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 Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 @patrick_oshag

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

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 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

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 business 28:14 – How they judge assets, tangible vs intangible assets 33:58 – How does he think about wage inflation when considering the cost of a business 37:21 – His fascination with pet crematoriums 38:57 – History of the permanent equity fund and the changes by having a larger pool of capital 43:48 – Pitching investors on a new structure for the business 46:14 – How will this business model scale 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

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 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

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

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

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 – Traumas and helping people find their note             57:49 – The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma             1:00:38 – How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence 1:02:24 – What is he most interested in right now: how to best use Nova’s funds 1:04:45 – Lessons from family 1:07:22 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Peter 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

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

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 InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag

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 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