman, who’s film credits include ‘ Rounders ’, ‘ Oceans 13 ’, and ‘ Solitary Man’ . More recently he co-created the Showtime show, ‘ Billions ’, which allowed us to have some fun talking about the world of hedge funds and investing. Brian’s method for chasing curiosity is something that everyone can learn apply in their own lives. In this chat, we discuss creativity, the importance of storytelling and why we are all so intrigued by billionaires. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/koppelman/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, January 17, 2017
Jeremiah Lowin – Machine Intelligence and Risk Management - [Invest Like the Best, EP.20]
Jeremiah Lowin is probably the smartest guy I know, and that is saying something. He is an expert in the fields of statistics, artificial intelligence, and risk management—among many other things. He is currently the Director of Risk Management for a private investment firm in the New York area, but has spent years working with machine learning and AI. This conversation is broken up into two parts. In the first part, we explore artificial intelligence, machine learning, and models. Then we shift to what risk means in a portfolio and how it can be managed or at least redistributed (which starts around 40 minutes into the conversation). Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/lowin/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, January 10, 2017
Lauren Loktev, Kanyi Maqubela, & Craig Shapiro - Watching a Venture Fund at Work - [Invest Like the Best, EP.19]
This week’s episode features the partners of the Collaborative Fund, a venture-capital firm based in New York City. This is a unique, group interview with Lauren Loktev, Kanyi Maqubela, and Craig Shapiro that explores all aspects of their search and investing process, including how they identify thematic change in the world and then build a portfolio around those themes. The quality of a team is crucial to success in investing and this is a great example of a team with chemistry on a singular mission. They all offer great advice on how to operate a business, build a team, and find interesting new investments. Also, stay tuned to the end for a bonus segment captured while the tape was still rolling. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/collaborative/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, January 03, 2017
Dan Egan – Designing Better Decisions - [Invest Like the Best, EP.18]
My guest today is Dan Egan , who is the managing director of Behavioral Finance and Investing at Betterment . In this wide-ranging role, Dan has his hands is most of the ways that Betterment interacts with its clients and how it invests their money. This is one very interested and smart guy who is clearly passionate about helping investors make better decisions. In this conversation, we explore everything from science fiction, automation, investor behavior and how Betterment tries to solve problems that goes beyond the automated asset allocation that is their bread and butter. Please enjoy. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/egan/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, December 27, 2016
Shane Parrish – Mastering Mental Models - [Invest Like the Best, EP.17]
My guest this week is Shane Parrish, who created the extremely popular Farnam Street—a website dedicated to understanding the world by mastering the best of what others have already figured out. More than 100,000 people subscribe to the Farnam Street Newsletter which summarizes what Shane and his team learned and wrote that week. I read it every Sunday. Shane and I cover a lot of ground including the future of work, automation, mental models, and reading. Shane is a voracious reader and offers unique suggestions for finding your next great book. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/parrish/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, December 20, 2016
Jeff Ptak – The Prospects for Active Management - [Invest Like the Best, EP.16]
Joining me on the podcast this week is Jeff Ptak , head of global manager research at Morningstar . Jeff’s role puts him in the unique position to discuss the state of active management because he gets to see mutual funds from both the bottom-up, through deep diligence on investment strategies and firms, and top-down, using Morningstar’s data to assess industry-wide trends. Jeff is one of my favorite myth busters and discuss different variables for assessing active managers and mutual funds, but we also cover his favorite punk rock bands. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/ptak/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, December 13, 2016
Eric Maddox – The Ace of Spades - [Invest Like the Best, EP.15]
This week we explore a rare and underappreciated skill through the lens of an incredible story. My guest is Eric Maddox, whose name you probably don’t know but won’t soon forget. Just trust me that you need to listen to this entire episode, and listen carefully—because that is what the episode is ultimately all about: how to listen to others, with care and empathy, in the age of distraction. Sometimes it’s fun not to know what’s coming and be surprised, so I won’t say anymore. After the episode, you can learn more about Eric at Ericmaddox.com . On his wall, Eric has a framed Cuban cigar, he starts his story by explaining the significance of that cigar. Enjoy this episode, and try Eric’s method. It has worked wonders for me. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/maddox/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, December 06, 2016
Josh Brown – The Reformation - [Invest Like the Best, EP.14]
My guest this week is one of the reasons that this podcast exists. Josh Brown is a financial advisor and the CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management . He is also the creator of TheReformedBroker.com , a blog about markets, politics, economics, media, culture, and finance that has become one of the most widely-read sites on the financial web. He is the author of Backstage Wall Street and Clash of the Financial Pundits . Josh was instrumental in finding me an audience years ago when he shared one of my research pieces with his rapid base of fans. This conversation includes a look at his journey, what he’s learned along the way, and most importantly, his top five, dead or alive. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/brown/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, November 29, 2016
Christopher Cole – Small Bets, Huge Payoffs - [Invest Like the Best, EP.13]
My guest this week is Christopher Cole, founder and managing partner at Artemis Capital Management. Chris’s specialty is in long volatility strategies, setting up portfolios that will benefit from significant change and volatility in markets. We discuss how a series of small bets can lead to disproportionally large nonlinear payoffs, in both life and in markets. We also discuss the kind of watch Chris wears, Dennis Rodman, and movies, all as metaphors for his life philosophy. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/cole/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, November 22, 2016
Kevin Simler – Exploring the Frontier - [Invest Like the Best, EP.12]
Today’s episode features one of my favorite thinkers and writers: Kevin Simler. Kevin has a background in technology and was one of the earliest employees at Palantir Technologies . Palantir specializes in big data and has worked closely with clients ranging from the Department of Defense to the world’s largest hedge funds. In this conversation, Patrick and Kevin explore startup culture, how to spark creativity, how social status functions like money, and how to think about the universe. This will be one of the most unique conversations you will hear on this podcast. Please Enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/simler/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Mon, November 14, 2016
Craig Shapiro – Better for You, Better for the World - [Invest Like the Best, EP.11]
This week Patrick takes a deep dive in the world of Venture Capital with Craig Shapiro, founder and CEO of the New York based Collaborative Fund , which was an early investor in companies like Lyft, Kickstarter, and Reddit. We cover Craig’s investing roots, his process for sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities, and the very useful “villain test.” Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/shapiro/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, November 08, 2016
Brent Beshore – Cultivating a Disaster Resistant, Compound Interest Machine - [Invest Like the Best, EP.10]
This week’s guest is Brent Beshore, Founder and CEO of adventur.es, a family of companies that invests in family-owned companies. Brent has a very specific mission with this company, to cultivate a disaster resistant, compound interest machine. At just 33 years of age he has already built a portfolio of private companies that has produced impressive results. He’s done all this out of the limelight and with no outside investors. Brent discusses his rewarding but difficult journey and what he has learned, including sourcing and evaluating businesses, how he and his team have improved profitability at his portfolio companies after acquisition and so much more. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/beshore/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, November 01, 2016
Jon Stein – The State of Automated Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.09]
Would you be comfortable with a robo-advisor running your entire investment portfolio? That’s the hope of our guest this week, Jon Stein, founder and CEO of Betterment . Betterment manages $5 billion dollars for over 175,000 clients. Patrick and Jon explore the challenge of getting young people to invest, Betterment’s recent foray into areas like the 401(k) market, and how Betterment works with financial advisors. If you’re unsure about robo-advisors, this conversation will make you better understand what they can do for you. Please Enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/stein/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Fri, October 28, 2016
Kiley Adams – An Internal Locus of Control - [Invest Like the Best, EP.08]
This episode is a major departure from the norm. My guest, Kiley Adams, is only 21 years old. She has crammed more learning and adventure into two decades than most people could hope to in a lifetime. She’s track-and-field star, valedictorian, varsity soccer player, Tae Kwon Do fourth degree master black belt, and philanthropic researcher. She has traveled all over the country and the globe, recently spending two months by herself in India. I had the pleasure to meet here while teaching an investing class at Notre Dame and am thrilled to share her incredible story and her attitude that makes all of this possible. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/adams/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, October 25, 2016
Ted Seides – A Deep Dive into Hedge Funds - [Invest Like the Best, EP.07]
This week’s guest has forgotten more about hedge funds than most people will ever know. This episode will appeal to managers, allocators and any investor interested in the world of hedge funds. Ted Seides worked under David Swensen at Yale’s endowment and was a co-founder, President and Co-chief investment officer at Protégé Partners , a multibillion dollar alternative investment firm. I met Ted after reading his book, “ So You Want to Start a Hedge Fund: Lessons for Managers and Allocators .” He has taught me a lot ever since. Hedge funds have taken a beating, so this very nuanced investigation into the industry comes at the right time. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/seides/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, October 18, 2016
Humble Giants – Vanguard’s Gerry O’Reilly and Jim Rowley - [Invest Like the Best, EP.06]
There is a good chance that this week’s guests manage your money. This episode is a rare and fascinating look into the world’s largest asset manager. My first guest is Gerry O’Reilly, who is the portfolio manager for the largest mutual fund in the world, and oversees more than $800 billion for Vanguard. My second guest is Jim Rowley, a Senior Investments Analyst with deep knowledge of indexing and ETF’s. The two provide incredible insight into some of the particulars that make Vanguard and its funds tick. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/vanguard/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, October 11, 2016
Christian Rudder – The Quantified Self - [Invest Like the Best, EP.05]
In this episode Patrick talks to Christian Rudder, who is the co-founder of dating service OK Cupid, a NY Times best-selling author, data and math junky, and musician. Patrick and Christian discuss interesting trends in OK Cupids dating data, artificial intelligence, the NSA, great books on the Civil War, and more. Please enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/rudder/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, October 04, 2016
Morgan Housel – Walking and Thinking - [Invest Like the Best, EP.04]
In this week’s episode, Patrick and Morgan Housel explore the differences between private and public market investing, how to foster innovation and creativity, how businesses are structured and organized, and how Morgan finds interesting books and topics to write about. Morgan is a prolific writer and researcher, who recently left the Motley Fool and is now a partner at the Collaborative Fund , a venture capital fund in New York City. Enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/housel/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, September 27, 2016
Jason Zweig – The Power of Serendipity - [Invest Like the Best, EP.03]
In this episode, Patrick and Jason Zweig reflect on investing, financial advice, books, and life in general. The method for living discussed in the last 30 minutes will be useful for everyone. Jason is the Intelligent Investor columnist for the Wall Street Journal and author of several books including his latest “ The Devil’s Financial Dictionary .” His insights and advice are the results a life of critical thinking, reading, writing, humility, and curiosity. I think you are going to get a lot from this in-depth conversation. Enjoy! For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/zweig/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Tue, September 20, 2016
Michael Mauboussin – Active Asset Management - [Invest Like the Best, EP.02]
Michael Mauboussin, Managing Director and Head of Global Financial Strategies at Credit Suisse, joins Patrick to discuss the current state of the asset management business, explore all of the stages of the investment process, and what edges might exist for those trying to beat the market. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/mauboussin/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Mon, September 12, 2016
Jeff Gramm – Activist Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.01]
Hedge Fund Manager and author Jeff Gramm talks with Patrick O'Shaughnessy about the history and current state of shareholder activism and discusses how Jeff invests himself, taking large positions and often board seats in undervalued companies. For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/gramm/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast . Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
loading...