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 prices 19:43 – Prospectors vs miners in data mining 22:18 – Knowing when your prospectors are on to truth 27:09 – Understanding machine learning 30:10 – Defining partition 32:17 – Applying the parameters of selection process to stocks 36:05 – What’s the first step people could take to use data and machine learning to improve their investment process 38:54 – Building a sustainable advantage within data science 41:35 – Predicting the uncapped positive vs what’s seemingly easier, eliminating the negative 43:58 – How do we know to stop using a signal 46:22 – The importance of asking the right question 47:09 – Categories of objective functions that are interesting to measure data against             47:42- Crossing the Chasm 48:37 – Most exciting things he’s found with data 51:17 – What investors, individual or firms, has impressed him most with their use of data 52:17 – Will everyone eventually shift to being data informed or data driven 55:33 – Wall Street’s use of data vs other industries             55:36 – Sam Hinkie Podcast Episode 57:48 – Why everyone should know how to code 58:52 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Michael             59:22 – One Two Three Infinity   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 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 companies 40:43 – How much has he seen in the finance world             41:07 – Jerry Neumann Podcast Episode 43:10 – Why the focus on B2B AI companies 45:34 – Major components of the enterprise stack that he focuses on for AI 49:30 – What impact will all of this AI have the daily lives of people 51:38 – Biggest problems that he is excited to see AI tacklet 53:04 – How do you value the intangible asset of an AI model 57:13 – How Ash thinks about getting other investors into firms they seeded 1::00:27 – Other investors that Ash really respects             1:01:15 – The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for The Thoughtful Investor             1:03:29 – Ali Hamed Podcast Episode 1:04:04 – Where would Ash invest outside of AI 1:07:11 – More about his family nut business 1:11:18 – Favorite macadamia nut story 1:12:05 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Ash   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 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 actual job was in BUD/S 17:33 – Difference between the broader SEAL community and being part of the more exclusive development group 19:03 – The team dynamic within the SEALS 20:26 – Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown 21:18 – The sacrifice that SEALs make with the story of Adam Brown as an example 24:35 – Waiting for darkness before deployment 27:23 – How do you know when to violate your best practices for a risk 29:26 – A look at three pictures in his office and why they are meaningful 31:36 – Lessons that would be useful to other people             33:10 – Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War 33:17 – How is Mike’s skillset applied to the investing world 39:24 – Factors that would be seen as good alignment in businesses 40:18 – How the view the profiles of other investors in these small businesses 41:46 – Examples of “smoke and fire”, markers of an attractive investment 43:42 – Other investors that he has learned the most from and what those lessons were 44:54 – Importance of balance sheets in value investing 47:33 – Is value investment oversaturated 50:28 – Market blind spots that are attractive to Mike 52:03 – What point in Mike’s career has he felt the most alive 53:14 – Any other lessons Mike would want to share 55:12 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Mike   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

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.  Please enjoy this unique episode with Sam Hinkie.    Show Notes 3:24 – (First Question) Advantages of having a long view and how to structurally harness one 6:08 – Using technology to foster an innovative culture            6:18– Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History 10:16 – Favorite example of applied innovation from Sam’s career 11:34 - Most fun aspect of doing data analytics early on the Houston Rockets 13:38 - Is there anything more important than courage in asymmetric outcomes 14:29 – How does Sam know when to let the art of decision making finish where the data started 16:29 - Pros and cons of a contrarian mindset 17:26 – Where he wanted to apply his knowledge in sports when first getting out of school and how his thinking is best applied in the current sports landscape 21:39 – How does he think about trying to find the equivalent of mispriced assets in the NBA 23:12 – Where tradition can be an impediment to innovation 25:07 – What did the team and workflow of the team look like in the front office 27:03 - The measure of truth in a sports complex 29:10 – What were the early factors coming out of the data that helped to shape NBA teams 30:42 – Best tactics for hiring 33:59 – Process of recruiting spectacular people 35:39 – Thoughts on fostering a good marriage 37:57 – Picking your kids traits in your spouse            38:02 – Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think 40:45 – What kind of markers does he look for when evaluating long term investment ideas 42:44 – His interest in machine learning 45:55 – What’s more exciting, the actual advances in machine learning or the applications that can be imagined as a result            47:15– International Justice Mission 48:11 – How he got started teaching negotiations and some of the points he makes in that class 49:16 – Effective techniques for negotiating 50:03 – Is negotiating contentious, do you need empathy 50:41 – A Rorschach test of Sam based on his reading of Lessons of History (book) 53:01 – Biggest risk Sam took in his career 54:37 – Biggest risks Sam took while with the 76ers 58:09 – Do people undervalue asymmetric outcomes in the NBA 1:00:11 – The players Sam has enjoyed watching over the years 1:02:45 – Why Robert Caro is a favorite author of his 1:04:30 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Sam

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 – Damn Right: Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger 23:19 – Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger 25:21 – Most memorable moment or lesson from Charlie 19:20 – How he thinks about factor investing 31:25 – What are the scalability features that make a business attractive 31:28 – A Dozen Attributes of a Scalable Business 35:37 – Exploring some of the other important levers of businesses, such as subscriptions, customer acquisition cost, and more. 36:20 – Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In 37:11 – Wholesale transfer pricing 39:18 – Pros and cons of subscription business models 43:14 – Magic of getting products distributed 44:58 – Best sale Tren’s ever made 46:46 – Most important lesson for young people 50:16 – Tren’s interest in hip-hop and how it helps him reach more people 53:49 – A look at some interesting quotes from Jim Barksdale 58:22 – Learning by doing 1:00:48 – Seeing like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed 1:01:06 – Period of his career that he felt most alive 1:03:03 – Advice for young people thinking about business and entrepreneurship 1:04:56 – Why are so few people passionate about what they do for a living 1:10:44 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Tren   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

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 – Jerry Neumann Podcast Episode 22:08 – How markets have changed over Jason’s career 25:58 – Types of edge that you can have in the market 30:00 – Broad examples of sectors that are high-quality, but momentum is hurting them 31:32 – Backstory of Hu Kitchen 38:33 – Investment research into health and wellness 42:56 – State of acquisitions, particularly in consumer product goods 47:13 – Jason’s research into Cannabis 50:43 – The misperceptions of Cannabis 56:30 – Why cannabis is a more important sector to consider than crypto 57:51 – What are the most important levers to growing a business 1:02:24 – Biggest lessons learned in hiring good people 1:06:10 – Investing lessons 1:09:27 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Jason   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 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 Valley 19:17 – Why he focuses on college campuses for innovation 20:54 – The role that geography plays in venture 25:06 – The Four M’s; money, momentum, mentorship, entrepreneurial management 27:13 – Chris’s perspective on crypto currency as a threat to venture capital 31:44 – The idea of venture capitalists as service providers to the companies they are investing in 35:15 -  Views on investing in hyper focused VC’s vs those that are generalists and just go after the best opportunities in any sector 39:00 – What hot button areas are of most interest to Chris and why, from an investment standpoint             39:38 – Domino Rally Business Models 42:22 -  What can a public market investor learn from a value venture investor who mostly has to rely on qualitative metrics             43:08 – All About the Benjamins 44:38 – Portfolio construction in the world of venture             46:40 – Speak Like the Locals 48:00 -  What are the characteristics that Chris looks for in managers, as an allocator 53:52 – What type of investors should and should not be in venture 59:15 – What type of allocator would Chris give all of his money to             59:47 – David Salem podcast episode             1:01:06 – Curveball 1:01:40 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Chris   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 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 35:48 – The importance of gut when evaluating people 38:47 – How Arianna’s global upbringing impacts her thinking on the technology 39:51 – What countries or regions have had the largest impact on Arianna’s investing philosophy 42:41 – Doing things you’re not qualified for 43:59 – Gender imbalance in crypto and what can be done to shift that 45:28 – Most recent thing that has gotten Arianna excited in the crypto space 46:15 – Explaining Zero X 47:33 – How her views on reading have evolved 48:54 - Kindest thing anyone has done for Arianna 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

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. 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. 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.   Show Notes 3:12 – (First Question) – getting a flywheel business going 4:49 – Brett’s background and how that led to the formation of Ladder 7:58 – Breakdown of the product 9:29 – The sign-up process 10:29 – Key problem for each party of the ladder transaction 12:34 – Diving deeper into the problem of being a health coach 14:29 – How does Ladder differentiate itself from other apps that help people locate a trainer 17:01 – A deeper dive into the consumer using this product 20:28 – The accountability factor being the moat for Ladder 24:12 - How successful is the product right now in terms of recruiting new customers and trainers 28:38 – Their pre-launch interview and research process 31:49 – Going from hypothesis to product development 35:25 – What should founders think about when doing customer discovery, even after they have a product in the market 39:22 – Optimizing in the early stage of a business 43:24 – The defensive moat of a startup 46:20 – Their take on their ability to corner the coaches in this market 49:57 – Is there a side of the producer/consumer side of the equation that is more important. 55:42 – Getting and giving value to your supply, in this case the coaches 58:22 – How to view different phases of a business 1:00:43 – Growing the supply and demand so that neither side gets aggravated 1:02:28 – Market opportunity for Ladder 1:10:55 – Top 2 or 3 goals that Ladder has over the next 12-18 months 1:13:00 – Looking at Ladder, what are the strengths and weaknesses as a potential investment 1:20:40 – Pros and cons of a startup seeking institutional VC money 1:25:11 – Reviewing the pitch

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 investors becoming more involved in crypto 1:02:43– Exploring their liquidity strategy 1:04:10 – What happens if regulators shut down the cryptomarkets 1:09:48– The role of miners in crypto and how that might change moving forward 1:10:43 – What is the frontier of crypto mining 1:12:31 – What’s the most compelling rabbit hole in crypto 1:16:23 – How would the original creators of crypto currency feel about the current state of the market 1:20:01 – What Nikhil sees as the value proposition for the whole ecosystem. 1:21:00 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Nikhil   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’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 defines health span; cognition, physical dimension, sense of purpose and social support, capacity to cope with distress or distress tolerance.  10:56 – The problem with clinical studies in analyzing longevity and his mission to get from medicine 1.0 to 2.0 to 3.0 12:15 – Medicine 1.0 and major leaps in longevity 13:01 – Medicine 2.0 and clinical trials 14:52 – Medicine 3.0 and personalized medicine  16:22 – The playbook for living longer  19:26 - Senescence, the cells that are programmed to do bad things  22:17 – Understanding our evolutionary needs to learn what as individuals do to increase lifespan and quality of life as it pertains to food, sleep, and movement.  30:32 – Where evolution doesn’t offer insight into living a better life; mindfulness  33:27 – What are the changes that Peter has made that he’s been doing the longest and most recently             33:35 – Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life  37:54 – Peter’s philosophy on mastery  40:13 – Audience Question: How does something who seemingly doesn’t take care of themselves seem to be in such good health? 38:38 - Audience Question: Peter’s favorite car to race and how it effects his health  51:19 – Audience Question: Is the key to life a minimalist lifestyle  53:54 – Audience Question: the role of the microbiome  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

[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.  15:12 – How Boyd discovered what he wanted to do with his life in healing  15:20 – Cathedral of the Wild: An African Journey Home by Boyd Varty    20:49 – The concept of Ubuntu, the African value “I am, because of you.” 25:18 – How Patrick got to meet Boyd 26:15 – Exploring the idea of building your villages and some of the forces that combat that in our daily lives.  31:23 – The difficulty in following your inner compass   32:06 – Mr. Money Mustache 36:55 – Looking at Boyd’s early experiences in tracking and how he applies those principles in his current life.  42:23 – Exploring the two different types of confidence and why there’s a benefit to throwing yourself into difficult situations, especially as a tracker.  47:13 – Identifying the places where you can be relentless in life  49:56 – The single most memorable tracking experience for Boyd, which is an incredible tale of tracking lions.   (Also one of the best answers to a question yet)  1:01:49 – What can people do to get the holistic experience of the African bush   1:02:20 – The PResencing Institute 1:04:15 – Ways that people can learn more about Boyd.   1:04:31 – Ted Talk  1:04:43 – The book  1:04:48 – Workshops/Tracking Retreats  1:05:05 – Seminar in Deer Valley   1:05:13 – Martha Beck’s work  1:05:15 – Finding Your Way in a Wild New World: Reclaim Your True Nature to Create the Life You Want   1:05:36 – Website  1:06:56 – When Nelson Mandela stayed with his family after getting out of prison 1:13:34 – Kindest thing anyone has ever done for Boyd 1:15:15 – A story of how his friend Sully saved his life from a crocodile   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 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 two key drivers of change; zero marginal cost distribution and universality of computational power 53:13 -  What should we as investors and inventors be focusing on as the new objective function 57:24 – Scariest aspect of this transition into the knowledge age 59:45 – Three basic freedoms we all seek; informational, economic, psychological 1:02:13 – Fermi’s paradox and the scarcity of attention 1:02:56 – How Albert thinks about his own day and wellbeing given all of this information 1:05:01 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Albert 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 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 sell-side of Wall Street  8:50 – How the financial crisis impacted Savneet  10:11 – The entrepreneurial journey and GBI  11:40 – Savneet’s observations on the FinTech space and investing in it  16:22 – His thoughts on venture capital style investing  18:36 – Transition out of GBI into his partnership with Ali Hamed  22:13 – The impactful things that his parents did for him  23:23 – How Savneet thinks about justice in his life  26:19 – Why value investing struck a chord with Savneet   28:14 – Defining the proper long-term mindset when starting a company  31:21 – Knowing what he knows now, what does he think about Berkshire today  33:22 – The strategy behind Terra and how it came together 35:00 – His checklist for deciding to invest in a firm 41:38 – Why does Savneet think this is the space he wants to remain in for the long-term 44:39 – How they are thinking about pricing a company they invest in 47:03 – Lessons learned in sales and marketing that he can and will bring to the software world 52:05 – What Savneet has learned from Constellation 59:08 – What lessons has Savneet learned about taxes in their company structure 1:02:13 – How they think about capital sourcing 1:05:08 – His balanced view on crypto as an asset class 1:05:18 – The VERY simple bear case for bitcoin 1:09:45 – Savneet shares the Sikh philosophy with Patrick 1:13:21 – A look at Owl Mountain 1:15:59 – The Gorilla Game: Picking Winners in High Technology 1:16:42 – Any other areas that people are underestimating 1:17:22 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Savneet 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

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 deeper dive into the myth of growth through operational improvements 9:29 – What Works on Wall Street, Fourth Edition: The Classic Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time  11:25 – Valuations for private market investment and where they’re going  14:03 – Private equity companies that have a higher chance of delivering results that exceed expectation  16:39 – Other observations on the private equity space that would be interesting to investors considering the asset class  19:33 – Importance of being very purposeful in picking your reference classes 19:42 – Subscribe to Dan  22:03 – How do the lessons Dan has learned in private equity translate to his investment strategies  25:21 – How do you apply purely technical, systematic thinking into public market investing  29:23 – Analyzing leveraged stocks and the value they could create  30:06 – How Dan thinks about the direction of debt vs just the level  33:11 – Predicting a firms ability to deleverage  35:20 – How Dan’s company whittle down a company and are able to see value beyond their quantitative screens  41:29 – How does Dan think about the global vs US opportunity set  44:22 – What originally drew Dan to the Japan market  47:03 – How do rising rates impact Dan’s strategy in investing in highly leveraged companies 55:03 – Porter’s five forces 55:25 - The Gospel According to Michael Porter 1:00:51 – How Dan thinks about competitive advantage 1:04:41 – Exploring Dan’s personal process in pursuit of his ideal strategy 1:05:19 – Quantitative Value, + Web Site: A Practitioner's Guide to Automating Intelligent Investment and Eliminating Behavioral Errors 1:05:20 – Tobias Carlisle 1:06:27 – Steven Pinker 1:06:28 – E.O. Wilson 1:07:11 – What other markets pique Dan’s interest 1:09:39 – Why there is such a focus on small for Dan 1:11:24 – Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know? 1:11:28– Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction 1:12:54– What was it like writing the book 1:17:19 – If Dan was going to write another book today, what would it be about 1:19:08– Kindest thing anyone has done for Dan   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, 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  22:06 – An example of where primary research led to a big surprise about a company  24:05 – The value of travel in this business, starting with recent travel to India  26:05 – Why are they targeting India and Japan  27:24 – How does he think about the risk of investing in foreign markets  29:52 – His thinking on relative vs absolute market share  31:26 – Exploring the SaaS business model  34:35 – The application of moats and pricing power with SaaS businesses 34:36 – Pat Dorsey's first appearance on the podcast  40:07 – Other models that Pat explores and how to screen for them  41:37 – How does he parse the difference between attention and demand  43:19 – How would Pat monetize something like HQ - Live Trivia Game Show that has aggregated massive amount of attention  45:19 – How does Pat react to the idea that attention is scarce and human capital is so crucial 45:14 – World After Capital  47:04 – How does Pat evaluate human capital in a business  48:09 – Experience in starting an asset management business  50:20 – What are the levers that are biggest value drivers in the asset management business  53:57 – Pat’s view on the strength of the relationship between risk and return        57:06 – The most risk Pat has taken in the face of uncertainty  59:23 – Favorite recent learning resource 59:43 – Principles: Life and Work 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

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  9:52 – Investment philosophy 100-0-100 (ambition, arrogance, intellectual humility)  10:40 – How Josh manages his time and attention 12:53 – Investing in Biofuels or Biofools?  13:29 – Obsession with nuclear  18:28 – Focus on autonomous vehicles  21:02 – How all of these gambles are viewed by Josh’s investors  22:56 – Tattoo technology 24:20 – Ali Hamed podcast  24:36 – How Josh evaluates people when considering early stage investments 24:45 – Alex Moazed podcast 24:49 – Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy  29:50 – Memorable experience investing in a founder  30:44 – The idea of thesis driven approach to private investment    30:56 – Andy Rachleff podcast   32:38 – Crazy thesis – understanding the emotional needs of our pets  38:03 – Josh’s learning process through these theses 38:34 – Popplet 45:49 – Investors that Josh has learned the most from 47:37 – Josh’s comfort investing outside of his usual asset class 49:03 – @wolfejosh 50:56 – What is the thinking with the short strategy at Lux 52:31 – SpaceX vs Tesla, good business vs bad business 53:42 – How Josh approaches the quality of a business 54:15 – World After Capital 55:16 – How does Josh evaluate competitive advantage 56:45 – Where are we in the venture capital landscape 1:01:42 – How does his outlook on venture capital affect the way Lux is run 1:02:48 – Thoughts on cryptocurrency 1:07:22 – What is the most memorable conversation Josh has ever had 1:09:34 – What is Josh’s objective function in life 1:12:43 – Are there people that Josh disagrees with but deeply respects 1:13:32 – Kindest thing anyone has ever done for Josh  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 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 constructing a portfolio 25:56 – Looking at the bottom up part of the equation, what factors within a company or sector are considered as part of the investing decision 31:05 – Dividends in emerging markets 33:09 – How do US equities stack up as an investment against fixed income          34:53 - The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing. A Book of Practical Counsel 36:52 - How do US equities stack up as an investment against emerging markets 39:38 – What type of investor allocate funds to emerging markets 42:37 – The value of travel in understanding emerging markets 50:19 – Biggest mistakes that emerging market investors make 54:49 – What in today’s markets has the smell of opportunity 55:53 – Harvey’s interest in Via 56:58 – Interest in buying gold coins 1:00:05 – If Harvey could only choose one country to visit, business or pleasure, where would he go 1:01:09 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Harvey             1:01:38 – Education of Rick Green, Esquire 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 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 – Anthony’s interest in Barstool Sports             33:11 – Dave Portnoy and Barstool Sports’ Secret Billion Dollar Plan             37:09 – Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don't Matter 39:02 – What lessons from Full Tilt world would Anthony share with others in the more traditional business world 40:35 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Anthony 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 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 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