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Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Conversations with the best investors and business leaders in the world. We explore their ideas, methods, and stories to help you better invest your time and money. Hear stock market and boardroom insights you can't find anywhere else. If you're a professional investor, CEO, entrepreneur, or business strategist, this is for you. Explore all our episodes and learn more at https://www.joincolossus.com
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May 24, 2022

My guest today is Tobi Lütke, co-founder and CEO of Shopify. Having first spoken to Tobi at the beginning of the pandemic, just two months into it, this felt an opportune moment to revisit Shopify and the world through Tobi’s eyes. Among many things, we discuss Shopify’s evolution into the world of atoms-based building through Shopify’s fulfillment network, the value of infrastructure writ large, and the impact of market volatility on day-to-day business building. Please enjoy my conversation with Tobi Lütke.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick

 

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This episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.

 

-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:02:44] - [First question] - His interest in infrastructure as a whole and why it’s underrated

[00:07:18] - Whether or not we’re currently building enough digital infrastructure 

[00:09:45] - Base level principles for decision making around building infrastructure 

[00:13:17] - How much room is left for innovation and whether or not we’ll just reinvent basic human instincts

[00:15:22] - Ways new ideas are fed into a product funnel at Shopify and greenlit

[00:19:34] - Solving eCommerce infrastructure and what he attributes to Shopify’s success

[00:24:23] - Overview of the Shopify Network and how it’s evolved over time 

[00:31:04] - Lessons learned in an atom-driven world in regards to fulfillment and logistics

[00:34:37] - Common ways bits thinkers are often wrong when solving atom problems

[00:35:50] - Spreadsheets tend to win meetings and how the ROI on a fulfillment network impacts its ecosystem

[00:40:26] - Navigating becoming an aggregator that sits on top of their merchants and whether or not there are plans to participate as a distributor

[00:45:45] - Fair market value, what it’s been like managing through such a volatile market, and important takeaways

[00:50:54] - Thoughts on capital allocation decisions as Shopify continues to grow

[00:53:25] - Advice for company leaders effectively communicating with their teams about stock-based compensation 

[00:59:04] - How much COVID altered their trajectory and what he’s most interested in as he looks out to the future

[01:03:45] - What he’s learned about blockchains and the crypto space given recent events

[01:08:45] - A new idea he’s encountered recently that he’s fallen in love with 

May 17, 2022

My guests today are Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross. Tyler is an economics professor and creator of one of the most popular economics blogs on the internet. Daniel is the founder of start-up accelerator Pioneer, having previously been a director at Apple and a partner at Y Combinator. Both Daniel and Tyler are prolific talent spotters and that is the focus of our discussion and their new book, which is called Talent. Please enjoy this conversation with Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Brex. Brex is the integrated financial platform trusted by the world's most innovative entrepreneurs and fastest-growing companies. With Brex, you can move money fast for instant impact with high-limit corporate cards, payments, venture debt, and spend management software all in one place. Ready to accelerate your business? Learn more at brex.com/best.

 

-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:02:38] - [First question] - Defining what talent is to them writ large

[00:03:34] - The differences between means and ends in regards to talent

[00:04:14] - What the Diet Coke idea is and why it’s relevant

[00:06:32] - Types of energy that are valuable and the subtle differences between them 

[00:07:40] - Thoughts on using a moneyball-like approach to acquiring and evaluating talent 

[00:11:49] - The talent market and thinking about pricing talent specifically

[00:13:14] - What is seemingly overpriced in today’s talent landscape

[00:15:50] - Relationship between experience and/or age when it comes to talent

[00:20:34] - Lessons about the utility of intelligence and where they’ve lead them wrong

[00:23:35] - What’s beneath being an outsider and why it’s important

[00:24:46] - Why what people do in their downtime is worth considering  

[00:28:27] - Whether or not references should be held in higher regard than interviews

[00:31:41] - Things to try and get out of a reference call as an objective

[00:32:40] - Disabilities and what lead them write that chapter specifically

[00:35:01] - Whether or not talented people are happier  

[00:38:40] - Lack of contentment and it’s dynamic influence over individuals

[00:41:01] - Where they think the other is most talented

[00:43:33] - Thinking about the physical side of mental performance

[00:45:49] - What was frustrating about writing the book

[00:48:25] - How they evaluate talent most differently now after having finished the book

[00:50:41] - What makes for a good bat signal and how to cast one well 

[00:53:27] - Personality inventories and what they would and wouldn’t recommend  

[00:54:15] - Geographical frictions and their role in high success rates

[00:56:08] - Antonio Gracias; Existing supply constraints on talent development

[01:00:01] - How they would redesign the current attractors of talent that we rely on today

[01:01:18] - Assembly line development and how we can improve and scale talent filters

[01:02:29] - The biggest open questions for talent today writ large

[01:05:16] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for Tyler

May 10, 2022

My guest today is Jeff Jordan, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Jeff has one of the most interesting set of experiences of guests that I’ve had on the show. As an operator, he has been the General Manager of eBay.com, President of PayPal, and CEO of OpenTable. As an investor, he was one of the first General Partners at a16z and sits on the board of Airbnb, Instacart, Pinterest, and other notable firms. Given his vast experience, he is the firm’s go-to-expert on all things marketplaces, which is the common thread in our conversation. Please enjoy this great discussion with Jeff Jordan.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects - and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.

 

-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:02:48] - The notion of perfect competition in marketplaces

[00:04:31] - How to build a marketplace while thinking about perfect competition

[00:05:32] - Promoting price discovery at eBay

[00:06:52] - Features of a marketplace he focuses on 

[00:08:38] - Best way to do lead generation 

[00:10:20] - Red flags for marketplace businesses 

[00:11:00] - Major business lessons learned while at Disney 

[00:12:10] - Learning to be an operator while at eBay; Leaving It All on the Field

[00:14:45] - How he got hired at OpenTable

[00:16:22] - Taking OpenTable public and being its first public company CEO

[00:17:44] - What they did well in financing OpenTable

[00:18:54] - Communications between company leaders and its investors 

[00:19:45] - Going from operator to investor

[00:22:08] - Lessons from the early years of becoming an investor and pricing companies

[00:24:12] - Power of network effects on a startup

[00:26:56] - Healthy tensions inside of a network

[00:29:23] - When the supply side is the more difficult part of the equation

[00:30:27] - Characteristics of founders when it comes to marketplaces

[00:33:30] - The importance of being a perpetual learner as a founder

[00:35:36] - When he starts focusing on unit economics and margin profile in a new marketplace

[00:37:45] - Increasing convenience for a buyer as a business strategy 

[00:42:14] - Categories that could use better marketplace solutions

[00:44:36] - Layers of growth inside a business

[00:50:26] - Lessons with the unique business model of Pinterest

[00:52:03] - Unique aspects of the Andreessen Horowitz business model

[00:55:54] - Finding and recruiting talented general partner investors 

[00:57:37] - The morning basketball game and community strengthening

[01:01:36] - Defining great mentor relationships

[01:04:54] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him

[01:06:05] - Lessons from his parents

May 3, 2022

My guest today is Eric Glyman, co-founder and CEO of Ramp. Ramp is best known for its corporate cards but it has a range of software products to help finance teams save money and time. Since its founding in 2019, the business has grown rapidly and was last valued at $8 billion. Eric and I discuss Ramp’s initial marketing wedge, how the business has dealt with such fast growth, and why they hold stablecoins on their balance sheet. Please enjoy my conversation with Eric Glyman.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects - and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.

 

-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:02:41] - [First question] - What was most notably awry about the industry before Ramp

[00:04:45] - Breakdown of Visa; The business model of the Black Card compared to the business card offering of Ramp

[00:08:40] - Causes and what he attributes their early success to

[00:11:30] - Description of Ramp’s software in the beginning and the evolution of co-building it

[00:16:34] - How he’s gone about building the company and team fast enough to handle their explosive growth curve

[00:19:47] - Approaching all aspects of recruiting and acquiring such great talent

[00:21:39] - Thoughts on the biggest mistake he’s made while building Ramp

[00:24:05] - Lessons learned about marketing that this journey has taught him

[00:26:13] - Learning to manage a senior team and advice for managing rapid growth

[00:28:58] - Unique aspects of Ramp’s approach to the financing side 

[00:32:56] - Why they are storing some of their balance sheet in stablecoins 

[00:34:47] - What the idealized end state of Ramp looks like

[00:37:26] - How the data and information he sees indicates trends in the economy writ large

[00:39:33] - Providing secondary liquidity to employees in a world where companies stay private for longer periods of time

[00:43:03] - Aspects of company building that are still unnecessarily hard

[00:44:55] - What has him most excited about Ramp in the next 12-18 months

[00:46:42] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Apr 26, 2022

My guest today is Dmitry Balyasny. Dmitry is the Managing Partner and CIO of Balyasny Asset Management, otherwise known as BAM. BAM runs a multi-strategy, multi-PM model that aims to produce consistent absolute returns. Since its founding in 2001, it has produced only one negative year and become one of the largest firms of its kind. Please enjoy my conversation with Dmitry Balyasny. 

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to get and maintain your SOC 2, HIPAA or ISO 27001 reports at a fraction of the typical cost. Listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick

 

-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:02:53] - [First question] - The origin story of his firm and the key stages of evolution

[00:06:43] - Describing the difference between good and great in platform hedge funds 

[00:10:25] - How a multi-strategy, multi-investor group works and managing capital allocation

[00:13:58] - What he’s trying to solve at the end of the day as their CIO

[00:16:21] - How close they are to their idealized end-state 

[00:18:26] - Typical amounts of leverage associated with these types of models

[00:20:22] - Lessons learned about incentivizing talented investors

[00:22:39] - Ways he tends to attract risk takers and their levels of variance

[00:28:15] - Other characteristics that are common amongst great PMs

[00:30:42] - The nature and source of edge and how it’s changed most over time

[00:33:19] - Some of the hardest portfolio and business decisions he’s had to make 

[00:37:59] - One of his most important business decisions on the firm side

[00:40:09] - How they’ve thought about shorting as a firm in general and more recently

[00:43:52] - How interest rates affect this style of investing

[00:45:29] - His view on the opportunity set in private markets and what does and doesn’t excite him about it

[00:49:42] - How reading Ayn Rand most shaped his thinking

[00:50:36] - Things Ayn most got right and most got wrong in his mind

[00:51:24] - What the war in Ukraine has felt like for him as a Ukrainian-American

[00:52:08] - Ways the future still has him excited as he continues to build his firm

[00:53:53] - Where his trading instincts draw him today and areas of interest

[00:55:11] - His most memorable trade of all time

[00:56:37] - In which order the major asset classes will be affected by digital innovation

[00:58:13] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Apr 21, 2022

My guest today is Henry Ward, co-founder and CEO of Carta. Started in 2012, Carta helps companies and investors manage their cap tables, equity plans, and ownership. Last year, they launched CartaX, a platform for private companies and their employees to access secondary market liquidity. Our discussion is a detailed exploration of private market infrastructure and Henry’s views on building an enduring business. Please enjoy my conversation with Henry Ward.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to get and maintain your SOC 2, HIPAA or ISO 27001 reports at a fraction of the typical cost. Listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick

 

-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:02:57] - [First question] - The first key mental moment of how Carta came to him

[00:05:30] - Initial thoughts on how to position Carta as a business model

[00:06:47] - Historical divergence between private and public market infrastructure

[00:08:33] - What a price discovery process for primary shares could look like in the future

[00:11:09] - The end state Carta is trying to effect in their perfect state

[00:13:29] - Why it’s so hard for private company staff to manage their illiquid wealth

[00:15:45] - Lessons and challenges in the new market creation business

[00:17:57] - The nature and dynamics of supply and demand in this space

[00:20:16] - Restrictions that prevent retail investors from participating in private markets and why there’s more alpha in private markets

[00:22:45] - How Carta is mapped onto the success of its customers

[00:25:27] - Deciding on what is a good idea and what isn’t when it comes to focus

[00:28:07] - Describing the One of N versus N of One market frameworks and principles of this philosophy that manifests in how he runs Carta

[00:32:11] - How working at Carta would differ from a payroll-type company

[00:35:37] - Characterizing his leadership and management styles

[00:37:57] - The types of circumstances that bring out his tough side

[00:39:33] - Making hard decisions in a bottom up management model 

[00:44:05] - How he spends his time while building Carta

[00:45:02] - What a great product looks like to him

[00:47:10] - The Systems Bible; Defining what a great team looks like

[00:49:13] - What he’s learned about being great at Go-To-Market

[00:51:26] - Effective ways to beat competitors and build relationship pipelines

[00:53:49] - Things he likes the least about leading a company of this size 

[00:55:13] - What he fears most as he thinks about the future of Carta

[00:55:45] - Advice for entrepreneurs when thinking about data in modern businesses

[00:58:26] - The biggest missing pieces in capital market structure writ large

[01:00:17] - What’s next for CartaX and what he’ll be pushing to make it work 

[01:02:10] - Lessons learned from serving venture investors 

[01:04:25] - Whether or not investment banks are their competitors

[01:05:18] - Public market dislocation and how long it will last

[01:06:58] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Apr 12, 2022

My guest today is Alexandr Wang, the CEO and founder of Scale AI. Alexandr founded Scale in 2016, having been inspired to accelerate the development of AI through his work at Quora and his studies at MIT. Specifically, Alexandr realized there was a lack of infrastructure solutions for producing high quality data, the lifeblood for AI models. Today, Scale provides data solutions to leading AI teams at Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Flexport, the US Air Force, and many others. This time last year, the business was valued at over $7 billion. 

 

Our conversation is a primer on AI. We discuss the building blocks beneath successful artificial intelligence, AI’s role in both the public and private sector, and why data is the new code. We also cover the similarities and differences between AI and software from an investing perspective and what inspiration Scale takes from AWS. Please enjoy my great discussion with Alexandr Wang.



For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.

 

-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:03:04] - [First question] - The role that AI and data play in geopolitics and foreign policy

[00:07:21] - The end state of a digital arms race akin to nuclear weapons

[00:08:53] - Current state of things writ large and how the public and private sectors differ

[00:11:33] - The flow and importance of talent when scaling AI and whether it’s more important than software 

[00:14:29] - His thoughts on how to communicate categories of what AI can do well and what is still a ways out

[00:20:18] - The process of creating an AI model and the stages of development

[00:23:19] - A growing trend of data becoming more valuable than code itself

[00:27:16] - Principles of building a great engine for gathering data

[00:29:04] - The state of technology around annotating data writ large

[00:31:31] - What Scale does as a business and their product lineup

[00:35:08] - The Storage and Compute equivalents in the AI space

[00:37:08] - How Scale fills the gap in producing better and cleaner data

[00:39:52] - What Scale will look like in 10 years if their vision is fully realized

[00:41:11] - Where AI is in the S curve of acceleration and where AI and software intersect

[00:44:32] - Questions to ask about how to incorporate AI and data sets in your business

[00:46:23] - What worries him about the proliferation of technology that makes AI more accessible to the masses

[00:48:27] - The most interesting AI model he’s ever come across and collapsing the friction between human intent and programmable outcomes

[00:51:51] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him 

Apr 5, 2022

My guest today is Antonio Gracias, founder, CIO, and CEO of Valor Equity Partners. Antonio is perhaps best known for his role at Tesla, as the earliest institutional investor and Director from 2007 to 2021. But he has deep operating and investing experience, having first acquired and managed a number of manufacturing and technology companies during his 20s. And it was during those formative years that Antonio and his team developed the skills that led to Valor, which provides operational expertise to the high growth private companies they invest in.

 

Our conversation is a deep exploration of the drivers behind Antonio and Valor’s success. We dive into his concept of pro-entropic investing, what he learned as a 25-year-old running a manufacturing business, and trust me when I say, you don't want to miss his answer to the kindest thing ever. Please enjoy this great conversation with Antonio Gracias.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at  Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects - and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.

 

-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes
[00:02:51] - [First question] - Defining what a pro-entropic company is

[00:07:26] - Understanding external forces of chaos and why they’ll continue to increase

[00:11:32] - What he’s learned about identifying and investing in pro-entropic companies

[00:13:43] - Investing with entropy in mind can be a bet on unchanging aspects of human nature

[00:15:08] - Defining durability in contrast with resiliency and entropy

[00:17:27] - Timing and valuation matters less and less as you ascend the entropic scale

[00:18:53] - Coming from a traditional background and the origin of Valor

[00:22:05] - The theory of constraints and why it’s so powerful; The Goal

[00:26:32] - Transitioning into a private equity structure and Valor’s 2001-2005 era

[00:30:42] - Asymmetric information and developing a stage deployment of capital strategy

[00:32:51] - The importance of understanding people and psychological ideas for investing he finds useful

[00:36:59] - Understanding the psychology of founders that have successful outcomes

[00:39:07] - Vision setting, narrative building, and qualities of effective and dangerous leaders

[00:42:02] - Decision making bias and combating bias effectively in practice 

[00:44:30] - Where security and control figures into his thinking

[00:45:45] - Identity in relation to ego; the tools he uses to combat identity related decisions

[00:49:04] - Lessons learned from the Japanese language versus Western languages

[00:50:37] - What he’s gotten better at when it comes to getting to the heart of what’s actually going on in a company and accepting reality

[00:53:07] - Questions he returns to when he’s getting to know a company

[00:56:16] - An episode of operational deployment that most stands out in memory

[00:58:54] - Key concepts that most stick with him from working alongside Elon Musk

[01:01:32] - Why there aren’t more Musk’s or Bezos’ in the world

[01:04:20] - Ensuring Valor invests in the best companies going forward

[01:06:06] - How to pass the torch of what Valor is to others when his time is done

[01:08:25] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him 

Mar 29, 2022

My guest today is David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group - one of the largest private equity firms in the world. David has worked in the White House, built a $300 billion investment institution, become a prominent philanthropist, published books, and even hosts his own TV show. It was a thrill to sit down with him and cover the whole spectrum of his experience as a father, investor, historian, and titan of American business. Please enjoy this great conversation with David Rubenstein.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the new digital hub for market intelligence. The Tegus platform empowers Investors and Corporate Development teams to invest smarter by pairing best-in-class technology with the highest quality user-generated content and data. Find out why a majority of the top firms are using Tegus on a daily basis. Head to tegus.co/patrick for your free trial.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to get and maintain your SOC 2, HIPAA or ISO 27001 reports at a fraction of the typical cost. Listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick

 

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Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:03:02] - [First question] - What his perspective on the world today is compared to the last forty years

[00:05:35] - The long term implications of the Ukraine war on a global scale

[00:07:54] - Concerns and thoughts on the US’s role in a radically different world

[00:10:07] - How inflation and reduced globalization impacts business behavior in the US

[00:12:58] - Why he chooses to learn by listening to people who are incredibly versed in their respective fields and what started it

[00:14:11] - His method when interviewing people and how it’s changed over time

[00:15:03] - How his interest in leadership as a topic began; How to Lead

[00:17:55] - The time he was the most personally in awe of a leader

[00:19:05] - The most basic ingredients for strong leadership

[00:21:34] - Learning from Oprah and developing his own interviewing style

[00:24:25] - His leadership style while running Carlyle and key variables that drove Carlyle’s success

[00:28:41] - The ways that were most effective in terms of investment for Carlyle’s brand

[00:29:50] - How should a new investor think about the relationship between government and business

[00:31:25] - Best ways for a business to interact with the government and common traits of those who do it well

[00:32:17] - What he’s learned about leadership that he thinks is the most portable for other people

[00:34:04] - His interest in masters of leadership and what he has learned from them

[00:35:08] - How Carlyle retained their talent and building relationships with LP investors

[00:37:20] - Lessons from working in media with what worked and what didn’t; How to Invest

[00:38:55] - How he approached writing How to Invest

[00:41:13] - The importance of intuition when evaluating backers and why geniuses aren’t always chosen

[00:43:04] - Big aspects of American history and why he finds it so interesting; The American Story

[00:44:17] - Key drivers of American outcomes and biggest areas for improvement

[00:47:00] - Lessons he learned going from humble beginnings to amassing wealth and how he’s teaching his children about it

[00:49:20] - The state of private equity and what are its best and highest functions today

[00:51:03] - Experience and impressions on the emerging cryptosphere

[00:52:25] - What makes for a good chairman and why he is always drawn to that role

[00:53:42] - The most interesting system outside of the US that he’s observed

[00:55:33] - What he has learned about being a giving pledge signer and philanthropy

[00:57:02] - His interest in Monticello and the Magna Carta

[00:59:13] - View on how speeches from leaders have changed over the years; Citizenship in a Republic

[01:01:24] - What subject he would write his next book on

[01:03:58] - Thoughts on the line between giving your life for your country versus your state

[01:05:17] - The American Experiment

[01:06:10] - Looking back on his career at a time where he felt the most alive

[01:08:07] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Mar 22, 2022

My guest today is Gaurav Kapadia, founder of investment firm XN. Gaurav is a veteran of the investing arena. We cover his lessons while rising to partner at TPG Axon, co-founding Soroban Capital, and his decision to launch XN in 2020. We then discuss his approach to building XN around a culture of rigor and kindness, the importance of relationships in investing, and finding investments that are obvious in retrospect. Please enjoy my great conversation with Gaurav Kapadia.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the new digital hub for market intelligence. The Tegus platform empowers Investors and Corporate Development teams to invest smarter by pairing best-in-class technology with the highest quality user-generated content and data. Find out why a majority of the top firms are using Tegus on a daily basis. Head to tegus.co/patrick for your free trial.

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to get and maintain your SOC 2, HIPAA or ISO 27001 reports at a fraction of the typical cost. Invest Like the Best listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick

 

-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:03:05] - [First question] - What lead to kindness and rigor becoming pillars in XN’s company culture

[00:05:30] - The types of situations where it’s hardest to be kind or rigorous 

[00:07:58] - Asking one question that can stump a founder can be a display of rigor

[00:08:58] - An example of looking at a situation and reducing the problem to a single variable

[00:12:51] - How he trains investors and team members to consider outcomes that would be obvious in hindsight

[00:14:28] - Developing the art of interacting with company management

[00:17:54] - Dimensions that typically find their way into his presentations and what tends to create complexity 

[00:21:13] - Whether or not rigor has declined in public markets over the years

[00:21:55] - Why fewer talented people are going into public markets

[00:23:01] - What it felt like when he first started XN and being successful at a young age 

[00:28:58] - Being impressed with his peers and rooting for each other

[00:30:33] - The nature of public versus private investing today writ large 

[00:32:32] - How he gets to know a company when he’s never heard of them before

[00:35:20] - Reasons he won’t invest from a personal policy standpoint

[00:36:01] - Common problems he encounters that companies are dealing with

[00:37:32] - Defining the strike zone of companies to invest in where he can be best-in-class

[00:39:10] - The insane valuations of public markets in recent years especially in tech

[00:40:42] - Why there are so few great businesses and common attributes of the great ones

[00:44:12] - Biggest problems in the investment industry writ large  

[00:45:48] - The most remarkable business he’s ever seen  

[00:49:22] - How he would teach investors to deploy XN’s operating partner model

[00:51:32] - His perspective and thoughts on diversity in the investing industry

[00:56:58] - A business or institution he would own outright personally 

[00:57:37] - What outside of investing most has his attention lately

[00:59:50] - Key touchpoints of coming from Queens and going to Hunter

[01:02:15] - What stands out looking back on his relationship with his parents and how hard they worked to build a better life for their family

[01:04:10] - Two things that manifest in a system that is seemingly rigged towards the wealthy and the problem with generational wealth

[01:05:29] - What has him most excited and optimistic about the future in the investing landscape today

[01:08:16] - Investing mentors deserve gratitude for believing in their pupils

[01:09:12] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him  

Mar 15, 2022

My guest today is Marko Papic, partner and chief strategist at Clocktower Group, where he leads the firm’s research on macroeconomics and markets. Marko has spent his career at the intersection of finance and geopolitics, making him a perfect person to speak to about current events in Ukraine and their potential impact further afield. Along with Russia and Ukraine, we discuss the Fed, inflation, China, the green energy transition, and the US’s position in the global order. Please enjoy this discussion with Marko Papic.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the new digital hub for market intelligence. The Tegus platform empowers Investors and Corporate Development teams to invest smarter by pairing best-in-class technology with the highest quality user-generated content and data. Find out why a majority of the top firms are using Tegus on a daily basis. Head to tegus.co/patrick for your free trial.

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects - and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.

 

-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:02:48] - [First question] - His thoughts on what’s happened so far between Russia and Ukraine

[00:06:18] - The geopolitical motivations for Russia and what they can gain from the conflict 

[00:10:52] - How his impressions of warfare have evolved watching this play out

[00:13:45] - What to consider about nuclear war and different types of nuclear weapons

[00:16:31] - The economic warfare from the West against Russia and its implications

[00:21:06] - Whether or not the world is de-globalizing and how interconnected we all are

[00:24:45] - How we should view post-covid inflation, specifically in the US

[00:30:34] - The ways the Fed’s role has evolved 

[00:33:25] - Impacts of liquidity on asset prices and why it’s such a key factor in markets

[00:34:16] - China’s positioning and how the Ukraine conflict could alter their plans

[00:40:58] - Thoughts on Taiwan and how global supply chains might change

[00:44:47] - Why so few people believe that China has peaked; Young China 

[00:48:52] - His take on income equality in the US and why it’s the number one issue

[00:53:03] - What the US could do to improve itself as a country most going forward

[00:55:35] - Having a green energy transition view is crucial and the surrounding politics

[00:59:22] - The preconditions for doing well in atoms-based innovation

[01:01:13] - What he’s watching most carefully about the conflict in Ukraine

[01:02:51] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Mar 8, 2022

My guest today is Garry Tan, founder and managing partner of early-stage venture firm, Initialized Capital. Before starting Initialized, Garry was a partner at Y Combinator, employee number 10 at Palantir, and co-founder of YC backed blog platform Posterous. Our discussion covers what’s missing in the investment world, how to best systematize venture investments, and what he learned from Paul Graham. Please enjoy my conversation with Garry Tan.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the new digital hub for market intelligence. The Tegus platform empowers Investors and Corporate Development teams to invest smarter by pairing best-in-class technology with the highest quality user-generated content and data. Find out why a majority of the top firms are using Tegus on a daily basis. Head to tegus.co/patrick for your free trial.

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects - and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.

 

-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:02:45] - [First question] - Why he’s interested by software and the global brain

[00:06:23] - How the shift from global to local manifests in his investing and company activities

[00:11:42] - Ways to increase throughput that would benefit everybody in the investing world 

[00:17:13] - What software he would build if there were no limitations and what happens at the systems level of securing deals at Initialize 

[00:23:33] - Why there is no objective application process for early-stage capital and how much human judgment we can remove from approving funding

[00:26:49] - Shared characteristics amongst new inventions he finds favorable 

[00:31:49] - Whether he’s able to evaluate an idea without a prototype

[00:33:33] - Why travel planning software was the worst idea of 2012 and what he sees as the bad idea of today

[00:36:06] - The most common reasons for failure in these types of businesses

[00:39:07] - Is big enabling technology shifts what manifests in successful outcomes?

[00:40:37] - The role of media and how it intersects with investing

[00:44:29] - What he attributes to the success of his firm and thriving in chaos

[00:48:11] - Would he press a button that would have made his childhood easy, and whether he’s met founders who haven’t come across adversity in their lives 

[00:50:00] - His thoughts on the world today via the lens of his portfolio

[00:53:12] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him 

 

Mar 1, 2022

My guest today is Eric Mandelblatt, founder and CIO of Soroban Capital, a $10 billion investment firm. While many of my conversations focus on technology and emerging industries, Eric has deep roots investing in the industrial economy, which made this conversation a fun change of pace. We discuss why energy and materials represent such a small share of the market today, how the global push towards decarbonization could have massive impacts on the industrial economy moving forward, and how Eric evaluates this dynamic opportunity set. Please enjoy this deep-dive discussion with Eric Mandelblatt.

 

Editor’s note: This conversation was recorded on February 15, before last week's invasion of Ukraine.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the new digital hub for market intelligence. The Tegus platform empowers Investors and Corporate Development teams to invest smarter by pairing best in class technology with the highest quality user-generated content and data. Find out why a majority of the top firms are using Tegus on a daily basis. Head to tegus.co/patrick for your free trial.

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects - and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.

 

-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:03:01] - [First question] - Soroban’s history and why Eric is qualified to discuss industrial and commodity sectors

[00:04:37] - Overview of what their portfolio looks like today

[00:05:49] - How much of the commodity exposed equity sectors are owned by hedge funds

[00:08:03] - The key history points that makes industrials more interesting today

[00:11:17] - Commodity cycles, what drives them, the role CAPEX plays and how this world works

[00:17:38] - Thoughts on natural demand and the societal push towards decarbonization

[00:22:32] - How deeply one needs to know commodities in order to hold them

[00:23:57] - Big categories to explore as decarbonization becomes more accessible to consumers and the lack of nuclear investing

[00:28:50] - The resurgence of industrial production in the US

[00:32:21] - Rail networks writ large and if we can expect new ones in the future

[00:36:17] - The market gap between rail and technology businesses

[00:41:38] - Commodities and the ways they differ from railroads 

[00:43:47] - Comparing the differences between businesses within the commodity industry

[00:46:52] - Walkthrough of Alcoa’s business and how things like a carbon tax might affect an individual business

[00:52:55] - What is the portfolio manifestation of the fact it's impossible to forecast commodities historically

[00:56:08] - His view of the world in its current state and big things that matter

[01:00:25] - Thoughts on inflation as an investor in the commodity space

[01:01:42] - Utopian to dystopian takes on what growth looks like for the world

[01:04:28] - Juxtaposed positions in big tech against the industrial story

[01:08:45] - The kindest thing someone has ever done for him

Feb 24, 2022

My guest today is Sebastian Kanovich, CEO of payments company dLocal. Sebastian founded dLocal in 2016 to bridge the infrastructure gap between payments in developed and emerging markets. Since then, the initially bootstrapped start-up has enabled global merchants like Uber, Spotify, and Google to service billions of emerging market users. And in doing so, dLocal has created $10bn of equity market value, having IPOd last year. Our discussion covers dLocal’s playbook for facilitating payments in emerging countries, what Sebastian has learned about great API building, and how he challenges himself to improve personally. Please enjoy my conversation with Sebastian Kanovich.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Pilot. Pilot handles your startup’s finance, accounting, and tax prep needs, so you can focus on what matters most—building your business. Join over 1,000 startups that rely on Pilot to help them scale. Founder’s Field Guide listeners get 20% off their first six months. Get in touch with Pilot at https://pilot.com/founders

 

-----

 

Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:02:13] - [First question] - His take on global payments, what is interesting about this system today, and dLocal’s role within it

[00:04:06] - Approaching a country that could benefit from low-friction payments and the playbook for helping them improve their system

[00:06:10] - Differences between being an API business versus a protocol one

[00:07:13] - What companies handle these systems outside of emerging markets and why they haven’t entered the emerging market space

[00:08:59] - A specific example of the steps involved in getting a country integrated into global payments for an app or service provider

[00:11:22] - Whether or not they interact with consumers

[00:12:09] - The trading and foreign exchange component of global transactions

[00:13:16] - Country specific product teams and consolidating their process

[00:14:52] - What he would look for in early-stage payment companies to invest in

[00:16:23] - Defining excellent when it comes to working with regulators and regulatory environments

[00:17:53] - Their role in digital globalization and trends that might arise in the future

[00:19:52] - Ways that low-friction payments have helped accelerate regional innovation

[00:21:31] - The unit economics and costs of a single payment 

[00:24:05] - What the source of cost is to process a payment or transaction

[00:25:10] - Variables in currencies that make them desirable to work with

[00:26:38] - Lessons learned from distribution and customer acquisition of their service

[00:29:23] - Advice he would give to developers building API products

[00:31:16] - An example of wanting to build a function into an API that was never built

[00:32:40] - How they’ve been able to move and scale so fast

[00:34:23] - Ways their business could most improve

[00:35:14] - The operating system he uses to run the company

[00:36:38] - Ways he’s most improved or gotten better as a CEO over the years

[00:37:58] - Why deep humility is such an integral part of his character 

[00:38:30] - The biggest mistake they’ve ever made as a business and what they learned 

[00:39:20] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Feb 22, 2022

My guest today is Frank Slootman, Chairman and CEO of cloud platform Snowflake. Frank has become one of the most revered CEOs in business. Over the past twenty years, he has three times taken over emerging enterprise software businesses – first Data Domain, then ServiceNow, and most recently Snowflake - and led them across the chasm into large, billion-dollar businesses. Please enjoy this great discussion with Frank Slootman.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the new digital hub for market intelligence. The Tegus platform empowers Investors and Corporate Development teams to invest smarter by pairing best in class technology with the highest quality user-generated content and data. Find out why a majority of the top firms are using Tegus on a daily basis. Head to tegus.co/patrick for your free trial.

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects - and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.



-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:02:33] - [First question] - How he evaluates the team of a company he’s working with

[00:04:48] - The pace of decisions made around changing team members 

[00:06:10] - Understanding the potential quality of outside leaders being brought into the company

[00:08:13] - How he characterizes great and constructive confrontation

[00:09:53] - What he’s found to be most effective in convincing senior talent to join a team

[00:11:36] - Ways he personally generates energy to sustain himself in this pace of business

[00:14:17] - How he fosters and nurtures healthy communication pathways

[00:15:36] - Narrowing the focus when evaluating a new product

[00:17:58] - Is it possible for a focus to be too narrow?

[00:19:31] - An example of a dazzling customer that he’s worked with 

[00:21:04] - Working backwards from a problem and building something that solves it

[00:23:03] - Building trust between a company and its customers over time

[00:25:37] - Overview of the base layer ingredients of trust

[00:28:12] - Sequential versus parallel processing and how they affect building trust

[00:30:22] - Lessons in successfully translating between engineers and business people

[00:32:58] - Crossing the chasm and effective sales organizations

[00:35:17] - Working compensation into getting more out of an organization

[00:38:45] - How much a sales organization needs to work backwards to serve their product

[00:41:40] - Great questions for board members to ask their executive team

[00:46:07] - Where the analogy of ‘business as war’ falls down and defining the highlander concept 

[00:48:01] - What he feels he could still hone in his skillset 

[00:49:16] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him 

Feb 17, 2022

My guest today is Tim Flannery, co-founder of venture fund administrator Passthrough. Passthrough is removing friction from the manual, time-consuming fundraising process by making investor onboarding as simple and automatic as possible. Their software helps investors fill out subscription documents in minutes rather than hours and allows GPs to easily track LP subscriptions during a fundraise.

 

In our conversation, we discuss the power of identity as a feature to build products around, the double-edged sword of solving an unsexy problem, and how Passthrough has thought about pricing their software. Please enjoy my conversation with Tim Flannery.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Pilot. Pilot handles your startup’s finance, accounting, and tax prep needs so you can focus on what matters most — building your business. Join over 1,000 startups that rely on Pilot to help them scale. Founder’s Field Guide listeners get 20% off their first six months. Get in touch with Pilot at https://pilot.com/founders

 

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Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:02:08] - [First question] - The push and pull nature of what Passthrough is trying to solve

[00:04:17] - What the idealized end state 10 years from now looks like

[00:07:33] - A history of friction in investing and what barriers still remain today

[00:12:35] - The spark of insight that led to starting this new venture

[00:17:45] - Lessons learned from Okta and why identity is so powerful

[00:19:39] - Plans to expand this concept deeper into the tech stack

[00:22:24] - Adjacent problems that they plan to tackle as they continue to scale

[00:24:30] - What it feels like to use their product as an LP today

[00:26:10] - Working with service providers without becoming one

[00:28:06] - What great sales and distribution looks like to him at the infrastructure level 

[00:31:50] - Defining what “bring your collaborators” means 

[00:33:19] - His secret to recruiting talent to help solve an unsexy problem

[00:37:46] - His love for the intersection between process, pipelines, and efficiency 

[00:40:12] - Having a process for designing processes

[00:42:11] - How they arrived at their pricing and thoughtful pricing in software

[00:45:08] - Lessons from building Passthrough that other builders could benefit from 

[00:47:16] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Feb 15, 2022

My guest today is IAC’s CEO, Joey Levin. IAC is a unique business in that it’s a holding company which builds world-class digital businesses. Since Barry Diller created IAC over two decades ago, it has produced 11 public companies, including Match Group, Expedia, and Live Nation. Today, the business is comprised of category-leaders like Angi, Dotdash Meredith, and Care.com.

 

Joey joined IAC in 2003 and became CEO in 2015. We talk about why he tries to avoid centralization between businesses, what he's learned from Barry Diller, how he approaches capital allocation, and so much more. This conversation serves as an excellent reminder that there’s no formula to company building. Everything is idiosyncratic and requires its own best decisions. Please enjoy this great discussion with Joey Levin.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the new digital hub for market intelligence. The Tegus platform empowers Investors and Corporate Development teams to invest smarter by pairing best in class technology with the highest quality user-generated content and data. Find out why a majority of the top firms are using Tegus on a daily basis. Head to tegus.co/patrick for your free trial.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Levels. As one of their early access members, Levels was one of the most interesting products I've used. Levels is attempting to make continuous glucose monitoring mainstream by using real-time biosensors to see how food affects your health. Using Levels made me realize how little we understand about what's happening inside our bodies. And it was the only product that has ever made me willing to log food. If you want early access to become a Member of their private Beta, (the waitlist is currently 150K+ people), use this link – levels.link/PATRICK

 

-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:03:05] - [First question] - The unique nature of IAC; the business of building businesses

[00:05:27] - The first business spun out of IAC and its bottom-up philosophy

[00:06:41] - The differences of IAC and how they manifest 

[00:09:39] - Agility and history of respecting the core functions of the internet

[00:12:36] - Simplified, faster, and larger choice digital experiences

[00:15:57] - His thoughts on the shared characteristics amongst their winners 

[00:18:26] - Lessons from building competitive products in online dating simultaneously

[00:21:37] - Navigating customer acquisition cost and embracing change

[00:24:04] - What makes someone great at customer acquisition 

[00:26:26] - Fostering a unique approach compared to typical customer funnels

[00:27:48] - What most explains his move from a pip-squeak to CEO

[00:29:44] - The process he uses to get to know the critical aspects of a new business

[00:31:59] - Indications that a leader may no longer be suited to run a business

[00:33:13] - Characteristics of vertical markets that he finds attractive to get involved in

[00:34:08] - The early stages of incubating a new business and an overview of their process

[00:38:10] - Enabling new consumer experiences and infrastructure fading away

[00:40:17] - Distilling big ideas down to streamlined approachable consumer products 

[00:42:22] - High-level internal conversations around capital allocation

[00:45:06] - Quantitative versus qualitative analysis in their decision-making process

[00:46:50] - What idea felt the most right but turned out to be a disaster

[00:51:26] - Brand rollup versus brand consolidation and when either strategy is appropriate

[00:54:03] - Having a good sense of identifying, defining, and positioning categories

[00:56:23] - Which aspects of his perspectives have shifted since becoming CEO

[00:57:59] - Thoughts on the toolkit available for sourcing and the cost of capital

[01:01:08] - What personally brings him the most joy in what he does

[01:02:37] - Working with Barry Diller and what it taught him

[01:06:39] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Feb 8, 2022

My guest today is Peter Chernin, who’s had a Hall of Fame career in the entertainment business. Peter ran News Corp and Fox for fifteen years between 1996 and 2009 before co-founding The Chernin Group, which has become one of the leading investment firms in the consumer space. Along the way, he has also produced a number of blockbuster films, including Titanic, Avatar, The Greatest Showman, and The Planet of the Apes Trilogy. Please enjoy this wonderful discussion with Peter Chernin.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors. With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 20,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Levels. As one of their early access members, Levels was one of the most interesting products I've ever used. Levels is attempting to make continuous glucose monitoring mainstream by using real-time biosensors to see how food affects your health. Using Levels made me realize how little we understand about what's happening in our bodies. And it was the only product that ever made me willing to log food. If you want early access to become a Member of their private Beta, (the waitlist is currently at 150K+ people), use this link – levels.link/PATRICK

 

-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:03:06] - [First question] - Business and investing lessons from producing Titanic and Avatar

[00:06:44] - Defining great content and why James Cameron’s franchises have done so well

[00:10:26] - Contributing factors to box-office domination of pre-existing franchises

[00:12:56] - Tailwinds in his earlier career and identifying them in time to get behind change

[00:16:07] - Identifying Showcase was a subscription business early on, unlike broadcast businesses

[00:19:40] - Signals of passion and how powerful niche audiences can be 

[00:23:24] - What a phony aggregator is and the slow dissolution of the middle market

[00:27:01] - The era of unbundling and direct relationships with superfans

[00:30:27] - Lessons learned from building Hulu

[00:34:29] - Working with Rupert Murdoch and qualities that separate him from the crowd

[00:37:07] - Defining what bravery means in a businesses sense

[00:39:22] - A movie he’s made in the past decade that he’s most proud of

[00:43:27] - The keys to being an effective partner to creative individuals

[00:49:53] - What exists today that may change the future landscape of media writ large

[00:52:19] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Feb 1, 2022

My guest today is entrepreneur and investor, John Pfeffer. John was a partner at private equity firm KKR in the 2000s, Chairman of leading French IT company Groupe Allium in the 90s, and now invests his own money through his private family office, Pfeffer Capital.

John is one of the smartest investors I know, and our conversation spans all of John’s experience and investment ideas. We discuss the difference between value creation and wealth creation, why John has made such a big bet on one asset, and why adaptation is more important than ever. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors. With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 20,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.

 

-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:03:08] - [First question] - John’s background and the experiences that shaped his worldview and sparked his curiosity

[00:07:34] - Aspiring to grow with a lack of inertia 

[00:10:31] - Why he invests primarily in technology and technology dependant businesses [00:15:22] - What it’s felt like being a tech investor from 2011 leading up to today

[00:19:26] - How he defines good and bad business

[00:21:24] - Why good businesses don’t often have technology disruption risks

[00:22:26] - An (Institutional) Investor’s Take on Cryptoassets; key points from his paper

[00:35:28] - What else is interesting in the crypto space and potentially strong business models that exist outside of Bitcoin 

[00:48:46] - How capital has changed over time and what makes capital efficiency or formation superior

[00:51:51] - Value creation and why a shift in value can affect your returns

[01:01:12] - Whether or not crypto and the founding protocols will fade out of the public eye

[01:11:52] - A consensus on store of value in crypto and how it could change

[01:18:03] - Why he is so heavily allocated to Bitcoin compared to other tokens

[01:25:19] - General take on the nature of buying and selling capital and European markets

[01:35:28] - The interconnectedness of the globe and the future of globalism

[01:39:46] - Why he doesn’t ask people where they’re from and how he prefers to get to know people that can sometimes be unorthodox

[01:41:59] - Market index investing and why it may not be the best strategy going forward

[01:47:36] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him



Jan 27, 2022

My guest today is the renowned tech author, consultant, and venture partner at Wildcat Ventures, Geoffrey Moore. Geoffrey has spent his career focused on the dynamics surrounding disruptive innovations and his book, Crossing the Chasm, has become a canonical work for young businesses trying to unlock mainstream markets.

 

This discussion is a masterclass on business strategy. We start with Geoffrey’s more recent work on category-defining businesses, break down his life cycle of adoption framework, and close with the ways messaging should change as a company evolves. Please enjoy this great discussion with Geoffrey Moore.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick



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This episode is brought to you by Hall Capital Partners. Hall Capital is always looking for exceptional investment talent at any stage and size, so if you are raising capital or looking for a career change in the San Francisco or New York areas, you should check them out at hallcapital.com or e-mail at invest@hallcapital.com. 

 

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Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:03:08] - [First question] - What he means by a gorilla business

[00:07:10] - An example of how companies self-organize into gorillas, chimps, and monkeys

[00:09:41] - Why architecture is so important and how it applies to company building 

[00:13:11] - How and when businesses should think about open and closed systems

[00:14:50] - Ways in which enabling tech companies are superior to application ones

[00:16:39] - Thoughts on approaching and hiring a singular use case company 

[00:18:23] - Markets underestimate competitive advantage periods for technological gorillas

[00:20:38] - The inertia and duration of being the creator of a space’s architecture

[00:23:28] - Advice for early-stage companies when creating or dominating categories 

[00:25:16] - What he’s learned about identifying trapped value 

[00:26:49] - Questions that can identify trapped value, factoring for time, and horizontal uses

[00:41:49] - Problems with risk exposure in B2B and applying this model for value creation

[00:33:37] - His initial discovery of the life cycles of adoption and its five categories

[00:39:29] - Perspective on venture capital funding and going from idea to the chasm

[00:44:10] - What good pragmatists in pain look like 

[00:47:29] - Successful vertical uses-case sales motions

[00:50:03] - Guarding from becoming over-specialized in a singular focused effort

[00:50:52] - The Diffusion of Innovations; Ways messages work their way through a company to keep up with category evolution 

[00:55:00] - How extensible these ideas are to non-technology businesses

[00:56:04] - The race between innovation and distribution 

[00:56:44] - What about the world today has changed or influenced his thinking

[00:59:17] - Ways big companies can stay competitive in emerging categories

[01:02:23] - The company he’s most enjoyed studying over his career 

[01:05:25] - Shared characteristics of exceptional leaders he’s met and talked to

[01:07:48] - The Gorilla Game, Crossing the Chasm

[01:08:14] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him

Jan 25, 2022

My guest today is past guest Gavin Baker, managing partner and CIO of Atreides Management. Gavin’s focus is on consumer and tech growth investing, which makes him the perfect person to discuss the bloodbath we’ve seen in many growth equities over the past few months. We also cover inflation, semiconductors, and the disconnect between private and public markets. Please enjoy this conversation with the always great Gavin Baker.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.

 

-----

 

This episode is brought to you by Lemon.io. The team at Lemon.io has built a network of Eastern European developers ready to pair with fast-growing startups. We have faced challenges hiring engineering talent for various projects - and Lemon.io offered developers for one-off projects, developers for full start to finish product development, or developers that could be add-ons to the existing team. Check out lemon.io/patrick to learn more.

 

-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:02:30] - [First question] - What it’s been like investing over the pandemic 

[00:06:14] - The way he thinks about multiples, how they’ve done, and where they’re going

[00:09:14] - Themes that most have his attention in our current economic landscape

[00:19:25] - The ways in which wage inflation negatively impacts the market

[00:25:39] - How semiconductors have evolved and what matters in that subsector

[00:32:47] - Software volatility and the roller coaster it's been on lately

[00:35:52] - A future state where infrastructure overtakes apps 

[00:41:03] - Key differences between internet and software and how they behave

[00:43:44] - The coming trend of the metaverse and his reaction to public adoption

[00:49:26] - Investor and business opportunities in adopting tech trends

[00:53:54] - An unfolding mismatch between private and public market multiples

[00:57:17] - How the competitive landscape of venture capital might evolve

[01:05:54] - Differences in recruiting and training talent in private and public markets

[01:10:20] - Sci-Fi novels that he’s read recently; Dune, A Wizard of Earthsea, Culture, Hyperion 

Jan 20, 2022

Today, my guests are Sam Englebardt and Richard Kim, general partners at venture fund, Galaxy Interactive. Having come from the media and finance sectors, respectively, Sam and Richard joined forces in 2018 to invest in their shared thesis that immersive digital experiences would become the dominant way people engage with each other in the future.

 

Our conversation centers around the evolution of art, finance, and gaming as they proliferate in Web3. Please enjoy my conversation with Sam and Richard.  

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Levels. As one of their early access members, Levels was one of the most interesting products I've ever used. Levels is attempting to make continuous glucose monitoring mainstream by using real-time biosensors to see how food affects your health. If you want early access to become a Member of their private Beta, (the waitlist is currently at 150K+ people), use this link – levels.link/PATRICK

 

-----



Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:02:50] - [First question] - Their thoughts on the digital art market

[00:11:33] - What motivates traditional art collectors and what has been carried over into digital art

[00:17:27] - Is there an attractive beta opportunity in the digital art space?

[00:24:32] - Why investors should do more work understanding NFTs and ways to consider incorporating them into your portfolio

[00:27:55] - The history of Galaxy and their thesis writ large 

[00:33:09] - Exciting and terrifying aspects of the financialization of everything

[00:37:27] - Places where inserting markets could be beneficial with Web3

[00:45:27] - Their perspectives on gaming as a subcategory of Web3

[00:51:38] - Tokenomics and the importance of building great game communities

[00:59:18] - What we can learn from successful gaming companies and in-game monetization

[01:04:19] - How Diablo 3’s auction house detracted from the core player experience

[01:06:36] - Where they disagree with the Web3 investing community

[01:10:37] - The kindest things anyone has ever done for them

Jan 18, 2022

My guest today is Ricky Sandler, founder of Eminence Capital. Ricky is a hedge fund veteran managing over $8bn of assets across Eminence's strategies. We cover Ricky's evolution as an active investor, why he thinks this is a stock-picker's environment, and what keeps him competitive after a long and successful career. Please enjoy my conversation with Ricky Sandler.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.

 

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This episode is brought to you by: Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis. If you're a professional equity investor and haven't talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Levels. As one of their early access members, Levels was one of the most interesting products I've used. Levels is attempting to make continuous glucose monitoring mainstream by using real-time biosensors to see how food affects your health. Using Levels made me realize how little we understand about what's happening in our bodies - and it was the only product that has ever made me willing to log food. If you want early access to become a member of their private beta, (the waitlist is currently at 150K+ people), use this link – levels.link/PATRICK

 

-----

 

Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:02:42] - [First question] Whether or not great investment firms should be led by a single investor

[00:03:25] - Episodes where singular investment power has proven effective and powerful

[00:05:06] - Where he finds joy in the investing process on a regular basis

[00:06:19] - Ways he’s learned to become better at guiding and helping teams he works with

[00:08:14] - The most common types of fool's gold he comes across

[00:11:00] - Evolution of the pricing mechanisms in ever-evolving markets

[00:16:14] - Common features of a good mispricing opportunity

[00:18:42] - How he interacts with other hedge funds and long-only investors

[00:21:14] - An investor he often disagrees with but loves talking to 

[00:22:13] - The investment he’s most proud of historically

[00:25:11] - What the healthy draw that keeps him coming back to investing is

[00:28:31] - His opinion on crossover funds and their growing popularity

[00:32:09] - What the world in 2022 looks like to him and what both excites and worries him

[00:38:19] - Key contributors that influence liquidity and how it flows into equity prices

[00:41:26] - A macro view of the healthcare sector and why it’s so interesting today

[00:42:59] - Lessons from the Titans

[00:43:52] - Advice he’d give to younger investors for stepping into the space 

[00:46:45] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Dec 28, 2021

My guest today is Orlando Bravo, co-founder and Managing Partner of leading private equity firm, Thoma Bravo. Thoma Bravo manages over $90bn of assets and is best known for investing in software and technology businesses. It was Orlando who led the firm’s early entry into software buyouts some twenty years ago, and he has overseen more than 350 software acquisitions since. There are few, if any, people better placed to discuss private equity and software investing. Please enjoy this excellent discussion with Orlando Bravo.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.

 

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This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors. With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 20,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.

 

-----



Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes

 

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

 

Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus

 

Show Notes

[00:02:36] - [First question] - His belief about an opportunity/capital mismatch in private equity

[00:04:26] - Adjusting his own approach to take advantage of seemingly niche opportunities

[00:06:13] - Differences between software businesses they invest in versus traditional ones

[00:08:25] - Outline of how he runs their four-hour portfolio meetings

[00:09:53] - Overview of the very first deal he ever made in the software sector

[00:14:01] - The dissonance between the average SaaS company and the ones they try to manage

[00:18:22] - Major contributors that allow for their higher margins

[00:20:16] - Common mistakes of companies that mis-invest capital for growth only

[00:22:28] - Defining what market leader means writ large

[00:23:45] - Why the subsector of cyber security is such a good opportunity set

[00:26:25] - The evolving nature of the private equity world in general

[00:28:41] - Where returns will come from going forward

[00:31:47] - How good the opportunity for returns in this style of investing today is

[00:35:32] - Lessons learned on knowing when to exit or sell a position

[00:37:59] - How short their holding periods can be and how much influence they can have in such a short time

[00:40:04] - Surprising things about deal-making that he’s learned over his career

[00:41:20] - Difficulties and points of frictions in deals that still exist for him today

[00:43:11] - What part of the deal-making process he loves the most

[00:44:30] - If your job title has a C in it you’re not allowed to complain about it

[00:46:27] - Deeply held beliefs about operating excellence

[00:47:33] - What the word service means to him given everything we’ve talked about 

[00:50:27] - How we do a better job of inviting talent into this space

[00:52:51] - How decentralization will define the 2020s and beyond

[00:55:48] - What is most interesting about Web3 that might affect cyber security

[00:57:42] - Where there is a lack in innovation in private equity today

[01:00:45] - Advice for young talent for building their careers

[01:03:16] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him

Dec 23, 2021

My guest today is Nick Saltarelli, co-founder of the functional chocolate bar business, Mid-Day Squares. Nick started the company with his wife and brother-in-law a few years ago to build on a simple idea: if the big chocolate bar brands were to start today, what would they look like?

 

In our conversation, we discuss the importance of Mid-Day Squares’ $100 million revenue target, what’s wrong with the CPG industry today, and how to keep a long-term mindset while making the most of every day. Please enjoy this unique conversation with Nick Saltarelli.

 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

 

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Show Notes

[00:02:01] - [First question] - What Mid-Day Squares is and how he started the business

[00:04:48] - Why they’re so publicly open about their company’s goals

[00:09:05] - Major lessons he learned from his father’s early passing and being around very successful entrepreneurs at a young age 

[00:16:51] - What long term thinking unlocks for him in short term progress

[00:21:05] - Becoming unexpectedly close and learning from Rory Olson 

[00:25:44] - What Rory taught him about deal-making

[00:28:35] - Lessons from Rory about raising capital

[00:33:25] - Opportunities in a seemingly oversaturated market like chocolate

[00:42:46] - An example of doing something contrarian that worked out

[00:47:11] - Their unique approach to marketing Mid-Day Squares

[00:57:33] - Lessons learned about building a manufacturing operation after years in China

[01:02:35] - What we can expect from Mid-Day Squares in the near future

[01:06:59] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

[01:08:05] - Mid-Day Squares Uncensored Podcast

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