My guest this week is Alex Mittal, co-founder of Funders Club. Following past guest Jeremiah Lowin, Alex is my second elementary school friend to appear on the podcast—a trend I hope continues.
Funders club is a unique venture firm, because it is build around a network of investors and entrepreneurs who submit deals for consideration and invest together. But as you’ll hear, Alex and his co-founder Boris aren’t just building an open platform for early stage investing: they also then take a very traditional venture approach, making investing decisions themselves when it comes to building a centralized portfolio.
Our conversation is about what Alex has learned investing in almost 300 early stage companies over the past 7 years.
Please enjoy.
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Show Notes
1:30 - (First Question) – Inception of the Founder’s Club
1:36 – Jeremiah Lowin Podcast Episode
3:59 – How the process of their platform works
5:40 – Role of the network in Founders Club setup and success
8:26 – What he has learned from all of the data he has access to
16:00 – Early stage investing and finding the sweet spot
22:17 – What makes a really intriguing bad idea
25:23 – Why he remains so excited about Ethereum
31:18 – More bad ideas
31:55 – Apoorva Mehta on How I Built This Podcast
37:15 – Thoughts on retail and logistics and how they fit his Venn diagram of boring and crazy
43:13 – Chip and electronic design
45:47 – Companies that are not just increasing efficiencies but actually making foundational changes
45:54 – Energy and Civilization: A History
52:34 – What does he look for in founders
55:26 – Pivot or Fail
57:05 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Alex
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
My guest this week, Eugene Wei, has one of the most interesting backgrounds of anyone I’ve had on the podcast. He worked at Amazon early in its life, was the head of product at Hulu and Flipboard, and head of video and Oculus.
Our conversation is about the intersection of technology, media, culture. We discuss Eugene’s concept of invisible asymptotes: why growth slows down (for both companies and people) and how some can burst through. I’d list more of the topics, but we covered so much that you should just listen.
Finally, I’ll say that after spending a day with Eugene (including a wildly interesting dinner with Eugene, past podcast guest Sam Hinkie, and future podcast guest Kevin Kwok) that he is the type of uniquely interesting and kind person I am always searching for and one that I wish I could bet on somehow. If you know more people like this, reach out and suggest them for this podcast. Now, enjoy our conversation.
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Show Notes
1:38 - (First Question) – Idea of cuisine and empire
1:52 – Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History
4:20 – Key takeaways from the Defiant Ones Documentary
8;25 – Being convinced to buy a sports coat
11:10 – The concept of invisible asymptote
17:43 – How the medium shapes the messaging and the impact of cameras everywhere on society
17:48– Invisible asymptotes
17:56 – Selfies as a second language
22:57 – Proof of work in building a social network
32:51 – Magnification of inequalities in digital networks
34:01 – The Lessons of History
36:47 – His thoughts on the media industry’s impact on society as a whole
39:42 – His time at Hulu
44:48 – Places where video could replace text
47:30 – The need for media for any business looking to grow
49:35 – Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
53:08 – Personal asymptotes
57:19 - Habit building and goal setting
1:00:29 – Travel recommendations
1:03:24 – Movie recommendations
1:08:16 – Product recommendations and what makes them indispensable
1:10:44 – Creation: Life and How to Make It
1:13:23 – Thoughts on the art of conversation
1:14:59 – The Most Human Human: What Artificial Intelligence Teaches Us About Being Alive
1:18:30 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Eugene
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 Michael Duda, and the topic of our conversation is the role that brand plays in business and investing. Michael has worked on and invested in a wide-range of brands including Birchbox, Casper, Harry's, Citibank, DirecTV, Google, TripAdvisor, Under Armour and vineyard vines. His background in advertising made this a unique and interesting conversation. please enjoy.
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Show Notes
1:11 - (First Question) – Mission of Bullish
2:15 – Typical relationship they have with companies
3:01 – Defining brand
4:35 – Ryan Caldbeck Podcast Episode
5:51 – A dive into how brands make people feel
7:54 – Does the emphasis on brand still matter to consumers and if so, where
10:01 – Process of building up a brand
14:53 – What has changed most in the planning of a brand strategy
18:35 – How does his thinking impact his investing strategy
21:48 – Where does he differ from the rest of the market
23:34 – Advice he would give to companies in general
26:18 – How advertising has changed in the current landscape
28:35 – The screening process for picking potential investments
35:16 – How they analyze valuation
37:31 – Unusual traits he likes in founders
40:12 – Categories most ripe for young companies to disrupt
44:03 – Most interesting marketing channel for direct to consumer businesses
46:45 – Marketing piece he is most proud of
49:23 – Companies that embody the best of what has been discussed
52:31 – His love for people in business
53:41 – Kindest thing done for Michael
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Over the summer. I spent time with Abby Johnson, who is the chairman and CEO of Fidelity Investments and several other business leads at Fidelity to understand how a very large firm like theirs is navigating change in our industry. What follows is a condensed version of my various conversations with Abby and her team. We discuss the big buzzwords like blockchain and machine learning, but also thoughts on leadership, client centricity and measures of success.
I hope you enjoyed this exploration
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Show Notes
1:16 - (First Question) – [Abby] A look at the early part of Abby’s career
2:45 – Analyzing the skill of capital allocators
3:27 – A look at the asset management world of today and what to focus on today
7:23 – A set of decision-making principles that guide Abby
12:55 – Their strategy around the digitization of the world
16:07 – Balance between robo-advisors and humans and the markers of a good relationship
18:24 – What is the future of the role of the human in these relationships
20:15 – Their interest in emerging technologies like Blockchain
24:50 – Will crypto be its own asset class in the future
25:58 – [TOM] State of the business and the most interesting points of change
28:14 – Who is winning the battle for the next generation of investors
29:24 – How much of the change in financial business is cyclical
30:17 – What are businesses doing right to bridge that generational gap
31:01 – What does the future of the asset management industry look like
32:13 – What technologies could impact the asset management business the most
33:44 – The difference between machine learning and AI in this format
35:26 – In what way will AI impact these processes and replace humans
36:41 – What has him most excited about the future
37:54 – Advice for people thinking about pursuing a career in financial services
39:20 – Markers of a business that would be attractive for the next generation to consider working for
40:33 – The importance of brand when thinking about their business and those they work with
41:57 – Ways of engendering trust from a branding prospective
43:20 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Tom
44:28 – [VIPIN] Building a team around AI
45:21 – Markers for a good data strategy
47:25 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Vipin
48:58 - [ABBY] – How Fidelity thinks about data as an investing initiative
50:24 – Differentiating attributes of good analysts and if they’ve changed
51:34 – Investor she has always enjoyed learning from
52:37 – Favorite Peter Lynch story
53:17 – Business lessons that people could take away from Abby
54:59 – The role of women in financial services and what can be done to improve the situation there
57:35 – Trends that Abby is most excited to explore
1:00:22 – Positives and negatives of being part of a family business
1:01:46 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Abby
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