The Berkshire of Software, with Savneet Singh – [Invest Like the Best, EP.79]
My guest this week is another in a recent series of people that makes me want to work harder, learn more, and do more for others. His name is Savneet Singh, and he has already accomplished a remarkable amount in the worlds of business and investing. He’s preferred to keep a bit of a low profile, but I’m hoping, for everyone’s sake, to change that a little bit (so see the show notes for where you can read him and follow him). Follow him on twitter here.
Savneet has invested in unique things like Spanish real estate, famous startups like Uber, cryptocurrencies before they were cool, and even websites. He founded and built a fintech company. And now, he both a partner at the wide-ranging investment firm CoVenture, with my previous guest Ali Hamed, and the co-founder of Tera Holdings, which is trying to become the Berkshire Hathaway of software companies.
To say this conversation is wide-ranging is an understatement. What’s neat is that my favorite parts aren’t even on investing, but are instead on principles for living.
Savneet is one of the best people I’ve met in this journey. I’ve had several other conversations with him with shockingly low overlap with the one you are about to hear—a testament to his active and curious mind. I hope you enjoy learning from him as much as I have.
Links Referenced
Ali Hamed podcast episolde
The VERY simple bear case for bitcoin
Books Referenced
Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist
The Gorilla Game: Picking Winners in High Technology
Show Notes
2:30 – (First Question) – How Savneet started thinking about Spanish real estate.
4:29 – Why Airbnb could be the most impactful and interesting of the companies like this
5:25 – Savneet’s early entrepreneurial ventures
6:42 – His big investing influences
7:02 – Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist
7:40 – What did Savneet learn in his two years on the sell-side of Wall Street
8:50 – How the financial crisis impacted Savneet
10:11 – The entrepreneurial journey and GBI
11:40 – Savneet’s observations on the FinTech space and investing in it
14:59 – How we can use FinTech to get into an actual new business
16:22 – His thoughts on venture capital style investing
18:36 – Transition out of GBI into his partnership with Ali Hamed
20:46 – What Savneet took from his tennis career
22:13 – The impactful things that his parents did for him
23:23 – How Savneet thinks about justice in his life
24:39 – Most memorable trip Savneet took
25:50 – Why you have to take action
26:19 – Why value investing struck a chord with Savneet
27:22 – How culture plays an important role in the compounding companies he would invest in
28:14 – Defining the proper long-term mindset when starting a company
29:44 – Back to culture of successful compounding companies
31:21 – Knowing what he knows now, what does he think about Berkshire today
33:22 – The strategy behind Terra and how it came together
35:00 – His checklist for deciding to invest in a firm
37:31 – How do they think about the defensibility of the companies they invest in
39:58 – The importance of cyclicality in the customer base of companies they invest in
41:38 – Why does Savneet think this is the space he wants to remain in for the long-term
44:39 – How they are thinking about pricing a company they invest in
47:03 – Lessons learned in sales and marketing that he can and will bring to the software world
52:05 – What Savneet has learned from Constellation
54:39 – What does Savneet’s funnel for bringing in new companies look like
56:31 – What helps to drive a lot of conversion for them
59:08 – What lessons has Savneet learned about taxes in their company structure
1:00:32 – How does Terra think about diversification
1:02:13 – How they think about capital sourcing
1:05:08 – His balanced view on crypto as an asset class
1:05:18 – The VERY simple bear case for bitcoin
1:09:45 – Savneet shares the Sikh philosophy with Patrick
1:11:43 – What Sikh traditions does Savneet take part in and what are their significance to him
1:13:21 – A look at Owl Mountain
1:15:59 – The Gorilla Game: Picking Winners in High Technology
1:16:42 – Any other areas that people are underestimating
1:17:22 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Savneet
