This group has been designated for adults age 18 or older. Please sign in and confirm your date of birth in your profile so we can verify your eligibility. You may opt to make your date of birth private.
Patrick O'Shaughnessy's Blog, page 14
May 22, 2018
Data, Decisions, and Basketball with Sam Hinkie [Invest Like the Best, EP.88]
I came across this week’s guest thanks to the overlap of three passions of mine: data-informed investing, value creation, and basketball.
Sam Hinkie worked for more than a decade in the NBA with the Houston Rockets, and then most recently as the President and GM of the Philadelphia 76ers. He helped launch basketball’s analytics movement when he joined the Houston Rockets in 2005, and is known for unique trade structuring and a keen focus on acquiring undervalued players. Today, he is also an investor and advisor to a limited number of young companies in which he feels his experience can improve outcomes.
At one point in our conversation, Sam mentions that he tracked success via future financial outcomes, so I did some research and found many interesting stats about the 76ers surrounding Sam’s tenure. When he took over the franchise, it was 24th in ESPN’s franchise rankings, and today it is 4th. This is the result of an impressive crop of young talent—players like All-Star Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons—which resulted in large part from unconventional decisions Sam and his team made.
While I’m sure these estimates are imperfect, Forbes estimated the 76ers value at around $418M when Sam took over and $1.2B a few months ago. NBA teams in general have grown in value, so a lot of that appreciation is obviously “beta,” but given that the 76ers had the top percentage growth number more recently of any team, some of it is “alpha,” too. While we can’t parse the exact amount, it seems his unique approach to building a team clearly created some large amount of current franchise equity value. And it looks like the dividends from those decisions will compound for many years to come.
While basketball was where Sam plied his talents in the past, his approach is more elemental. It is about finding great people, using data, and structuring decisions that create the possibility of huge returns, be they financial or otherwise. I don’t know what Sam will do next, be it investing in companies, running one, or taking over another team, but I know it will be fun to watch.
Please enjoy this unique episode with Sam Hinkie.
Books Referenced
Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think
Links Referenced
Show Notes
3:24 – (First Question) Advantages of having a long view and how to structurally harness one
6:08 – Using technology to foster an innovative culture
10:16 – Favorite example of applied innovation from Sam’s career
11:34 – Most fun aspect of doing data analytics early on the Houston Rockets
13:38 – Is there anything more important than courage in asymmetric outcomes
14:29 – How does Sam know when to let the art of decision making finish where the data started
16:29 – Pros and cons of a contrarian mindset
17:26 – Where he wanted to apply his knowledge in sports when first getting out of school and how his thinking is best applied in the current sports landscape
21:39 – How does he think about trying to find the equivalent of mispriced assets in the NBA
23:12 – Where tradition can be an impediment to innovation
25:07 – What did the team and workflow of the team look like in the front office
27:03 – The measure of truth in a sports complex
29:10 – What were the early factors coming out of the data that helped to shape NBA teams
30:42 – Best tactics for hiring
33:59 – Process of recruiting spectacular people
35:39 – Thoughts on fostering a good marriage
37:57 – Picking your kids traits in your spouse
38:02 – Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think
40:45 – What kind of markers does he look for when evaluating long term investment ideas
42:44 – His interest in machine learning
45:55 – What’s more exciting, the actual advances in machine learning or the applications that can be imagined as a result
47:15– International Justice Mission
48:11 – How he got started teaching negotiations and some of the points he makes in that class
49:16 – Effective techniques for negotiating
50:03 – Is negotiating contentious, do you need empathy
50:41 – A Rorschach test of Sam based on his reading of Lessons of History (book)
53:01 – Biggest risk Sam took in his career
54:37 – Biggest risks Sam took while with the 76ers
58:09 – Do people undervalue asymmetric outcomes in the NBA
1:00:11 – The players Sam has enjoyed watching over the years
1:02:45 – Why Robert Caro is a favorite author of his
1:04:30 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Sam
May 15, 2018
Pulling the Thread with Tren Griffin – [Invest Like the Best, EP.87]
My guest this week is a bundle of curiosity, and that is one of the nicest things I could say about someone. For several years, Tren Griffin has been writing a weekly blog post that highlights things he has learned from various investors, businesspeople, musicians, comedians, and more. Lately, he has also been tackling individual businesses, and broad topics like scaling, competitive forces, and product market fit.
Tren’s full-time job is serving as a director at Microsoft. He’s also worked with or for several well known businesspeople and investors like Craig McCaw, and written several books including one on lessons for entrepreneurs, one on Charlie Munger, and another on negotiation.
We discuss value creation vs. value capture, alpha in investing, sales, hip-hop, and why he’d teach high school students about convexity through a drunk driving analogy. I could have talked to Tren for much longer than I did, but sadly, we both had flights to catch.
If you take anything away from this, I hope its just how much fun it is to just be curious about business, and how you can learn a tremendous amount if you just keep reading about the things that interest you and talking to others. Please enjoy my conversation with Tren Griffin.
Show Notes
2:26 – (First question) – key levers of the universal business model
4:26 – How do you know when you’ve achieved real value creation
6:24 – Importance of value capture and how they enhance value creation
6:31 – Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
9:08 – Price power
10:28 – Are discussions of moats more useful to businesses than to investors
13:12 – What Tren learned during his early years working with Craig McCaw
16:28 – The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
16:36 – The skill of capital allocation
18:37 – How would Buffett and Munger bet on tech if they were starting out today and their philosophy of betting against change
21:57 – How Tren became so fascinated with Charlie and what he’s learned from him
22:32 – The Alchemy of Finance
23:17 – Damn Right: Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger
23:19 – Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
25:21 – Most memorable moment or lesson from Charlie
28:19 – There are more pockets of Alpha
19:20 – How he thinks about factor investing
31:25 – What are the scalability features that make a business attractive
31:28 – A Dozen Attributes of a Scalable Business
35:37 – Exploring some of the other important levers of businesses, such as subscriptions, customer acquisition cost, and more.
36:20 – Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In
37:11 – Wholesale transfer pricing
39:18 – Pros and cons of subscription business models
43:14 – Magic of getting products distributed
44:58 – Best sale Tren’s ever made
46:46 – Most important lesson for young people
49:01 – Any businesses that are piquing Tren’s interest right now
50:16 – Tren’s interest in hip-hop and how it helps him reach more people
53:49 – A look at some interesting quotes from Jim Barksdale
58:22 – Learning by doing
1:00:48 – Seeing like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed
1:01:06 – Period of his career that he felt most alive
1:03:03 – Advice for young people thinking about business and entrepreneurship
1:04:56 – Why are so few people passionate about what they do for a living
1:10:44 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Tren
May 8, 2018
Opportunities in Public and Private Markets, with Jason Karp- [Invest Like the Best, EP.86]
I believe that any investment strategy that will deliver strong returns in the future must evolve. Any strategy should rest on rock-solid foundational principles, which change rarely if ever—things like price discipline, or business growth. But the features of the strategy must keep getting better because the marketplace is incredibly competitive.
That evolution is the topic of today’s conversation with Jason Karp. Jason is the founder and CIO of Tourbillon Capital Partners, a multi-billion dollar asset manager based in New York City.
We cover a ton of interesting ground. We start with what has happened in public and private markets, discussing the role of quants, passive indexes, and value vs. deep value investing. We compare the relative merits of investing in private equities, and where and how opportunities arise.
We then focus in on two interesting private investing trends: the health and wellness sector and the cannabis industry. First, we discuss Hu kitchen and Hu Products, the food business that Jason started with his family several years ago in response to personal health challenges. Second, we discuss his evolved views on Cannabis as an investment space and why it may also represent a massive growth opportunity.
You all know I value transparency, so it is important to note that since I recorded the conversation, my family became an investor in Hu Products. It has been a fascinating means to learn about the food, health, and wellness industry which has grown rapidly in recent years. We were customers of Hu in New York City long before I even knew Jason, which made that part of the conversation especially interesting for me.
This episode re-enforced my belief in pushing one’s investing strategy to adapt to changing market conditions and competitive pressures. If we have any hope of beating Vanguard, we can’t ever rest on our laurels.
This was an especially eclectic and fun conversation, I hope you enjoy my chat with Jason Karp.
Show Notes
3:06 – (First question) – Jason’s view on private markets vs public markets and how his view has evolved
6:02 – Phase of the private markets where companies can achieve huge size and scale without going public
10:31 – Framework of Jason’s value-based investing strategy
13:47 – Reverse discounted cash flow
16:27 – Are there areas of the market that are easier to predict using Jason’s models
20:29 – Tech dominance the longer they are around
21:01 – Jerry Neumann Podcast Episode
22:08 – How markets have changed over Jason’s career
25:58 – Types of edge that you can have in the market
30:00 – Broad examples of sectors that are high-quality, but momentum is hurting them
31:32 – Backstory of Hu Kitchen
38:33 – Investment research into health and wellness
42:56 – State of acquisitions, particularly in consumer product goods
47:13 – Jason’s research into Cannabis
50:43 – The misperceptions of Cannabis
56:30 – Why cannabis is a more important sector to consider than crypto
57:51 – What are the most important levers to growing a business
1:02:24 – Biggest lessons learned in hiring good people
1:06:10 – Investing lessons
1:09:27 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Jason
May 1, 2018
A Value Investor Lost in the Valley, with Chris Douvos – [Invest Like the Best, EP.85]
My guest this week is Chris Douvos, a managing partner at Venture Investment Associates, which allocates 1.6B in behalf of investors.
Chris is the first professional allocator I’ve spoken with who focuses specifically on venture capital funds, so I had a ton of questions for him on how to build a portfolio in an asset class known for uncertain, but often enormous, outcomes.
We discuss the major recent changes in the asset class and where things might be going.
I sought Chris out because while this is an investment style that is full of creativity and hope, I’ve always felt it could use a healthy dose of skepticism and a value investor’s mindset. He delivers in spades as we try to separate the real from the ideal.
We didn’t record it, but Chris’s tour of Palo Alto was one of the most interesting and entertaining hours I’ve spent. He is a student of history and markets, and I look forward to learning more from him in the future.
Please enjoy our conversation
Books Referenced
Pioneering Portfolio Management: An Unconventional Approach to Institutional Investment
Links Referenced
Show Notes
2:18 – (First question) – Four factors that Chris thinks are important for future success of venture firms; portfolio concentration; repeatability; being early; size discipline
7:40 – What the venture landscape looks like today from Chris’s viewpoint
8:32 – Pioneering Portfolio Management: An Unconventional Approach to Institutional Investment
14:07 – Is there a glut of startups making it difficult for investors
17:33 – How does Chris think about the investments that are a bit different from what everyone else is investing in in Silicon Valley
19:17 – Why he focuses on college campuses for innovation
20:54 – The role that geography plays in venture
25:06 – The Four M’s; money, momentum, mentorship, entrepreneurial management
27:13 – Chris’s perspective on crypto currency as a threat to venture capital
31:44 – The idea of venture capitalists as service providers to the companies they are investing in
35:15 – Views on investing in hyper focused VC’s vs those that are generalists and just go after the best opportunities in any sector
39:00 – What hot button areas are of most interest to Chris and why, from an investment standpoint
39:38 – Domino Rally Business Models
42:22 – What can a public market investor learn from a value venture investor who mostly has to rely on qualitative metrics
43:08 – All About the Benjamins
44:38 – Portfolio construction in the world of venture
46:40 – Speak Like the Locals
48:00 – What are the characteristics that Chris looks for in managers, as an allocator
53:52 – What type of investors should and should not be in venture
59:15 – What type of allocator would Chris give all of his money to
59:47 – David Salem podcast episode
1:01:06 – Curveball
1:01:40 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Chris
April 24, 2018
The Crypto Landscape with Arianna Simpson [Invest Like the Best Ep. 84]
My guest today is Arianna Simpson, who has spent her career in an around the world of technology working at startups, Facebook, and now in venture capital as an investor focused on the world of cryptocurrencies. I met Arianna when I hosted a panel at a big investing conference in New York City and she was one of the panelists. On the panel, I found her style to be very straightforward and compelling. It is clear that she loves to learn and that the best manifestation of her style of learning is investing in technology.
In our conversation, we discuss broad trends in crypto that we haven’t spent much time on before: decentralized versus centralized exchanges, privacy coins, and evaluating a founder or early team. We build a framework for learning about this new asset class, discuss the importance of travel, and the value of pushing oneself outside of comfort zones.
Please enjoy our conversation
Show Notes
2:12 – (First question) – How to teach someone else to build an investing philosophy around crypto
4:00 – The major risk factors to investing in crypto
6:28 – best practices for mitigating risk
7:39 – What factors to think about when it comes to whether a token will lose all value or not
8:39 – Taking a pulse of the investment community on crypto
11:36 – How she heard about and became interested in crypto currencies
12:34 – Are people really using crypto currency as a hedge against rampant inflation
13:52 – Investing thesis in the space
14:07 – Arianna’s systems for learning about cryptocurrencies and staying up to date on them
15:19 – Arianna’s take on the issue of increasing transactional through put
16:49 – Layer 1 solutions and making it all scalable on a blockchain
17:56 – her take on the fat protocol thesis
20:32 – Defining utility vs security tokens
21:54 – evaluating different coins
21:02 – Why cross currency swaps are important and how they work
26:17 – What are the chances of a scenario where there’s just one token and everything is built off of that one
28:02 – Comparing centralized and decentralized exchanges
29:47 – How the traditional investing world is going to regulate transaction involving cryptocurrencies and view security around those transactions
31:54– Impact this will have on capital formation
33:44 – Evaluating teams behind crypto companies
35:48 – The importance of gut when evaluating people
38:47 – How Arianna’s global upbringing impacts her thinking on the technology
39:51 – What countries or regions have had the largest impact on Arianna’s investing philosophy
42:41 – Doing things you’re not qualified for
43:59 – Gender imbalance in crypto and what can be done to shift that
45:28 – Most recent thing that has gotten Arianna excited in the crypto space
46:15 – Explaining Zero X
47:33 – How her views on reading have evolved
48:54 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Arianna
April 17, 2018
Shark Tank with Thatcher Bell and Taylor Greene – [Invest Like the Best, EP.83]
We’ve always found that even in public equities, you learn more once you have a live portfolio. One of the best ways to learn is to put some capital at risk.
To learn about the venture capital world, for example, I made an investment in a startup called Ladder, a platform business which connects coaches (fitness trainers to begin with) with consumers who need or want a coach to help them improve their fitness and their health. The idea is by making the entire coaching system more efficient, Ladder can provide consumers with a real person as a coach, but at a fraction of the cost, and provide coaches with both new customers and a much better way of managing their existing businesses. If you are interested in the businesses backstory, you can listen to episode #60 of the podcast to hear founder Brett Maloley’s story and his vision for Ladder.
We are now six months into the launch of the business, with thousands of users and coaches on the platform and run rate revenue past a million dollars. What I was most curious about at this stage, aside from building something useful, was the relationship between a startup and institutional venture capitalists, who are allocating capital from their funds into startups at various stages.
For this episode, I asked two VCs to sit down with me and Brett and treat the conversation as they would a normal pitch meeting, so that we, the audience, can get a peek into their world and the types of questions they ask.
The venture capitalists in question are Thatcher Bell, of CoVenture, and Taylor Greene, of Collaborative Fund. Both have experience evaluating new companies, but also have specifically spent time on companies like Ladder, which follow the platform or marketplace model.
While we do cover a little bit of background on the company, I’ve edited most of that part out so we can talk about the business model itself. While I don’t spend much time talking in this episode, you will hear me asking Thatcher and Taylor some questions to better understand why they care or don’t care about certain aspects of a business.
Lastly, I love the data aspect of all this. The interaction between coaches and customers produces a wealth of data of different types, all of which is analyzed and used to improve each aspect of the process. To help gather more data—about onboarding, working with a coach, and tracking results—Brett and the Ladder team set up a little promo code for listeners, which can be accessed by going to joinladder.com and using the promo code ILTB2 as in Invest Like the Best 2.
The first voice that you’ll hear is Thatcher, and the next person asking questions is Taylor. I began by asking Thatcher to give us a bit of background on how he approaches young companies before diving in with questions of his own.
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Show Notes
3:12 – (First Question) – getting a flywheel business going
4:49 – Brett’s background and how that led to the formation of Ladder
7:58 – Breakdown of the product
9:29 – The sign-up process
10:29 – Key problem for each party of the ladder transaction
12:34 – Diving deeper into the problem of being a health coach
14:29 – How does Ladder differentiate itself from other apps that help people locate a trainer
17:01 – A deeper dive into the consumer using this product
20:28 – The accountability factor being the moat for Ladder
24:12 – How successful is the product right now in terms of recruiting new customers and trainers
28:38 – Their pre-launch interview and research process
31:49 – Going from hypothesis to product development
35:25 – What should founders think about when doing customer discovery, even after they have a product in the market
39:22 – Optimizing in the early stage of a business
43:24 – The defensive moat of a startup
46:20 – Their take on their ability to corner the coaches in this market
49:57 – Is there a side of the producer/consumer side of the equation that is more important.
55:42 – Getting and giving value to your supply, in this case the coaches
58:22 – How to view different phases of a business
1:00:43 – Growing the supply and demand so that neither side gets aggravated
1:02:28 – Market opportunity for Ladder
1:10:55 – Top 2 or 3 goals that Ladder has over the next 12-18 months
1:13:00 – Looking at Ladder, what are the strengths and weaknesses as a potential investment
1:20:40 – Pros and cons of a startup seeking institutional VC money
1:25:11 – Reviewing the pitch
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag
April 10, 2018
Moonshot Investing, with Nikhil Kalghatgi – [Invest Like the Best, EP.82]
My guest this week helps me complete the first trilogy of guests on the podcast. His name is Nikhil Kalghatgi. Along with past guests Ali Hamed and Savneet Singh, Nikhil is a partner at the asset management firm CoVenture. If you liked those two conversations, you will love this one—it is somehow even more wide-ranging than the first two.
Nikhil is the CEO of CoVenture Crypto, but he ended up there because of an overarching investing style that he calls moonshot investing, which we explore right from the start and in great detail.
He is obsessed with productivity and happiness, and we spend a long time on those topics. One of the most interesting experiments I’ve heard about on the podcast is his Happiness project, for which he interviewed more than 100 of the wealthiest people in the world. The lessons he gleaned from those conversations are very helpful, and I won’t soon forget the lesson related to sacrifice.
We also discuss asteroid mining, networking, shared experience, and philosophy. Oh and crypto currencies. Nikhil’s take on crypto has always been refreshing to me. In fact the first time I met him he was throwing cold water on a room full of enthusiastic crypto investors. Within crypto we discuss business opportunities, mining, and how new retail and institutional capital will affect the asset class.
Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments
Please enjoy this sparkling conversation with Nikhil Kalghatgi.
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Show Notes
2:42 – (First Question) – What moonshot investing is
4:41 – Creating sustainable differential investment advantage
9:30 – Assessing the market for moonshots
12:15 – Types of people suited for moonshots
13:42 – The Happiness Project
17:45 – Commonalities amongst successful people
25:15 – The importance of humor in life
17:16 – Recipe for a good joke
28:00 – The night Patrick and Nikhil met
29:17 – His perspective on the world of venture capital
33:26 – What did Nikhil learn from his time at SoftBank
34:52 – Craziest thing Nikhil has done
40:27 – What he took away from his time in military intelligence
46:10 – The idea of manufactured serendipity
47:13 – Nikhil’s approach to investing in cryptocurrency and what he finds interesting about it
53:23 – How Nikhil reconciles the excitement of crypto with the lack of tangible asset
58:10– The timeline of retail and institutional investors becoming more involved in crypto
1:02:43– Exploring their liquidity strategy
1:04:10 – What happens if regulators shut down the cryptomarkets
1:09:48– The role of miners in crypto and how that might change moving forward
1:10:43 – What is the frontier of crypto mining
1:12:31 – What’s the most compelling rabbit hole in crypto
1:16:23 – How would the original creators of crypto currency feel about the current state of the market
1:20:01 – What Nikhil sees as the value proposition for the whole ecosystem.
1:21:00 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Nikhil
April 3, 2018
Earning Alpha in Energy, with Matthew Smith and Ian Singer – [Invest Like the Best, EP.81]
My guests this week are Matthew Smith and Ian singer of Deep Basin Capital, an investment advisor specializing in the energy sector.
I first met Matthew almost 10 years and, in that time, I’ve grown to respect him as much as any investor that I’ve ever met. Now having spent time with Ian, who specializes in oil and gas field exploration companies and the rest of the Deep Basin team, I have similar respect and admiration for all of them.
Deep Basin does almost the exact opposite of what us quants do. In fact, their entire goal is to build a portfolio of mostly idiosyncratic or stock specific risk, the very thing us quants mostly remove from portfolios. Deep Basin positions the portfolio to make a series of carefully constructed bets, long and short, without taking market risk, style-factor risk, or even commodity risk. They use a hybrid fundamental and quantitative process which we explore in detail. This is definitely another good example of who we are all up against in public markets.
What makes this story unique is that we are investors in Deep Basin’s management company and so have a clear interest in their ongoing success. Listeners know that I want to be as transparent as possible on this podcast so we event spend a little time telling the story about how it all came together a few years ago.
I have learned a ton about investing from my countless hours with this team and hope that this conversation gives you a glimpse into what is happening at the cutting edge of investing.
Books Referenced
Expectations Investing: Reading Stock Prices for Better Returns
Show Notes
2:47 – (First Question) – Looking at the universe of the energy space that they are focusing on
7:48 – Breaking down the important components and their labels in this space
10:27 – What makes energy companies distinct from the broader market.
12:52 – How the isolate unique value creation
14:58 – Ian’s take on the upstream part of the business where he has spent a lot of time
18:35 – How does Deep Basin use data and what edge do they derive from it.
21:31 – What insight are they looking for from updated well data
23:59 – How do they use combine the business value that they measure with the market price that is being forecasted
24:40 – Expectations Investing: Reading Stock Prices for Better Returns
29:34 – How do they build an actual portfolio
31:51 – Their systematic approach to energy investing
37:53 – What are their thoughts about using leverage when making investments in the energy space
40:53 – A look at the changes to the hedge fund industry over the entirety of their careers
45:46 – Defining the culture of Deep Basin
49:15 – The story of how OSAM and the O’Shaughnessy’s came to be investors in the Deep Basin
54:13 – Kindest thing anyone has done for each of them
March 27, 2018
ILTB Live Ep.1, With Peter Attia, M.D.
This week’s episode was the first one that I’ve recorded live. It was the second dinner in what I expect to be a long series where I bring together 30 people from a variety of backgrounds to discuss an interesting and emerging topic, whether that be cryptocurrencies, health, cannabis investing, or some other compelling, emergent thing.
My guest, for the second time on the podcast, is Peter Attia, who has lead one of the more interesting careers I’ve ever come across and who is focused on understanding longevity, healthspan, and quality of life. We dive into many dimensions of health, scientific research, what we can and cannot learn from evolution and our ancestors, and the 7 primary modalities we should focus on when it comes to our health and well-being.
Excuse the lack of clear audio quality on some of the audience questions—the ones that are a little difficult to hear are fairly short and I felt it was better to include them for some context.
As have all of my conversations with Peter, this one has sparked countless subsequent conversations with my wife, my friends, and my colleagues on what is important and how we can change our behavior to improve our quality of life. My partner and sponsor at these events is Peter Tiboris of Strongpoint Wealth Advisors, who with me loves exploring these topics and understanding how they might affect our lives and our portfolios. Thanks to Peter for helping me realize this series in New York City. Now, please enjoy my live conversation with Peter Attia.
Show Notes
0:00 – (First Question) – Peter’s career journey that led him to where he is today
:24 – Haggler Hurns boxing match
1:39 – How he thinks about longevity
2:30 – Peter’s longevity chart
4:04 – Four things most likely to kill you
5:40 – The quality of your life in the later part of your life
6:54 – Four ways he defines health span; cognition, physical dimension, sense of purpose and social support, capacity to cope with distress or distress tolerance.
8:49 – The problem with clinical studies in analyzing longevity and his mission to get from medicine 1.0 to 2.0 to 3.0
10:08 – Medicine 1.0 and major leaps in longevity
10:54 – Medicine 2.0 and clinical trials
12:45 – Medicine 3.0 and personalized medicine
14:15 – The playbook for living longer
17:19 – Senescence, the cells that are programmed to do bad things
20:10 – Understanding our evolutionary needs to learn what as individuals do to increase lifespan and quality of life as it pertains to food, sleep, and movement.
28:25 – Where evolution doesn’t offer insight into living a better life; mindfulness
31:20 – What are the changes that Peter has made that he’s been doing the longest and most recently
31:28 – Skin in the game
35:47 – Peter’s philosophy on mastery
39:40 – Gamifying your life
44:56 – Audience Question: Peter’s favorite car to race
45:43 – Audience Question: How does racing cars effect Peter’s health
47:40 – Audience Question: Is the key to life a minimalist lifestyle
50:14 – Audience Question: the role of the microbiome
March 13, 2018
World After Capital, with Albert Wenger – [Invest Like the Best, EP.80]
My guest this week is Albert Wenger, a managing partner at Union Square Ventures and the author of the book World After Capital.
Albert studied economics at Harvard and earned a PhD in information from technology, but if you’d asked me to guess before looking those up, I’d have guessed that he studied philosophy because of how widely he has thought about the world and the impact of technology.
Our conversation is about how technology is changing the world from an Industrial Age to a knowledge age. We explore how cryptocurrencies, low cost computing, and regulation will impact our future and why the transition may require delicate care.
I loved this conversation because of my obsession with the concept of scarcity. We explore what has been scarce through time and what may be scarce in the future. Albert is one of the most interesting thinkers I’ve come across and was a pleasure to speak with. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments
Links Referenced
Show Notes
2:16 – (First Question) – Defining what it means to be human
2:58 – World After Capital
3:56 – Trans-humans vs neo-humans
4:37 – The concept of Qualia
5:25 – Albert’s investment philosophy
8:27 – How Albert began his exploration into cryptocurrencies
12:59 – Most exciting things blockchains could enable
14:27 – How does Albert view blockchain technology from the view of an venture capital investor
17:00 – Why Albert thinks that the dominate cryptocurrency of our time may not exist just yet and what he is looking for in protocols that will become the leader in the space
20:16 – What are the central functions that will be important in cryptocurrencies
21:22 – The state of regulation in the cryptocurrency space
27:37 – What has Albert most excited for the future of blockchain
29:10 – The idea of universal basic income
32:26 – How do you solve the problem of giving money value in a world of universal basic income
35:00 – How scarcity has changed over time
39:01 – Role of financial capital in the last 200 years of civilization
42:39 – Are we as a society only capable of solving problems once they become an immediate threat
44:15 – Explaining the idea of attention as a scarce resource
47:56 – The two key drivers of change; zero marginal cost distribution and universality of computational power
53:13 – What should we as investors and inventors be focusing on as the new objective function
57:24 – Scariest aspect of this transition into the knowledge age
59:45 – Three basic freedoms we all seek; informational, economic, psychological
1:02:13 – Fermi’s paradox and the scarcity of attention
1:02:56 – How Albert thinks about his own day and wellbeing given all of this information
1:05:01 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Albert
