Podcast appearances and mentions of ali hamed

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 27, 2024 89:09

My guest today is Ali Hamed. Ali was first on Invest Like the Best six years ago. He was 26 at the time and four years into building his investing firm, CoVenture. Both then and now, Ali is an example of what's possible when you think creatively. Six years later, CoVenture now manages two-and-a-half billion dollars, and Ali continues to find alpha in esoteric places. We talk about YouTube catalogs, creative opportunities in real estate, and how venture investing helps them get better at credit. We also talk about his lessons from building an investment firm and what it's been like to work with Michael Ovitz. Please enjoy this great conversation with Ali Hamed. Listen to Ali host a Business Breakdowns on Spotter Listen to Founders Podcast For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the only investment research platform built for fundamental investors. Whether you're trying to get up to speed on a new market or keep tabs on a portfolio company, Tegus is the end-to-end investment research platform you need. With Tegus, you can quickly understand a company's business model, drivers, benchmarks, and management quality. To monitor an entire market, download our pre-built financial models — or update your own with the latest data using Tegus' new Excel Add-In. Tegus gives you all of this and more, all bundled into a single software license. Find out why 95% of the top 20 global private equity firms are Tegus customers. Learn more and get your free trial at tegus.com/patrick. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best (00:03:11) First Question - The Journey of Building an Investment Firm (00:15:08) The Influence of Time and Scale on Asset Classes (00:22:39) The Power and Potential of YouTube's Asset Class (00:27:33) The Future of Real Estate and Housing Supply (00:30:15) The Challenges of Investing in Platform Economies (00:36:44) The Pitfalls of Capital Formation in Asset Management (00:45:17) The Evolution of Venture Portfolio (00:51:14) The Approach to AI and Other Emerging Technologies (00:54:42) The Mispricing in Private Credit (00:58:46) Building the People Side of the Business (01:04:21) The Challenges and Opportunities in Valuation (01:19:40) The Impact of Michael Ovitz on CoVenture (01:23:11) The Kindest Thing Anyone Has Ever Done For Him

E24: Building a Multi-Billion-Dollar Asset Management Firm with CoVenture's Ali Hamed

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 30, 2024 58:58

In this episode of Turpentine VC, Ali Hamed, Partner at CoVenture, joins Erik Torenberg to discuss the advantages of investing across asset classes, CoVenture's inflection points, the importance of being liked in venture, and asset classes Ali hopes to invest in in the future. If you're looking for an ERP platform, check out our sponsor, NetSuite:http://netsuite.com/turpentine --- Check out Erik's new show Request for Startups featuring a rotating cast of founders and investors (including Dan) sharing their requests for startups they want to exist in the world, and also their stories of navigating the idea maze in different sectors so founders don't have to reinvent the wheel anymore. The first episode is out now - we over better dating apps, references as a service, and WeWork for productivity Watch and Subscribe on Substack: https://requestforstartups.substack.com/p/receipt-based-dating-reference-checks Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/request-for-startups-with-erik-torenberg/id1728659822 Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/739L1LR32QI2XyoZlRh5nv --- We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com. --- SPONSOR: NETSUITE | SHOPIFY NetSuite has 25 years of providing financial software for all your business needs. More than 36,000 businesses have already upgraded to NetSuite by Oracle, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you're looking for an ERP platform head to NetSuite http://netsuite.com/turpentine and download your own customized KPI checklist. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. Shopify powers 10% of ALL eCommerce in the US. And Shopify's the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen, and 1,000,000s of other entrepreneurs across 175 countries.From their all-in-one e-commerce platform, to their in-person POS system – wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered. With free Shopify Magic, sell more with less effort by whipping up captivating content that converts – from blog posts to product descriptions using AI. Sign up for $1/month trial period: https://shopify.com/momentofzen --- Join our free newsletter to get Erik's top 3 insights from each episode: https://turpentinevc.substack.com/ --- RELATED SHOWS: The Limited Partner If you like Turpentine VC, check out our show The Limited Partner with David Weisburd, where David talks to the investors behind the investors: https://link.chtbl.com/thelimitedpartner --- X / TWITTER: @AliBHamed (Ali) @coventurevc (CoVenture) @eriktorenberg (Erik) @Turpentinemedia @TurpentineVC --- TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Episode Preview (01:25) CoVenture in a Nutshell (03:22) How CoVenture Succeeds in Credit (06:50) Hard Conversations VCs Should Be Having (10:01) How CoVenture Differentiates (11:16) Venture Firms Getting Into Multiple Asset Classes (14:19) Team Building and CoVenture's Future (23:37) Future of CoVenture Continued (28:24) Ali on Crypto (31:07) Why LPs Are More Comfortable Giving Money to Big Brand VCs (35:50) The Future of Venture (37:41) The Evolution of Coventure (44:27) Starting Over in 2024 (52:51) Understanding Different Asset Classes ---

Spotter: Funding YouTube Creators - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 78]

Business Breakdowns

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 12, 2022 50:05

Today's Breakdown is a little different. For one, I'm Ali Hamed, an investor at Crossbeam and CoVenture, and I'll be your host. Secondly, in this conversation, we are studying a private company that you're unlikely to have heard of. That business is Spotter, and they play a fascinating role in the flourishing creator economy. Specifically, they provide capital and knowledge to a number of the world's most influential creators, including Mr Beast. So in the process of discussing Spotter, we will also dive into the inner workings of YouTube and their creator platform. To break down Spotter, I'm joined by their CEO, Aaron DeBevoise. Aaron has spent his career at the intersection of entrepreneurship, investing, and digital content. I've worked with Aaron for a number of years and learned a ton about this ecosystem from him. Please enjoy this Business Breakdown of Spotter. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the new digital hub for market intelligence. The Tegus platform empowers Investors and Corporate Development teams to invest smarter by pairing best-in-class technology with the highest quality user-generated content and data. Find out why a majority of the top firms are using Tegus on a daily basis. If you're ready to go deeper on any company and you appreciate the value of primary research, head to tegus.co/breakdowns for a free trial. —-- Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt Show Notes [00:02:52] - [First question] - How the YouTube ecosystem became what it is today [00:05:52] - The transition from mobile to professional television quality content [00:08:58] - How advertising on YouTube works and generates revenue for its creators [00:11:47] - The moment YouTube had to differentiate themselves from Google's ad auction [00:13:20] - How the pandemic has accelerated the pace of their ad revenue [00:16:19] - Why YouTube nailed monetization in a way that other platforms haven't [00:18:53] - His background and how he came to learn so much about YouTube [00:22:57] - Capital deployed and projects financed so far in the YouTube ecosystem [00:25:13] - Overview of the main ways to fund a YouTube creator [00:27:30] - Thoughts on pricing and his risk reward perspective [00:30:49] - The breadth of uses for proceeds when creators invest in their brands [00:36:42] - What ad optimization and asset management means in this asset class [00:38:48] - The order of magnitude people are willing to pay for premium content [00:40:06] - Where the barriers to entry are that make Spotter so defensible [00:45:06] - The future of YouTube in the next five to ten years [00:47:03] - Something he used to believe about YouTube that has changed

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354. The VC Networking Playbook, Credit and Pricing Risk in New Asset Classes, and How VC Market Hype Should Impact Stage Focus and Net Buy/Sell Positions (Ali Hamed)

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2022 41:55

Ali Hamed of CoVenture and Crossbeam Venture Partners joins Nick to discuss The VC Networking Playbook, Credit and Pricing Risk in New Asset Classes, and How VC Market Hype Should Impact Stage Focus and Net Buy/Sell Positions. In this episode we cover: Building an LP Network from Scratch Platform Economies and Their Future A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Investing And more! Missed a recent episode? Go to The Full Ratchet blog and catch up! Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. The host of The Full Ratchet is Nick Moran, General Partner of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area. Learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our Website. Also, follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter! Founders, are you frustrated by trying to find the ideal VC's for your stage, sector, and geography? Answer five questions with VC Rank and generate your customized list now.

Venture is Eating the Investment World 5: Ali Hamed – Novel Venture Investing at CoVenture (Capital Allocators, EP.233)

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2022 56:34

Ali Hamed is the Founder of CoVenture a $2 billion investor across the capital stack of technology start-ups reinventing the economy of the future. Ali first appeared on the show three years ago when CoVenture's assets were around $100 million. That conversation is replayed in the feed. Our second conversation starts with an update on CoVenture's growth and dives into Crossbeam Venture Partners, CoVenture's venture business. We discuss Crossbeam's sweet spot, sourcing, due diligence, deal dynamics, ownership, and decision-making for follow-on rounds. We then turn to examples in fintech and platforms, and close with how CoVenture's taste for novel assets fits into the venture ecosystem. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

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[REPLAY] Ali Hamed - Novel Asset Investing (Capital Allocators, EP.40)

Innovation with Mark Peter Davis

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2022 63:04

Ali Hamed is the co-founder of CoVenture and Managing Partner of the CoVenture VC Fund. CoVenture is an innovative company that identifies and invests in novel assets formed by the intersection of technology and finance. The firm manages an early stage venture capital fund, direct lending fund, and crypto asset index fund, with each taking a creative twist on its market. Our conversation starts with Ali's entrepreneurial path to the creation of CoVenture, and covers examples of previously unpriced investment opportunities, including produce receivables, employee payroll loans, AirBnB accounts, and loans against employee stock options. We walk through the world of crypto assets and the state of the venture capital industry. Ali's fresh lens on the world offers a fascinating perspective on every aspect of early stage investing. If I didn't say it in advance, you'll be astounded to hear that Ali is only 26 years old. He's one to watch for the long-term. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership

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Debt Financing & Venture Capital: An Unlikely Synergy with Ali Hamed of CoVenture

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2021 67:14

Ali Hamed is a Partner at CoVenture Holding Company LLC. Since his college days he's been building an impressive network and unsurprisingly has built an impressive business. What's unique about CoVenture's model is that they've found an interesting synergy between debt financing and venture capital. In addition to making venture investments, Ali and his team provide balance sheet capital to innovative companies that are financing new asset classes. As CoVenture puts it: “CoVenture partners with founders who are inventing new asset classes, identifying new economies, or who require alternative types of capital to grow -- and backs them with venture capital and/or debt financing.” If you're interested in the business models of venture capital, debt or general finance I think you'll find this conversation to be educational. I certainly did. Show Links Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AliBHamed (@AliBHamed) / http://twitter.com/coventurevc (@coventurevc) / http://twitter.com/mpd (@mpd) Guest Links: https://coventure.vc/ (CoVenture Holding Company LLC), https://crossbeam.vc/ (Crossbeam Venture Partners) Podcast Links: http://mpd.me (Website), https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCua7T3uyg6IQeSbYyNKT_Iw (YouTube), https://twitter.com/mpd (Twitter), https://www.facebook.com/innovationwithmpd (Facebook), https://www.linkedin.com/company/innovationwithmpd (LinkedIn)

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Amazon Aggregators: Buying Third-Party Sellers - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 35]

Business Breakdowns

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 17, 2021 62:14

I'm Jesse Pujji and this is Business Breakdowns. Today we are doing a different kind of breakdown. We are covering an entire category, Amazon Aggregators. These are the companies that are buying up hundreds of Amazon's third-party sellers. The concept of Amazon Aggregators is relatively new, tracing back to 2018 with the founding of Thrasio, but the ecosystem is already huge and growing. Most recent numbers peg it at around $300bn dollars in revenue and growing faster than Amazon itself. These aggregators have unique moats and high-quality entrepreneurs. To help break down the marketplace and business of acquiring Amazon storefronts, I'm joined by Ali Hamed, a partner of CoVenture, who is also a popular guest on Invest Like the Best. In our conversation, we discuss the three superpowers Amazon sellers have, why there's only $8bn in funding for a market doing $50bn in EBITDA, and we go into detail on how Amazon Aggregators are structured and operate. Please enjoy this unique breakdown on Amazon Aggregators. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. We created Business Breakdowns to uncover the lessons and frameworks behind every business, and that's what makes Tegus our perfect launch partner. Much of the foundational prep for these episodes starts with research on the Tegus platform. With Tegus, you can learn everything you'd want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 20,000 calls on Coinbase, Hinge Health, Farfetch, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. If you're ready to go deeper on any company and you appreciate the value of primary research, head to tegus.co/breakdowns for a free trial. ----- This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep's new Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at your perfect temperature. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. This holiday season Eight Sleep will be running their biggest sale of the year. To capture the savings be sure to visit eightsleep.com/patrick or use code "Patrick" this Black Friday or Cyber Monday. ----- Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss Show Notes [00:03:23] - [First question] - What is an Amazon aggregator, and who sells through Amazon? [00:05:26] - The scale and size of the aggregator market in general [00:06:43] - The history of third-party sellers and the utility they offer Amazon [00:08:20] - When they started inviting third parties to join their network and their market share [00:09:47] - Amazon's 40% take-rate and overview of the economic structure [00:10:24] - How many individual storefronts exist and what they look like [00:13:19] - Who is starting Amazon stores and an overview of a seller writ large [00:14:43] - The initial insight that led to incorporating third-party aggregators [00:21:17] - How many aggregators exist in the space today [00:24:41] - Why vertical integration isn't such a primary focus for aggregators [00:26:53] - Ways aggregators find businesses and how they tend to acquire them [00:31:29] - What the top 10 aggregators look like and their acquisition frequency [00:32:25] - The common value add aggregators deliver post-acquisition [00:34:30] - One of the weirdest things that's enhanced optimization and improved revenue [00:35:54] - What the org chart of an aggregator typically looks like [00:36:47] - Deal pipelines and other sales and marketing functions [00:40:22] - Interesting things in the space given how unique of a marketplace it is [00:43:57] - New innovations and secondary ecosystems emerging as a result of aggregators [00:45:13] - How an aggregator should think about Amazon and risks to their business [00:48:29] - Why Amazon won't use their data and customer ownership to own the market [00:50:10] - Macro and system risks that would threaten the success of this business model [00:52:35] - What keeps Amazon up at night and potential worries about aggregators [00:53:54] - Reasons why they would pass on an acquisition opportunity [00:55:32] - Contributing factors to explosive growth that exceeded expectations [00:58:10] - Biggest takeaways for builders and investors from 3rd party aggregators [01:01:04] - Where to learn more about Amazon's third-party aggregators

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Savneet Singh – The Operator/Investor whose Software is Feeding the World (Capital Allocators, EP.220)

The Consumer VC: Venture Capital I B2C Startups I Commerce | Early-Stage Investing

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 1, 2021 59:14

Savneet Singh is the President and CEO of PAR Technology Corp and a Partner at CoVenture. PAR is a $1.6 billion market cap public company whose technology services over 10,000 restaurant locations in over 110 countries. And CoVenture is a $2 billion investment firm focusing on novel asset classes whose founder, Ali Hamed, was a past guest on the show. Savneet previously co-founded GBI, an electronic platform for the trading of real assets, and Tera Holdings, a holding company of niche software businesses. He is an unusual talent whose achievements have been recognized on the Forbes 30 under 30 and Crain's 40 under 40. Our conversation covers Sav's early love of investing, time on Wall Street, transition to operator, and lessons learned along the way. We then turn to PAR, discussing its history, corporate culture, and trends in software. We close Savneet's thoughts on crypto, advice for managers and allocators, and his growth as an investor from serving as an operator. Learn More Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Google Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Read the transcripts

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Ali Hamed (CoVenture) - The Amazon Opportunity, Future of Social, and Credit at the Early Stages

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 31, 2021 46:56 Transcription Available

My guest today is Ali Hamed, co-founder and Partner of CoVenture. CoVenture offers entrepreneurs multiple ways to finance their businesses. Ali is one of the more unique guests we've had on the show simply because CoVenture's model is quite unique as they can underwrite both equity and debt into technology startups. When Ali and I first got talking, he mentioned that he was consumer curious as opposed to a straight consumer investor. We'll unpack that on the show. We also talk about why Ali is so bullish on the Amazon rollups that have been happening, which social media companies are doing a great job appealing to creators and which aren't, and much much more.. Some of the questions I ask Ali: What was your initial attraction to finance and venture capital? How did CoVenture come together? When should consumer entrepreneurs think about credit options and financing vs. raising from traditional venture capital funds? Is credit as a resource underused in consumer startups? What about consumer makes you curious? Why do you think there is a huge opportunity in investing in Amazon as opposed to to Shopify businesses? For a brand on Amazon, how do you think about what is a competitive advantage? We've talked on this show about how you can't build a brand on Amazon. Are we now starting to see companies be able to build a DTC business outside of Amazon? Why do you hate Instagram? How do you think about the future of media and content? What must the legacy platforms do to service creators? How do you view the future of social and online interaction? We spoke about how music has changed to be shorter, and the song's duty is to hit to the chorus faster because you are optimizing for streams. When you look at other forms of content, what are ways technology has changed other formats? What's one piece about the creator economy that other investors might not understand? What's one thing you would change about venture capital? What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally? What's the best piece of advice that you've received?

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Investing in New Asset Classes and The Future of Venture with Ali Hamed and Brian Harwitt

Lindzanity with Howard Lindzon

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2021 54:37

Ali Hamed (@AliBHamed) and Brian Harwitt (@bharwitt) of CoVenture join Erik on this episode to discuss:- Their new fund, Crossbeam Venture Partners, and what they’re investing in.- The types of new asset classes they’re looking at and why these are often “a better version of something old school.”- Their thoughts on investing in creators.- The merits of equity vs. other forms of capital from a founder’s perspective.- Why they’re excited about roll-ups.- How venture is evolving and their thoughts on valuations.- The future of ISAs.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at www.villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Want to get updates from us? Subscribe to get a peek inside the Village. We’ll send you reading recommendations, exclusive event invites, and commentary on the latest happenings in Silicon Valley. www.villageglobal.vc/signup

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Savneet Singh of PARTech on the Accelerating Software Industry and How to Keep Up with It (EP.116)

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 12, 2020 47:03

Savneet Singh is not only a great friend, but he’s also one of the most driven workers I’ve ever met, who offers such an interesting perspective on life, entrepreneurship and business. Overall, he’s just incredible at what he does. Savneet and I met through our mutual friend, Sonny Singh, and I’ve been a fan of his for a while now. Savneet is the CEO of PARTech, a provider of point of sale software to the retail and hospitality industry. I was so excited to have a CEO like Savneet on because his company is actually a publicly traded company, trading under $PAR on the NYSE. Savneet has accomplished quite a lot before even starting at PARTech. His investments range from real estate to Uber to cryptocurrencies to websites. Not to mention, he’s also a partner with Ali Hamed, a past guest on Panic, at the VC firm CoVenture. Savneet has so much vision around the software space, some of which he shares with me on the podcast. In this episode, Savneet and I also discuss his admiration of Warren Buffett, public companies, fintech, PARTech’s origin story, Saas businesses, COVID-19 impact on restaurants, SPACs, ecommerce, bitcoin and more. Guest - Savneet Singh, President and CEO at PAR Technology Corp howardlindzon.com, partech.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @SavneetS, @PAR_Tech, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/savneetsingh #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance

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Ali Hamed of CoVenture on building a Venture firm in NYC (EP.99)

Lindzanity with Howard Lindzon

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2020 40:20

Ali Hamed joins me to talk about building a Venture firm at a young age and about the future of New York City. Guest - Ali Hamed, CoFounder and General Partner at CoVenture howardlindzon.com, coventure.vc, medium.com/@alibhamed Twitter: @howardlindzon, @AliBHamed, @knutjensen #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance

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Ali Hamed – An Update on Private Credit - [Invest Like the Best, EP.172]

Play Episode Listen Later May 5, 2020 44:47

My guest today is popular past guest Ali Hamed, who joins us for an update on private credit. We discuss what has happened so far, what parts of the market are frozen, and where opportunities may lie. We also talk about how the world has shifted digitally since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Please enjoy my conversation with my friend Ali Hamed. This episode is brought to by Koyfin. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes (1:41) – (First question) – World of private credit in the pandemic age (4:50) – Bag of uncertainty (6:27) – Important levers in private credit (9:15) – Scary scenarios and systemic risks in this world (13:21) – General trends in the credit data (15:30) – Are investors factoring government response properly (17:02) – Defining advanced rates (20:18) – Focus on quality vs rate of return now (22:26) – Pockets of opportunity as uncertainty declines (26:06) – Online ecommerce platforms, like the YouTube economy (29:40) – Non advertising driven ecommerce platforms (31:54) – How venture capital is responding (38:19) – How junior debt could be am opportunity (40:17) – Trends he’s thinking about; redefining small businesses (43:07) – Ali Hamed Podcast Episode Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag

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How COVID-19 Impacts Startups and Venture Capital with Ali Hamed and Brent Beshore

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 14, 2020 50:55

Ali Hamed (@AliBHamed), investor at CoVenture, and Brent Beshore (@BrentBeshore), founder and CEO of Permanent Equity, join Erik on this episode.They discuss:- Their advice for venture firms and companies trying to fundraise in this environment.- How LPs will change their capital allocations in a post-COVID world.- Whether it’s a good time to be investing right now or not.- How this time is different from the 2008 financial crisis.- How they’re spending their time.- What will go back to normal in time, and what might not.- Which spaces will change or accelerate, and where they’re looking at investing.- The government programs available for startups, and whether startups should be taking advantage of them.Applications for the summer vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator are now open! The early decision deadline is May 15th and final deadline is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

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How COVID-19 Impacts Startups and Venture Capital with Ali Hamed and Brent Beshore

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 14, 2020 50:55

Ali Hamed (@AliBHamed), investor at CoVenture, and Brent Beshore (@BrentBeshore), founder and CEO of Permanent Equity, join Erik on this episode.They discuss:- Their advice for venture firms and companies trying to fundraise in this environment.- How LPs will change their capital allocations in a post-COVID world.- Whether it’s a good time to be investing right now or not.- How this time is different from the 2008 financial crisis.- How they’re spending their time.- What will go back to normal in time, and what might not.- Which spaces will change or accelerate, and where they’re looking at investing.- The government programs available for startups, and whether startups should be taking advantage of them.Applications for the summer vintage of our Network Catalyst accelerator are now open! The early decision deadline is May 15th and final deadline is June 5th. Learn more and apply today at www.villageglobal.vc/network-catalyst.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

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#265: Ali Hamed on Seeking Value in Today’s Private Credit Market

The Pomp Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2020 63:08

Ali Hamed is the co-founder of Coventure, an asset management firm focused on deploying capital across venture capital and unique credit strategies. In this conversation, Anthony and Ali discuss the private credit market, how borrowers and lenders are treating each other, where the areas of opportunities will be, how founders can respond to the pandemic, and how source data in advertising and e-commerce has given Ali a better sense of the trends in those industries. =============================== BlockFi allows you to keep your crypto, put it up as collateral, and receive a USD loan funded directly to your bank account. Visit try.blockfi.com/get-50/?ref=pomp50 to get started with BlockFi today and earn up to $50 in BTC when you create an interest account and make a deposit of $250 or more. =============================== Blockset by BRD is your hosted blockchain infrastructure. Blockset enables enterprises and developers around the globe to deliver high-quality blockchain-based applications in a fraction of the time, at a fraction of the cost. Using the services provided by Blockset, businesses can build professional custody solutions, accurate and near real-time portfolio management solutions, auditing platforms, commercial block explorers, and much more: blockset.com ===============================

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Chris Keller and Ali Hamed on the State of the LP Ecosystem

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2020 48:57

Ali Hamed (@AliBHamed) of CoVenture and Chris Keller of Moelis Asset Management join Erik on this episode.They discuss:- What do LPs look for when investing in venture funds- How will the LP and VC dynamic shift over time- Concentration in LP portfolios- The role of power law in venture capital- Incentive misalignments for LPs- How should VCs foster relationships with LPs- Why hasn’t the VC model been innovated upon much in the past decade- Will the middleman ever get cut out- How the LP ecosystem will change in the next decadeThanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

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Chris Keller and Ali Hamed on the State of the LP Ecosystem

The Investing City Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2020 48:57

Ali Hamed (@AliBHamed) of CoVenture and Chris Keller of Moelis Asset Management join Erik on this episode.They discuss:- What do LPs look for when investing in venture funds- How will the LP and VC dynamic shift over time- Concentration in LP portfolios- The role of power law in venture capital- Incentive misalignments for LPs- How should VCs foster relationships with LPs- Why hasn’t the VC model been innovated upon much in the past decade- Will the middleman ever get cut out- How the LP ecosystem will change in the next decadeThanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.

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The Lending Wave

Out of Beta

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 12, 2020 56:14

Peter lassos a new Branch investor, casting doubt on his co-host's neutrality. Branch product development hits high gear. Matt rides a new wave of interest in debt as he begins designing a financial product for sustainable startups.Matt Wensing on TwitterPeter Suhm on TwitterDebt is Coming to Silicon Valley by Alex DancoIs Debt Coming to Tech? by Ali Hamed

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Ep. 28 - Ali Hamed: Making Things Happen

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2019 43:32

Thank you so much for listening, we really appreciate you. If you have found this valuable, please consider leaving us a review as it will help more people find it! Thanks you're awesome! You can find more information and content by going to these places: Website: https://www.investingcity.org YouTube: Investing City Twitter: investing_city Instagram: investing_city Or feel free to email us at service@investingcity.org Again, we really appreciate that you would take the time to listen. Hope it was valuable. Let us know if you have any questions!

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The Future of Startup Funding with Andrew D'Souza and Ali Hamed

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2019 46:53

On this episode Erik talks to Andrew D’Souza (@andrewdsouza), founder and CEO of Clearbanc, and Ali Hamed (@AliBHamed), investor at CoVenture, recurring guest and fan favorite.Andrew breaks down how Clearbanc works, why now is a unique time to build a new model of funding, and how they are using quantitative metrics in a business that has typically relied heavily on qualitative factors. He says that he would like to see venture capital go back to funding technical risk, and that for a lot of companies raising equity, 50-80% of their equity is going to Facebook and Google (via ad buys).He explains how Clearbanc is able to plug in to a startup’s finances to model and keep track of their progress in real time. Ali says that he would like to see founders taking the right kind of capital for their company's needs and talks about some of the perverse incentives in venture. Andrew points out that Clearbanc wants and needs all of their companies to succeed, which isn’t always the case in venture.They talk about the moment that consumer goods are having and some of the insights Clearbanc has gleaned from amassing a ton of data via their investments in a ton of CPG companies. He says that because Clearbanc invests based on a company's metrics and not factors such as where the founder went to school or via introductions, they (without a mandate) have invested in 8X as many female founders as traditional VC. Finally, Andrew and Ali talk about how the funding landscape will evolve in the coming years, including what the big VC firms will do, what the aspirations for Clearbanc are, and whether tokens can be an effective form of financing.Quotable Lines From This Episode:"My perfect utopian future is: all of the money that’s in venture capital goes to solving truly hard problems. Instead of MBAs running spreadsheets trying to figure out CAC to LTV, they’re funding companies that are trying to cure cancer, develop flying cars, extend life, get us to the moon… Those are the outsized bets that equity is uniquely designed to fund." — Andrew"We have to get out of our heads the idea that the only types of capital in the world are seed, series A and series B rounds and start thinking about: what’s the type of capital that’s right for this situation?" — Ali"I would love to see venture capital go back to funding technical risk. I would hope that people go back and look at 2018 and 2019 and say I can’t believe that founders sold 50-80% of their companies before IPOs to pay for Facebook and Google ads. You’re basically selling 50-80% of your company to Facebook and Google." — Andrew"Venture capital branded itself really well, right? You have these really smart people who put together these fancy websites and basically said that if you raise from XYZ firm, you’re going to be successful. We just sort of glamorize the whole asset. It’s so fascinating that venture capital figured out a way to turn their capital into not a commodity. But it was this false promise. It’s caused a lot of people to take on a lot of capital that they otherwise wouldn’t have because of the social validation." — Ali"Imagine if in the public markets investors said, ‘you should give me shares in GM at a lower rate because I’m such a good investor.’ VCs are intuiting a sort of causation and saying ‘hey, because I invested in Uber, it turned out to be great, rather than saying, hey, I was able to get into Uber and it was great.’ The promise of value-add from VCs often doesn’t materialize and when it does, its something that you could probably get from independent advisors, and other people. It probably doesn’t warrant the cost of that equity." — AndrewThanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.

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The Future of Startup Funding with Andrew D'Souza and Ali Hamed

Square One: Conversations with the Best in Business

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2019 46:53

On this episode Erik talks to Andrew D’Souza (@andrewdsouza), founder and CEO of Clearbanc, and Ali Hamed (@AliBHamed), investor at CoVenture, recurring guest and fan favorite.Andrew breaks down how Clearbanc works, why now is a unique time to build a new model of funding, and how they are using quantitative metrics in a business that has typically relied heavily on qualitative factors. He says that he would like to see venture capital go back to funding technical risk, and that for a lot of companies raising equity, 50-80% of their equity is going to Facebook and Google (via ad buys).He explains how Clearbanc is able to plug in to a startup’s finances to model and keep track of their progress in real time. Ali says that he would like to see founders taking the right kind of capital for their company's needs and talks about some of the perverse incentives in venture. Andrew points out that Clearbanc wants and needs all of their companies to succeed, which isn’t always the case in venture.They talk about the moment that consumer goods are having and some of the insights Clearbanc has gleaned from amassing a ton of data via their investments in a ton of CPG companies. He says that because Clearbanc invests based on a company's metrics and not factors such as where the founder went to school or via introductions, they (without a mandate) have invested in 8X as many female founders as traditional VC. Finally, Andrew and Ali talk about how the funding landscape will evolve in the coming years, including what the big VC firms will do, what the aspirations for Clearbanc are, and whether tokens can be an effective form of financing.Quotable Lines From This Episode:"My perfect utopian future is: all of the money that’s in venture capital goes to solving truly hard problems. Instead of MBAs running spreadsheets trying to figure out CAC to LTV, they’re funding companies that are trying to cure cancer, develop flying cars, extend life, get us to the moon… Those are the outsized bets that equity is uniquely designed to fund." — Andrew"We have to get out of our heads the idea that the only types of capital in the world are seed, series A and series B rounds and start thinking about: what’s the type of capital that’s right for this situation?" — Ali"I would love to see venture capital go back to funding technical risk. I would hope that people go back and look at 2018 and 2019 and say I can’t believe that founders sold 50-80% of their companies before IPOs to pay for Facebook and Google ads. You’re basically selling 50-80% of your company to Facebook and Google." — Andrew"Venture capital branded itself really well, right? You have these really smart people who put together these fancy websites and basically said that if you raise from XYZ firm, you’re going to be successful. We just sort of glamorize the whole asset. It’s so fascinating that venture capital figured out a way to turn their capital into not a commodity. But it was this false promise. It’s caused a lot of people to take on a lot of capital that they otherwise wouldn’t have because of the social validation." — Ali"Imagine if in the public markets investors said, ‘you should give me shares in GM at a lower rate because I’m such a good investor.’ VCs are intuiting a sort of causation and saying ‘hey, because I invested in Uber, it turned out to be great, rather than saying, hey, I was able to get into Uber and it was great.’ The promise of value-add from VCs often doesn’t materialize and when it does, its something that you could probably get from independent advisors, and other people. It probably doesn’t warrant the cost of that equity." — AndrewThanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.

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27: Ali Hamed, Managing Partner at CoVenture

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 23, 2019 50:52

“First principles” thinking gets a lot of lip service today in technology and venture capital. While its in vogue to acknowledge this way of thinking, very few actually adhere to it in practice. In this episode, I chatted with Ali Hamed, Managing Partner at CoVenture — one of the most “first principles” thinkers I’ve had the privilege of speaking with and hosting on the show. In this episode, Ali opened up what is possible when you think creatively — whether its how to structure a firm across multiple asset classes (lending, venture capital and crypto), invest in new digital asset classes (e.g. rolling up Instagram accounts) or evaluate a company’s progress (debunking the fallacy of MRR and growth thresholds necessarily indicating progress). Ali covered it all in this conversation. It was a pleasure to have Ali on the show. He pushed my thinking through the conversation and I learned a lot from him.

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Ali Hamed, founder of CoVenture: A VC's Take on Crypto

The Pomp Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2018 91:48

Ali Hamed is the founder of CoVenture. In this conversation, Hamed and Anthony Pompliano discuss crypto currency, blockchain, Bitcoin, direct lending, alternative asset management, and why Bitcoin is like Kim Kardashian. ----- BlockFi BlockFi allows you to keep your crypto, put it up as collateral, and receive a USD loan funded directly to your bank account. They do loans ranging from $2,000 to $10,000,000, and they're perfect for helping you reach your financial goals of all sizes. Visit BlockFi.com/Pomp to learn more about putting your crypto to work without having to sell it. Draper University Draper University's Blockchain Hero Training is a 5 week fully residential, and immersive learning experience focused on solving the world's biggest problems using blockchain technology. The most ambitious entrepreneurs from around the world will build on their skill set, expand their network, and pitch their business to legendary venture capitalist, Tim Draper. For the executives out there, you'll be interested in Draper's blockchain intensive bootcamp, which has been designed to teach executives about the fundamentals of blockchain technology in order to understand its potential to create efficiencies in new business models. Visit DraperUniversity.com for more information. ----- If you enjoyed this conversation, share it with your colleagues & friends, rate, review, and subscribe. BlockWorks Group hosts events for Family Offices, HNWI's, VC's, Hedge Funds, lawyers, and accountants that are already operating in or looking to learn more about blockchain. BlockWorks Group also hosts intimate, private dinners for projects in the blockchain space looking to raise capital. To learn more visit http://blockworksgroup.io/

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Income Sharing Agreements in Education with Tonio DeSorrento and Ali Hamed

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2018 47:46

Erik’s co-host for this episode is Ali Hamed (@AliBHamed) of CoVenture. They are interviewing Tonio DeSorrento (@TonioDeSo), CEO and co-founder of Vemo Education.They talk about the history of income-sharing agreements, including that Milton Friedman had once proposed the idea and that Yale University had experimented with them at one point.Tonio talks about starting Vemo and how he has brought income-sharing agreements to more and more educational institutions. They discuss the fact that 88% of students entering college are doing so to improve their early career path but that most institutions would say that providing a career path is not the primary value they provide. Tonio explains that Vemo has helped students find the right institution for them by publishing outcomes from the income-sharing agreements. He says that this transparency of outcomes has in and of itself changed how colleges look at the service they provide.They move on to talking about the future of higher education in general, why there doesn’t yet exist a Kickstarter for education (and what some of the pitfalls of that model would be) and in which other industries something similar to income-share (or “value-share”) agreements might make sense. Tonio also talks about how Vemo plans to scale and where they go from here.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.

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Income Sharing Agreements in Education with Tonio DeSorrento and Ali Hamed

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2018 47:46

Erik’s co-host for this episode is Ali Hamed (@AliBHamed) of CoVenture. They are interviewing Tonio DeSorrento (@TonioDeSo), CEO and co-founder of Vemo Education.They talk about the history of income-sharing agreements, including that Milton Friedman had once proposed the idea and that Yale University had experimented with them at one point.Tonio talks about starting Vemo and how he has brought income-sharing agreements to more and more educational institutions. They discuss the fact that 88% of students entering college are doing so to improve their early career path but that most institutions would say that providing a career path is not the primary value they provide. Tonio explains that Vemo has helped students find the right institution for them by publishing outcomes from the income-sharing agreements. He says that this transparency of outcomes has in and of itself changed how colleges look at the service they provide.They move on to talking about the future of higher education in general, why there doesn’t yet exist a Kickstarter for education (and what some of the pitfalls of that model would be) and in which other industries something similar to income-share (or “value-share”) agreements might make sense. Tonio also talks about how Vemo plans to scale and where they go from here.Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global, is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg and is produced by Brett Bolkowy.

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Episode 168 Ali Hamed from CoVenture

Bank On It

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 8, 2018 22:43

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with amazing fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the amazing stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech. You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and iHeartRadio In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with Ali Hamed Co-Founder and managing partner of CoVenture. Coventure is an asset management firm that manages funds across Venture Capital, Credit, and Crypto. Coventure has a unique model of investing it's engineering know-how into interesting companies that don't have the technical resources needed, in return those companies provide equity to CoVenture. Tune in and Listen. Subscribe now to hear next Tuesday's interview with Chris Britt from Chime. About the host: John is the host of the 2x weekly "Bank On It” podcast recorded onsite at the Carpenter Group offices, which is a strategic branding and positioning firm in the financial services industry. He's a highly sought after fintech, VC and financial services industry enthusiast and connector. He's in the center of the fintech ecosystem keeping current with the ever - innovating industry. Follow John on LinkedIn, Twitter or Medium

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Episode 167 Stuart Sopp from Current

Bank On It

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 6, 2018 31:34

Every week the show host John Siracusa talks with amazing fintech leaders and entrepreneurs, through conversation uncovers the amazing stories behind them, their creations and the most important topics in fintech. You can subscribe to this podcast and stay up to date on all the stories here on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and iHeartRadio In this episode the host John Siracusa chats with Stuart Sopp Founder and CEO of Current. Current is a financial technology company that provides collaborative banking solutions, starting with a smart debit card and app for parents to provide better financial education for their kids. Stuart's journey from Forex (foreign exchange) to Current is a unique and interesting one. Tune in and Listen. Subscribe now to hear Thursday's interview with Ali Hamed from CoVenture. About the host: John is the host of the 2x weekly "Bank On It” podcast recorded onsite at the Carpenter Group offices, which is a strategic branding and positioning firm in the financial services industry. He's a highly sought after fintech, VC and financial services industry enthusiast and connector. He's in the center of the fintech ecosystem keeping current with the ever - innovating industry. Follow John on LinkedIn, Twitter or Medium

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CoVenture Credit - Esoteric Credit with Ail Hamed, Brian Harwitt, and Marc Porzecanski - [Invest Like the Best, EP.108]

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 16, 2018 67:50

My guests this week are Ali Hamed, Brian Harwitt and Marc Porzecanski who work together at CoVenture Credit. When I first had Ali on as a podcast guest, we discussed the many aspects of what his firm does, ranging from venture, to crypto, to credit. We glossed over the lending side of the business, but having since learned a lot from them on the topic, I was excited to get the chance to talk with members of their credit team for today’s longer exploration of esoteric high yield lending. I am always proselytizing the value of investor education, s this week we have a podcast first. The CoVenture team has prepared a long series of posts that correspond to our conversation and go even deeper into the topic of credit investing. You can find them in the shownotes at investorfieldguide.com/credit This is entirely differently from any conversation I’ve shared before, so I hope you learn as much as I did. Please enjoy my discussion with team CoVenture Credit. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 1:42 - (First Question) – The formation of their unique credit business 7:09 – Their advantage in seeing both the equity and credit side of their investments 10:23 – Looking at the Returnly deal as an example 14:07 – How they view these deals and are able to sustain them as long-term investments 18:09 – Their interest in payroll deduction lending 20:08 – Finding unique types of default risk 21:31 – What stands out in a platform that makes CoVenture want to take a deeper look 26:43 – Most interesting types of problem they have come across that they have yet to do a deal in 31:35 – What is going to change to make for more thoughtful underwriting of subprime lending 35:51 – Major structures of asset backed lending 39:49 – Whether the home serves as an interesting playground for credit opportunities and whether people will own anything again 42:44 – Mark’s experience working at a huge firm vs his experience at CoVenture 44:31 – How does the current credit cycle impact their view 47:04 – Lending against bitcoin 50:06 – Who is interested in these loans against bitcoin 50:57 – How to set interest rates against a weird asset like this 53:00 – What are the key determents of success in this business 1:02:27 – Kindest thing anyone has team for the team 1:03:52 – How to treat people that you pass on Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag

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Trail Magic - Lessons from Two Years of the Podcast [Invest Like the Best, EP.104]

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 18, 2018 11:13

(0:49) This week, to mark the two-year anniversary of the podcast, I offer a quick summary looking back and forward. (0:55) Yesterday I heard about an Appalachian Trail thru hiker named Croatoan, or Crow for short. Crow was his trail name, which all A.T. thru hikers carry. Importantly, you can’t give yourself a trail name. Someone else has to name you along the way. Crow’s girlfriend was named Porridge. Another hiker he encountered along the way was named Bear Wrestler…more on him in a few minutes. Crow was a Sobo, a south bound hiker heading from Maine to Georgia. This is a far more unique route, as most thru hikers are Nobos, hiking north. These hikers maintain a rich culture. Each wears their own trail flare, and has their own trail style. They are obsessed with their gear and food. They develop their own improved walking method to cover ground efficiently. Hikers typically won’t veer far off course, no more than a tenth of a mile, for almost any reason. Crow once left a meaningful gift he had received by a river bed, realized it two tenths of a mile later, and just kept moving. Two exception to this rule are to visit a brewery or find some homemade ice cream. (1:50) There are different types of thru hikers. White blazers are hikers who follow the main trail, lit by the famous white blazes marking the way. Blue blazers often go a step further, exploring side trails in addition to the main trail. Green blazers smoke weed the whole time. There are other colorful ones I’ll stay away from here as they aren’t safe for work. Apparently you can spot an imposter in a number of ways. My favorite was that anyone wearing big, sturdy hiking books should be questioned, because most thru hikers realize quickly that they are way too heavy and opt instead for lightweight shoes. Crow had a nice pair of Altras. (2:22) This brings us back to Bear Wrestler. Around a campfire, Bear Wrestler was telling Crow and his girlfriend all about his long trail adventures and feats, but Crow noticed that Bear Wrestler was still chubby, carrying 40 pounds of fat. This is a second way to spot a potential imposter. When hiking intensely for months on end, it is impossible to keep any weight on, so Bear Wrestler was clearly a yellow blazer, a type of hiker who drives between trail heads instead of hiking the entire way like the purists. As I heard about Crow and his adventure, I was thinking about what to say in this short episode about what I’ve learned across two years running this podcast. What I quickly realized is how many yellow blazers there are in the world, and that at many times in my life, I too have been a yellow blazer—opting for easier but less authentic, and less interesting, routes. The podcast is part of a portfolio of things that I’ve put in place in my life to try to avoid being a yellow blazer. To instead push myself to be more like a blue blazer, exploring anywhere I can. (3:16) Looking back on the incredible guests I’ve had, I realize now the common mindset that unites them, and I’d like to highlight that mindset here. Even though my guests have come from just about every conceivable background, investing and otherwise, they are all in persistent and consistent pursuit of original experience. Now, that might sound obvious, but its rare to meet people whose default is to chase original experience. These people stand out quickly now to me, because I can recognize freshness in them, patterns I haven’t already seen 10 other times elsewhere. I now think often: am I doing this because its conventional, and/or because I’m watching what other people do? I think if you do the same exercise, you’ll be alarmed by how often the answer is “yes.” Diving a bit deeper into these people and what unites so many of my past guests, there are four elements that I see over and over again. (4:01) The first is common trait is deep curiosity. My take on curiosity after meeting all these people is that it works best in two ways: through building units of exploration, and through embracing strange intersections. When people ask me what I do, I’ll sometimes just list the actual things I do, instead of a job title. So I say, I read books, papers, and articles. I run tests on data, using many of the same scripts and tools. I have tons of individual conversations with people in nooks and crannies of the investing world. I talk to clients and prospects. I write letters and white papers. These are my units of exploration, and I expect that I’ll keep repeating each of them forever. I have no clue where that might lead, but I’m confident that through curiosity fueled repetition, I’ll find good things. My close friend and most frequent podcast guest Brent Beshore has looked through 12,000 business deals. Talk about repetitions. I think curiosity, and the interesting investing opportunities it creates, is just a set of habits. Finding the right habits, the right units, is a great start. I also often see what I call strange intersections. Picture a Venn diagram with tiny, but interesting, overlap. Some of the most intriguing things I’ve learned about live in these strange intersections. Ali Hamed and Savneet Singh, who are partners at a firm called CoVenture, have found interesting overlap between the worlds of lending, technology, and old world business. Whether it be shoe returns online or watermelons, they’ve found unique ways to lend at high rates on unique platforms enabled by technology. I often see people using seemingly unrelated interested, ideas, or strategies together to produce something different. I encourage everyone to think about strange ways of combining their areas of expertise and interest. (5:40) The second common trait is persistence through randomness. Sometimes when I talk with people about the importance of curiosity, they say it sounds too easy and fun. The good news for the skeptics is that more often than not, its not fun, it is a total slog. When I looked back recently, I found that I only finish about 1 in 7 books that I start. Even most that I finish aren’t great. Put differently, I read an incredible amount of mediocre books to find just one book that makes a difference. This happens everywhere. The vast majority of data and ideas that we investigate at O’Shaughnessy Asset Management go nowhere at all. I think most people will agree that the journey of discovery is often tedious, filled with dead ends, and above all random. My favorite example of this persistence through randomness was my conversation with Josh Wolfe, which I recommend in its entirety. One of my favorite phrases picked up in the past two years is the Shangaan phrase Hi Ta Xi Uma, which I learned from Reinius Mflongo, one of the top trackers in Africa. It means “we will find it,” and Reinius will keep muttering it when he loses a track and struggles to find the next one. Everything is hard, and usually much harder than we can fathom. All the best people I’ve met through the podcast just don’t let that stop them. They also seem to develop an awareness of this constant difficulty and just become used to it. (6:55) This second trait, persistence through randomness, is perhaps my favorite way to test for yellow blazers. There are many people in the world of business and investing who can talk extremely well. But if you keep peeling back the onion, asking more and more specific questions of a yellow blazer, you’ll find nothing original. But when you do hit on something, several layers down, that you’ve never heard before, that to me is a mark of persistent inquiry. That’s the kind of people I’m after. (7:21) The third common trait is risk management. It is tempting to view uncertainty as a sort of risk, but I think that is a large mistake. All the good stuff is found in places that haven’t been mapped already. In fact, to take the idea of original experience a step further, what is common across the best people I’ve met is not just having the experiences, but then bringing some sort of order to the chaos they found in uncertainty. This isn’t risk, in my opinion. If anything, not seeking out chaos is what’s risky. But then there are the conceivable risks: things that could go wrong that we can list ahead of time. On this front, guests were often very thoughtful: developing plans to be deployed when specific risk scenarios play out. I loved Mike Zapata’s story about the darkest night. He and his SEAL team would prepare and practice every tiny detail of a mission, creating plans for all risks, then wait to attack on the darkest night they could, because even though the conditions were hardest in the dark, their preparation and risk mitigation would shine in that difficult environment. More specific to investing, many of my guests have a clear focus on downside risk protection. Several people have told me that there are common ways that things go wrong, but many more unknowable reasons things go right. So instead of trying to predict what will work, focus on avoiding the common pitfalls. My favorite example again came in Africa, being told 100 times to not run when lions charged us. It is a common and known risk factor (each of our guides had been charged more than 50 times), but one that was easily mitigated. If you don’t run, the lion will stop short and maul and eat you. You just have to have that lesson beat into your brain a hundred times ahead of time because the basic instinct, as is so often the case with investing, is to run. (8:57) For the fourth common trait, we return to our thru hiker Crow one last time. I heard Crow’s story from my friend Bill, who picked up Crow hitchhiking to give him a quick ride into town. Bill offered to buy Crow dinner. He accepted with a huge smile, telling Bill “wow, that is some real trail magic right there.” Trail magic is my favorite piece of lingo in the thru hiking culture. Hikers tell endless stories about trail magic, which is what they call the acts of kindness and goodwill bestowed upon them by strangers along their journey. Food, shelter, a quick lift, a homemade cookie. Consider how incredibly positive sum trail magic is. The givers and the receivers of the magic both come out ahead. Despite all I’ve learned about business and investing over these two years, my favorite question to ask is still my final one in each episode, about acts of kindness. Getting to hear more than 100 stories of kindness from these people has been the highlight for me, and the best lesson. (9:49) Summed up, what I’ve learned from these people is to follow your own way, always. Figure out the right units of exploration, embrace strange intersections, and carefully consider what could go wrong. Rest when you need it, be dogged and aggressive when the situation calls for it, but just keep going. Do it all with respect for others and as much trail magic as you can muster. Thanks to all the great people I’ve had on the show, and thanks to you for listening for these two years, I promise to keep this discovery process going in some way, shape, or form forever. Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag

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Fintech Fridays: Ali Hamed on Lending, Crypto and Venture Capital

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2018 72:58

Erik and co-host for this episode Ash Fontana (@ashfontana) of Zetta Venture Partners interview Ali Hamed (@AliBHamed), investor at CoVenture.Ali gives us a primer on the online lending space and compares and contrasts it to offline lending. He explains why payday lenders with astronomical APRs actually have small margins. He also talks about how government can improve the regulatory environment to allow for more disruption of traditional lending and help new companies get a foothold.They talk about crypto and whether people will be making loans against Bitcoin anytime soon as well as the idea of personal ICOs and why Ali thinks they are a bad idea.The trio finish with a rapid-fire round where Erik names a venture firm and Ali talks about what he thinks that company should do in the future. Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global and is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg. Colin Campbell is our audio engineer and the show is produced by Brett Bolkowy.

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Fintech Fridays: Ali Hamed on Lending, Crypto and Venture Capital

Equity Mates Investing Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2018 72:58

Erik and co-host for this episode Ash Fontana (@ashfontana) of Zetta Venture Partners interview Ali Hamed (@AliBHamed), investor at CoVenture.Ali gives us a primer on the online lending space and compares and contrasts it to offline lending. He explains why payday lenders with astronomical APRs actually have small margins. He also talks about how government can improve the regulatory environment to allow for more disruption of traditional lending and help new companies get a foothold.They talk about crypto and whether people will be making loans against Bitcoin anytime soon as well as the idea of personal ICOs and why Ali thinks they are a bad idea.The trio finish with a rapid-fire round where Erik names a venture firm and Ali talks about what he thinks that company should do in the future. Thanks for listening — if you like what you hear, please review us on your favorite podcast platform. Check us out on the web at villageglobal.vc or get in touch with us on Twitter @villageglobal.Venture Stories is brought to you by Village Global and is hosted by co-founder and partner, Erik Torenberg. Colin Campbell is our audio engineer and the show is produced by Brett Bolkowy.

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Expert Investor: Ali Hamed - Thinking Differently & The Wisdom Of Youth

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2018 78:42

Ali Hamed is a name you may not be familiar with yet, but we're betting you will be. At just 26 years old, Ali is not only a co-founder of CoVenture - a firm that invests pre-seed venture capital, provides unconventional debt financing and manages a cryptocurrency index - but is also one of the clearest thinkers we've come across in our time at Equity Mates. We heard a couple of interviews Ali had done and were taken by the way he thought and his ability to express his insights clearly. From why the 2 hour movie is dead, to the practical utility of crypto, we think you'll enjoy this one. In this episode you will learn: • Why Ali thinks the 2 hour movie is the modern day Shakespearean sonnet. • Ali's personal journey; from baseball scholarship, to sleeping on a park bench, to co-founding CoVenture. • One thing all company founders should remember when pitching to investors. • Any companies that Ali regrets passing on. • Why CoVenture looks for unpriced assets rather than mispriced assets. • The story of the creation of fiat currency (government-backed currency) and how that helps us think about cryptocurrency. • Why Ali is more bullish on bitcoin than the blockchain. • Some companies that may benefit from embracing crypto. • How Ali would value a digital account - like Instagram, AirBnB etc. • Why you should only consume media you pay for. • What keeps Ali up at night Stocks and Resources discussed: • CoVenture website • Books (click the title for more information): • Lords of Finance • The Fountainhead • The Power of One • East of Eden • The Unbanking of America • Ali's Twitter

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How to become a VC - Ali Hamed

Moving Up

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2018 35:59

Ali discusses his scrappy and creative start to becoming a venture capitalist. The steps he took and his advice on how to become a vc without working for one. How to have others network on your behalf and a little on crypto investing at the end.

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Nikhil Kalghatgi – Moonshot Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.82]

What Got You There with Sean DeLaney

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2018 82:18

My guest this week helps me complete the first trilogy of guests on the podcast. His name is Nikhil Kalghatgi. Along with past guests Ali Hamed and Savneet Singh, Nikhil is a partner at the asset management firm CoVenture. If you liked those two conversations, you will love this one—it is somehow even more wide-ranging than the first two. Nikhil is the CEO of CoVenture Crypto, but he ended up there because of an overarching investing style that he calls moonshot investing, which we explore right from the start and in great detail. He is obsessed with productivity and happiness, and we spend a long time on those topics. One of the most interesting experiments I’ve heard about on the podcast is his Happiness project, for which he interviewed more than 100 of the wealthiest people in the world. The lessons he gleaned from those conversations are very helpful, and I won’t soon forget the lesson related to sacrifice. We also discuss asteroid mining, networking, shared experience, and philosophy. Oh and crypto currencies. Nikhil’s take on crypto has always been refreshing to me. In fact the first time I met him he was throwing cold water on a room full of enthusiastic crypto investors. Within crypto we discuss business opportunities, mining, and how new retail and institutional capital will affect the asset class. Hash Power is presented by Fidelity Investments. Please enjoy this sparkling conversation with Nikhil Kalghatgi. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Show Notes 2:42 – (First Question) – What moonshot investing is 4:41 – Creating sustainable differential investment advantage 9:30 – Assessing the market for moonshots 12:15 – Types of people suited for moonshots 13:42 – The Happiness Project 17:45 – Commonalities among successful people 25:15 – The importance of humor in life 17:16 – Recipe for a good joke 28:00 – The night Patrick and Nikhil met 29:17 – His perspective on the world of venture capital 33:26 – What did Nikhil learn from his time at SoftBank 34:52 – Craziest thing Nikhil has done 40:27 – What he took away from his time in military intelligence 46:10 – The idea of manufactured serendipity 47:13 – Nikhil’s approach to investing in cryptocurrency and what he finds interesting about it 53:23 – How Nikhil reconciles the excitement of crypto with the lack of tangible asset 58:10– The timeline of retail and institutional investors becoming more involved in crypto 1:02:43– Exploring their liquidity strategy 1:04:10 – What happens if regulators shut down the cryptomarkets 1:09:48– The role of miners in crypto and how that might change moving forward 1:10:43 – What is the frontier of crypto mining 1:12:31 – What’s the most compelling rabbit hole in crypto 1:16:23 – How would the original creators of crypto currency feel about the current state of the market 1:20:01 – What Nikhil sees as the value proposition for the whole ecosystem. 1:21:00 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Nikhil Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag

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#58 Ali Hamed- Managing Partner at CoVenture

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2018 52:57

Ali Hamed is a managing partner and co-founder of CoVenture, a firm that invests $30,000 of software into pre-seed tech startups before helping them raise their first round of financing. Before that he did consulting for government, both International and domestic firms and co-founded a startup aimed at making the news easier to read. Ali is also a co-founder of the PopShop, a communal working space for Cornell University students based out of Ithaca, NY. http://whatgotyouthere.com/ 15% off Four Sigmatic with discount code "WGYT" http://foursigmatic.com/wgyt Free 30 day Audible Trial- http://www.audibletrial.com/WhatGotYouThere Sunniva Super Coffee- Use discount code WGYT for 20% off your order!- www.drinksupercoffee.com https://coventure.vc/ Twitter- https://twitter.com/AliBHamed Medium- https://medium.com/@alibhamed LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/alihamed/ Sean DeLaney Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/seandelaney23/ Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/whatgotyouthere/ Twitter- https://twitter.com/SeanDeLaney23 Intro/Outro music by Justin Great- http://justingreat.com/ Audio Engineer- Brian Lapres

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Savneet Singh - The Berkshire of Software - [Invest Like the Best, EP.79]

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 6, 2018 79:18

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. 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. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced Ali Hamed podcast episolde The VERY simple bear case for bitcoin Owl Mountain 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 Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag

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Ali Hamed - Novel Asset Investing (Capital Allocators, EP.40)

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 19, 2018 63:04

Ali Hamed is the co-founder of CoVenture and Managing Partner of the CoVenture VC Fund. CoVenture is an innovative company that identifies and invests in novel assets formed by the intersection of technology and finance. The firm manages an early stage venture capital fund, direct lending fund, and crypto asset index fund, with each taking a creative twist on its market. Our conversation starts with Ali’s entrepreneurial path to the creation of CoVenture, and covers examples of previously unpriced investment opportunities, including produce receivables, employee payroll loans, AirBnB accounts, and loans against employee stock options. We walk through the world of crypto assets and the state of the venture capital industry. Ali’s fresh lens on the world offers a fascinating perspective on every aspect of early stage investing. If I didn’t say it in advance, you’ll be astounded to hear that Ali is only 26 years old. He’s one to watch for the long-term. Learn More Join Ted's mailing list at CapitalAllocatorsPodcast.com Write a review on iTunes Follow Ted on twitter at @tseides For more episodes go to CapitalAllocatorsPodcast.com/Podcast Show Notes 2:22 – Ali’s background 3:09 – How Ali got the bug for startups 4:06 – His time in NY without a home and where he gained the confidence to start in the entrepreneurial space 7:35 – Why their venture business is different from so many others in the space 9:12 – How Ali turned an idea into a business 11:33 – How does Ali describe CoVenture 12:10 – An example of an ideal CoVenture investment 14:53 – The transition into a specialty lending business 19:25 – How many niche opportunities has Ali identified as a place where he could create loans 22:04 – Examples of unpriced assets 24:23 – How does Ali find unique opportunities 27:40 – What’s next on the horizon for Ali and CoVenture 28:28 – Looking at cryptocurrency and the business that Ali has built for the space 29:33 – Why did they create a cryptoasset index that was cap weighted 30:39 – Why should someone have exposure to a cryptoasset 35:23 – How does someone in the financial world get comfortable with the idea of cryptoassets 38:59 – Why Ali doesn’t invest in ICO’s 40:42 – What would an institutional cryptoasset fund look like 45:50 – How should an allocator try to address the idea of first in money in the cryptospace 50:32 – Where can someone play in the spectrum of venture investing 52:30 – What is the time horizon for venture investments 56:24 – Closing questions

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Josh Wolfe - This is Who You Are Up Against - [Invest Like the Best, EP.76]

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2018 75:27

Long-time listeners will have heard me joke before that this podcast should really be called “this is who are you up against.” I’ve been waiting for the right episode to deploy the joke as a title, and this week we have it. The joke is meant to convey how incredibly impressive these people are who we get to hear from every week. My guest this week is Josh Wolfe, a founding and managing partner at Lux Capital in New York City. Lux is a venture capital firm, but a highly unique one. They’ve spent more time in hard sciences and interesting nooks and crannies of the market than the typical VC firm. Some of investing is zero sum: my outperformance is someone else’s underperformance. Sometimes, though, investing is positive sum. The combination of capital, ideas, people, drive, and raw energy leads to amazing new things. I think the best investing and best investors of the future will be more collaborative than competitive. After finishing with Josh, I couldn’t stop thinking “god, do I want to be involved with whatever he’s doing, if only just to learn.” This conversation made me rethink my joke “this is who are you up against.” Now I won’t think of it as a zero-sum joke, but instead as a reminder: this is the kind of person who is out there. You better find your niche, and still be the absolute best you can within that niche. Please enjoy this killer conversation with Josh Wolfe. We cover just about everything. For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag Links Referenced Investing in Biofuels or Biofools? Ali Hamed podcast Alex Moazed podcast Andy Rachleff podcast Popplet @wolfejosh Books Referenced Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy World After Capital Show Notes 2:35 – (First Question) – Lux Capital and the kind of investments they have made over the years 5:42 – The formation of the investment philosophy for Lux 8:17 – Why randomness and optionality are important cornerstones to the philosophy 9:52 – Investment philosophy 100-0-100 (ambition, arrogance, intellectual humility) 10:40 – How Josh manages his time and attention 12:53 – Investing in Biofuels or Biofools? 13:29 – Obsession with nuclear 15:15 – Investment in metamaterials 18:28 – Focus on autonomous vehicles 21:02 – How all of these gambles are viewed by Josh’s investors 22:56 – Tattoo technology 24:20 – Ali Hamed podcast 24:36 – How Josh evaluates people when considering early stage investments 24:45 – Alex Moazed podcast 24:49 – Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy 28:10 – Why the minority opinion tends to lead to the best outcomes 29:50 – Memorable experience investing in a founder 30:44 – The idea of thesis driven approach to private investment 30:56 – Andy Rachleff podcast 32:38 – Crazy thesis – understanding the emotional needs of our pets 34:59 – Crazy thesis – Turning genetic abnormalities into treatments and cures for common conditions 38:03 – Josh’s learning process through these theses 38:34 – Popplet 39:56 – Understanding rebel scientists when it’s impossible to predict what is going to happen 44:35 – Can the charge forward mindset be cultivated, or does it have to come naturally 45:49 – Investors that Josh has learned the most from 47:37 – Josh’s comfort investing outside of his usual asset class 49:03 – @wolfejosh 50:56 – What is the thinking with the short strategy at Lux 52:31 – SpaceX vs Tesla, good business vs bad business 53:42 – How Josh approaches the quality of a business 54:15 – World After Capital 55:16 – How does Josh evaluate competitive advantage 56:45 – Where are we in the venture capital landscape 1:01:42 – How does his outlook on venture capital affect the way Lux is run 1:02:48 – thoughts on cryptocurrency 1:05:28 – An overview of Santa Fe Institute 1:07:22 – What is the most memorable conversation Josh has ever had 1:09:34 – What is Josh’s objective function in life 1:12:43 – Are there people that Josh disagrees with but deeply respects 1:13:32 – Kindest thing anyone has ever done for Josh Learn More For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag

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Ali Hamed – Creative Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.71]