Hello, I’m Howard. I’ve been a financial industry entrepreneur and investor for over 20 years. I’m now focused on investing and advising. On this podcast, you will hear interviews with great entrepreneurs, investors, venture capitalists, traders, and friends about 'Street Alpha' ... how they have…
Panic with Friends is taking a break. Today, the world is in a very different place from when we launch the podcast. We are continuing our content endeavor and created Trends with Friends to talk about markets trends, dad life, luxury and wellness. Find our new show, Trends with Friends, on your favorite podcast platform. New episodes every Saturday. Spotify Apple Youtube Subscribe to my blog and follow me on Twitter. #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance
In this re-run of Best of Panic, I had been dying to get Jan on the podcast. After my brief podcast break, I decided to have a lot of my friends on – people I like talking to about markets. Jan will always be one of those people. He's super smart and well educated. I'm in the lucky position where I don't have to be in the market, but because I'm fascinated by markets, started Stocktwits, love talking about them, and want to continue banging out some alpha, I invited Jan on the podcast. We had a great discussion about debt. We talk about money flows, and while Jan wasn't the earliest, but early enough with directionally putting his firm on a path towards crypto, he had a lot of neat insights there as well. As was true then and is true now, people need to be thinking about the market in just a little different way than what worked in the past. Guest - Jan van Eck, CEO at VanEck Securities Corporation howardlindzon.com, vaneck.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @PanicwFriends, @JanvanEck3, @VanEck_US, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/janfvaneck #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:39) Welcome Jan (04:02) Growing a mature business (04:52) History is a teacher (07:73) Becoming a ‘Macro Structuralist' (12:58) Lessons from the 1970s (14:49) The right way to view inflation (15:17) Bonds outperform stocks (16:54) Will the Fed pivot? (19:12) The ETF business (24:49) Crypto-related ETNs (27:21) China growth & demographics (28:40) Getting smarter on Brazil (29:04) Web3 (30:18) Thoughts on Wealthtech (34:08) What if 60/40 is wrong? (35:10) Jan argues Howard's book (39:23) People care about performance (39:42) Why Jan invested with Howard (40:46) Diseconomies of scale (41:45) The future of ETFs (43:33) Cherry-picking in public markets (46:11) Jan's favorite podcasts (47:44) Wrapping up (50:16) Closing thoughts (51:37)
In this Best of Panic re-run from November 22', Jim O'Shaughnessy came back for a record fourth appearance. The previous time he was on, we talked about the real panic; I'd come back from vacation fired out of a cannon – only wanting to talk to my close friends or pimp some of our companies. But this time around I had a lot to talk to Jim about. He was guest number one on the show and since then the Fed had hiked another 75 basis points, Meta imploded (and has since turned around), and we were in the first innings of a new owner at Twitter. It's fun to jump in a time capsule and explore how we were thinking about things at the time. Once again, Jim was the calm voice of reason that helped us navigate the turbulent times we found ourselves in. The GOAT himself, Jim O'Shaughnessy is back for a record fourth appearance on Panic with Friends! And this time he's slightly panicked by not being panicked. I convinced him to put on some slippers and start showing up for work. Guest - Jim O'Shaughnessy, Founder and CEO at OSV - O'Shaughnessy Ventures LLC howardlindzon.com, osv.llc, osam.com, infiniteloopspodcast.com Twitter: @howardlindzon , @jposhaughnessy, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/james-o-shaughnessy-b072bb #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:41) Welcome Jim (05:29) Strategy & Tactics (07:46) Decision time (10:30) Elon Musk (12:58) Fixing Twitter (13:39) Dealing with trolls (17:26) The real reason Elon bought Twitter (23:06) Excited about Artificial Intelligence (27:10) AI ethics (30:02) AI in medical research (31:45) AI legal use case (33:15) An Open AI is critical (36:05) First $1B single creator LLC (36:34) Old Models are collapsing (37:25) A “Thiel-style” scholarship (39:09) A revolution in Education (45:12) A real meritocracy (45:56) Human nature doesn't change (48:19) The next Robinhood could be Robinhood (49:46) Wrapping up (53:05) Closing thoughts (56:58)
On this episode of Panic with Friends, I speak with my good friend Chris Temple. Chris is the co-founder and director of Optimist, an award winning documentary and impact studio. In today's episode we dive deep into his latest film called ‘This is not Financial Advice' which I took on the role of being an Executive Producer. In ‘This is not Financial Advice', Glauber “Pro” Contessoto - an immigrant working multiple jobs and living in a 220-square–foot apartment - gambles his life savings on a joke cryptocurrency. Two months later, he became “The Dogecoin Millionaire” and a hero to his growing YouTube following. It's easy to get rich online. But as Pro will soon discover, it's even easier to lose it all. Amateur investors like Pro must navigate a landscape that's rife with scams, bad advice, and FOMO. This is not Financial Advice exposes the startling risks and rewards of today's market through expert commentary and the anxiety-inducing stories of real people trying to make millions. Media endorsement quotes: “A Truly Wild Ride. Couldn't Recommend More.” - Vox “A Thought-Provoking Masterpiece. Brilliantly Executed” - The Washington Post “A Gripping Financial Horror Film” - The Guardian “A Must Watch That Ricochets Between Euphoria and Despair” - CNBC "Everyone Needs to See this Movie to Better Understand Their Relationship to Money." - Morgan Housel Guest - Chris Temple, Film Director at Optimist howardlindzon.com, optimist.co, TINFAFiilm.com Book Screening: tinfafilm.com/screenings Exclusive TINFA Clip Twitter: @howardlindzon, @TINFAFilm, @Christemple8, @OptimistFilms, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen Instagram: ChrisTemple, TINFAFilm LinkedIn: christemple8 #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Time Stamps: 0:00 - Intro 5:37 - Best Movie Lines and Movie Naming 13:18 - Lessons From Independent Documentary Filmmaking 18:01 - GameStop, Dogecoin, Memes 23:14 - Influencer's Use of Cryptocurrency for Profit 30:23 - Upcoming Documentaries 39:22 - Path to Success in Film Industry 42:55 - Outro
As I mentioned when I covered how I built Wallstrip, I'm doing more origin stories over the next year. I'm covering my own projects as well as those of the ten or fifteen people from the companies I've loved and the products I've used in Web 2. There were mostly good exits, but there were also a few that we learned from. In today's episode I'm back in the hot seat covering the lessons learned from building Stocktwits in a Web 2 world. Knut and Riley join me as we talk about what worked back then, and what it will take to succeed building a company moving forward. This is a very different era. Back then money was the game in a zero interest rate world. Today I think it's more about the craft, and less about money. Do you know who your customer is? What are your margins? How are you going to make money, and how are you going to get your users? If founders and investors aren't asking those questions today, they could be looking at massive losses down the road. I hope this helps and maybe gives you a peak at what might be coming around the corner as AI seems to be eating the world right now. Enjoy! Guest - Howard Lindzon, General partner at Social Leverage and Host of Panic With Friends Podcast Co-hosts - Knut Jensen and Riley Rosebee howardlindzon.com, stocktwits.com, socialleverage.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @be_rosebee @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen Rosebee.beehiiv.com linkedin.com/in/howardlindzon linkedin.com/company/socialleverage linkedin.com/in/knutejensen #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:22) Historic look at Web 2 (01:58) Starting Stocktwits (03:25) Why I didn't wait (05:34) Creating Bloomberg on Twitter (06:54) Building the team (07:28) Coming up with the name (08:03) Raising money (09:24) The first version (12:04) Creating the branding (12:16) The cap table (15:57) Building around twitter (25:08) The cash tag (18:16) Building on our own (26:02) Early Web 2 lessons (29:56) Thoughts on AI (32:20) Valuing deals (33:56) Stocktwits culture (34:28) Predicting the future (37:57) Wrapping up (39:01) Closing thoughts (42:58)
No, you haven't entered the Twilight Zone. Yes, I'm the host of Panic with Friends, but in today's special episode, I'm the guest. My producer Knut Jensen has turned the tables and put me in the hot seat. With so many questions about how and why I started Wallstrip, I felt it was time to lay it all out. And hopefully this answers a lot of those questions. We cover the good, the bad, and the funny times building my first internet company – and how those lessons carried over when I started Stocktwits – lessons like finding the right mentor and having domain experience around an idea, and the three key ingredients: product, team and timing. It's a different spin on Panic with Friends where we're going back and telling these types of stories with our best founders, so you'll be seeing more episodes like this in the future. And of course, the big question on Wallstrip, would I do it again? You'll have to listen to find out! Guest - Howard Lindzon, General partner at Social Leverage and Host of Panic With Friends Podcast Co-host - Knut Jensen howardlindzon.com, socialleverage.com, stocktwits.com youtube.com/channel/UCGEU5Xa_5HKMb6gEFfGYdTw/videos Twitter: @howardlindzon, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/howardlindzon linkedin.com/company/socialleverage linkedin.com/in/knutejensen #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:27) Coming up with Wallstrip (01:42) Starting with GolfNow (07:55) YouTube becomes a thing (10:27) Cold pitching Fred Wilson (11:59) Raising funds (15:08) Finding the team (18:34) The formula (22:36) Gaining traction (25:13) Would I do it again? (27:09) My ‘growth hack' (30:24) The ‘moment' it's successful (31:10) Now the pressure is on (32:36) The right kind of attention (31:54) Dealing with haters (33:56) Sell or grow (38:14) The Jim Cramer spoof (39:21) My Costanza moment (41:04) CBS acquires Wallstrip (41:30) The right people domain experience (44:29) Wrapping up (46:35) Closing thoughts (46:56)
When Knut and I started Panic with Friends at the beginning of the pandemic, it was just that – panicking with a few friends on what was happening in the market. I don't think either of us knew how successful the podcast would become over three years later. My good friend Jeff RIchards of GGV Capital made several appearances on the show in the early days, but we last had him on in January of 2022. In that episode, Jeff helped me frame the selloff and gave me a big picture view on the fundamentals versus where valuations were at the time. After a year or so where we were all just licking our wounds, I thought it was high time to get Jeff back on the show to get a handle on repositioning ourselves for what the future might look like. Guest - Jeff Richards, Managing partner at GGV Capital howardlindzon.com, ggvc.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @jrichlive, @GGVCapital, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/jeffrichards #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Time Stamps: Intro (00:41) Welcome back Jeff (03:42) Investing in growth (04:10) The next bull market (05:41) Impact of higher rates (06:23) Funding landscape (7:01) Potential of generative AI (07:54) App distribution constraints (08:47) Embracing AI (10:46) Contrast now and tech in 99/00 (13:40) AI and physical brands (14:36) Advice of the younger generation (15:52) Growth in golf and pickleball (18:21) Reimaging sports with infused tech (19:53) GGV's focus (20:10) Founder/Startup headwinds (20:59) Measuring VC success (22:09) Looking ahead (24:33) Looking at fintech & proptech (25:21) Impact of higher interest rates (26:30) Travel is booming (27:07) Opportunity in ‘Treasury Management (29:26) Record growth in SMBs (31:05) Seeing a renaissance of innovation (32:31) Hoping for innovation in healthcare (50:31) Wrapping up (52:10) Outro (53:10)
Ben Hunt of Epsilon Theory is back on Panic for a record-breaking sixth time! He may be the smartest guy I know, which is why I keep having him on. He's just an explainer – the way he explains things very easily – and I like complex things explained simply. Ben is a former Professor, a beekeeper, and a market lover. He's the co-founder and CIO of Epsilon Theory, where he writes outstanding essays about narratives in the market – backed up by data. I wanted to catch up with him to weigh in on my themes for the next 10 years in an America that's becoming what I call the Rich, Angry, Degenerate economy. There are a lot of narratives to talk about; Ben was unfortunately right on the one that was inflation. And we get into the latest narrative around the U.S. dollar. You're really going to learn a lot. Enjoy! Guest - Ben Hunt, Co-Founder and Partner at Second Foundation Partners, Author and Co-Founder at Epsilon Theory howardlindzon.com, epsilontheory.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @epsilontheory, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/bhunt #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Time Stamps: Intro (00:42) Welcome back Ben (07:05) Gold as a metaphor for the economy (08:32) GFC was different (09:49) “Fiat” news (10:50) Rational optimism (14:24) The Peter Thiel Industrial Complex (18:19) Rich Man, Angry Man, Degenerate Man Economy (23:07) We're treated as a cog in a powerful machine (27:09) The inflation narrative (27:59) The de-dollarization narrative (31:06) Who's Chamath? (35:36) Internet trolls (37:37) Generative AI (38:30) Astroturf campaigns (40:25) Why ‘they' create chaos (41:27) Ruthless pursuit of creativity (43:37) European companies (45:59) Time to get back to work (47:04) Intersection of narratives and markets (48:38) Wrapping up (52:08) Outro (53:16)
My good friend and fishing buddy Lewis Johnson of Capitol Wealth Advisors is back on Panic with Friends for a fourth round, slowly catching up to our leader, Ben Hunt. Way back when Lewis was first on the show rates were zero going to negative. When he was last here in November of 2022, we touched on the Madoff Moment that was FTX, and talked about how to position ourselves moving into 2023. Lewis understands cycles. As we head into the summer with gold breaking out into all-time highs, I wanted to catch up with Lewis to discuss this potential breakout and how to play this cyclical trade. Guest - Lewis Johnson, CIO at Capital Wealth Advisors howardlindzon.com, capitalwealthadvisors.com blog.capitalwealthadvisors.com/trends-tail-risks Twitter: @howardlindzon, @PanicwFriends, @TrendsTailRisks, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/lewismjohnson #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Time Stamps: Intro (00:39) Welcome back Lewis (08:39) Heading into Summer 2023 (09:54) Overstaying leadership (12:55) Tech theme bleeding out? (17:49) Looking at past crises (18:49) Quiet rise of gold (20:14) Recent trends (22:39) Exposure to precious metals (23:51) Number one driver of long-term returns (26:39) FED raise until it breaks (28:24) Can banks profitably lend? (29:44) Tech driven / consumer discretionary market (31:24) Limit exposure to last cycle leaders (33:26) A bull market in commodities? (34:49) Wrapping up (35:21) Outro (39:52)
There's a massive unspoken epidemic going on globally in men's health right now – low T-scores; and practically no one is talking about it. Lots of ‘youts' are running around on an empty tank and don't even know it. It's an interesting and very important topic; and it's at the top of a lot of people's minds, even if it's a bit taboo to talk about. But it's something that matters to me, so I wanted to dive in deep and figure out what it all means. My guest today makes checking, monitoring, and boosting your t-score accessible and affordable. I've used the service myself (Ellen made me check mine), and as luck would have it, I'm also an indirect investor in Saad's company. I've got a feeling this will be my most evergreen episode. Enjoy! Guest - Saad Alam, Founder and CEO at Hone Health howardlindzon.com, honehealth.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @saad_hone, @honehealth, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen Instagram: @msaadalam, @hone.health LinkedIn: saad-alam #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Time Stamps: Intro (00:37) Welcome Saad (06:14) Misconceptions about testosterone (07:49) Causes of low testosterone (09:51) The stigma of low T (10:55) Saad's story (16:06) Shelf-life of a medical degree (20:50) Saad takes control of his health (22:44) An unspoken global epidemic (24:38) The Hone Health process (26:21) The 2011/12 testosterone hype (29:06) Howard's t-score (37:45) Free testosterone (39:36) Leading longer lives (46:19) There's no silver bullet (48:30) Wrapping it up (53:08) Outro (53:24)
In this episode, I'm back in the hot seat again while my producer Knut grills me on what I'm calling my ‘errors of omission'. It's part of my plan this year to cover various points in my career. Previously I've discussed details on Wallstrip and Stocktwits. Both of those episodes answered a lot of the questions I've been asked over the years. But one of the questions I'm asked most often as an investor and entrepreneur is, “Howard, what's your biggest mistake, your biggest miss?” I've been in this game for a while now – so it's a splendid idea to finally share them in a format where everyone can learn from my mistakes. I lay out my biggest errors, or what I would call errors of omission versus errors of commission, in the spirit of Bessemer Ventures “anti-portfolio” – that is some of the biggest ones they missed, like AirBnb, Coinbase, and eBay to name a few. I cover three of my biggest whiffs. It's part of the joy of investing, the irreverence, having the cojones to create a whole anti-portfolio and share it. You may have even heard of one or two of mine. Guest - Howard Lindzon, General partner at Social Leverage and Host of Panic With Friends Podcast Host - Knut Jensen howardlindzon.com, socialleverage.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen LinkedIn: howardlindzon, socialleverage, knutejensen #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Time Stamps: Intro (00:33) Knut's biggest mistake (01:39) The anti-portfolio (02:10) Getting asked to dance (03:57) Setting the stage (05:01) First miss (06:26) Network Effects (10:20) Lesson on valuation (12:51) The next big miss (14:21) Making the same mistake (16;00) Another big miss (17:51) The lesson learned (24:58) Wrapping it up (26:38) Outro (28:18)
I couldn't be more excited to have my good friend Downtown Josh Brown on the show! Josh and I go way back to the early, early days of Stocktwits. He's built what's probably the biggest financial media brand outside of CNBCq and has managed to thrive amidst the people who like to hate on people who are doing well on social media; so I've got lots and lots of questions about the finance industry and media. We dig a bit into AI, crypto, web2 survivors, and where we're at with web3. You're going to really enjoy our conversation. Guest - Josh Brown, Co-founder & CEO at Ritholtz Wealth Management, Host of The Compound & Friends Podcast howardlindzon.com, ritholtzwealth.com, thereformedbroker.com/podcast TikToK: @downtownjbrown Instagram: @downtownjoshbrown Twitter: @howardlindzon, @reformedbroker, @ritholtzwealth, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen LinkedIn: joshua-brown #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Time Stamps: Intro (00:37) Welcome Josh (03:30) Comparing T scores (03:48) Early days nostalgia (08:33) Building the tribe (09:47) Social Media wild west (13:16) Picking the right social platform (18:19) LinkedIn - the next generation (21:17) Building Finance/Media culture (28:30) Josh makes a comeback (29:34) Birth of Ritholtz Wealth Management (31:40) Opportunity in Wealth Management (34:02) web2 survivors (36:32) Evolution of web 3 (36:51) DeFi not working as intended (38:00) Josh's thoughts on Oculus (39:13) Diving deeper into web 3 (39:26) ChatGPT changing everything (41:01) The promise of crypto (42:33) AI tools cut advisor workloads (44:27) Days of arbing algo's are over (45:63 Wrapping it up (47:11) Outro (50:17)
On this week's episode of Panic with Friends, I speak with Rob Koyfman, the co-founder and CEO of Koyfin, a platform that offers a range of resources for investors, enabling them to conduct stock research and stay updated on market trends. He started his career at Goldman Sachs Investment Research in 2002, where he embarked on a proprietary trading role in London afterward. Subsequently, Rob held titles such as head of Macro and Thematic Trading Strategy at Citigroup and served as a Strategist at Caxton Associates, Lyxor Asset Management, and Tekne Capital. In 2016, Rob initiated the creation of Koyfin due to his dissatisfaction with the limited availability of analytical tools for investors lacking access to Bloomberg. Guest - Rob Koyfman, Co-founder and CEO at Koyfin howardlindzon.com, koyfin.com 20% Discount for New Koyfin Users (Discount for new users only - will be applied at checkout) Twitter: @howardlindzon, @KoyfinCharts, @koyfman, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/rob-koyfman-8b693317 #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Time Stamps: Intro (0:00) Moving to Miami (6:05) What's happening at Koyfin (8:30) Who's using Koyfin (12:30) Monopolies in finance (16:10) Trends (20:35) AI and Koyfin (27:25) Core users (39:17) Outro (40:35)
On this week's episode of Panic with Friends, I speak with Joe Gagnon. Joe is a seasoned adventurer, creator, and explorer, combining his entrepreneurial spirit with executive expertise as a COO/CEO for over two decades. Joe is currently the CEO of 1upHealth, a cloud-based data interoperability platform that is revolutionizing healthcare outcomes. He is also an active blogger and co-host of the Chasing Tomorrow podcast. Previously, he held the CEO position at Sparkcentral, specializing in digital messaging solutions for customer care, and co-founded Performance Tea, a plant-based beverage company aimed at unlocking human potential. Joe's impressive career includes being the President of Penn Foster, a prominent online school, and the President of e-Dialog, an influential SaaS multi-channel digital marketing organization under eBay's ownership. As the CEO of Exit41, an innovative restaurant solutions company, and the Global Leader of IBM's Retail Industry business, he demonstrated his industry acumen. Joe started his career at Mainspring, a strategy consulting firm, where he was COO until the company was acquired by IBM. He also spent a decade at Ernst & Young as a consultant implementing emerging technologies. In his free time, Joe is an accomplished endurance athlete having completed six Ironman triathlons and over 85 marathons. Guest - Joe Gagnon, CEO at 1upHealth, Inc howardlindzon.com, 1up.health Twitter: @howardlindzon, @1up_health, @jgagnon2023, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen Joe's blog: The High Performance Life, Joe's Chasing Tomorrow Podcast, Joe on Linkedin, Joe on instagram, Joe's Book #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Time Stamps: Intro (0:00) What is 1upHealth (5:50) The Healthcare Industry (14:40) Business Travel (19:55) 1upHealth's Latest Fundraise (21:30) Acquisitions in Healthcare (27:00) Longevity (37:00) Outro (46:40)
On this week's episode of Panic with Friends I speak with Doug Hecht, the CEO and Co-founder of Walla, a modern studio management platform created to transform and simplify studio operations. Doug's entrepreneurial journey began as the CEO of Lymber, a wellness app start-up that was later acquired by MINDBODY. Following the acquisition, he took on the role of SVP of Consumer Products at MINDBODY, where he played a crucial role in developing the app and spearheading other digital initiatives. Doug is committed to nurturing the start-up community in San Diego. He serves as a capital partner for Seed San Diego, dedicating his time and resources to building a better environment for start-ups. With a stake in over 30 start-ups, Doug actively participates as an angel investor in his spare time. Guest - Doug Hecht, Co-founder and CEO of Walla howardlindzon.com, hellowalla.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/doughechtsd #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Time Stamps: Intro (0:00) Howard and Doug catch up (9:10) San Diego (10:28) Hello Walla (14:35) Working at MindBody (15:45) Post Web2 (16:32) Who is Walla's custom? (18:50) Raising during COVID (21:58) Walla's metrics (25:10) Howard's HIIT Story (27:35) Marketing (31:00) Product vs. Sales (33:55) Remote work (39:45) Golf (46:00) Outro (48:00)
On today's episode of Panic with Friends, I speak to my good friend Jenny Fielding. After attending law school, Jenny found herself falling in love with technology first as a founder of two mobile companies and now as an early stage investor. She then spent nearly 8 years as the Managing Director at Techstars. After her time there, she set out to start her own global venture fund, Everywhere Ventures (formerly The Fund) where she is the Managing Partner. Throughout her career, she has invested in 300+ tech-enabled companies and has worked with hundreds of founders. Hopefully you enjoy this conversation as much as I did! Guest - Jenny Fielding, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Everywhere.vc howardlindzon.com, everywhere.vc, podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/venture-everywhere Twitter: @howardlindzon, @jefielding, @EverywhereVC, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/jennyfielding #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Time Stamps: Intro (0:00) Howard commits a crime (10:13) Everywhere Ventures (10:33) Techstars (15:50) Jenny's favorite city (19:00) State of the markets (23:33) Everywhere Ventures portfolio (39:58) Emerging manager experience (45:18) Outro (50:45)
On this week of Panic with Friends, I speak with Brooker Belcourt, founder of Covey. Brooker is a driven founder with extensive experience in the investment industry and a deep understanding of the needs he is looking to address. Prior to founding Covey, he previously worked at Citadel, Coatue Management, as well as Goldman Sachs, where he acquired valuable knowledge of the alpha capture and asset management industries. With limited resources and a lean team, Brooker has made significant strides in product development, which has led to early traction with both investment firms and individual investors alike. The Covey Legends co-trading app is now available for download on all platforms. Click the link below to check it out. Guest - Brooker Belcourt, Founder at Covey.io howardlindzon.com, covey.io, coveylegends.io, covey.io/p/bb, linktr.ee/covey.io Twitter: @howardlindzon, @BrookerBelcourt, @coveyinvest, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/brookerbelcourt #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Time Stamps: Intro: (0:00) Brookers up-bringing/background (5:30) Working at Goldman (7:00) Pre FinTech (7:45) Covey (9:40) The top 1% of analysts (14:27) Covey Training Club / Covey Legends (17:44) Covey tech stack (19:00) Who are the legends (23:25) The switch from passive to active (30:49) Crypto (30:45) Covey Launch (30:22) Building a community (39:44) What's to come / the product (41:38) Outro (47:50)
On this week's episode of Panic with Friends I speak with Roy Rubin. Roy is the co-founder and former CEO of Magento, a digital commerce solution for merchants and brands. eBay acquired a 49 percent stake in Magento in February, 2011; followed by the acquisition of the entire company in June, 2011. Roy stayed on as the CEO of Magento until 2013. Later in February of 2021, Roy started R-Squared Ventures with his partner Roy Erez (who I previously had on the podcast) after having made countless angel investments. Guest - Roy Rubin, Co-Founder at R-Squared Ventures, former co-founder & CEO at Magento howardlindzon.com, r2vc.com, flexspace.ai Twitter: @howardlindzon, @royrubin05, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/royrubin #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Time Stamps: Intro (00:00) Magento (05:00) Naming a company (08:30) Roy's origins/Magento (09:30) eBay acquisition (19:28) Adobe/Magento (27:15) Being a contrarian (30:36) Staying connected (32:45) R-Squared investments (39:00) Outro (42:55)
On this episode of the Panic with Friends, I talk to Jud Valeski, co-founder and former CEO of Gnip. Jud started his career at Netscape right out of college, where he worked for three years. He then went on to AOL, where he worked for nearly seven years. Later, in 2006, in the early days of MySpace, Jud had the revelation that social media was going to be the next big thing. He believed that somewhere amidst the noise, there would be commercial value. Enter Gnip. Two years later, in 2008, Jud founded Gnip, which was later acquired by Twitter in 2014. Post acquisition Jud went to Honey where he spent five years as a General Manager. It's not everyday you get to talk to someone who has had back to back career home runs like Jud, so sit back and enjoy! Guest - Guest: Jud Valeski, Investor, Co-Founder and former CEO of Gnip howardlindzon.com, one.valeski.org Twitter: @howardlindzon, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/jvaleski #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Time Stamps: Intro (00:34) What is panic (05:05) The latent era of tech (06:50) Advice for kids today (15:15) Web2 (17:00) Twitter (22:35) The ad driven world (24:27) Gnip (25:35) Honey and browser extensions (27:20) Howie and Jud catchup (34:45) Outro (44:00)
I'm always excited to interview a portfolio company founder on Panic with Friends, so I'm doubly excited to have Sharona Cohen, co-founder (her husband Nave is the other co-founder who I previously had on the pod) of DSTNC (Social Leverage Fund IV) on today's show. The company is at the forefront of fashion and technology, or as I like to call it, ‘fashology' – for the modern cyclist. DSNTC (pronounced 'distance' - vowels removed) is a first of its kind global marketplace and content destination, curating the largest selection of high-end brands and performance products from around the world. Nave and Sharona have done a phenomenal job over the last eight months or so, and with the site launched and a seed round raised, this is the right time to check in and hear about the company. With DSTNC I finally get to dig into 'fashology', something I've been talking about since the Oakley days. I've been able to invest and help build a Lifestyle brand from the ground up. Sharona has an eye for fashion, culture, brands and what people will buy. The curation is excellent. The KEY business hack here is the logistics of shipping returns. DSTNC can locally take returns for all these foreign brands and customers do not have to ship items that do not fit (a large problem with cycling gear sizes) back overseas at a high cost. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did. Guest - Sharona Cohen, Co-Founder & CEO at DSTNC.com howardlindzon.com, dstnc.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @shop_dstnc, @sharonanco, @naveavimor, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen Instagram: @shop.dstnc, @sharonanco linkedin.com/in/sharona-cohen-41588027 #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: 00:36 - Introduction 09:58 - Learning Hebrew and Yiddish in Canada 13:00 - Investing in husband and wife teams 16:04 - Trends in cycling 17:17 - Endurance culture 20:00 - Brand curation 24:08 - Challenges in the industry 26:30 - Inspiration behind starting DSTNC 28:06 - The future of cycling 30:00 - New entrants in cycling 35:00 - What to expect from DSTNC 39:00 - Competitors in endurance wear 40:20 - Dream collab 40:55 - Tricks to curation 42:16 - Outro
I'm excited to finally have my friend Joe McCann on the show. He's the founder of Asymmetric, a modern-day crypto fund. Joe's probably one of the smartest people I follow on Twitter and I usually get caught up reading his monthly letters. I wanted to have Joe on the show and get his thoughts on navigating the crypto space. Nowadays most people have disdain for crypto, but the data will not go away. There's still a lot of people with significant digital assets, including myself. And at Social Leverage, we've invested in Lumida (Fund IV) – a digital asset first wealth manager. Remember, none of our conversation is investing advice, but crypto is a space you shouldn't ignore while the hype is centered on generative AI. Guest - Joe McCann, Founder, CEO, CIO at Asymmetric howardlindzon.com, asymmetric.financial Stocktwits: @joemccann Twitter: @howardlindzon, @joemccann, @goasymmetric, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/amazing-opportunity #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction. (00:36) Welcome Joe (06:11) Moving to Portland (06:29) Diving into Asymmetric (10:20) Credit Risk reminiscent of GFC (11:25) Bullish longer term (13:48) Getting in to the crypto space (13:59) Digitization of money (15:30) Open source finance (19:15) Meaningful disruption in finance (19:45) Finances' ‘Napster' moment (22:22) Crypto's Market Cap (24:17) Basic case for Bitcoin (28:18) Behavioral Finance side of crypto (31:38) Panic on real rates (33:12) Are Bank Reserves strong? (34:51) Regional Bank stress (35:15) Costs of borrowing (38:23) Addressing counterparty risk (41:38) When will the Fed ease? (44:43) Two things Joe's excited about (47:26) Wallet wars (49:05) Incorporating ChatGPT trading (50:55) Stablecoins (54:08) Wrapping up (57:27) Closing thoughts. (57:58)
When Knut and I started Panic with Friends at the beginning of the pandemic, it was just that – panicking with a few friends on what was happening in the market. I don't think either of us knew how successful the podcast would become over three years later. My good friend Jeff RIchards of GGV Capital made several appearances on the show in the early days, but we last had him on in January of 2022. In that episode, Jeff helped me frame the selloff and gave me a big picture view on the fundamentals versus where valuations were at the time. After a year or so where we were all just licking our wounds, I thought it was high time to get Jeff back on the show to get a handle on repositioning ourselves for what the future might look like. Guest - Jeff Richards, Managing partner at GGV Capital howardlindzon.com, ggvc.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @jrichlive, @GGVCapital, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/jeffrichards #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:41) Welcome back Jeff (03:42) Investing in growth (04:10) The next bull market (05:41) Impact of higher rates (06:23) Funding landscape (7:01) Potential of generative AI (07:54) App distribution constraints (08:47) Embracing AI (10:46) Contrast now and tech in 99/00 (13:40) AI and physical brands (14:36) Advice of the younger generation (15:52) Growth in golf and pickleball (18:21) Reimaging sports with infused tech (19:53) GGV's focus (20:10) Founder/Startup headwinds (20:59) Measuring VC success (22:09) Looking ahead (24:33) Looking at fintech & proptech (25:21) Impact of higher interest rates (26:30) Travel is booming (27:07) Opportunity in ‘Treasury Management (29:26) Record growth in SMBs (31:05) Seeing a renaissance of innovation (32:31) Hoping for innovation in healthcare (50:31) Wrapping up (52:10) Closing thoughts (53:10)
Ben Hunt of Epsilon Theory is back on Panic for a record-breaking sixth time! He may be the smartest guy I know, which is why I keep having him on. He's just an explainer – the way he explains things very easily – and I like complex things explained simply. Ben is a former Professor, a beekeeper, and a market lover. He's the co-founder and CIO of Epsilon Theory, where he writes outstanding essays about narratives in the market – backed up by data. I wanted to catch up with him to weigh in on my themes for the next 10 years in an America that's becoming what I call the Rich, Angry, Degenerate economy. There are a lot of narratives to talk about; Ben was unfortunately right on the one that was inflation. And we get into the latest narrative around the U.S. dollar. You're really going to learn a lot. Enjoy! Guest - Ben Hunt, Co-Founder and Partner at Second Foundation Partners, Author and Co-Founder at Epsilon Theory howardlindzon.com, epsilontheory.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @epsilontheory, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/bhunt #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:42) Welcome back Ben (07:05) Gold as a metaphor for the economy (08:32) GFC was different (09:49) “Fiat” news (10:50) Rational optimism (14:24) The Peter Thiel Industrial Complex (18:19) Rich Man, Angry Man, Degenerate Man Economy (23:07) We're treated as a cog in a powerful machine (27:09) The inflation narrative (27:59) The de-dollarization narrative (31:06) Who's Chamath? (35:36) Internet trolls (37:37) Generative AI (38:30) Astroturf campaigns (40:25) Why ‘they' create chaos (41:27) Ruthless pursuit of creativity (43:37) European companies (45:59) Time to get back to work (47:04) Intersection of narratives and markets (48:38) Wrapping up (52:08) Closing thoughts (53:16)
I'm excited to have another one of our portfolio company founders on this episode of Panic. Oana is the founder and CEO of Sequel.io, which allows organizations of all sizes to host live events and webinars right on their own website. It's a no-code solution that lets marketers turn live video into leads by embedding events on their own websites. Coming from a marketing background at HP, Oana launched Sequel.io shortly before the pandemic to solve her own marketing pain points. And she's building quite a juggernaut in the live-video space. Part of the fun in being a seed investor is using many of the products in the portfolio early. We've used Sequel.io's solutions at our first post-pandemic Palooza in 2022, and again at Palooza in 2023. As many long-term subscribers know, I'm also using the platform from our portfolio company beehiiv for my daily blog posts. You might say I'm ‘eating our own cooking' – it's all part of investing for profit and joy. You'll learn a lot from this episode. Enjoy! Guest - Oana Manolache, Founder and CEO at Sequel.io howardlindzon.com, sequel.io Twitter: @howardlindzon, @Omanolache, @sequel_io, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/oana-m-manolache/ #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:32) Welcome Oana (08:44) Origin of Sequel (09:24) Importance of staying on platform (12:06) Building through the pandemic (13:57) Putting yourself in the customer's shoes (17:58) Perfect size company for Sequel (19:35) Game Changer series (20:56) Building AI with the customer in mind (22:55) Building a culture with a remote sales team (24:31) Dealing with large competitors (26:19) Challenges to remote work (28:09) The Bay Area and startup scene worldwide (29:58) Balancing digital and physical (32:37) Working with Social Leverage (33:26) Leading with Content (35:01) Wrapping up (36:27) Closing thoughts (36:58)
My good friend and fishing buddy Lewis Johnson of Capitol Wealth Advisors is back on Panic with Friends for a fourth round, slowly catching up to our leader, Ben Hunt. Way back when Lewis was first on the show rates were zero going to negative. When he was last here in November of 2022, we touched on the Madoff Moment that was FTX, and talked about how to position ourselves moving into 2023. Lewis understands cycles. As we head into the summer with gold breaking out into all-time highs, I wanted to catch up with Lewis to discuss this potential breakout and how to play this cyclical trade. Guest - Lewis Johnson, CIO at Capital Wealth Advisors howardlindzon.com, capitalwealthadvisors.com blog.capitalwealthadvisors.com/trends-tail-risks Twitter: @howardlindzon, @PanicwFriends, @TrendsTailRisks, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/lewismjohnson #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:39) Welcome back Lewis (08:39) Heading into Summer 2023 (09:54) Overstaying leadership (12:55) Tech theme bleeding out? (17:49) Looking at past crises (18:49) Quiet rise of gold (20:14) Recent trends (22:39) Exposure to precious metals (23:51) Number one driver of long-term returns (26:39) FED raise until it breaks (28:24) Can banks profitably lend? (29:44) Tech driven / consumer discretionary market (31:24) Limit exposure to last cycle leaders (33:26) A bull market in commodities? (34:49) Wrapping up (35:21) Closing thoughts (39:52)
I'm happy to have my good friend Paul Tran of Manscaped back on Panic with Friends. He's an incredible founder, entrepreneur, product person, and marketer. He continues to build a global omnichannel brand at an epic pace. We're really proud seed investors in our Social Leverage Fund III. I'm constantly writing about the urgency and importance of marketing, and Paul and his team are world-class. It's not so easy to just go online and do marketing nowadays. You have to have a lot of skills across multiple sectors. The Manscaped team continues to be creative and test new media formats over and over again with great success. Every entrepreneur can learn something by listening to Paul. His insights on building an enduring brand and how he thinks about growth are timeless. Enjoy the episode. You'll learn a lot. BTW, visit Manscaped and use the promo code ‘Howie' for 20 percent off your first order. Guest - Paul Tran, Founder and CEO of Manscaped howardlindzon.com, manscaped.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @paultran, @manscaped, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen youtube.com/channel/manscaped linkedin.com/in/paultran #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction. (00:32) Welcome Paul (05:12) 3 metrics Paul uses (05:33) Manscaped origin story (06:12) A culture of innovation (08:22) The ‘secret sauce' (10:10) Pitching Manscaped (10:58) Phenomenal growth (13:01) Focus on target market (14:50) A global brand (16:20) Marketing (18:34) Expanding demographic (19:26) Brand loyalty (21:24) Marketing with celebrities (24:30) Manscaped's mission (25:14) Importance of omnichannel (26:18) Customers pay for quality (28:50) Ideas and failure (31:10) Success is never a straight line (32:16) Manscaped today (34:12) Paul's edge (37:00) Thoughts on luxury fashion (38:28) What makes a brand stay relevant (38:59) Measuring sentiment (42:44) Closing thoughts. (43:42)
I'm really, really excited to have Frederik Mijnhardt, the CEO and Co-founder of Secfi on Panic today. Frederik and Secfi (Social Leverage Fund III) are an incredible educational resource and service for founders and startup employees. I've talked about, tweeted about, and written about how important it is for those early startup employees to deal with liquidity and things like exercising their options in a tax-efficient way. Startup equity is complex. COVID had many startup employees learning the hard way – and more recently with the Series I at Stripe, noted for both its size, and its tender offer coming in at 50 percent lower than the previous round. As we continue to see more of these “down rounds” and lackluster IPO windows, Frederik and his team are helping employees make the most of their equity and make more informed decisions. I'll say it again – this is an important topic so please forward this to anyone you know that founded or works at a startup – whether it's a company that has just raised a seed round or a company on its way to an IPO. Guest - Frederik Mijnhardt, CEO and Co-Founder at SecFi howardlindzon.com, secfi.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @AFMijnhardt, @AskSecfi, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/mijnhardt #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction. (00:37) Welcome Frederik (08:07) About Secfi (08:36) The Stripe case (09:18) How startup employees should think (13:39) Thoughts for founders (17:00) Investing in an up market (19:18) Exercising your options (19:50) Tax traps (21:38) Educating employees (22:42) Transparency (First time founders v. serial entrepreneurs) (24:08) Problems in the industry (24:46) Software company multiples (26:43) Watching your money (28:43) The next bull market (33:34) Wealthy on paper (35:16) Employee equity by country (37:28) Great companies are built in a downturn (43:40) Wrapping up (45:14) Closing thoughts. (46:30)
I'm excited to have my good friend Barry Ritholtz back on the show. Barry is the Chairman and CIO of Rithotz Wealth Management, an author, a newspaper columnist, and the host of the Bloomberg Podcast Masters in Business. He also runs a blog called The Big Picture, along with Josh Brown and Michael Batnick. I had Josh Brown on a few weeks ago, so I really wanted to bring Barry on to further the discussion. And who better to discuss the recent banking crisis than the guy who wrote the book on the Great Financial Crisis? (Bailout Nation). We cover how the market drives the narrative, and Barry shares his insight on a COVID-induced ‘reset', the Fed, inflation, and how it all might play out moving forward. Enjoy! Guest - Barry Ritholtz, Chairman and CIO at Ritholtz Wealth Management howardlindzon.com, ritholtz.com, ritholtzwealth.com, bloomberg.com/podcasts/series/master-in-business Twitter: @howardlindzon, @ritholtz, @RitholtzWealth, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction. (00:38) Welcome Barry (07:07) Strong opinions (09:15) Market actions drive narratives (12:28) Narrative fallacy & hindsight bias (14:02) Asset allocation (16:00) COVID reset (19:35) GFC v. banking crisis (23:56) What caused the bank run (26:28) VC's becoming price takers (28:05) Interest rates & Inflation (30:53) The Moody's tax (33:56) What else Barry's excited about (35:38) Barry's favorite podcast guests (37:15) VC's shotgun approach (43:32) Private v. Public markets (47:06) Consistency leads to long-term performance (47:49) Wealth mobility in the US (48:55) Barry's other favorite podcast guest (50:25) Shows Barry's watching (53:30) Closing thoughts. (57:08)
The past week and a half was pretty tough – everyone on Twitter went from Ukraine war expert to Bank run expert after the Silicon Valley Bank debacle. There were even rumors of bank CEOs flying in to visit old man Warren Buffet in Omaha over the weekend before last. I'm no expert, and I honestly have know idea how all this plays out in the very short term, so I had my friend and longtime Regional Bank CEO Greg Garrabrants of Axos Bank ($18.4 billion in assets) come on ‘Panic' to talk about it all. Who better to talk about it than a CEO who survived without taking TARP money way back in the ole ‘great financial crisis'? We all just learned a big lesson. You saw what fear looked like, and the potential for panic to spread because of politics. Hopefully this episode helps calm some people. We're not recommending anything, only that you understand your banking products. It is your money – you have to understand how sweep works, how FDIC insurance works, and you need to understand the balance sheet of your bank. Guest - Gregory Garrabrants, President & CEO at Axos Bank & Axos Financial howardlindzon.com, axosbank.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @AxosBank, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/gregorygarrabrants #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: • Introduction. (00:42) • Welcome Greg (03:27) • What the FED should monitor (05:01) • Insured/Uninsured deposits (06:16) • Extraordinary growth of SVB (08:05) • SVBs fatal decision (08:30 • Focus on the wrong risk (13:07) • SVBs ecosystem (16:04) • Several early warnings (23:59) • Flashback to 2007 (27:20) • Opportunity in Fintech (30:22) • Thoughts on crypto (32:06) • Countercyclical business (35:31) • Where is the industry going? (39:52) • Opportunity in Wealthtech (44:15) • Best time to buy a house? (49:43) • Closing thoughts. (50:44)
There's a massive unspoken epidemic going on globally in men's health right now – low T-scores; and practically no one is talking about it. Lots of ‘youts' are running around on an empty tank and don't even know it. It's an interesting and very important topic; and it's at the top of a lot of people's minds, even if it's a bit taboo to talk about. But it's something that matters to me, so I wanted to dive in deep and figure out what it all means. My guest today makes checking, monitoring, and boosting your t-score accessible and affordable. I've used the service myself (Ellen made me check mine), and as luck would have it, I'm also an indirect investor in Saad's company. I've got a feeling this will be my most evergreen episode. Enjoy! Guest - Saad Alam, Founder and CEO at Hone Health howardlindzon.com, honehealth.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @saad_hone, @honehealth, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen Instagram: @msaadalam, @hone.health linkedin.com/in/saad-alam-a146b311 #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction. (00:37) Welcome Saad (06:14) Misconceptions about testosterone (07:49) Causes of low testosterone (09:51) The stigma of low T (10:55) Saad's story (16:06) Shelf-life of a medical degree (20:50) Saad takes control of his health (22:44) An unspoken global epidemic (24:38) The Hone Health process (26:21) The 2011/12 testosterone hype (29:06) Howard's t-score (37:45) Free testosterone (39:36) Leading longer lives (46:19) There's no silver bullet (48:30) Wrapping it up. (53:08) Closing thoughts. (53:24)
In this episode, I'm back in the hot seat again while my producer Knut grills me on what I'm calling my ‘errors of omission'. It's part of my plan this year to cover various points in my career. Previously I've discussed details on Wallstrip and Stocktwits. Both of those episodes answered a lot of the questions I've been asked over the years. But one of the questions I'm asked most often as an investor and entrepreneur is, “Howard, what's your biggest mistake, your biggest miss?” I've been in this game for a while now – so it's a splendid idea to finally share them in a format where everyone can learn from my mistakes. I lay out my biggest errors, or what I would call errors of omission versus errors of commission, in the spirit of Bessemer Ventures “anti-portfolio” – that is some of the biggest ones they missed, like AirBnb, Coinbase, and eBay to name a few. I cover three of my biggest whiffs. It's part of the joy of investing, the irreverence, having the cojones to create a whole anti-portfolio and share it. You may have even heard of one or two of mine. Guest - Howard Lindzon, General partner at Social Leverage and Host of Panic With Friends Podcast Co-host - Knut Jensen howardlindzon.com, stocktwits.com, socialleverage.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/howardlindzon linkedin.com/company/socialleverage linkedin.com/in/knutejensen #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction. (00:33) Knut's biggest mistake (01:39) The anti-portfolio (02:10) Getting asked to dance (03:57) Setting the stage (05:01) First miss (06:26) Network Effects (10:20) Lesson on valuation (12:51) The next big miss (14:21) Making the same mistake (16:00) Another big miss (17:51) The lesson learned (24:58) Wrapping it up. (26:38) Closing thoughts. (28:18)
I couldn't be more excited to have my good friend Downtown Josh Brown on the show! Josh and I go way back to the early, early days of Stocktwits. He's built what's probably the biggest financial media brand outside of CNBCq and has managed to thrive amidst the people who like to hate on people who are doing well on social media; so I've got lots and lots of questions about the finance industry and media. We dig a bit into AI, crypto, web2 survivors, and where we're at with web3. You're going to really enjoy our conversation. Guest - Josh Brown, Co-founder & CEO at Ritholtz Wealth Management, Host of The Compound & Friends Podcast howardlindzon.com, ritholtzwealth.com, thereformedbroker.com/podcast tiktok.com/@downtownjbrown Instagram: @downtownjoshbrown Twitter: @howardlindzon, @reformedbroker, @ritholtzwealth, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/joshua-brown-96a5569b #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction. (00:37) Welcome Josh (03:30) Comparing T scores (03:48) Early days nostalgia (08:33) Building the tribe (09:47) Social Media wild west (13:16) Picking the right social platform (18:19) LinkedIn - the next generation (21:17) Building Finance/Media culture (28:30) Josh makes a comeback (29:34) Birth of Ritholtz Wealth Management (31:40) Opportunity in Wealth Management (34:02) web2 survivors (36:32) Evolution of web 3 (36:51) DeFi not working as intended (38:00) Josh's thoughts on Oculus (39:13) Diving deeper into web 3 (39:26) ChatGPT changing everything (41:01) The promise of crypto (42:33) AI tools cut advisor workloads (44:27) Days of arbing algo's are over (45:63 Wrapping it up. (47:11) Closing thoughts. (50:17)
I'm excited to have Helene Meisler back on the show! She was last here in June, and with all that's been going on in the markets lately it felt time to check back in. I've been following her work since the start of TheStreet.com – she knows her stuff and loves talking about the markets. She's a connoisseur of the chart – what I like to call ‘chart art' – and is a mentor to thousands who want to learn about technical analysis, price, and sentiment. She's one of maybe two people I know who called it back in June as we were ‘groping for a bottom'. We talk a little tennis, a little pickleball, and most importantly, we talk about how she feels going forward here in 2023. Guest - Helene Meisler, Financial Markets Analyst and Columnist for RealMoney.com howardlindzon.com, RealMoney.com, realmoney.thestreet.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @hmeisler, @realmoney, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/helene-meisler-4a783153 #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction. (00:37) Welcome back Helene. (05:05) Groping for a bottom (05:50) Cautiously optimistic (06:50) Stocks don't just go up (08:25) Calling the top (11:43) Big Caps control indexes (14:43) Is the worst behind us? (15:35) Women on Wall Street (17:40) History doesn't repeat, it rhymes (26:45) Helene's routine (27:49) Learning finance earlier (30:15) Public v. Private markets (32:10) Passionate about tennis (38:26) Helene's favorite player (39:04) The pickleball trend (39:53) Market Sector to watch (42:20) Wrapping it up. (43:28) Closing thoughts. (46:02)
I'm excited to have my friend Nate Cooper, partner at Barrel Ventures, on the show as our second in-studio guest. Nate invests in seed stage companies in the food and beverage space. He's excited about anything pre-farm to post fork and everything in between. Nate views our food ecosystem as broken, with a multi-trillion dollar opportunity waiting for those who solve it. I'm a personal LP in Nate's fund, and am passionate about food and packaging; these industries are enormous, and while everybody's been focused on web 2, the world keeps humming along. We don't realize how important these things are until they're taken away from us. The market is resilient, and the money eventually rotates into things that actually matter. Guest - Nate Cooper, Managing Partner at Barrel Ventures howardlindzon.com, barrelvc.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @nrcoope, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/nathan-cooper-2ba9aa19 #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:31) Welcome Nate (01:24) Chicago is my kind of town (02:14) Michael Jordan ‘attends' Nates bachelor party (03:52) Masters at their craft (06:02) Business runs in the family (07:05) Midwest entrepreneurship (08:26) Kellogg MBA (10:00) Winding down Wise Apple (10:54) Getting started in venture (12:05) Being the best in the world (15:18) Investing in the food ecosystem (16:26) Execution Risk / Market Risk (18:28) Bioplastics (19:49) Staples prone to supply shocks (20:39) Tech is the sauce (22:05) No pop like OLIPOP (23:15) Genius of Liquid Death (26:11) Panicked about getting old (30:09) What else excites Nate about food (32:05) Rolling up food brands (33:08) Howard's radical free idea (33:33) Investors want brand and formula (34:57) Wrapping up (37:44) Closing thoughts (40:23)
As I mentioned when I covered how I built Wallstrip, I'm doing more origin stories over the next year. I'm covering my own projects as well as those of the ten or fifteen people from the companies I've loved and the products I've used in Web 2. There were mostly good exits, but there were also a few that we learned from. In today's episode I'm back in the hot seat covering the lessons learned from building Stocktwits in a Web 2 world. Knut and Riley join me as we talk about what worked back then, and what it will take to succeed building a company moving forward. This is a very different era. Back then money was the game in a zero interest rate world. Today I think it's more about the craft, and less about money. Do you know who your customer is? What are your margins? How are you going to make money, and how are you going to get your users? If founders and investors aren't asking those questions today, they could be looking at massive losses down the road. I hope this helps and maybe gives you a peak at what might be coming around the corner as AI seems to be eating the world right now. Enjoy! Guest - Howard Lindzon, General partner at Social Leverage and Host of Panic With Friends Podcast Co-hosts - Knut Jensen and Riley Rosebee howardlindzon.com, stocktwits.com, socialleverage.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @be_rosebee @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen Rosebee.beehiiv.com linkedin.com/in/howardlindzon linkedin.com/company/socialleverage linkedin.com/in/knutejensen #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:22) Historic look at Web 2 (01:58) Starting Stocktwits (03:25) Why I didn't wait (05:34) Creating Bloomberg on Twitter (06:54) Building the team (07:28) Coming up with the name (08:03) Raising money (09:24) The first version (12:04) Creating the branding (12:16) The cap table (15:57) Building around twitter (25:08) The cash tag (18:16) Building on our own (26:02) Early Web 2 lessons (29:56) Thoughts on AI (32:20) Valuing deals (33:56) Stocktwits culture (34:28) Predicting the future (37:57) Wrapping up (39:01) Closing thoughts (42:58)
If you geek-out on capital, money, and podcasts like I do, you're going to love this discussion with my friend Ted Seides, founder of Capital Allocators. Ted's built an ecosystem that includes advisory services, education, events and podcasts. I was introduced to Ted a few years back by Jan van Eck, who's also been on my podcast. Ted went to Yale, and then got his MBA from Harvard (but we're not going to hold that against him) He also co-founded Protégé Partners – a multibillion-dollar investment firm he ran from 2002 to 2015. In 2017 Ted launched the Capital Allocators podcast, which reached over 13.5 million downloads in December of 2022. I checked in with Ted to talk about the recent FTX fraud; he was around in the days of Bernie Madoff and has a really different take on how managers should think about these events. I wanted his take on how the SEC has been rambling on recently about the ability for LPs to sue Venture Capitalists and what it all means for the industry. In addition, I wanted people to get an inside look at the industry and understand how the sausage is made – how people think at this level, and what you're up against. You're competing against a machine that's there to beat the hell out of you, so it's very hard to have an edge. This is why I talk the people that call me out of being a VC or starting a hedge fund. Ted's the right guy to talk with about this stuff. He did it for a living. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Guest - Ted Seides, CFA, Podcaster and Founder at Capital Allocators howardlindzon.com, capitalallocators.com podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/capital-allocators-inside-the-institutional/id1223764016 Twitter: @howardlindzon, @tseides, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/tedseides #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:33) Welcome Ted (04:08) The Yale/Harvard track (04:33) Choosing a path (06:11) Opportunity aperture is wide (06:57) Ted goes on his own (10:55) Demystifying podcasting (12:28) Podcasting as a business (13:09) Who is the customer (15:38) Running a hedge fund (16:14) Following your interests (19:05) Viking / Dan Loeb (20:16) Looking back at the last year (22:39) Fraud is fraud (24:32) FTX / SBF (28:29) SEC response (35:42) Ted's current investing strategy (37:22) Venture investing strategy (38:36) Growth in Wealth Management (40:30) Wrapping up (43:09) Closing thoughts (44:37)
I'm excited to have creator Trung Phan on the show today. He's mastered Twitter, even getting Elon Musk to talk to him, and that's impressive. Trung's one of the funniest and interesting feeds I follow on Twitter – covering business, the media, and tech. I wanted to find out how it feels to be in the center of a hurricane of memes and pick his brain on what he's thinking about media moving forward. It's always fun talking to someone at the top of their game, so I also wanted to find out about his new AI startup, Bearly AI. I've managed to pull a few tips from him on the magical mystery of going viral, and a few twitter feed tips everyone should find useful. Enjoy! Guest - Trung Phan, Co-Founder of Bearly.AI, Co-Host of the Not Investment Advice, Opinion Columnist at Bloomberg howardlindzon.com, www.bearly.ai, trungtphan.com, trungphan.substack.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @TrungTPhan, @NIApodcast, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/tp23 #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:34) Welcome Trung (02:35) Trung's early life (04:17) First time going ‘viral' (06:24) Studying at McGill (09:19) Going viral on Twitter (11:04) Is going viral worth it? (13:21) Gas founder Nikita Bier (13:37) 1 degree from Elon Musk (13:56) Putting in the hours (16:40) Attention is a scarce resource (17:36) 10X your tweets (19:39) Hashtag advice (21:47) Twitter is the top one percent (24:11) Managing a massive following (26:12) Why Elon bought Twitter (28:28) Improving Twitter (30:31) Letting Trump back on Twitter (34:45) Interacting with Elon (36:03) Media ‘barbell' strategy (37:24) Who Trung follows (38:56) Trung's AI startup (40:13) The first billionaire solo creator (40:25) Build the audience first (43:52) Bearly AI overview (47:32) Wrapping up (50:23) Closing thoughts (52:48)
In today's episode I'm talking to a friend of mine, Pranav Kanade, who happens to work for another really good friend of mine, Jan van Eck. Pranav was in the financial industry for a while, and like many, went down the crypto rabbit hole a couple of years ago. Jan, who's a good friend, mentor, and a legend in the financial industry, went down the crypto rabbit hole himself and has been forever trying to do a Bitcoin ETF — doing the good work of dealing with the red tape and corralling the regulators. Jan's tasked Pranav with building a crypto fund; and I've been trying to learn all this since forever, so I wanted to check in with Pranav. 2022 was obviously one of the most wild, fraud-ridden years in financial history, so I wanted to continue learning from someone who now makes his full living from this – and find out how he's reacting in the bear market. As we try to dissect the industry here on Panic with Friends, I'm asking the same type of questions I ask him each month after reading his analysis. And you can be certain Pranav will be a regular on the show. Let's learn together as new entrepreneurs and investors continue to build out the future of the web. Enjoy! Guest - Pranav Kanade, Portfolio Manager at VanEck Digital Assets Alpha Fund howardlindzon.com, vaneck.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @pkan90, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/pkanade1 #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:38) Welcome Pranav (04:50) 2022 Crypto deleveraging (06:34) U.S. crypto regulation outlook (08:29) Which layer needs regulation? (09:08) 2023 outlook for crypto (10:05) The crypto ‘bottom'? (11:04) Underlying tech (11:36) Transitions take time (14:43) Stablecoins (15:57) Tim Cook owns crypto (18:56) Self-custody assets (20:43) Venture funding (24:06) Genius of Bored Apes (27:28) Potential NFT use case (29:30) Coinbase web3 wallet (31:22) Dealing with liquidity (32:35) Moving from web2 (33:02) Speculation became community (35:04) Incentivizing tokens (36;52) The inflection point (37:44) Picking the right blockchain (40:02) Building on Polygon (41:31) Micropayments (44:24) NFTs for artists/creators (52:56) Wrapping up (54:17) Closing thoughts (55:53)
No, you haven't entered the Twilight Zone. Yes, I'm the host of Panic with Friends, but in today's special episode, I'm the guest. My producer Knut Jensen has turned the tables and put me in the hot seat. With so many questions about how and why I started Wallstrip, I felt it was time to lay it all out. And hopefully this answers a lot of those questions. We cover the good, the bad, and the funny times building my first internet company – and how those lessons carried over when I started Stocktwits – lessons like finding the right mentor and having domain experience around an idea, and the three key ingredients: product, team and timing. It's a different spin on Panic with Friends where we're going back and telling these types of stories with our best founders, so you'll be seeing more episodes like this in the future. And of course, the big question on Wallstrip, would I do it again? You'll have to listen to find out! Guest - Howard Lindzon, General partner at Social Leverage and Host of Panic With Friends Podcast howardlindzon.com, socialleverage.com youtube.com/channel/UCGEU5Xa_5HKMb6gEFfGYdTw/videos Twitter: @howardlindzon, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/howardlindzon linkedin.com/company/socialleverage linkedin.com/in/knutejensen #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:27) Coming up with Wallstrip (01:42) Starting with GolfNow (07:55) YouTube becomes a thing (10:27) Cold pitching Fred Wilson (11:59) Raising funds (15:08) Finding the team (18:34) The formula (22:36) Gaining traction (25:13) Would I do it again? (27:09) My ‘growth hack' (30:24) The ‘moment' it's successful (31:10) Now the pressure is on (32:36) The right kind of attention (31:54) Dealing with haters (33:56) Sell or grow (38:14) The Jim Cramer spoof (39:21) My Costanza moment (41:04) CBS acquires Wallstrip (41:30) The right people domain experience (44:29) Wrapping up (46:35) Closing thoughts (46:56)
Today's guest is a friend of mine, Douglas Boneparth – a financial advisor, and some would say if the Olympics had a hair category, a shoe-in to represent Team USA. As long time listeners know, there are two fundamental things I believe with respect to money; Jim O'Shaughnessy's perspective about young people being time billionaires, so get going and just steal from yourself and start investing – take it right off the top of your paycheck. Get started now. The second thing is to get an advisor, someone working for you and explaining how things work. I'm always recommending people speak to somebody – to find the right person, and Doug is at the cutting edge as an advisor. We cover some really good stuff, some good lessons, and hope 2023 will be fantastic for everyone. Enjoy! Guest - Douglas A. Boneparth, President at Bone Fide Wealth, LLC howardlindzon.com, bonefidewealth.com, thisisthetop.substack.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @dougboneparth, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/douglasboneparth #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:39) Welcome Douglas (04:03) Doug's best tweets (04:09) Tapping in to sentiment (08:34) Thought leadership and content creation (11:19) Doug's hair routine (14:20) The secret sauce (16:50) Summing up 2022 (19:44) Number one concern for Millennials (20:35) Understanding a recession (22:06) Financial planning (24:46) Discipline and strategy (25:55) Returning to normalcy (27:49) Opportunity in 2023 (31:15) Rethinking your strategy (33:40) Longer cycles, shorter recessions (35:22) Tech in financial services (36:33) Personal finance is self-care (37:30) Good financial behaviors (38:53) Wrapping up (40:29) Closing thoughts (41:48)
I'm always excited to interview a portfolio company founder on Panic with Friends, so I'm doubly excited to have Nave Avimor, co-founder of DSTNC (Social Leverage Fund IV) on today's show. The company is at the forefront of fashion and technology, or as I like to call it, ‘Fashology' – for the modern cyclist. DSNTC (pronounced 'distance' - vowels removed) is a first of its kind global marketplace and content destination, curating the largest selection of high-end brands and performance products from around the world. Nave and the team have done a phenomenal job over the last eight months or so, and with the site launched and a seed round raised, this is the right time to have him on. Not everything is about unicorns, and I finally get to dabble in fashology, something I've been talking about since the Oakley days. I've been able to invest and really try building a full-on Lifestyle brand without the hassle of the day-to-day. Nave's traveled the world, knows the sport, and his partner has an eye for culture. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did. Guest - Nave Avimor, Co-Founder & CPO at Dstnc howardlindzon.com, dstnc.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @dstnc, @naveavimor, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/naveavimor #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:39) Welcome Nave (09:24) Meaning of Avimor (09:44) Getting into Cycling (10:14) Moving to China (12:22) Living in Shanghai (13:08) Israel Cycling Academy (14:38) Optimal cycling physique (17:14) Building DSTNC (20:53) Bike shop business model (26:45) Gravel bike v. Road bike (28:42) Disc brakes (30:53) A revolution in cycling is happening (32:37) Discovering the best gear (33:45) Close-calls and accidents (39:25) Beyond clothes - exotic bike parts (41:32) Rise of e-Biking (42:38) Wrapping up (43:53) Closing thoughts (44:36)
In this episode I sit down with my producer Knut Jensen to take a look ahead as we turn the calendar to 2023. Knut's panicked about his portfolio, and we sift the current landscape to find some reasons to be optimistic, though I'm not even sure I want to look back at 2022 – everything made sense, and nothing made sense. The biggest story happened towards the end; that was crypto and fraud. But my job here at Panic with Friends is to keep talking to really smart people and stay an inch ahead, a week ahead, a month ahead of where the trends are. We have to get back to the fundamentals, pick ourselves up and push forward into the new year. So it's a good time to turn the page, clean things up, and start fresh. Host - Howard Lindzon, Managing Partner at Social Leverage, and Host of Panic With Friends Podcast Sidekick - Knut Jensen, Producer of Panic With Friends Podcast howardlindzon.com, socialleverage.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @socialLeverage, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/howardlindzon linkedin.com/in/knutejensen linkedin.com/company/socialleverage #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:15) Weighing in on FTX (02:26) Need for regulation (03:38) What worked (05:58) Bears outnumber Bulls (06:25) Addressing fraud (08:22) What's the next bull market look like? (09:57) Projecting the next trend (12:12) Where we go in 2023 (15:01) What are the catalysts? (16:06) Board governance matters (18:45) Spotting trends (19:40) Historical context of Big Tech (21:56) Consumer excitement moving into 2023? (23:35) Big Tech overlords (25:20) What excites Howard (27:55) Going after Apple, Google, etc (30:05) Filter failure (34:58) Wrapping up (35:52) Closing thoughts (39:02)
My subject for today is governance, a pet peeve of mine. The lack of governance this funding cycle hasn't been a good thing. We've got a lot of young people who've received capital and don't know how to structure governance, prepare a board deck, or interact with their advisors and investors. Most of us learned from doing, and this generation will learn too; but when you put a lot of money in people's hands you need to have governance, something we're seeing more of with the WeWork breakdown and the FTX fraud. To stem this, we have to create tools and software that makes the process of governance tenable. My guest is Surfboard (Social Leverage Fund IV) founder and CEO Chuhan Wang. Her mission is to help founders, boards, and advisors stay in the loop with a better system for communication, board deck access and retrieval, and compilation – the overall world of corporate governance. Chuhan's vision is to empower founders for success by responsibly harnessing the power of their boards and investors. With founders emerging from all corners of the world, and remote work being a trend, her modern board and investor experience will spark innovation in the next generation of founders. Guest - Chuhan Wang, Founder and CEO at Surfboard howardlindzon.com, surfboard.team Twitter: @howardlindzon, @therealchuhan, @TeamSurfboard, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/chuhan-wang #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:42) Welcome Chuhan (08:22) What is Surfboard? (09:21) Weighing in on FTX (13:04) Running a Board (14:11) Empowering founders (17:40) Finding Social Leverage (18:31) Working with Social Leverage (19:48) Valuing at seed (22:43) Starting a board early (24:31) Signing up for Surfboard (25:43) The Surfboard team (28:50) A good time for governance (30:02) Brad Feld (34:14) Now is the time to build (36:36) Wrapping up (37:09) An opportunity to start again (36:31) Closing thoughts (40:56)
We're here in late 2022 with a complete meltdown in crypto, and I've no idea what to make of it. So I wanted to bring Sami back on the show to get a gut check. Post FTX fraud I need to make sense of it all, because I'm still super bullish on this next iteration of the internet – web3, crypto – or whatever we're calling it. They're solving real problems for people like me, and I'm trying all these different products around NFTs and communities – but a lot has changed since Sami was here a short time ago. And infrastructure, where W3BCloud is focused, still has to happen if the next set of winners and entrepreneurs are going to build. I have a different set of questions for Sami who's been in the hardware, machine, infrastructure side of computers for a very long time. It's good to hear him explain things about this compute/infrastructure side of web3 and what it's going to take to grow and scale in an era of decentralization and the blockchain. Guest - Sami Issa, CEO & Co-Founder at W3BCloud howardlindzon.com, w3bcloud.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @W3BCLOUD, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/samiissa #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:40) The current panic (00:51) Important disclaimer (07:26) Welcome Sami (08:25) Understanding centralized exchanges (09:56) Non-custodial wallets (11:29) Post FTX silver lining (13:32) Regulation and transparency (14:26) JP Morgan trademarks a wallet (16:21) Wallets explained (18:56) Warren Buffet's crypto play (22:56) Infrastructure is needed (24:01) Artificial Intelligence (24:49) Size of the crypto market (28:25) Understanding compute (29:02) It's time to build (32:16) There is no magic money machine (34:02) Wrapping up (35:07) An opportunity to start again (36:31) Closing thoughts (37:30)
Normally on Panic I'm talking with investors, venture capitalists, traders, and entrepreneurs, but on today's episode I'm bringing on professional golfer Anne van Dam. Her manager is a good friend of mine who discovered her back in her teens, and now she's an LP in Social Leverage. We get into some investment talk with her interest in real estate and cover Colony Cooks, a ghost kitchen and virtual restaurant in Los Angeles founded by her boyfriend. Anne discusses her favorite places to visit, her favorite golf courses, and of course getting Social Leverage on her bag. She's not superstitious, but with Social Leverage in her corner, I'm predicting victories this year for her on tour. Anne has a good head on her shoulders and knows what she wants to do. I hope you're as inspired by our conversation as I was. I'm looking forward to a round with her the next time she's in Phoenix. Knut has offered to caddie for me. Guest - Anne van Dam, Pro Golfer at LPGA howardlindzon.com, annevandam.com, lpga.com, ladieseuropeantour.com, colonycooks.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @PanicwFriends, @Annevandam, @LPGA, @letgolf @knutjensen Instagram: @annievdam, @letgolf, @LPGA_tour #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:34) Howard jinxes Phil Mickelson (04:52) Welcome Anne (06:53) How do you pronounce Knut? (07:14) Anne's favorite city (07:32) Anne's favorite golf course (08:34) The pedal mafia (09:15) Anne's favorite US golf course (10:13) Anne's golf hero (10:56) Dealing with nerves (12:48) Winning her first tournament (15:18) LPGA prize money (16:17) Men's tour v. Women's tour (18:18) Working with sponsors (19:14) Getting started in investing (21:56) Colony Cooks ghost kitchen (25:08) Bullish on golf (27:36) The fitness side of golf (29:38) Golf superstitions (35:32) Wrapping up (37:44) Closing thoughts (38:42)
My fishing buddy, Lewis Johnson, is back for his third round of Panic. As I've been saying frequently now, I'm just having friends on the podcast. People who have seen things that interest me, not famous – or infamous – people, for the sake of their fame. While Lewis isn't particularly famous, he's a steady hand and understands diversification and how cycles work. We touch on the “Bernie Madoff” moment that is now FTX. Lewis isn't really active in crypto, but has been watching it play out. Swindles go on all along, and in a bull market no one seems to care. A bear market is the usual catalyst for these frauds. People start wanting their money back. We'll check back with Lewis in three to six months, because this show is still about how we position ourselves; and he's got a vision of how the world might look moving forward. Guest - Lewis Johnson, CIO at Capital Wealth Advisors howardlindzon.com, capitalwealthadvisors.com blog.capitalwealthadvisors.com/trends-tail-risks Twitter: @howardlindzon, @PanicwFriends, @TrendsTailRisks, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/lewismjohnson #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:35) Welcome back Lewis (06:31) Cryptos “Madoff” moment (07:04) Book: Manias, Panics and Crashes (07:45) Fundamentals & Valuation (10:10) Michael Lewis & SBF (12:10) Bond returns (15:12) The deglobalization cycle (19:51) Fed raising rates (25:05) Gunslingers & Bean Counters (26:16) ‘Wall Street' gets a vote (29:15) Current market leadership (29:51) Rate sensitivity (31:22) Tech meltdown (33:26) A capital cycles framework (34:51) Where to look for the next cycle (37:05) The ‘capital starvation' cycle (38:30) Wrapping up (39:42) Closing thoughts (43:35)
I've been dying to get Jan on the podcast, and he's finally here. After my brief podcast break, I've decided to have a lot of my friends on – people I like talking to about markets. Jan is one of those people. He's super smart and well educated. I'm in the lucky position where I don't have to be in the market, but because I'm fascinated by markets, started Stocktwits, love talking about them, and want to continue banging out some alpha, I invited Jan on the podcast. We have a great discussion about debt. We talk about money flows, and while Jan wasn't the earliest, but early enough with directionally putting his firm on a path towards crypto, he has a lot of insights there as well. People need to be thinking about the market in just a little different way than what worked in the past. You'll learn a lot from our conversation. I know I did. Guest - Jan van Eck, CEO at VanEck Securities Corporation howardlindzon.com, VanEck.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @PanicwFriends, @JanvanEck3, @VanEck_US, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/janfvaneck #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:39) Welcome Jan (04:02) Growing a mature business (04:52) History is a teacher (07:73) Becoming a ‘Macro Structuralist' (12:58) Lessons from the 1970s (14:49) The right way to view inflation (15:17) Bonds outperform stocks (16:54) Will the Fed pivot? (19:12) The ETF business (24:49) Crypto-related ETNs (27:21) China growth & demographics (28:40) Getting smarter on Brazil (29:04) Web3 (30:18) Thoughts on Wealthtech (34:08) What if 60/40 is wrong? (35:10) Jan argues Howard's book (39:23) People care about performance (39:42) Why Jan invested with Howard (40:46) Diseconomies of scale (41:45) The future of ETFs (43:33) Cherry-picking in public markets (46:11) Jan's favorite podcasts (47:44) Wrapping up (50:16) Closing thoughts (51:37)
The GOAT himself, Jim O'Shaughnessy is back for a record fourth appearance on Panic with Friends! And this time he's slightly panicked by not being panicked. I convinced him to put on some slippers and start showing up for work. The last time he was on, we talked about the real panic; I'd come back from vacation fired out of a cannon – only wanting to talk to my close friends or pimp some of our companies. But today I've got a lot to talk to Jim about. He was guest number one on the show, and he was on just a few weeks ago – since then the Fed's hiked another 75 basis points, Facebook's imploded, and we have a new owner at Twitter. So sure, it makes sense if Jim might be a little panicked about not being panicked. Once again, Jim is the calm voice of reason helping me navigate the turbulent times we've found ourselves in. I hope you learn as much from our conversation as I did. Guest - Jim O'Shaughnessy, Founder, Chairman & Co-Chief Investment Officer, OSAM LLC howardlindzon.com, osam.com, infiniteloopspodcast.com Twitter: @howardlindzon , @jposhaughnessy, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/james-o-shaughnessy-b072bb #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:41) Welcome Jim (05:29) Strategy & Tactics (07:46) Decision time (10:30) Elon Musk (12:58) Fixing Twitter (13:39) Dealing with trolls (17:26) The real reason Elon bought Twitter (23:06) Excited about Artificial Intelligence (27:10) AI ethics (30:02) AI in medical research (31:45) AI legal use case (33:15) An Open AI is critical (36:05) First $1B single creator LLC (36:34) Old Models are collapsing (37:25) A “Thiel-style” scholarship (39:09) A revolution in Education (45:12) A real meritocracy (45:56) Human nature doesn't change (48:19) The next Robinhood could be Robinhood (49:46) Wrapping up (53:05) Closing thoughts (56:58)
I'm excited to be doing this first episode in a series of shows over the next few months on blockchain, crypto, web3 – whatever you want to call it. As long-time listeners know, I'm a drafter behind smart people on web3. I'm learning as I go, yet being skeptical, and probing through it. I have my angle of attack and know how I want to spend the next few years working on blockchain, infrastructure, web3, NFTs, and community. And while I haven't talked often enough about it, in full disclosure, Social Leverage Acquisition Corp ($SLAC), the company I'm CEO of, has announced a proposed merger with W3BCLOUD. In addition, Social Leverage (Fund IV) (where I'm a GP) is a shareholder and member of the sponsor group – but that doesn't mean we can't talk about it. So who better to have on to make sense of all this? Guests: Sami Issa, CEO & Co-Founder at W3BCloud Maggie Love, Director - Ecosystem & Partnerships & Co-Founder at W3BCloud, Founder at SheFi howardlindzon.com, w3bcloud.com, shefi.org Twitter: @howardlindzon, @PanicwFriends, @W3BCLOUD, @maggielove_, @She_Fi, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/samiissa linkedin.com/in/maggielove07 #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:39) Welcome Maggie and Sami (06:44) Understanding ‘compute' (06:58) Decentralization & ‘permissionless' (1016) Crypto & Web3 (12:47) In the back yards of Giants (17:20) Composability (21:27) Not a ‘Winner take all' world (24:04) Origin story (24:20) Dealing with bear markets (31:48) The adoption cycle (35:20) Infrastructure is the way (38:10) Buffett's crypto play (39:45) Next internet revolution (41:54) Moving through the cycles (44:05) What makes the register ring? (50:19) Optimizing the hardware infrastructure (52:25) What is ‘trustless'? (52:54) ‘Proof of Stake' (56:51) A new internet paradigm (59:50) An internet of value (1:00:52) The ‘wallet' is key (1:01:28) Wrapping up (1:03:34) Closing thoughts (1:09:12)
My good friend Ben Hunt is here for the fourth time on Panic with Friends. He's my go-to macro guy, and one of the smartest people to talk about the market with. And if I were going to do a show with any two people, like the All In podcast, it'd be Ben and Jim O'Shaughnessy for sure. Ben has been dead on with so many topics, and we've got a ton of topics to talk about in this episode. I wanted to talk about the FED, inflation, and what would turn him bullish. I wanted to get some pointers on the global macro and the SPAC market, to include thoughts on Fat Nixon. I wanted to talk about Robinhood and Citadel, and I want him to chime in on Apple having a monopoly. I also wanted to get Ben's thoughts about monetary policy as it relates to the UK pension debacle. I think you're going to get a lot out of our conversation. Enjoy! Guest - Ben Hunt, Co-Founder and Partner at Second Foundation Partners, Author and Co-Founder at Epsilon Theory howardlindzon.com, epsilontheory.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @epsilontheory, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/bhunt #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:40) Welcome Ben (06:40) The best thing about getting older (10:17) Turning a layup into a loss (12:40) Lessons from Goodfellas (14:28) Who's in the PIPE? (18:49) Finance raccoons (20:11) UK pension crisis (22:53) Interest rates repriced globally (23:33) Pension funds can't make margin calls (29:59) FED creates liquidity crises (31:43) Overexposed to 15 years of low rates (34:35) What the blockchain brings (35:16) Loosening the yoke of Amazon, Apple, Google (35:44) Pension fund return projections (36:55) Ferocious bull rally? (40:54) Will the FED pivot? (43:58) Inflation wasn't transitory (46:11) Taking real world risks (50:36) Taking on the overlords (57:18) Wrapping up (1:02:12) Closing thoughts (1:05:58)
I'm excited to have Bobby Matson, founder and CEO of Payitoff.io, back on the podcast. The last time he was on the show was in April of 2020, less than a month into the global COVID panic. Since then, 45 million plus Americans with student debt have kicked the can down the road. Until now. Bobby is a self-taught coder. He and his wife had student loan debt to deal with, so they built a product called Payitoff.io to help sort it out. Their API allows financial apps to empower borrowers with ways to assess and address their student debt while freeing up cash to invest or spend. And while there's been a “pause” in repayment, student debt did not go away. The problem was just brushed aside for a couple of years. During those few years, Bobby and his team went and built other debt API products. But as repayments are starting up again, the “phones have been ringing off the hook” as everybody tries to catch up. Bobby and his team stayed in the game, didn't overspend their VC money, and kept things under control. Full disclosure – Social Leverage is an investor in Payitoff.io Guest - Bobby Matson, Founder and CEO of payitoff.io howardlindzon.com, payitoff.io Twitter: @howardlindzon, @bomatson, @payitoffapp, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/bobbymatson #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: Introduction (00:44) Welcome Bobby (08:08) What is Payitoff? (08:36) COVID hits (10:35) Demonstrating category leadership (13:34) A good type of panic (15:36) Product & Execution (16:34) Domain experience & problem solving (17:36) Debt relief options (19:26) Use case solutions (20:09) Expanding beyond student loans (24:44) Self-taught coder (25:48) Learning to build companies (27:09) Trapped with debt (29:48) Navigating student loan relief (31:33) Avoiding channel conflict (37:31) Building the Enterprise (40:56) Tailwinds come full circle (43:17) Rising interest rates & consolidation (43:31) Wrapping up (43:49) Closing thoughts (44:33)