Welcome to the first episode of Hash Power, an audio documentary that explores the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies with leaders in the field like Naval Ravikant, Olaf Carlson-Wee, Fred Ehrsam, & Ari Paul. Hash Power is meant to be an introduction, but really, it is an invitation to explore this emerging world on your own.
In the coming weeks, we will cover the technology, the power of decentralization, bitcoin, Ethereum, ICOs, cryptography and hashing. We will spend time with the leading active hedge fund managers in the field, and with outside investors who are both optimistic and skeptical. Episode one covers the big picture, and answers the question: what is blockchain and why might it significantly affect our world?
If you enjoy what follows, you’ll still be very early in understanding this field. Most don’t. So help me spread it like wildfire, because the more people that understand blockchain, the better its impact might become. Please enjoy episode one, and stay tuned next week for episode 2, which explores investing in cryptocurrencies.
Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments
For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/hashpower
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Books Referenced
The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age
Links Referenced
Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System
The BitCoin Model for Crowdfunding
Show Notes
0:05 – Introduction
CHAPTER 1 – Understanding the Concept of Blockchain (3:25)
4:30 – Jeremiah Lowin explains how blockchain is like a database
5:14 – Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System
5:46 – Owning a digital asset
7:14 – Naval Ravikant, CEO of Angelist on how blockchains can help to create personal networks and organize humans
11:01 – How blockchains represent a way to coordinate global activity through tokens
13:33 – New coins popping up around data storage and utility needs like solar panels
14:57 – Permission vs permissionless networks
16:37 – Protocols and the introduction of scarcity
18:13 – Keeping track of scarcity and the introduction of tokens
18:49 – Societal structures and how blockchains will change them again
18:51 – The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age
21:55 – The role of blockchains in the informational age and the rise of more individual sovereignty
23:29 - Fred Ehrsam, co-founder of Coinbase, on the increasing shift to digital worlds led by incentive structures
CHAPTER 2 – Blockchain Technology (27:48)
29:09 - Reddit User jav_rddt
30:43 - SHA-256 Calculator
31:53 - Charlie Noyes, Pantera Capital, explains how SHA-256 was developed and what make its so special
35:48 – How miners create new blocks and the incentives to do so
40:22 – The nonce field
43:48 – The incentives that exist for miners and the arms race to build more powerful systems to mine
45:20 – The development of mining pools
46:54 – Ethereum, the “spiritual successor” to bitcoin
48:36 – How the Ether network is an ecosystem in which other tokens can sit
50:51 - Naval Ravikant on alternative coins or tokens
50:50 - The BitCoin Model for Crowdfunding
51:37 – How the protocol creators are the ones getting wealthy
52:35 – Fat Protocols
53:22 – Blockchain as an experiment in distributed government
54:47 – How cryptocurrency is more than just technology, it’s a movement
54:50 – Nostalgia for the Absolute
57:27 - #cryptotwitter
1:00:58 - Peter Jubber, of Fidelity, on how huge institutions, like theirs, are getting into the cryptocurrency game
1:4:01 –The notion of cooperation in an open source project or protocol
1:05:21- Olaf Carlson-Wee, first employee at Coinbase and the founder of Polychain, on the early excitement for cryptocurrency
1:06:56– Closing thoughts from Patrick
Looking to work in this space - hashpowerdeveloper@gmail.com
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 David Tisch, who was instrumental in building and fostering venture capital investing in New York City. If you liked my conversation with Jerry Neumann--who, incidentally, introduced me to David--you are going to love this one.
David was a co-founder at tech stars, New York's answer to Silicon Valley’s famous tech incubator Y Combinator. He now runs the Box Group, a prominent seed stage venture capital firm, which has looked at thousands of startups and invested in more than 200.
We explore tech investing outside of Silicon Valley, the tech accelerator model, the evolution of early stage investing, and why the best companies may start coming out of non-traditional venture hubs.
David does a great job of explaining how things have changed for technology startups and why certain strategies--especially those for acquiring customers--won't work nearly as well in the future.
I learned a lot during this hour, and I think you will too. Please enjoy.
For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/tisch
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Show Notes
2:16 – (First question) – Looking at David’s motivation and role in building up the venture capital tech investment scene in New York
6:14 – What David did to further the mission of fostering tech startups in New York, namely his work with TechStars
10:11 – What is Y Combinator and how does that differ from Tech Stars
13:02 – What is the procedure for getting into a startup incubator
17:08 – Most memorable applications
19:12 – What is the boot camp/incubator experience like
20:34 – What should future incubators be focused on to help develop the right ideas
23:46 – What aspects of the business should a start up be focused on in the beginning
26:46 – What got David interested in investing
28:47 – The challenges of launching new tech today and the colonization of identity
32:04 – Exploring David’s investing strategy
35:45 – Finding the consumer facing companies that can scale and provide a return for venture capitalists
38:03 – The problem of scaling up for start ups
39:20 – What business models does David prefer when making venture investments
40:53 – What’s important to look at when investing in other sectors, starting with Fintech
44:41 – Where does David think we are in the venture capital cycle
49:37 – How much does the exit strategy play into the initial seed investment
50:18 – David’s thinking on the portfolio of companies when picking an investment
52:48 – David’s biggest sin of omission
53:56 – Common personality traits among potential founders
55:24 – Is storytelling relevant for startups focused on the enterprise side of the business
56:07 – David’s story to convince founders to work with him
57:51 – biggest mistakes that David has seen
1:01:47 – What does it mean for our health that are time has become completely consumed by technology
1:03:58 – What trend has David most excited looking forward
1:06:44 – Kindest thing anyone has done for David
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
The investment strategy discussed in this week's episode is diametrically opposed to my own value tendencies, but it still one that has done exceptionally well.
My guest is David Gardner, co-founder of the Motley Fool. He is unique in that he is both a pure investor--a true stock junkie--and an entrepreneur. His energy is remarkable. His positive vibes are something to behold. You'll hear it over audio, but it's ever more palpable in person.
Our conversation is about finding companies which are breaking rules in the right way and reshaping industries. David's goal is to find these companies early in and hold them forever.
If you love investing, you are going to love this regardless of your prior beliefs. Please enjoy my conversation with David Gardner on rule breakers.
For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/gardner
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Books Referenced
The New Penguin Dictionary of Modern Quotations
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
The Motley Fool Investment Guide: How The Fool Beats Wall Street's Wise Men And How You Can Too
The Motley Fools Rule Breakers Rule Makers : The Foolish Guide To Picking Stocks
Links Referenced
“I had a lover’s quarrel with the world” by Robert Frost
Invest Like the Best episod with Morgan Housel
Don't Be a Dip: The 1 Thing You Need to Know About Buying on Dips
Show Notes
2:03 – (First question) – Among the experiments that David has run in his podcast, which one has he enjoyed the most
3:42 – A deep dive into the rule breaker mentality that David uses
3:52 - How his model may mimic venture capital early stage investing
7:22 – What helps you to not sell a rule breaker amid big drawdowns.
7:33 – Totally Absorbed
8:32 – FANG stocks
12:25 – List of criteria in picking rule breaker stocks…starting with top dogs and first movers
19:34 – Second criteria…visionary leadership and the traits David looks for in a leader
22:02 – Henry Cloud (author)
22:58 – “I had a lover’s quarrel with the world” by Robert Frost
24:07 – Smart backing as part of that second criteria
26:16 – Third criteria – competitive advantage and moats
30:50 – Looking at the development of the Motley Fool brand and business
32:47 – The New Penguin Dictionary of Modern Quotations
32:49 – As You Like it (Shakespeare)
39:29 – Looking at David’s writing and how it has evolved over the years
40:36 – Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
41:31 – The Motley Fool Investment Guide: How The Fool Beats Wall Street's Wise Men And How You Can Too
42:43 – Invest Like the Best episod with Morgan Housel
42:45 – The Wisdom of Crowds
43:33 – Back to criteria, the fourth one, price momentum
45:47 – Don't Be a Dip: The 1 Thing You Need to Know About Buying on Dips
50:03 – Last criteria, something being overvalued and weigh that against the idea of whether a product or service is important based on whether people would miss it
52:10 – The Motley Fools Rule Breakers Rule Makers : The Foolish Guide To Picking Stocks
1:01:21 – Looking at David’s process for finding a stock and analyzing it
1:07:38 – The importance of taking these criteria in concert and how you can see the power of overvaluation
1:10:39 - Board Game Agricola
1:10:54 – Boardgamegeek.com
1:14:38 – Kindest thing anyone has done for David
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 Meb Faber, who started a podcast similar to this one right before mine and was a big reason I was open to the idea in the first place. Meb is a quantitative researcher whose firm Cambria has been behind many interesting investment strategies that break the Wall Street mold. We talk investing factors, dividends, angel investing, podcasts and more. This was a fun catch up with a close friend in the industry who has been in a leader in using data to explore the best active strategies in a variety of asset classes. Please enjoy our conversation, which begins with a factor draft.
For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/meb
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Books Referenced
Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation: The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex
Links Referenced
Update on the Valuation Metric Horserace: 2011-2015
Jason Calacanis on Meb Faber Show
Brent BeShore episode of Invest Like the Best
Team Ritholtz episode of Invest Like the Best
Show Notes
1:55 – (First question) – Drafting quant factors
4:10 – Update on the Valuation Metric Horserace: 2011-2015
10:25 – Most interesting thing Meb’s learned over the past year
14:05 – Jason Calacanis on Meb Faber Show
14:49 – Brent BeShore episode of Invest Like the Best
16:10 – What is Meb’s process for investing in private companies
18:35 – What part of the fintech landscape would Meb be most excited about
26:50 – What has been working well on the business front for Meb
30:34 – Looking at investor behavior and changing fee structures
35:54 – What has Meb enjoyed most about doing a podcast
36:26 – Team Ritholtz episode of Invest Like the Best
40:55 – A list of guests that meb would like to have on
41:27 – Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation: The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex
43:19 – If Meb couldn’t work in this business, what would he do
45:02 – Same question for Patrick
47:28 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Meb
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