My guest today is Joanne Wilson, a New York City based angel investor, writer, podcaster, trend spotter, and self-described “woman around town.” Joanne has had a multifaceted and winding career, and began angel investing a decade ago when she put money into NYC-based media company Curbed media which we discuss in detail. Since then, she’s invested in more than 90 companies and been pitched by countless more. She is an instantly likeable person, you can literally tell in 10 seconds you are going to have a great conversation, so it’s no surprise that part of what makes her unique among angels is a very close relationship with many of the founders she backs.
We cover a lot of ground. We talk about the personality traits of entrepreneurs, Joanne’s evolving investment style, her focus on female founders, fashion, business models, restaurants and a lot more. Please my conversation with the Gotham Gal, Joanne Wilson.
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Show Notes
2:12 - (First Question) – How does Joanne orient herself towards what’s new, in the context of food in New York city
4:10 – Can that mindset of forward thinking be cultivated
5:18 – Latest thing that got Joanne excited before everyone else
6:57 – Why the new frontier is going niche and local
10:23 – Joanne’s first investment
11:48 – Why do VC’s typically stay away from media
12:55 – How Joanne got into her first investment as a customer
14:11 – What is the skillset of making money that Joanne as
14:45 – Can you sense if a founder has that innate ability to just make money
17:04 – Are there common traits in founders
18:07 – Joanne’s progression into angel investing after her first investment
19:58 – Red flags when looking at investments
20:40 – Impression on growth without goals
23:30 – Trends among Joanne’s investments
25:56 – How much knowledge is transferrable between different industries that Joanne invests in
27:06 – The dichotomy and unique challenges between raising capital with female founders vs male founders
29:07 – How does Joanne balance her time and stay engaged with all of her investments
30:50 – Time when Joanne has helped a founder side step a pothole
31:35 – Most memorable first impression Joanne experienced
35:05 – How often does someone not have the right idea but is still worth investing in
37:19 – Why Joanne won’t start a fund
38:22 – Data on female founders returns and time
40:38 – Criteria for identifying emerging trends, especially in the more creative/artistic fields
43:29 – The changing costs of launching a brand, in the contest of fashion
47:11 – What has Joanne most excited right now
48:11 – Interesting facts about the fashion business
52:01 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Joanne
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 conversation is an ode to old school, fundamental public market investing. My conversation is with IMC’s Connor Leonard, who spends most waking hours thinking and reading about markets. His mandate is to invest purely as if it was his own money, with no pressure to hug a benchmark, and no pressure to do much of anything other than earn strong long-term returns.
The portfolio that results from this approach is highly concentrated and unique. Connor’s strategy is to sort companies into four categories based on their type of sustainable competitive advantage. As you’ll hear, the vast majority fall into the first category, which means they don’t have such an advantage and therefore should be largely set aside.
We spend the majority of our conversation talking about the other three categories: 1) companies with a legacy moat, 2) companies with a re-investment moat, and 3) an interesting category Connor calls “capital light compounders,” which we explore in detail.
When you step back and think about public markets, you realize how amazing it is that we can, from afar, buy an interest in so many companies around the world. A select few go on to deliver outstanding returns. This conversation highlights how hard that can be, but also how fun and ultimately rewarding. Please enjoy my talk with Connor Leonard.
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Books Referenced
Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor
The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
Links Referenced
Will Thorndike Podcast episode
Show Notes
2:31 - (First Question) – Trends in value investing
2:52 – Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor
4:43 – A look at Connor’s backstory and the history of IMC, parent company of Golden Corral
8:01 – Why Connor loves the public markets so much
9:21 – The concept of intrinsic value when looking at companies
12:36 – How Connor categorizes MOATS
13:21 – Pat Dorsey Podcast Episode
14:27 – Legacy MOATS
16:11 – Reinvestment MOATS
17:58 – Capital light compounder MOAT
20:00 – Why classifieds are an interesting business model
25:12 – Looking at platform businesses
26:56 – Looking at companies in the 500 million to 5 billion range and what makes it so enticing
30:34 – What is the process that gets Connor to find investment opportunities
35:53 – David Tisch podcast
36:15 – How Connor looks at industry classifications
41:30 – Connor’s strategy for running his portfolio
46:36 – The circumstances in which Conno would buy a legacy MOAT company
46:49 – Will Thorndike Podcast episode
46:51 – The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
49:21 – How do you pick managers that will beat the markets
52:21 – Second reason to buy a legacy MOAT
54:48 – Comparing the reinvestment MOAT and Capital A compounder in Connor’s portfolio
58:16 – Connor’s Mt Rushmore of Capital Allocators
1:00:03 – Impactful mentorships for Connor
1:01:52 – kindest thing anyone has done for Connor
103:04 – What in the discussion with founder of IMC got him the job
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 unique. As you will hear early and often, he is programmed to go his own way, to, as he says, go one way when everyone else is going another. His name is Dhani Jones, a name I knew as a Notre Dame football fan, because he won a championship with our arch-rivals, the University of Michigan, in the late 90’s. Dhani went on to a long and successful career in the NFL, but even more interesting has been his many pursuits in business and investing outside of football. Like my conversation with Tim Urban, I’ll remember this conversation as a reminder to use a first principles mindset. Dhani seems to have this fresh mindset baked into his character, and as you’ll hear this has led to many a great adventure. Please enjoy my conversation with athlete, businessman, investor, philanthropist, movie buff, and bowtie wearer, Dhani Jones.
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Show Notes
1:30 - (First Question) – A introduction into Dhani Jones and everything he’s done
5:35 – How did Dhani change throughout his football career
9:55 – The power of your mind in every aspect of life
10:34 – Most memorable experience in the NFL
13:10 – Making the transition from the NFL to the business world
18:20 – Looking at Bowtie Cause
22:40 – The role of creative agencies in Dhani’s ventures and why story telling is so important for him
26:48 – Looking at some of the TV stuff that Dhani has done, particularly around travel
28:21 – Dhani’s favorite movie
30:35 – Back to the joy of travel and “Dhani Tackles the Globe.”
36:54 – How does Dhani think about risk
38:56 – Some of the other sports and activities Dhani did while filming his show
41:45 – The psychological benefit of travel in your personal and business life
44:41 – Looking into the business part of Dhani’s career
51:19 – How to expand diversity in the financial world
54:56 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Dhani
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
This episode is a continuation of the Hash Power series. It is the first of what we will call a Hash Power single—a series of conversations each with a single guest on a specific topic. In this case my guest is Chris Burniske, and the topic is cryptoasset valuation. This conversation is loaded with information, I think you are going to love it.
Chris recently released book called Cryptoassets, which is a must read for those interested in this field. Chris was at one point the only tradintional buy side analyst covering bitcoin, and is now a partner at a new crypto firm called Placeholder. Chris has developed new frameworks for evaluating and valuing cryptocurrencies, marrying techniques and ways of thinking for several different asset classes to assess the newest asset class. Chris prefers the term cryptoassets because as you’ll hear, several of these tokens aren’t really currencies at all. We discuss the differences between cryptocurrencies, cryptocommodities, and cryptotokens. We begin our conversation with a deep dive into the equation of exchange, which Chris has been using as a starting point for understanding utility value.
You can see all crypto related conversations at investorfieldguide.com/Hashpower. Please enjoy this conversation with Chris Burniske.
Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Books Referenced
Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond
Links Referenced
Hash Power Podcast Documentary
Cryptoasset Valuations (Medium)
Show Notes
4:58 - (First Question) – Chris’s overall method for evaluating cryptocurrencies
5:14– Cryptoassets: The Innovative Investor's Guide to Bitcoin and Beyond
6:47 – The equation exchange
11:19 – Bonding
12:35 – How bonding may represent a more efficient way of representing consensus over proof of work
14:29 – Why the amount being bonded and held should be taken out of the float
16:58 – Using bitcoin as an example to figure out remittances in the PQ side
18:31 – Looking at the velocity of various crypto-assets
21:04 – Chris’s impression of the different way of categorizing various crypto assets
24:37 – Explaining Auger as an example of a cryptotoken
25:38 – How could these networks be impacted by not having any censorship
27:57 – Exploring the gap between expectation vs reality in the value of crypto currency
30:43 – Other ways of valuing these crypto assets
30:50 – Hash Power Podcast Documentary
33:32 – Explaining the idea of billion dollar a day onchain transactions
36:05 – How to measure the value of the underlying network
36:37 – Nic Carter (twitter)
37:13 – What are the variables that matter when investing in cryptocurrency on a long-term horizon
39:24 – Determining when it’s better for a network to be centralized vs decentralized
42:03 – Networks that Chris is most excited about
44:06 – Understanding the consumption side of the steam marketplace
46:01 – Deep dive into the Aragon network
47:27 – How does Chris evaluate existential risk of networks
51:09 – Could these assets really ever go to zero?
54:07 – Is there a scenario in which velocity gets so high that it negatively effects the price
56:10 – What are the unknowns of cryptocurrency that Chris is most interested in
56:24 – Cryptoasset Valuations (Medium)
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