Podcast appearances and mentions of Charlie Munger

Why do organizations lose their spirit?It happens to startups. It happens to family businesses. It happens to Fortune 500 companies. It happens to institutions that once seemed unstoppable.In this solo episode, Jay Doran explores one of the most important questions in business, leadership, and culture: what causes an organization to lose the very thing that made it special in the first place? Drawing from organizational psychology, leadership theory, business history, family enterprise dynamics, and cultural philosophy, Jay examines the invisible forces that shape organizations over time. He explores how founders influence culture, why values must be codified before they disappear, and how the transition from founder-led organizations to future generations often determines whether a company thrives or declines. Topics explored in this episode include:Why every organization eventually faces a loss of spiritThe relationship between founders and organizational identityHow culture survives after leadership transitionsLessons from Sam Walton, Walmart, Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, and Berkshire HathawayWhy values matter more than policiesThe role of stewardship versus leadershipThe tension between preserving a legacy and creating the futureHow organizations become bureaucratic, disconnected, or stagnantWhy culture is ultimately carried through people, not documentsThe importance of codifying beliefs before they disappearJay also explores the idea that culture is not something an organization possesses. Culture is something people create, maintain, transmit, and reinvent through their behaviors, relationships, stories, rituals, and decisions. When those feedback loops weaken, the spirit of the organization begins to fade. At the heart of this conversation is a powerful realization:Organizations themselves are not the spirit.People are.The spirit exists in the space between leaders and teams, employees and customers, institutions and society. The challenge is not preventing change. The challenge is carrying forward what matters most while continuing to evolve. If you've ever wondered why some organizations endure for generations while others lose their identity along the way, this episode offers a deeper framework for understanding the invisible forces that shape every culture. 

I first heard of Guy Spier at Charlie Munger's Daily Journal meeting. I was sitting in the audience when a friend pointed to the silhouette of a man walking away from us and whispered, "That's Guy Spier." I had no idea who Guy was, but what struck me was the respect and deference in my friend's tone when he said Guy's name. I made a mental note to meet Guy when I got a chance. The post Guy and I – Ep 294 appeared first on The Intellectual Investor - Value Investing by Vitaliy Katsenelson.

If you've been saying you want to buy a business for years, your next move is HERE. Get your ticket to Main Street Millionaire Live and learn how to find deals, evaluate them, finance them, and own the upside: http://info.contrarianthinking.co/msmlbig-dealAlready a business owner? Growth Boardroom is where established owners tap in to a real board of advisors to find profit levers to find hidden cash their businesses. Check it out: https://contrarianthinking.biz/bdbrThe best investors in the world aren't gambling. They're copying. They're patient. And they're finding asymmetric bets where the downside is capped and the upside is unlimited.Mohnish Pabrai is a legendary investor who turned $1 million into $14 million in five years by openly copying Warren Buffett's playbook, and now manages $1.4 billion using the exact same principles that built Berkshire Hathaway. No secret formulas. No complex algorithms. Just discipline, patience, and the willingness to look for weird things that make no sense.In this episode, you'll learn:* Why you don't need original ideas to make money and how shameless cloning beats innovation every time* The 10 bet rule: why concentrating your investments in a few great businesses outperforms diversification by 10x* Why selling too early is the biggest mistake investors make* The downside protection framework: how to structure bets where you can't lose more than 10% but could gain 100x* Why most people fail at investing because they chase what's popular instead of looking for anomalies that make no sense ___________ (00:00:00) Introduction: Never Sell Your Winners Too Early (00:00:34) The Laws of Investing: Why Buffett Wrote the Physics of Money (00:01:04) Spend Less Than You Earn: The Nonlinear Power of Compounding (00:02:02) The 168 Hour Week: Don't Quit Your Job, Build Your Side Venture (00:03:46) Entrepreneurs Don't Take Risk: The Upside Without Downside Framework (00:08:12) Selling Skills and Unique Value Propositions: The Only Two Things That Matter (00:09:58) Shameless Cloning: Why Original Ideas Are Overrated (00:15:43) The 650K Lunch: How Warren Buffett Led to a Friendship with Charlie Munger (00:18:12) From One Million to Fourteen Million in Five Years: The Buffett Approach in Action (00:23:51) If Wealth Is Lost, Nothing Is Lost: Surviving 2008 and the Character Test (00:26:08) Finding 100-Bagger Investments: The Turkish Company That Went 100X (00:27:11) When to Sell: Only When It's Egregiously Overpriced (00:29:59) Looking for Anomalies: The Mental Model for Total No-Brainers (00:31:57) The Level 3 Communications Bet: Tripling Money on Fixed Income (00:36:31) Pokemon Cards and Rembrandts: Understanding Asset Classes and Circular Competence (00:41:30) The Truth Framework: Why Lying Weakens You and Honesty Creates Strength (00:47:26) Screening CEOs: The Competitor Question That Reveals Everything (00:49:35) A Day in the Life: Managing 1.4 Billion with Four People (00:52:57) Warren's Pinball Business: The Blueprint for Finding Great Business Models (00:55:58) Ambitious But Lazy: The Filter for Two-by-Four Business Opportunities ___________ MORE FROM BIGDEAL

David Leiter, author of Stop Making Stupid Investments and founder of The Ultimate Investor, joins Travis to share lessons from more than 30 years of investing in stocks and multifamily real estate. After experiencing both financial success and painful investment mistakes, David developed a disciplined approach inspired by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. In this conversation, he breaks down the difference between productive and speculative assets, explains why so many investors lose money chasing trends, and shares timeless principles that can help everyday investors build lasting wealth. On this episode we talk about: David's journey from going broke to building wealth through real estate investing Lessons learned from working at Credit Suisse during the dot-com bubble The difference between productive and unproductive assets Why investors repeatedly lose money chasing hot trends and market hype Practical investing principles inspired by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger Top 3 Takeaways Successful investing starts with understanding the value of an asset, not simply following price movements or market excitement. Productive assets—such as businesses and income-producing real estate—create wealth because they generate cash flow and earnings over time. The best investors learn to be contrarian, buying quality assets when others are fearful rather than chasing opportunities when everyone is excited. Notable Quotes "If you do something right, you've done the work, potentially it pays you forever." "The biggest problem is time. Every mistake delays the power of compounding." "Communication, marketing, and investing are three of the most important skills you can learn." Connect with David Leiter: Website: TheUltimateInvestor.com YouTube: The Ultimate Investor Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_ultimate_investor/ Book: Stop Making Stupid Investments A Word from Our Sponsors: Today's episode is brought to you by our incredible sponsors whose support makes these conversations possible. Be sure to check out the products and services featured below and support the companies that help bring valuable financial education and entrepreneurial insights to the Travis Makes Money audience. - Are you ready to start your own creatorjourney and make it big? Visitwww.fanvue.com today and launch yourcareer! - To learn more about Mode Mobile and its investor community, go to https://invest.modemobile.com/travismakesmoney -Travis Makes Money is made possible by High Level – the All-In-One Sales & Marketing Platform built for agencies, by an agency.Capture leads, nurture them, and close more deals—all from one powerful platform.Get an extended free trial at gohighlevel.com/travis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most people do not fail because they are stupid, lazy, or untalented. They fail because they repeatedly do the things that make success almost impossible, then act surprised when life gives them the receipt. In this episode, Blaine flips the usual success advice on its head and lays out the failure playbook. If you want to ruin your business, waste your talent, and stay stuck, be inconsistent, unreliable, full of excuses, allergic to hard conversations, addicted to busyness, and more committed to protecting your ego than improving your life. Inspired by Charlie Munger's idea of inversion, this episode looks at success from the opposite direction. Instead of asking, "How do I win?" the better question might be, "What am I doing that guarantees I lose?" This one is sarcastic, direct, and probably uncomfortable. Good. That means it might actually be useful.

Building wealth is just one piece of the puzzle to living a fulfilling life, but aligning purpose with financial success creates a powerful blueprint for long-term happiness. In this episode, William Green shares strategies and mindset shifts that can help you achieve not just financial freedom, but a meaningful, balanced life. He dives into how to create wealth while staying true to your values, navigating challenges, and ultimately building a life that reflects your true passions. Tune in to hear about the importance of living intentionally, making decisions with purpose, and using wealth as a tool to fuel your bigger vision for the future. In this episode, Darius and William will discuss: (00:00) The Power of Connection and Enlightenment (02:52) Impermanence and the Pursuit of Happiness (05:59) Balancing Complexity and Simplicity in Life (08:52) Creating Impact and Building Relationships (11:51) Navigating Life's Buckets and Non-Negotiables (15:04) Destination Analysis: Long-Term Thinking for a Beautiful Life (31:21) Investing in Peace of Mind (34:20) Navigating Life's Complexities with Kindness (37:05) A Memorable Encounter with Charlie Munger (46:55) Lessons from Charlie Munger on Ethics and Success (52:35) The Journey of Redefining Success and Wealth William Green is the author of “Richer, Wiser, Happier: How the World's Greatest Investors Win in Markets and Life,” a bestselling book translated into 26 languages and ranked #1 on Goodreads' “Top 100 Most Popular Investing Books.” Drawing on decades of interviews with legendary investors like Charlie Munger and Peter Lynch, the book offers deep insights into their strategies and successes. William also hosts the Richer, Wiser, Happier podcast, featuring top investors and thinkers, with episodes on the popular We Study Billionaires network. Connect with William:  Website: https://williamgreenwrites.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-green-richerwiserhappier  Twitter: https://x.com/williamgreen72  Podcast: https://www.theinvestorspodcast.com/richer-wiser-happier/  Connect with Darius: Website: https://therealdarius.com/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dariusmirshahzadeh/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imthedarius/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Thegreatnessmachine  Book: The Core Value Equation https://www.amazon.com/Core-Value-Equation-Framework-Limitless/dp/1544506708 Write a review for The Greatness Machine using this link: https://ratethispodcast.com/spreadinggreatness.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BAIXE O E-BOOK "OS 12 PRINCÍPIOS DE WARREN BUFFETT" GRATUITO: https://lp.mmakers.com.br/jeito-warren-buffet-de-investir/?xpromo=MI-YT-BANNER-X-20260607-QRCODEEBOOKWARRENBUFFETT-MM-XWarren Buffett é tratado por muitos como o maior investidor de todos os tempos. Mas será que todo mundo deveria tentar copiar Buffett?Neste episódio do Market Makers, Thiago Salomão e Matheus Soares recebem Frederico Vontobel para uma conversa profunda sobre Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Munger, Benjamin Graham, value investing, juros compostos e as grandes lições — positivas e negativas — da vida do Oráculo de Omaha.Mais do que uma homenagem, este episódio mostra o Buffett completo: o investidor genial, o alocador de capital extraordinário, o homem obsessivo, os erros pessoais, a relação com a família e os princípios que fizeram a Berkshire se tornar uma das maiores histórias de geração de valor do capitalismo.Neste episódio, você vai entender:-Como Warren Buffett começou a ganhar dinheiro ainda criança.-Por que ele era fascinado por números, jornais, Coca-Cola e fluxo de caixa.-Como Benjamin Graham moldou a cabeça de Buffett.-Por que Charlie Munger mudou a forma como Buffett investia.-Como a Berkshire Hathaway deixou de ser uma empresa têxtil decadente e virou uma holding gigante.-O que os casos Coca-Cola, Apple, American Express, Washington Post e Salomon Brothers ensinam.-O que o investidor brasileiro pode aprender com Buffett, mesmo vivendo em um país de juros altos.Acesse a mentoria gratuita de value investing com Frederico Vontobel pelo link abaixo:https://lp.mmakers.com.br/mentoria-fred-voltobel?xpromo=MI-MENT01-YT-BANNER-X-20260607-BANNERSOBREMENTORIAVONTOBEL-MM-XAbra sua conta na Binance: https://binance.onelink.me/y874/MMAkers

In this episode of The 100 Year Thinkers, Robert Hagstrom explains why modern portfolio theory pulled investors away from business analysis and toward portfolio math.We discuss Markowitz, beta, efficient markets, Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, business-driven investing, owner earnings, benchmarks, and why thinking like a business owner changes how investors understand risk.The Warren Buffett Portfolio, 25th Anniversary Editionhttps://amzn.to/4uz8sZ3Topics covered:Why Hagstrom thinks modern portfolio theory changed investing's objectiveThe difference between volatility, variance and real investment riskHow Benjamin Graham and John Burr Williams framed risk around intrinsic valueWhy beta became the dominant shorthand for riskHow the 1973-74 bear market helped institutionalize modern portfolio theoryWhy Berkshire preserved the business owner's lensThe “cathedral and casino” distinction between owning businesses and trading stocksOwner earnings, return on invested capital and cost of capitalWhy business owners often make better long-term equity investorsLook-through earnings and building a “mini Berkshire”The difference between making money and beating a benchmarkHow benchmarks can distort investor behaviorWhy knowing yourself and your clients matters in portfolio constructionMatt Zeigler and I had the privilege of hosting Robert Hagstrom for a special 100-Year Thinkers Edition of the Excess Returns Podcast.Available now on Excess Returns Podcast and Talking Billions.

You're making more money than you ever have. Your net worth on paper looks great. And yet somehow, there's still too much month left at the end of the money. Joe, OG, Paula Pant, and Jesse Cramer dig into why high earners feel financially squeezed -- and why the answer is almost never what you think it is. Spoiler: it's usually not the lattes, it's not too many accounts, and it might not even be a spending problem at all.What You'll Walk Away WithWhy lifestyle inflation doesn't feel like inflation -- it feels like deserved progress, and why that's exactly what makes it so hard to catchThe crucial difference between feeling like you didn't save enough and actually not saving enough -- and why OG's take on this is the most useful thing in the episodePaula's one big fixed cost audit: why making a single large decision beats constantly making small DoorDash decisionsWhy tracking your spending is the calorie counting of personal finance -- only useful short-term, but powerful for getting an honest snapshot before you make any changesThe paper wealth trap: why a high net worth and strong portfolio can coexist with genuinely tight monthly cashflow and why people conflate themJesse's one-line-item challenge: find one thing on last month's credit card statement you wish you hadn't spent, cut it, and see what happens to your motivationWhy OG's advice to "just decide not to feel squeezed anymore" is less dismissive than it sounds -- and the number of times the actual math completely contradicted a client's feelingsThe boats conversation: why a good financial advisor's job isn't to tell you whether to buy the boat but to show you what it costs in terms of your actual goalsWhy comparing your savings rate to the FIRE community can make you feel terrible about saving an objectively impressive amount of moneyThe goal clarity test: if you can't articulate what you're saving toward in specific, time-bound, dollar-denominated terms, the squeezed feeling probably has nothing to do with your budgetWhy This Matters NowHousing, food, and transportation costs are genuinely higher. That part is real. But for a meaningful chunk of the people who feel financially squeezed, the math and the feeling are pointing in different directions. This episode is about figuring out which one you're actually dealing with -- and what to do differently once you know.From the BasementJoe, OG, Paula Pant, and Jesse Cramer work through the Wall Street Journal's reporting on why so many Americans feel financially squeezed even at high income levels -- and whether the problem is real, psychological, or both. OG is recording from a conference adjacent to Disney World and has opinions about wood delivery, boats, and people who feel bad about saving $87,000 a year. Paula gets the giggles. The trivia competition features a man who mowed Steve Wozniak's lawn and had the license plate to prove it. OG wins with suspicious precision. Ronald Wayne, who sold his 10% of Apple for $800 twelve days after founding the company, has a worse story than anyone on this podcast.Resources MentionedFinancial Samurai -- referenced for the lifestyle inflation quote; financialsamurai.comAfford Anything podcast -- Paula Pant; Joe joins most Tuesdays for listener Q&APersonal Finance for Long-Term Investors -- Jesse Cramer; current series: 14 risks in retirement, Charlie Munger inversion framework; two-part series now completeStacking Benjamins Vault -- stackingbenjamins.com/vaultStacking Benjamins Newsletter (The 201) -- stackingbenjamins.com/201OG financial planning calendar -- stackingbenjamins.com/ogStacking Benjamins Community -- stackingbenjamins.com/basementSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Business Coaching Secrets, Karl Bryan and Rode Dog deliver a candid, tactical breakdown of real challenges and opportunities facing business coaches and entrepreneurs today—everything from the psychology of wealth to the pitfalls of amateur AI solutions, strategies for business acquisitions, and why it's not about building the biggest business, but creating the best life. Listeners get a rapid-fire, insight-packed session including practical frameworks, mental hacks, key investing decisions, and mindset shifts for riding new technology and economic waves. Key Topics Covered The Danger and Opportunity of "Enough" and Respect Karl explores how true respect in business comes not from building a massive company, but from building and keeping wealth—with a warning against letting ego and the endless chase for "more" derail your happiness or health. Old and rich is rare; sustainable, strategic growth is what matters (03:24). Investing Strategies: 401k vs. Private Investments A stark look at the limitations of locking your money into traditional retirement vehicles like 401ks, why private investments and business ownership offer more flexibility and upside, and a reminder that taxes are (and will remain) your biggest expense (06:11). Should You Start or Buy a Business? Karl offers a data-driven analysis: most new businesses fail in the first two years, but acquiring an existing, five-year-old business helps you "hop over" that danger zone. He likens acquisition strategies of icons like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg to the smart moves coaches and their clients should consider today (08:09). Billionaire Mindsets: Ownership, Leverage, and Trends Billionaires use other people's money, time, and abilities; they don't repeat the "if you want it done right, do it yourself" mantra. They build businesses for the long haul, where they could sell, but don't want to. The savvy play is to spot and skate to where trends—like AI—are going (11:07). AI: Gold Rush and Landmines The duo discusses how AI is reshaping business at breakneck speed. While pros create game-changing platforms, most small business owners risk costly mistakes by using amateurs—leading to a looming "clean up" industry. Big opportunity for coaches who can help clients navigate AI safely, but also major risks in legal, health, and finance fields if things go wrong (13:14). Jobs, AI, and The Future of Work Drawing on history's take on disruptive tech (tractors, the internet, even frozen food!), Karl predicts AI will ultimately create more jobs than it destroys—as routine roles get eliminated, new high-value ones will emerge. Optimism, adaptability, and learning new skills are key (18:13). The Real Problem with Taxing Billionaires Tax rich people? They move. But the bigger issue is government accountability—before arguing for higher taxes, demand better results from the billions already being collected (21:05). Mental and Wealth Hacks for Coaches and Clients Practical neuroscience: why overthinking is a trap, how your brain's "modes" influence money decisions, how to use open loops in sales, and why 1% improvement each day is the secret to transformation (25:05). Optimism, Resilience, and Using AI as YOUR Tool Karl shares how he teaches his daughter (and his clients) that AI isn't a threat if you own your learning and approach. If you improve 1% a day, AI becomes your ally—not your competitor (34:21). Notable Quotes "The ultimate respect is paid not to those who make it, but to those who make it and keep it." "Old and rich—those two words seldom come together." "Billionaires use other people's money, other people's time, and other people's abilities." "AI is the wild west right now; a big opportunity is coming for professionals to clean up all the amateur AI messes." "Overthinking is like running a mental race with no finish line—you feel like you're moving but you get nowhere." "Your brain isn't a system to try and control. It's a system to learn to understand and manipulate in your favor." Actionable Takeaways • Define Your Finish Line: Don't just chase "more"—get clear on what you actually want, set boundaries on the size and shape of your business and life. • Question Conventional Investing: Don't lock up all wealth in 401ks; get financially literate about taxes, private investing, business, and real estate. • Consider Acquisitions Over Startups: For many coaches and business owners, buying a proven business is lower risk and can accelerate growth compared to starting from scratch. • Use AI Wisely—But Hire Pros: Encourage clients to leverage AI, but only with qualified, professional support—especially in regulated or high-risk spaces. • Embrace Optimism and Consistent Learning: Adopt an optimistic mindset about technology and economic shifts; reinforce that 1% improvement per day (over a year) yields massive cumulative growth. • Leverage Open Loops in Sales: Use curiosity and anticipation to drive sales conversations. Open loops keep prospects engaged and create desire for your solutions. • Trust Neuroplasticity: It's never too late for you—or your client—to learn new skills, increase organization, and rewire for success. Resources Mentioned Profit Acceleration Software™ (by Karl Bryan) A tool to help coaches instantly demonstrate real ROI to clients. Focused.com Access daily emails loaded with business coaching strategies, frameworks, and client wins. Business networking and acquisition trends Recommendations to look for "Silver Tsunami" opportunities—buying businesses from retiring owners. Books/Frameworks References to thinking like billionaires (using leverage), and embracing frameworks from Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett, and Jeff Bezos. If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe, share with a fellow coach, and leave a review. See you next week on Business Coaching Secrets! Ready to elevate your coaching business? Don't wait! Listen to this episode now and take action. Visit Focused.com for Profit Acceleration Software™ and join our thriving community of business coaches. Get a demo at https://go.focused.com/profit-acceleration

Dans ce troisième épisode, nous élargissons toujours plus notre sagesse avec les grands comme: Ray Dalio, Charlie Munger, Albert Einstein, John Maynard Keynes et plusieurs autres…Apprenez à concilier agressivité et prudence, à bien planifier vos entrées et vos plans de sortie; à prendre de meilleures décisions. ------------------------------------------------------DIVULGATION DE RISQUE La négociation d'actions, Forex ou tout autre produit financier comporte un niveau de risque élevé et peut ne pas convenir à tous les investisseurs. Les performances passées ne représentent pas les résultats futurs. Le degré élevé d'effet de levier peut être profitable et aussi vous nuire. Avant de décider d'investir, vous devez examiner attentivement vos objectifs d'investissement, votre niveau d'expérience et votre appétit pour le risque.  La possibilité existe que vous puissiez subir une perte de tout ou d'une partie importante de votre investissement initial et donc vous ne devriez pas investir de l'argent que vous ne pouvez pas vous permettre de perdre. Vous devez être conscient de tous les risques associés aux opérations boursières et demander un avis à un conseiller financier indépendant si vous avez des doutes.   Le contenu de ce podcast est à titre informatif et éducatif seulement et n'est pas et ne doit pas être interprété comme un conseil professionnel, financier, d'investissement, fiscal ou juridique. D*TRADING ne peut être retenu responsable de pertes financières dues aux décisions personnelles du client.  #bourse #investissement #trading #finance #argent #investir #libertefinanciere #investisseur #trader #actions #business #stockmarket #motivation #bitcoin #independancefinanciere #stocks #forex #titre #epargne #formation #formationboursiere #marchesfinanciers #daytrading #swingtrading #tradingview #investissementlongterme #apprendre #Patrick Gaulin #François Joly-Dubois #Michel VillaHébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

You boxed up your FBA shipment, sent it in, and now your inventory is just sitting there. A sale, then nothing for three days, then maybe another a few days later. Your gut says drop the price. Your gut is wrong.   In this episode, Brian and Robin Joy close out the three-part Seller's Secret Edge series by unpacking the two advantages most resellers never learn to see. First, the Panic Window: the stretch between when your inventory goes active and when it's actually deliverable, where sellers tank their own prices on units that haven't even arrived, then wait two-plus weeks to get paid the same as everyone who held firm. Then the Sweet Spot, backed by Brian's analysis of 7,500 sourced ASINs.   Why a product with a two-week delivery date was never going to sell, no matter the price. Why the stadium hot dog costs eight bucks and nobody walks out to the grocery store. Why historical price movement clusters at the low end of the velocity curve, and what regional buy box spread is really telling you. And the number that reframes everything: roughly 19% of sub-velocity ASINs source profitable right out of the gate, versus 7% above a thousand units a month, the exact band most sellers are taught to chase.   It's not about chasing the fastest mover. It's about stacking the deck so you don't get stuck holding inventory that won't turn.   "The big money is not in the buying and the selling, but in the waiting." Charlie Munger was talking about stocks. He could've been describing the Panic Window. Let's go test more ASINs.   Special guest at the conclusion of today's show, Jeff Schick of JeffSchick.com answers the question: "If my bank statements don't show the full account number, should I switch banks?" Use coupon code "MISTAKE" to get your first month of services for only $1 with Jeff and his team!   Watch this episode on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/_gIyHe6pm0Q   Show note LINKS:   3pmercury.com/friends - The best pricing on 3pMercury software!   ProvenAmazonCourse.com - The comprehensive course that contains ALL our Amazon training modules, recorded events and a steady stream of latest cutting edge training including of course the most popular starting point, the REPLENS selling model. The PAC is updated free for life!   SilentJim.com/kickstart - If you want a shortcut to learning all you need to get started, then get the Proven Amazon Course and go through Kickstart.   TheProvenConference.com - Learn more about our upcoming August 2026 event! The longest running annual event for Amazon sellers in the world!   SilentSalesMachine.com - Text the word "free" to 507-800-0090 to get a free copy of Jim's latest book in audio about building multiple income streams online (US only) or visit SilentJim.com/free11   SilentJim.com/bookacall - Schedule a FREE, customized and insightful consultation with my team or me (Jim) to discuss your e-commerce goals and options.   My Silent Team Facebook group. 100% FREE! Facebook.com/groups/mysilentteam - Join 83,000 + Facebook members from around the world who are using the internet creatively every day to launch and grow multiple income streams through our exciting PROVEN strategies! There's no support community like this one anywhere else in the world!    

Every playbook, every case study, every innovation workshop is built on the same question: how do you succeed? You map the path forward. You model the upside. Nobody teaches you to ask the harder question. How would you guarantee this fails? That's inversion thinking. Charlie Munger called it one of the most useful tools he had, and he used it for sixty years. Most innovators know the quote. Almost none of them actually use it. By the end of this episode, you'll know why that gap exists, what it costs, and the exact steps to close it. If you want to try this on a real decision right away, I've built a free tool for it. Link below. I'll come back to it later in the episode. What Is Inversion Thinking? Inversion thinking is the practice of reasoning backward from failure. Instead of starting with "what does success look like and how do I get there," you start with "what would guarantee this fails" and design those conditions out of the plan. You'll also hear it called thinking backwards, and when it's aimed at a project before launch, a pre-mortem. Munger's rule was three words: invert, always invert. Or, in his blunter version, "All I want to know is where I'm going to die, so I'll never go there." People hear this and think pessimism. It isn't. A pessimist names the failure and stops there. Inversion names the failure and uses it to redirect the plan, while the fix is still cheap. HP Invented the Category. Then Gave It Away. In 2005, HP built Halo. It was the best telepresence system in the world. You walked into a Halo room and the people on the other end looked like they were sitting across the table from you. Life-sized. Perfect audio. Nobody had built anything close. The team that made it was brilliant, and they believed one thing without question: quality wins. They built rooms that cost $500,000 each. They required customers to run those rooms on HP's proprietary network at a monthly cost that would make your eyes water. Every decision traced back to the same conviction. Make the experience extraordinary, and the market will come to you. Nobody in that room asked the one question that mattered. What if quality isn't what the market is buying? Because it wasn't. The market was buying access. Cisco, and then Zoom, came at the same opportunity from the opposite end. Good-enough quality, on any device, on any network, available to everyone. They understood what the Halo team never tested. In communications, reach beats quality. Every new user makes the service more valuable to everyone already on it, so the product that spreads to the most people wins, even when it looks worse. That network effect beat Halo so completely that Zoom became a verb. HP defined the category and then gave it away. In 2011, under quarterly pressure, HP sold Halo to Polycom for $89 million. In 2022, HP bought the business back, folded into Poly, for $3.3 billion. Thirty-seven times the price, to reacquire a category it had invented. The failure was visible the entire time. It lived inside one assumption nobody questioned: that quality was what the customer cared about most. An inversion exercise would have dragged it into the open. Ask "how do we guarantee Halo fails," and one honest answer was already the plan. Bet everything on quality. Price it for the few. Lock it to our own network. Leave the rest of the market wide open for a cheaper rival. No crystal ball required. Read the plan from the other side and the failure was sitting right there in it. The Three Moves Inversion runs in three moves. The first two are mechanical. The third is where the discipline lives, and where most people quit. Move One: Invert the Question Take the goal and flip it. Write your goal as one sentence. The way you'd say it to the board. "We will win the telepresence market with the best experience available." Turn it into a failure question. Same goal, opposite direction. "How would we guarantee we lose the telepresence market?" List every path to that failure. Don't rank them. Don't defend anything. Write down every way it could happen, including the ones that feel unlikely or embarrassing to say out loud. Price. Distribution. A competitor's move. A wrong read on the customer. Sort each one: recoverable, or not. A slow first year is recoverable. Letting a competitor own the network effect while you keep only the high end is not. The ones you can't undo are what matter here. Set the rest aside. Move Two: Find the Load-Bearing Assumption Behind every failure you can't recover from sits a single assumption holding the whole plan up. Find it. Take your most serious irreversible failure mode. The one from Move One that would actually end the project. Ask what would have to be true for that failure to never happen. For Halo: "Enough customers will pay a large premium for superior quality, and they'll do it fast enough to matter." That sentence is the load-bearing assumption. Ask whether you tested that assumption or inherited it. Did you confirm it with evidence, or did it ride along with the idea because it felt obviously true? The Halo team inherited theirs. Quality felt like an objective good, so nobody checked whether the market agreed. If you can't point to the evidence, you've found your real risk. A plan resting on an untested load-bearing assumption is a bet wearing the costume of a strategy, however solid the rest of it looks. Move Three: Decide What to Do With It Once the assumption is exposed, you have three honest choices. Kill it. If the assumption is false and the failure is irreversible, stop now, while stopping is still cheap. Change the plan so the failure mode disappears. The Halo team had room to do this. A software tier on any network, at lower quality, to build the user base and the network effect, with the premium rooms kept for the customers who'd pay for them. They'd have owned both ends. The plan allowed it. The conviction didn't. Proceed, with the bet named out loud. Sometimes you take the risk on purpose, eyes open, because the upside justifies it. That's legitimate. Taking the same risk by accident, because nobody said the word "assumption" in the room, is not. The one move you cannot make is to see the failure mode and proceed as though you hadn't. That isn't confidence. It's the most expensive form of hope there is. Why You Can't Do This Alone You know the three moves now. The hard part is running them on your own work. You can't fully see your own assumptions. You built the plan. You believe in it. The assumption holding it up feels so obvious that questioning it never occurs to you. The Halo team wasn't careless. They were the best in the world at what they did, and that was the problem. The more expert you are, the more your assumptions feel like facts, and the less it occurs to you to test them. Then there's the room. Even when someone can see the failure coming, the dynamics of a team work against saying it out loud. You earn standing by backing the plan, not by listing the ways it dies. Raise the failure scenario and you look like you lack conviction, or like you're not on board. So the failure half the room quietly senses stays unspoken until it's expensive. Culture rewards the loudest voice on the upside, not the person who turns out to be right about the risk. Two walls. You can't see your own assumptions, and the people who might see them are discouraged from speaking. AI has none of those problems. No ego in the plan, no career to protect, no boss to impress, no reason to soften the bad news to keep the room comfortable. Point it at your work, tell it to find the failure, and it will, without flinching and without politics. It won't make the call for you. It surfaces the failure modes you're too close to see, and then you do the judging. That's how you practice this skill on your own. You sit down with a real decision and a partner that has no reason to spare your feelings. So I built the AI Prompts for Inversion Thinking for exactly that. One prompt makes the AI write the post-mortem of your project before you've even started. Another has it play a competitor designing your defeat. Then one walks you to the single assumption your whole plan is betting on.  You bring the decision and the judgment. The prompts make sure nothing gets skipped just because it's uncomfortable to look at. Here's your work this week. Take one real decision you're sitting on, something with actual stakes, and run it through the pack. It's free at innovation.tools, or use the link in the description. The Long Game The people who use inversion well aren't more negative than their peers. They're more honest about which risks they can walk back and which ones they can't. That single distinction, made early and acted on, is the difference between a project that fails fast and cheap and one that fails slowly, expensively, in year ten. The failure that ends your project is usually the one plenty of people saw coming and nobody was willing to name. Say it now, while it still costs you nothing.

Jason and Jeff break down 15 essential investing terms that are constantly thrown around in the financial world. The duo translates Wall Street jargon into plain English, explaining the difference between GAAP and non-GAAP metrics, why enterprise value is often more important than market cap, and how to efficiently navigate SEC filings such as 10-Ks and S-1s. Whether you're trying to figure out if your portfolio is properly allocated, want to understand where you sit in the capital stack during a bankruptcy, or just need to know what Charlie Munger really thought about adjusted EBITDA, this episode serves as the perfect reference guide for new and experienced investors alike. 03:24 GAAP vs Non GAAP Basics 05:26 Adjusted Metrics and Context 09:14 Dividends Distributions and Taxes 14:02 SEC Filings Overview 17:06 10-K 10-Q and Using AI 21:29 Proxy Statements and Incentives 22:48 S-1 IPO Filings Explained 25:29 Asset Allocation and Position Sizing 28:31 Bull Bear and Market Corrections 32:08 Board of Directors Role 33:27 Board Fiduciary Duties 35:03 Capital Basics Explained 37:33 Debt vs Equity Stack 41:33 Bond Market Signals 42:15 Dollar Cost Averaging 44:05 Earnings and EPS 48:31 FFO for REITs 51:08 Market Cap vs EV 54:18 Cash Flow vs Free Cash 57:25 Funds Indexes and ETFs 59:37 Sectors vs Industries 01:00:44 Valuation Metrics Overview Companies mentioned: AAPL, BN, BRK.B, COST, MA, SAVE, TSLA, TXN, V Find where to listen & subscribe,  portfolio contests, and contact information at https://investingunscripted.com ***************************************** To get 15% off any paid plan at fiscal.ai, visit https://fiscal.ai/unscripted Listen to the Chit Chat Stocks Podcast for discussions on stocks, financial markets, super investors, and more. Follow the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube ***************************************** Join our PatreonSubscribe to our portfolio on Savvy Trader Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mohnish Pabrai's Q&A session with Dakshana scholars at the JNV Bangalore Urban, Karnataka, India on December 25, 2025.                        (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:00:31) - Charlie Munger's mental models (00:05:40) - The Karam Yogi model; Mukesh Ambani & Jio (00:09:45) - Books: Time travel for entrepreneurs (00:12:01) - The Founders Podcast (00:16:01) - Giving back through Dakshana (00:20:29) - Upanishads: Your deepest desire is your destiny (00:24:13) - Building Dakshana: Cloned from the Super 30 model (00:33:32) - Follow your passion, success follows naturally (00:35:10) - With hard work think smart (00:36:42) - Clone smartly, compete confidently (00:39:05) - Technology is overrated, follow your passion (00:42:48) - Growth begins outside comfort zone; Toastmasters (00:46:25) - Cloning Dakshana from Super 30; Anand Kumar (00:50:36) - Human reciprocation mental model (00:57:28) - Execution and determination make the idea successful (01:00:29) - Life's reverses; Charlie's No self-pity mode The contents of this audio are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and do not purport to be, and are not intended to be financial, legal, accounting, tax, or investment advice. Investments or strategies that are discussed may not be suitable for you, do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation, or needs, and are not intended to provide investment advice or recommendations appropriate for you. Before making any investment or trade, consider whether it is suitable for you and consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser.

Mental Models for Exceptional Capital Allocation by Mohnish Pabrai at Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Dodd Investing on April 21, 2026. (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:02:03) - Charlie Munger's mental models (00:03:54) - Model 1: The Bedrock model: Take a simple idea and take it seriously (00:04:51) - Model 2: Ben Graham's three ideas on markets (00:05:28) - Model 3: Do not overdose on Ben Graham; Poor Charlie's Almanack, Philip Fisher, and Pulak Prasad (00:06:27) - Model 4: Buffett's lifetime 20-punch card (00:07:15) - Model 5: Stay in the epicentre of your circle of competence; John Arrillaga (00:09:09) - Model 6: A high error rate is guaranteed in investing (00:09:26) - Model 7: Circle the wagons: the 4% rule (00:10:36) - Berkshire's 12 best decisions in 60 years (00:12:02) - Mistakes in investing: Ferrari, Progressive Insurance & Goldman Sachs (00:12:55) - Model 8: Do not cut flowers and water weeds; The Nifty 50 crash in the 1970s & Walmart (00:15:34) - Model 9: Be a shameless cloner; VIC & Dataroma; Gimat Gross (00:16:43) - Model 10: History does not repeat itself; Investing in Turkey & Reysas (00:19:50) - Model 11: Explain your investment thesis in 3-4 sentences to a 10-year old (00:19:58) - Model 12: You always need a rope to get out of the deepest well (00:23:14) - Model 13: Nick Sleep; Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (00:26:52) - Model 14: Thou shall not use Excel (00:27:17) - Model 15: Use a pre-investment checklist (00:28:06) - Model 16: Be singularly focused like Arjuna (00:29:27) - Read the footnotes; Turn every page: Robert Caro (00:31:16) - Model 17: Enjoy hunting for needles in haystacks; Buffett's childhood entrepreneurial adventures (00:33:40) - Japanese Company Handbook; My introduction to Charlie Munger & Debbie Bozanek (00:37:27) - Model 18: Your deepest desire is your destiny (00:38:53) - Model 19: You should always have someone to discuss your investment ideas with; Li Lu (00:40:45) - Model 20: The mistress is always hotter than the wife!  (00:41:12) - Model 21: Neither a short-term borrower nor a long-term lender be (00:41:33) - Model 22: Introduce randomness into your life; Peter Lynch's One up on Wall Street (00:43:11) - Model 23: Be a Swiss Army knife (00:43:24) - Model 24-26: Focus on spin-offs, uber cannibals & spawners; Alpha-Metallurgical Resources (00:44:02) - Model 27: Arbitrage is wonderful; Transocean vs. Valaris (00:44:17) - Model 28: Heads I win, Tails I don't lose much!; IPSCO and CONSOL Energy (00:46:10) - Model 29: Focus on low-risk; high uncertainty bets (00:46:45) - Model 30: Do not skim off the top (00:47:23) - Book recommendations: Poor Charlie's Almanack, Influence & Excellent advice for living (00:47:41) - Investing in Turkish vs. Indian markets (00:50:17) - Follow your passion  The contents of this website are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and do not purport to be, and are not intended to be, financial, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice. Investments or strategies that are discussed may not be suitable for you, do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and are not intended to provide investment advice or recommendations appropriate for you. Before making any investment or trade, consider whether it is suitable for you and consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser. Views expressed on Chai with Pabrai are exclusively those of Mohnish Pabrai and not of any affiliated firm or organization.

What does it take to turn 325 acres of Indiana woods into a national spirits brand and an "adult Disneyland" that pulls visitors from across the country? In this episode of The Upgraded Man Podcast, Chris Anderson sits down with Jeff McCabe, co-founder of Hard Truth Distilling Co., for a wide-ranging conversation on craft, mindset, family, and the long game of building something that lasts. Jeff is a Naval Academy graduate and former Navy pilot who went on to run a major part of the business travel and corporate card division at American Express before stepping away to chase a different kind of dream in Brown County. Alongside his partners and his own family, he built Big Woods, Quaff On, and Hard Truth into an experience that visitors remember long after they leave. In this conversation, you'll hear: Why a whiskey tastes better at 93 proof than 90, and what that obsession with detail reveals about doing anything well The Charlie Munger philosophy on the wall of his boardroom, and the wild family connection to Munger that Jeff only learned recently What the Naval Academy taught him about failing, and why learning to fail removed his fear of it How he leads people who don't share his mindset by listening first and meaning what he says The realities of running a business with his son, daughter, and son-in-law all under one roof Where he was on the morning of 9/11, and how being out of New York let him help in a way no one else could The McCabe family history, from Irish Gallowglass roots to two uncles' bars and a now-legendary dance hall story The Byron Nelson lesson that stuck with him for life: never putt short Whether you're building a company, leading a team, or just trying to navigate whatever life throws your way, Jeff's blend of hard-won wisdom and Midwest grit offers something to take home. Hard Truth Distilling Co. is located in Nashville, Indiana, in the heart of Brown County, and its spirits are now distributed across 38 states. Plan a visit to walk the property, take a distillery tour, or build a custom experience of your own. The Upgraded Man Podcast is for men who refuse to stay complacent and want to keep growing across every area of life. New episodes drop regularly, so subscribe and share this one with someone who needs it. This episode may or may not be sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links, meaning we'll receive a small commission if you buy something.===========================⚡️ PODCAST: Subscribe and listen on all major platforms⚡️ Want to be a guest on The Upgraded Man? Apply here ➡ https://upgraded-man.com/guest⚡️ For support or business inquiries, email us ➡ chris@upgraded-man.com Our mission at The Upgraded Man is simple — help men upgrade every area of their life through real conversations, honest stories, and actionable insight from men who have done the work.The content on The Upgraded Man is for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed by the host and guests are their own and do not constitute professional legal, financial, medical, or therapeutic advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on information discussed on this podcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Most of the financial decisions keeping you up at night are two-way doors. You can change them. You can undo them. The real one-way doors -- the decisions that actually lock you in -- are rarer than you think, and the problem is we're spending the same emotional energy on both. Joe, OG, Paula Pant, and Jesse Cramer take Simone Stolzoff's uncertainty framework from Wednesday and run it straight through real financial life: career changes, portfolio risk, entrepreneurial pivots, and the moment you finally flip the kill switch on something that isn't working.What You'll Walk Away WithThe one-way door versus two-way door framework applied to real decisions -- and why automating your savings contributions is the most underrated version of this ideaJesse's anchor: why life insurance changed everything about how he sleeps at night now that there are passengers in the car with himPaula's anchor: why avoiding debt entirely is the entrepreneurial version of keeping your burn rate survivable when revenue gets unpredictableOG's anchor: long-term belief in human ingenuity as a financial strategy -- and why short-term geopolitical noise is actually an opportunity for investors who aren't panickingWhy selling assets in a taxable brokerage account to cover business payroll is a two-way door -- until enough time passes and it quietly becomes a one-way doorThe kill criteria conversation: how Jesse built an 18-to-24-month runway into his career change before he ever made the leapWhy the Everest turnaround time is the most important financial planning concept most people have never applied to their own goalsOG's client story: when the right risk tolerance isn't the mathematically correct one -- it's the one that lets you sleep at night without calling your advisorPaula on the pivot strategy: keep iterating the broad direction until you find the product-market fit, because the version that works might look nothing like what you started withWhy a career shift becomes more of a one-way door the longer you wait -- and what Rocky Mark's electrical engineer to content creator question reveals about timingWhy This Matters NowThe worst financial decisions happen when people treat reversible choices as permanent ones and freeze -- or treat permanent choices as reversible and act too fast. This episode gives you a framework for telling the difference before the emotion hits, which is the only time it actually helps.From the BasementJoe, OG, Paula Pant, and Jesse Cramer take Simone Stolzoff's Wednesday framework and apply it to the messy real world of careers, portfolios, entrepreneurship, and retirement identity. The trivia competition takes a dramatic turn when OG margin calls Jesse on a Mount Everest question -- and the full margin call rule set gets read aloud for the first time in recorded history after Dottie in Wichita makes a call nobody wanted to receive. Jesse wins the point. OG loses one. The coalition closes the gap.Resources MentionedAfford Anything podcast -- Paula Pant; Joe joins most Tuesdays for listener Q&A; youtube.com/affordanythingPersonal Finance for Long-Term Investors -- Jesse Cramer's podcast; current series: 14 biggest risks in retirement, Charlie Munger-inspired inversion frameworkStacking Benjamins Wednesday episode -- "Why Uncertainty Is an Opportunity" with Simone Stolzoff; stackingbenjamins.comStacking Benjamins Vault -- stackingbenjamins.com/vaultStacking Benjamins Newsletter (The 201) -- stackingbenjamins.com/201OG financial planning calendar -- stackingbenjamins.com/ogStacking Benjamins Community -- stackingbenjamins.com/basementSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Discover how to spot undervalued stocks like Magna International (MGA) using the proven QAV (Quality at Value) methodology from Tony Kynaston – a systematic, checklist-driven approach inspired by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger to beat the market.Magna International is one of the biggest automotive suppliers in the world. Most drivers never notice it. Magna sits behind the scenes, building the parts, systems, and even entire vehicles for major brands. Cameron from QAV America joined me to explain how this quiet giant works and why it's back on the QAV buy list.

Discover how to spot undervalued stocks like Magna International (MGA) using the proven QAV (Quality at Value) methodology from Tony Kynaston – a systematic, checklist-driven approach inspired by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger to beat the market. Magna International is one of the biggest automotive suppliers in the world. Most drivers never notice it. Magna sits behind the scenes, building the parts, systems, and even entire vehicles for major brands. Cameron from QAV America joined me to explain how this quiet giant works and why it's back on the QAV buy list.

We all want retirement success. But how do we achieve it? What if the best method is to identify possible *failures* first, and then simply work backward to avoid those failures?  Looking for a financial planner?  → PlanWithJesse.com In this episode, Jesse applies Charlie Munger's principle of inversion to retirement planning, arguing that instead of only defining success, investors should first identify how retirement plans fail and then design strategies to avoid those outcomes. He introduces a framework of 14 retirement risks and focuses on the first seven: longevity risk, inflation risk, household risk, market risk, sequence of returns risk, withdrawal risk, and health risk. Longevity risk is framed as the danger of outliving assets. Inflation risk is described as the gradual erosion of purchasing power, with equities and TIPS offering partial protection while cash and bonds provide stability at the cost of real returns. Household risk centers on coordination between partners, emphasizing survivor planning, shared understanding of finances, and alignment on spending and documentation. Market risk is presented as unavoidable and inseparable from long-term investing, managed primarily through time, rebalancing, and disciplined behavior. Sequence of returns risk highlights the disproportionate impact of poor early-retirement market performance, with cash and bond buffers used to mitigate early withdrawal pressure. Withdrawal risk focuses on spending levels that are too high relative to portfolio size, while health risk underscores that physical and cognitive decline can ultimately matter more than financial outcomes, making long-term health investment a critical component of retirement planning. Key Takeaways: • Retirement planning is improved by focusing on failure modes first. • Longevity risk is the danger of outliving retirement savings. • Inflation risk reduces purchasing power over long retirement horizons. • Household risk stems from misalignment or loss within a couple or family. • Market risk is unavoidable in exchange for long-term returns. • Sequence of returns risk is most dangerous early in retirement. • Withdrawal risk occurs when spending exceeds sustainable portfolio levels. • Health risk can undermine retirement quality regardless of wealth. Key Timestamps: (01:07) – Charlie Munger During WWII (03:13) – Quick Overview (09:40) – 1: Longevity Risk (15:17) – 2: Inflation Risk (19:17) – 3: Household Risk (23:39) – 4: Market Risk (27:31) – 5: Sequence of Returns Risk (31:48) – 6: Withdrawal Risk (33:30) – 7: Health Risk Key Topics Discussed: The Best Interest, Jesse Cramer, Wealth Management Rochester NY, Financial Planning for Families, Fiduciary Financial Advisor, Comprehensive Financial Planning, Retirement Planning Advice, Tax-Efficient Investing, Risk Management for Investors, Generational Wealth Transfer Planning, Financial Strategies for High Earners, Personal Finance for Entrepreneurs, Behavioral Finance Insights, Asset Allocation Strategies, Advanced Estate Planning Techniques Mentions: https://bestinterest.blog/e126/ https://bestinterest.blog/e87/ https://bestinterest.blog/rmds-sequence-risk-retirement-destruction/ Retirement Planning Guidebook: Navigating the Important Decisions for Retirement Success by Wade Pfau Wade Pfau chart: https://www.advisorpedia.com/media/2024/2/Sequence_of_returns_risk.png https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ox7hbv5uhG3bHsIzf2Cfk?si=keUGIC4uSfOoEl4VrcpbPg   https://bestinterest.blog/e122/  More of The Best Interest: Check out the Best Interest Blog at https://bestinterest.blog/ Contact me at jesse@bestinterest.blog Need a financial planner?  → PlanWithJesse.com  The Best Interest Podcast is a personal podcast meant for education and entertainment. It should not be taken as financial advice, and is not prescriptive of your financial situation.

Mental Models for Exceptional Capital Allocation by Mohnish Pabrai at The University of Nebraska, Omaha on May 1, 2026. (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:02:11) - Charlie Munger's mental models (00:03:43) - Model 1: The Bedrock: Take a simple idea and take it seriously (00:04:06) - Model 2: Ben Graham's Fundamentals (00:04:59) - Model 3: Do not overdose on Ben Graham; Poor Charlie's Almanack, Philip Fisher, and Pulak Prasad (00:05:16) - Model 4: Buffett's lifetime 20-punch card (00:06:05) - Model 5: Stay in the epicentre of your circle of competence; John Arrillaga (00:07:52) - Model 6: A high error rate is guaranteed in investing (00:08:06) - Model 7: Circle the wagons: the 4% rule (00:08:44) - Berkshire's 12 best decisions in 60 years (00:09:41) - Mistakes in investing: Ferrari, Progressive Insurance & Goldman Sachs (00:12:10) - Model 8: Do not cut flowers and water weeds (00:13:02) - Model 9: Be a shameless cloner; VIC; Dataroma & SumZero (00:15:11) - Model 10: History does not repeat itself - but it does rhyme (00:16:16) - Model 11: Explain your investment thesis to a 10-year old in 3-4 sentences (00:16:41) - Model 12: You always need a rope to get out of the deepest well (00:20:50) - Model 13: Pursue quality intensely; Nick Sleep, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (00:25:31) - Model 14: Thou shall not use Excel (00:25:52) - Model 15: Develop and use a pre-investment checklist (00:27:54) - Model 16: Be singularly focused like Arjuna (00:29:31) - Read the footnotes; Turn every page: Robert Caro (00:31:44) - Model 17: Enjoy hunting for needles in haystacks; Buffett's childhood entrepreneurial adventures (00:33:41) - Japanese Company Handbook; My introduction to Charlie Munger & Debbie Bozanek (00:38:02) - Model 18: Your deepest desire is your destiny (00:41:15) - Model 19: You should always have someone to discuss your investment ideas with; Li Lu (00:42:53) - Model 20: The mistress always looks hotter than the wife!  (00:43:30) - Model 21: Neither a short-term borrower nor a long-term lender be (00:43:54) - Model 22: Introduce randomness into your life; Peter Lynch's One up on Wall Street (00:46:28) - Model 23: Be a Swiss Army knife (00:46:36) - Model 24-26: Focus on spin-offs, uber cannibals & spawners (00:47:18) - Model 27: Arbitrage is wonderful; Rupert Murdoch (00:48:26) - Model 28: Heads I win, Tails I don't lose much!; IPSCO and CONSOL Energy (00:51:43) - Model 29: Focus on low-risk; high uncertainty bets (00:52:56) - Model 30: Do not skim off the top (00:53:37) - Book recommendations: Poor Charlie's Almanack, Influence & Excellent advice for living (00:54:48) - Importance of the Bedrock model (00:55:30) - Finding great businesses (00:58:11) - Focusing on my deepest desire (00:59:23) - Berkshire Hathaway A-shares (01:00:35) - Intrinsic value of a company (01:02:17) - The Founders Podcast & Value Investors Club (01:05:34) - Pursue your passion (01:07:49) - Making of a Great American Capitalist by Lowenstein (01:09:05) - Family-run businesses; Walmart (01:10:24) - The Dakshana Foundation & Giving back (01:12:45) - Micron (01:13:43) - Warren's Too Hard pile & Charlie's pie-counter trips The contents of this website are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and do not purport to be, and are not intended to be, financial, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice. Investments or strategies that are discussed may not be suitable for you, do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and are not intended to provide investment advice or recommendations appropriate for you. Before making any investment or trade, consider whether it is suitable for you and consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser.

Jesse Cramer and Jeremy Keil detail 7 real world lessons learned from working with hundreds of retirees. There's a big difference between studying retirement… …and actually sitting across the table from retirees for years. This week I sat down with Jesse Cramer and instead of doing a typical “Retire Today” interview, we decided to compare notes from working with hundreds of retirement clients and shared the lessons that rarely show up in textbooks or headlines. Experiences often speak louder than theory, so let's dive into the 7 main lessons. Lesson #1: Most Retirees Don't Have a “Purpose Crisis” If you spend time searching YouTube or Amazon for retirement advice, you'll likely come across the “retirement purpose crisis.” In our real-world experience working with retiree, this doesn't seem to show up the way financial media suggests. Yes, some retirees need time to adjust. But most aren't spiraling into an identity crisis after leaving work. Why? Because many workers weren't necessarily emotionally attached to the structure of their jobs—they were looking forward to having control of their time again. A lot of retirees quickly find purpose in: Family Grandkids Community Travel Hobbies Freedom itself The bigger adjustment often isn't purpose. It's learning how to structure time differently. Lesson #2: Most People Start Planning Too Late One of the clearest themes in the conversation was timing. Many people first show up to retirement planning webinars only months before retirement—or even after they've already retired. That creates problems. Important decisions around: Social Security Investments Pensions Healthcare Spending levels Taxes …all work better when there's time to think through options. Jesse's recommendation was simple: Start seriously planning at least 12 months before retirement—and ideally earlier. Not because every detail must be finalized years in advance, but because retirement works best when decisions are intentional instead of rushed. Lesson #3: Couples Need to Get on the Same Page Retirement isn't an individual decision when you're married. But many couples approach it that way. We find it is common for spouses to have completely different views on: Retirement timing Spending Investment risk Social Security Lifestyle expectations Sometimes one spouse wants maximum security. The other wants maximum freedom. And if those conversations don't happen early, conflict can show up later. I've seen couples who struggle with spending expectations and pension decisions because both people weren't fully involved in the planning process. The takeaway was clear: Retirement planning works better when both spouses understand the plan—even if only one person enjoys the financial details. Lesson #4: Social Security Can Be Flexible One of Jesse's most interesting ideas was describing Social Security as a “pressure release valve.” Instead of viewing Social Security as a rigid decision with one perfect claiming age, retirees can think about it more dynamically. For example: Delay benefits while markets are strong But turn benefits on earlier if market declines create stress on the portfolio That flexibility can help reduce sequence of returns risk—the danger of withdrawing heavily from investments during a market downturn early in retirement. The key insight? Retirement planning isn't static. Good plans adapt. Lesson #5: Too Much Stability Can Become a Risk Many retirees focus heavily on avoiding losses. That's understandable. But Jesse shared a cautionary example of a retiree with roughly 90% of investable assets in annuity products because she wanted maximum stability. The problem? Over-emphasizing one risk can create others. Oftentimes retirees “over-index” against market risk while unintentionally increasing: Inflation risk Liquidity risk Longevity risk Safety itself can become risky if growth disappears entirely. Lesson #6: One Big Mistake Can Change Retirement Forever I once had a client who wanted 10% retirement income and concentrated his entire portfolio into one high-dividend bank stock. Within days: The dividend disappeared The stock collapsed Half the retirement savings vanished It was a reminder that retirement success often comes less from finding perfect strategies… …and more from avoiding catastrophic mistakes. As Jesse referenced through Charlie Munger's thinking:Sometimes the smartest retirement planning question is: “What should I absolutely avoid doing?” Lesson #7: Retirees Often Need Permission to Spend This may have been the most emotional lesson in the episode. Many retirees struggle to switch from saver to spender—even when the math clearly says they can afford it. I once worked with a widow with more than $1 million saved who refused to withdraw money to visit her grandchildren because emotionally she couldn't bring herself to spend her savings. That's where framing matters. As Jesse summarized:You're not changing identities from “saver” to “spender.” You've always been a retirement planner. Earlier in life, prudent planning meant saving. Now, prudent planning may mean spending intentionally on things that matter. The Bottom Line Retirement planning isn't just math. It's behavior.It's psychology.It's communication.It's flexibility. And many of the most important lessons aren't learned from spreadsheets. They're learned from real retirees living real lives. Don't forget to leave a rating for the “Retire Today” podcast if you've been enjoying these episodes! Subscribe to Retire Today to get new episodes every Wednesday. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/retire-today/id1488769337  Spotify Podcasts: https://bit.ly/RetireTodaySpotify About the Author: Jeremy Keil, CFP®, CFA is a retirement financial advisor with Keil Financial Partners, author of Retire Today: Create Your Retirement Income Plan in 5 Simple Steps, and host of the Retirement Today blog and podcast, as well as the Mr. Retirement YouTube channel. Jeremy is a contributor to Kiplinger and is frequently cited in publications like the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. Additional Links: Buy Jeremy's book – Retire Today: Create Your Retirement Master Plan in 5 Simple Steps BestInterest.blog  Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors – Jesse Cramer's podcast Connect With Jeremy Keil: Keil Financial Partners LinkedIn: Jeremy Keil Facebook: Jeremy Keil LinkedIn: Keil Financial Partners YouTube: Mr. Retirement Book an Intro Call with Jeremy's Team Media Disclosures: Disclosures This media is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not consider the investment objectives, financial situation, or particular needs of any consumer. Nothing in this program should be construed as investment, legal, or tax advice, nor as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security or to adopt any investment strategy. The views and opinions expressed are those of the host and any guest, current as of the date of recording, and may change without notice as market, political or economic conditions evolve. All investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Legal & Tax Disclosure Consumers should consult their own qualified attorney, CPA, or other professional advisor regarding their specific legal and tax situations. Advisor Disclosures Alongside, LLC, doing business as Keil Financial Partners, is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or expertise. Advisory services are delivered through the Alongside, LLC platform. Keil Financial Partners is independent, not owned or operated by Alongside, LLC. Additional information about Alongside, LLC – including its services, fees and any material conflicts of interest – can be found at https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/333587 or by requesting Form ADV Part 2A. The content of this media should not be reproduced or redistributed without the firm’s written consent. Any trademarks or service marks mentioned belong to their respective owners and are used for identification purposes only. Additional Important Disclosures

How can you supercharge your creativity in an age when AI is reshaping everything — including how we write, edit, and market our books? What does it look like to use AI as a genuine creative partner rather than a shortcut? And could professional speaking become an income stream that complements your writing career? With James Taylor. In the intro, Audible's new royalty model; New royalty model details [ACX; Kindlepreneur]; Public Speaking for Authors, Creatives and other Introverts; Why Indie Authors Should Ignore the Market's Mood and Focus on their Mission [Self-Publishing with ALLi]; Lichfield Cathedral; This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors. This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn James Taylor is a nonfiction author, professional speaker, podcaster, and entrepreneur who helps people unlock their creative potential. He hosts the SuperCreativity Podcast and his latest book is SuperCreativity: Augmenting Human Creativity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. Show Notes How to define creativity and why it's becoming the most valuable skill in the age of AI The five stages of the creative process — and the stage most people skip Three types of creative purpose: play, self-expression, and legacy How James used multiple AI tools alongside human collaborators to write, edit, and market SuperCreativity Bulk book sales, industry-specific editions, and revenue models for nonfiction author-speakers Practical tips for authors who want to break into professional keynote speaking You can find James at JamesTaylor.me. Transcript of the interview with James Taylor Jo: James Taylor is a nonfiction author, professional speaker, podcaster, and entrepreneur who helps people unlock their creative potential. He hosts the SuperCreativity Podcast and his latest book is SuperCreativity: Augmenting Human Creativity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Welcome to the show, James. James: Well, thank you for having me as a guest. I'm looking forward to this conversation today. Jo: It's going to be really good. First up— Tell us a bit more about you and how you got into writing and publishing. James: Well, today I'm a professional keynote speaker, so I deliver about fifty to a hundred keynotes per year in twenty-five-plus countries. Primarily I speak on creativity, innovation, and artificial intelligence. Go back into my deepest, darkest history—I actually used to manage rock stars. That was my old job. I used to be in the music industry for many, many years. I worked with members of The Rolling Stones, and for our listeners in the UK, I managed bands like Deacon Blue. Then I went to the dark side. In 2010, I moved to California to work in Silicon Valley, to work in the world of tech. That got me involved in artificial intelligence. Right about 2017, I was speaking at an event in San Francisco and someone came up to me and said, “You realise you could probably speak for a living, you could do this for a living.” So I thought, well, how does that work? And he told me. Then I embarked on the career that I have today, which is primarily as a speaker, with writing now coming a bit more to the fore. Jo: Wow, I remember Deacon Blue. James: Yes. Jo: “Dignity.” That's crazy. Very, very cool backstory there, but we'll come back to the career side of things. Let's get into super creativity, because my listeners are certainly creatives. Most of the listeners will have a book either on the way or they might even have lots of books. So we all do want to be super creative. How do you define creativity, and why is it important to keep focusing on this even if we do identify that way? James: For me, creativity is about bringing new ideas to the mind. Innovation is about bringing new ideas to the world, but without creativity, there is no innovation. So creativity is really the engine of innovation. Whether that is designing new products, new services, or creating new works of art and new books. The reason that creativity is becoming more important is because of what we're seeing right now in terms of artificial intelligence. AI is going to replace a lot of the non-creative tasks that we currently do in our jobs. If you look at things like the World Economic Forum, there was recently a study with a thousand global business leaders, and work from companies like LinkedIn—they all highlight that creativity is going to be one of the foremost important soft skills for this new future. So creativity, strangely, will actually become more important, not less important, as we go ahead. That's the creativity side. Probably for many of the listeners here, they'll consider themselves to be creative. That is not the norm. As I mentioned, I speak in about twenty-five countries a year, and if I ask the audiences—primarily corporate audiences—to put their hands up if they consider themselves to be creative, only between ten to forty per cent of the audience will raise their hands. So part of my job is to show them why they are more creative than they think they are and why we're all born with this creative potential. Then moving into the super creativity side, it's really to show them how they can augment that creativity by collaborating more deeply with other people or machines—things like artificial intelligence. So SuperCreativity, the book that I've written and the speeches I give on it, is really about how we can augment our individual creativity by collaborating more deeply with other people or artificial intelligence. For me, that's been the thing I've been fascinated by for the past few years, and probably for many of our listeners who are now using AI in their writing, their researching, and their marketing of their books, they're probably getting into this space as well. I really wanted to dive into that—both the collaboration with other people and with machines and AI. Jo: In terms of the super creativity then, do you have any practices or ideas? Before we get into collaboration, many of us authors work alone—and of course we can come back to the AI stuff in a minute—but in terms of super creativity, are there ways that we can even supercharge what we do already? Then, of course there are people listening who might not feel creative. So give us a few tips on how we can potentially change our mindset or become even more creative. James: In the book I talk about what I call the eight Ps of super creativity, which are purpose, personality, practice, people, process, place, product, and persuasion. Persuasion is really the marketing piece at the end. Probably the one that could be most useful to many listeners today is the practice piece—the practice or the process side of things. For many of us, what that usually consists of is just having some type of daily creative practice. Different people do it in different ways. Many of your listeners will know the works of people like Julia Cameron—the morning pages style of having some type of daily practice. Other people do it in slightly different ways. The process bit is really interesting. I talk about this creative process that we all have, and I talk about these five stages of the creative process. The first stage, let's say if we're writing a book, is really that preparation stage. That is usually the stage where we are trying to absorb as much information as possible about the thing that we're going to be writing about. The topic, if it's nonfiction, or going to the places, visiting the scenes that we're going to set certain things within for the book. So that preparation stage is really about absorbing as much information as possible from the outside. It's not going to look very creative. We're just absorbing at that stage. Now the mistake that a lot of people tend to make is they immediately try to jump from that preparation stage to looking to generate ideas. But what all the studies show us is we should spend a little bit of time in what we call the incubation stage. This is where it's often very useful if we've done some research, that we put things to one side for a little while, maybe a few weeks, move on to another project, think about something completely different. Your brain will continue to work in the background. Your unconscious brain will work on that content you've been absorbing. Then what often happens as a result of that is we come to this third stage, which is that insight stage—that aha moment. That happens for various different reasons and you can seed that in slightly different ways so you're more likely to get inspiration in your day-to-day work. Then as we know—as you are a writer of many, many books—many people think, “Well, that's it. I've done it. The idea for that book or that chapter has come to me.” That is really just the first five per cent of the process. The next stage is where we look at all the different ideas we have and decide which ones we want to pursue, which ones are going to make the grade. This is what we call the evaluation stage. Once we've done that, we move to that final stage, which is the elaboration stage. If it's a startup, this is when you're building your minimum viable product. As a writer, this is where you're actually doing the work, putting those words out onto the page. It's a very iterative process, so it's not necessarily linear. You'll go back and forth. Even as you're getting input from readers and audiences in that last stage, that is then giving you the material to move back to the preparation stage and think, “Oh, I wonder if this next book in this series, maybe I go in a slightly different direction with this character.” So each of those different stages, you can do different things to increase your levels of creativity. Jo: I love all of that, but can we go back to purpose? Because you mentioned that as one of the Ps and I think this is something that a lot of us need. As we are recording this in April 2026, the world is an interesting place. There are lots of things going on that have people worried. Well, we are not talking about politics, but I think one of the things that people struggle with is, what's the point in writing this story, for example, or what's the point in trying to get my words out there when things are difficult? I feel like coming back to purpose is perhaps the thing that helps people even take it into the process as you were talking about. And then of course, just from a practical angle— Is purpose about making money or reaching people? So maybe you could talk about the purpose side of things. James: Yes. So I talk about three different purposes, and it's not that there's just one that predominates, but usually there's one that maybe predominates on different projects. The first one is creativity as play. It's what we're basically, as humans, hardwired to do—this instinctive joy that we get just for creating for its own sake. There's nothing that really sits beyond that. We just have fun. We find pleasure in creating something. That could be a musician creating a piece of music, a sculptor creating a sculpture, an entrepreneur creating a new business or product or service. There's just this sense of play. One of the things I talk about in the book is this idea of being childlike, not childish. If you look at children, you see this very instinctively. If you see a three-year-old or a five-year-old, you give them some crayons and they will just naturally create. That's part of who they are and it's pretty abstract. Then what happens is they go to school and they're taught useful conventions—”this is how you should do it.” You even see their work start to change. You start to see them move from abstract paintings to more formal structures. Then you get your peer group, then you go to college or university and the world of work, and you're taught all these useful conventions. That's fine, but as adults, it is our responsibility to become what we call post-conventional, where we see these conventions as a useful signpost but we're willing to challenge them. We're willing to have a playfulness in what we do. So the first one is just this hardwired thing—creativity as play. The second one, and this is maybe for a lot of your listeners the reason that they are writers, is self-expression. It's a way of placing something out into the world. I was actually just in France recently, and I was talking to a young visual artist, a painter from Hungary, and she had to go up and give a speech. She really hated doing it. She was having to talk about her work and she was really uncomfortable. I could see the discomfort and my heart went out for her, because that is not the way she primarily expresses herself. She expresses herself through her art form, which is painting. For many of us, we might struggle to get on a stage, but we can express ourselves in the written word. We have something we want to say, a position we want to have, and we want to express that and get that out into the world. The final one is just this idea of legacy. That is not going to be for everyone. I can tell you, for me personally, legacy is not the reason that I write and do a lot of the stuff that I do. Maybe that changes—maybe as we get a bit older, we want to leave a body of work. So those are the three main purposes that we tend to see. Then you mentioned the financial side of what we do as well. This starts to come into that self-expression, because we need to be able to get people to buy our books or download our books and read our books in order to give us the ability to write new works and create new things. The financial side is an important component of it, but it is not the only one. I think there's a great question any writer should ask themselves. One of the first questions that I asked myself as a relatively new nonfiction writer is: why am I writing this book? What is the purpose of this book? For me, primarily it is a form of self-expression, and then you have to go, “Well, that's fine, but I also need it to have some type of financial basis for it.” It doesn't need to be the main driver of my income, but I need to have some type of revenue model. I'm happy to talk about revenue models, because probably the type of revenue model that I have as a writer is going to be different from other listeners. I tend to focus more on bulk selling of books rather than individual selling of books. Jo: Yes, I definitely want to come back to revenue models and business, but a few other things first. I want to circle back to collaboration, because I've certainly co-written with some humans, and I know a lot of listeners either have co-written or collaborated with other humans—and some of it works and some of it doesn't. You have some great information on human-plus-human creativity and collaboration. So maybe you could give us some tips on how we can be more effective collaborators with other humans. James: So there's a whole section about this idea of creative pairs. Often if you look at great creative work or innovative companies, very often when you strip it all back, you'll find at the core lots and lots of creative pairings. That is usually two different but complementary personalities who are willing to develop and challenge and improve each other's ideas. We think of Jobs and Wozniak in the world of business, or Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. For authors, often that relationship is the work with their editor. There was a documentary I saw—I think it was a New Yorker documentary that came out a while ago—talking with a writer of history books about his relationship with his editor. It was a really beautiful relationship. These were two very different personalities, but what worked was the fact that they were different. A core component of having these creative pairings is a sense of trust—or what some people today would call psychological safety—that you are willing to challenge someone's ideas, but in a space of trust. The Germans have a great phrase for it. In English it translates as “someone to steal horses with,” which I love. Hopefully our listeners have that person where you can go to them and say, “I had this idea for a book or a chapter or a character,” and that person is a “yes, and.” Like, “Yes, and have you thought about doing it this way?” or “What would happen if you did this?” They stress test your ideas. They make your ideas better. For many of us, maybe it's our husbands or wives, our partners. Some of us are lucky enough to have editors. When I started rewriting this latest book, I actually had someone like that—a human, not an AI—that I worked with, especially on taking all these random thoughts and ideas I've been expressing in keynotes and putting them into more of a book form. The format and the structures that we use for telling stories in a speech are quite different from the structure that we would use for a nonfiction book. I didn't have as much experience there, so I wanted someone who could say, “Have you thought about structuring it this way?” or “This is a great story arc you might want to think about.” So I don't know, for you, who is your creative pairing? Who is your “someone to steal horses with”? Jo: Well, it's funny. I really think since the arrival of Claude Opus 4.6, it is absolutely Claude. James: Yes, yes. Jo: All the way. I mean, so we could come onto that next in terms of how AI has changed, because I do still work with a professional editor for both fiction and nonfiction, but it is very much in the “make my finished work better” stage. It is not in the exploratory phase. I find particularly the latest reasoning models to just be fantastic at this. And my Claude is not sycophantic. The Opus 4.6—I'm sure you've been using it too—it just doesn't behave in the way that a lot of people think these AIs did. They did behave like that, and now it's changed. So let's talk about that. What are your thoughts on collaborating more effectively with AI tools, especially as they become more and more powerful? As we record this, Claude Mythos has not come out, but it's certainly rumoured to arrive. I'm pretty excited. James: So because I've been doing this AI thing for a little while, it's given me the ability to experiment with things—the early versions of what many people are using today. I'll give you an example. Even before I started writing the book, I decided to write a book proposal. Even though I could pretty much sense I wanted to independently publish this book through my own publishing company, I thought it's a good practice to put it down into a proposal form, even though I don't go to a traditional publisher or a hybrid publisher. One of the things I did within that was get a sense of who my ideal readers are. I used a very early version—this was a few years ago—of an IBM AI tool, creating what we call a psychometric map of my ideal reader. This basically tells me, over about seventy-two different factors, how this person thinks, how they feel, what their value system is, very broadly for my ideal reader. I pulled in different sources. I knew the kind of magazines and books they were reading and what their general worldview was. So I created this—going one step beyond just creating your ideal reader to really understanding their psychometrics. I do this in my keynotes too. Before I ever give a keynote or an important pitch or a presentation, I use AI to analyse the psychometrics of the audience I'm going to be speaking to. This might tell me, for example, this audience values humour a little bit more, or this audience values a bit more practicality so they want actionable next steps, or this audience is going to be a little bit authority-challenging so they're going to push back. So even in those very early stages, just starting to think about the book—who was I writing this book for, what was the purpose of the book—I was using AI to understand the psychometrics of my absolutely perfect, ideal reader. I gave her a name. It was a female reader. There was someone similar to her that I already knew. Probably for some of your listeners, they do this instinctively anyway. They maybe have a person or a few different people they think of in their head. Then from that stage, because I've been delivering lots and lots of keynotes—and this may be an important distinction in the way that I have decided to write books as opposed to how other people write books—my family were all jazz musicians. The difference between a rock musician or a pop musician and a jazz musician is this: a rock or pop musician will go into the studio, create this opus, this work, and then tour that for the next two years. A jazz musician, on the other hand, goes out and performs the songs and the things from the album that they're eventually going to create hundreds of times, thousands of times, to find out what works with audiences, and then they go into the studio and record the stuff that works best. So I created a book more like a jazz musician. I'd delivered keynote versions of the book hundreds of times before I ever decided to actually write the book. So it had been stress-tested with real people to a certain extent. Then, getting into it, I thought—well, what works as a keynote is not necessarily going to work as a structure for a book. So what I did was start using ChatGPT models at that point to think about the structural edit of the book. What was the structure going to be? What was great is you can basically feed it every single keynote you've given over the years, all the notes, everything you've done, and it could start to give me something to riff with and really get into thinking about how I was going to create this. I was using it a little like that creative pairing we spoke about earlier. Then once I'd done that—so I've now got an idea of a structural edit essentially—I then go back and speak to some humans about it. “What do you think about this?” “What do you think about that?” And try some things out over dinner conversations. “I'm thinking about doing this—what do you think?” Then once I did that, I just did the thing that I really didn't want to do, but I guess you absolutely have to do: sit in a seat for multiple weeks and just get that crappy first draft done. That was just me writing, from my voice, in my way of doing things. Every so often I would use an AI to research a particular thing, but I didn't want to slow down the pace too much. I was focused on getting that word count done. Once I had the first draft, I then brought the AI back in. In this case, I was still using OpenAI at this stage, to act more like an editor. To tell me what was weak about the book. At this point I was starting to give it the overall framing. What was weak, what chapters needed to be improved. I then went back, started reworking each of the chapters, and worked chapter by chapter using that AI as a sparring partner. But once again, the AI is not really writing my words for me. It's maybe saying, “This part could be said better. You might want to think about doing it this way,” or “You are missing a really powerful case study or example here,” or at the very end of each chapter, I have actionable next steps, and “You're missing some things here.” So I've gone through that entire process of writing, and now I'm essentially at the second draft. At this point, what I'm doing is using another AI tool—Claude, in this case—to have a different perspective on it. I gave it the work. I mentioned a couple of editors that I really respect and different writers I respect and said, “I'm going to create a virtual beta readers group. Give me feedback on this now.” For someone that's listening to this, and we're recording this in April 2026, here's some good news for you. There are now a bunch of tools out there that use AI swarms, as we call them. You can basically feed it your book and it will create synthetic readers—thousands and thousands of synthetic readers that read your kind of style of book—and it will then give you feedback from these synthetic readers. Essentially, I was just doing an early version of that. So I got the feedback from the synthetic readers, the AI readers, and then reworked a little bit. Some of the stuff I just decided not to do because it didn't align with what I was trying to say in the book. Then the next stage was I had a beta reader group of about thirty human beta readers—my ideal readers. I sent the book to them, they gave me feedback. I then used AI to give me an overview report of all their feedback, and then I was able to go back into reworking the book. That's still really just draft three of the book, not the final book at this stage. But just to give everyone a sense of opening up the process: you could see how the human and machine were working together. Jo: Yes, I love that. I also often say to people who are speakers first that you can, if you have recordings of your talks or if you use your slide decks to record them as MP3s and then just use that transcript as the basis of a draft. Obviously it's not the book or a chapter, but it can actually preserve your voice—your speaking voice—which I think can be really effective for speakers. I like your multi-step process there. And then of course, if you have audience avatars in AI, that can help you design your book marketing. So take this into book marketing and how you're doing that. James: So I still decided to go old school with a human editor—a book editor that someone had recommended to me. I used that human book editor just to go through the book. At that point we're talking about style, some stylistic things that we wanted to do, and they can pick up other things as well. So I've got that book, and then I'm obviously starting to use AI to understand what tags, what kind of copy do I want to have in terms of putting it onto Amazon, putting it onto IngramSpark, and all these other platforms I want to put it out into. I'm using Claude here in particular—and with Claude, you have something called Cowork. It wasn't quite fully happening at that point, but there were early versions of it and Claude Code—to almost start working with and creating a virtual marketing team. I give it the book and then they could start thinking about: what is the marketing strategy for this book? What does the campaign look like? What are the things that we need to do? That was then starting to break it down. We're now three months out or so before the book is due to get released, and I'm starting to deploy that particular campaign. So for example, I'm on a podcast right now, and we try different versions. We have a human going out and reaching out to potential shows for me to be a guest on, but I also have an agent. There's also one going out and finding and researching podcasts and reaching out to those podcast hosts to have me as a potential guest. So they're doing some of the tactical work there at the same time. One mistake I made—and I don't know if you've experienced this as well—if I was to go back, one thing I would do differently is this: I decided to record the audiobook version after the physical book was already committed and ready to go out. Jo: Mm-hmm. James: And I noticed so many small errors or things I would change after having spent two days in a studio recording the voice for the entire book—changes I would have made. This is something other people did ask me: why are you not using ElevenLabs or an AI clone of your voice to read the script? There are some things I feel quite personal about, and my voice is one of those things. As a professional keynote speaker, I decided I wanted to keep that and have it in there. So it's going to be different for everyone which things they decide to offload to AI, which things they decide to give to a human member of their team, and what they decide to keep to themselves. Jo: Yes, I mean, I human-record my nonfiction, but I have an AI voice clone with ElevenLabs for my fiction now. But obviously, for people listening, you can't put an ElevenLabs voice-cloned audiobook on Audible, and a lot of your sales will be on Audible, especially for a book like this. So I think that's also important. I agree with you on doing the audio edit. There's always things you want to change. But as you mentioned, you're self-publishing this, so you can just go in and change your files. James: Yes, and that was the other reason, and this was part of the marketing—now we're moving into the marketing and the business model behind the book. For me, the book doesn't have to be a financial driver in its own sense. The way that I sell books, and usually people like myself—professional speakers—is we bulk sell books to our clients. Let's say I'm speaking at four different events this month. Each has about a thousand people at them. Those organisers will buy, say, a thousand copies of the book. So at the end of that month, you might have sold four thousand copies—not individual copies. Anything that sells on Amazon or in other places is almost like a positioning piece. Obviously you want people to buy the book and learn things from the book, but in terms of the distribution model, it's slightly different because I'm primarily selling through bulk sales. Now, here's a little twist you can do on this, and this is a decision I made even before we released this version of the book. I speak to lots of different industries. There was a speaker and author—I've forgotten his name now, I think he was from Florida—and what he decided to do was to write a slightly different version of his main book every year, but for a different industry. So what this allows him to do is, let's say in my case, I'm doing a version of the SuperCreativity book just for legal professionals because I speak to a lot of law firms and legal groups. I've already started working on a version of the book which is a little bit more attuned to that audience. As a speaker, it allows me to go to all these law firms and legal associations and bar associations and say, “Hey, I've just written the book on creativity and artificial intelligence for the legal industry.” That makes you a very bookable proposition for a client. And then obviously you can sell books from that as well. And that's before we get into the foreign language versions. That's just a model that happens to work pretty well for my part of the industry, but obviously it's going to be very different for other types of authors. Jo: No, I think that's great. For nonfiction authors, as you say, there are different revenue models. Your income, I guess, would be what, eighty, ninety per cent speaking revenue? Or do you have other things as well? James: Yes, primarily it's the keynote speaking, and anything that comes from the back of that. Sometimes it's boardroom advisory work that I do as well. But primarily it's the speaking side. So really the book is just the simplest form to get my ideas out and the most affordable form. Jo: Mm-hmm. James: Because the other thing is, you want as many people getting your ideas as possible, and there is no better, more affordable way of getting someone's ideas out there than in the form of a book. I think it's just the most unbelievable transmitter of knowledge—a book. That's why I love to write the book as well. A lot of my friends say, “Listen, books are old hat. You don't need to do a book any more. You can do these other things, other forms, online courses.” I've done lots of online courses in the past and membership sites and all those things, but there's just something that is great about a book—to be able to summarise your ideas at a particular point in time. It's also a great transmitter of value to other people. And it is affordable. Any book, someone can download a book on Audible or wherever they want—that's just an affordable way of absorbing that content. Jo: Yes. Well, of course we are all fans of books here. I do speak—I don't tend to do keynote speaking. I do more content speaking at conferences. For people listening, keynote speaking is where you tend to get the higher revenue. So if people listening have books already—let's say they have nonfiction books or even fiction books that could be turned somehow into different topics—if people want to get booked for speaking gigs, preferably ones that pay— How would you recommend authors think about moving into speaking if that's something they want to do? James: So obviously it's much easier for nonfiction authors to do that. I mean, I'll give you an example. I was speaking at an event last week in New York for L'Oréal, the hair care and cosmetics company. They had six different speakers. One of them was a speaker on macroeconomics and geopolitics. Another was an expert on communications. Another was an expert on AI. Another was an expert on storytelling. So you have to think: does my topic have value for that type of audience—that corporate audience? An easy way of finding that is if you just go onto any of the speaker bureau websites, type in “speaker bureaus,” look for the speaker bureaus, and then type in your topic area—emotional intelligence or whatever the topic area is—and look at the other speakers. See if there is obviously a number of speakers talking on this area. Importantly, look at how busy they are and look at their fee levels as well. I did an online summit a few years ago called the International Speakers Summit, where I interviewed a hundred and fifty of the world's best professional keynote speakers. I interviewed Sally Hogshead, who's an author and a speaker, and she said to me, “James, you're going out speaking about creativity, but if you just twisted it a little bit and spoke more in terms of innovation rather than creativity, you would earn an extra five thousand dollars per keynote.” So creativity and innovation—an extra five thousand dollars. That's just a simple thing that, as you get to understand the industry, you learn. Then once you do that, it's like any business—you have to treat it like a business, obviously. What makes someone a great storyteller on stages is not the same as what makes a great storyteller on the written word. So depending on where you're at, you might need certain training and skills development. If you are listening to this from America, there are things like the National Speakers Association, the NSA. If you're living in the UK, the Professional Speakers Association. These are great ways just to develop your skill set and learn from other professional speakers. Here's the good news, I didn't know anything about professional speaking until 2017–18, and it was only from having a conversation with someone who said, “Listen, you have some original thoughts. You can get paid to speak about this on stage.” Then I spent the next year really researching and understanding and looking at how to do it and creating a minimum viable product—a speech—that was a very short period of time, a year. Most of the listeners here have gone through that process of writing a book, which takes many, many months. So you have the stamina to do this type of work. You just need to find out where you fit. I thought I was going to be a speaker in marketing. I thought that was going to be my thing. And it turns out that's not what the market wanted from me. They wanted me to talk about creativity and artificial intelligence. So you have to listen to the market, like you have to listen to your readers. Jo: Yes, I think that's really interesting. I was also a member of the PSA here, and I learned in Australia with the NSAA as it was. James: Yes. Jo: And that thing about who you speak to—I mainly speak to author conferences, who, I just want to be frank, don't pay very well, if at all. So exactly what you said there— If you want to be a highly paid speaker, you have to pick the audience who's going to pay, as well as a topic that works with them. It is a very different thing to writing a book, I think. James: It is a different model. This is what was interesting when I interviewed those hundred and fifty professional speakers—the thing that came back loud and clear is there is a model to suit everyone. Jo: Mm. James: So the model that works for me—getting paid high fees to go and travel around the world, speaking on stages to primarily corporate audiences—that is not the only model. There is another model, which is called the “sell from the stage” model, where you maybe don't get paid anything to go and speak on the stage, or very little, but what you're doing is you're selling your consulting, your online course, your books, your other products from the back of the stage. That's another model as well. I have friends who have young families and they are writers and they don't want to schlep on planes like I do. I know one speaker in particular who never leaves his own city. He is a very successful professional speaker. He happens to live in Orlando, Florida, which is one of the busiest cities for conferences. So literally, he's home with his kids every night. He gets to do all this cool stuff he wants. He never has to step on a plane if he doesn't want to. That just shows you the range. I remember I once interviewed a person whose title was a Buddhist monk, French speaker, and author. He figured out he could live very affordably by living in Thailand. So he lives in Thailand for part of the year and he's very into meditation, mindfulness, yoga, and writing. He figured out he only had to give two keynotes per year to pay for his entire lifestyle. That was it. So that gives him a lot of freedom. He does those two corporate keynotes a year and for the rest of the year he's doing his yoga, his meditation, his writing, and surfboarding, whatever he's into as well. So you can see there's a whole range of different ways you can design that life. Jo: Yes, we talk a lot about definition of success and it's great to hear those different examples. So before we finish up, I just want to come back to your journey into the writing side, into books and self-publishing. We all understand, me and the listeners, how hard it is to write a book and also to market a book, but we've got the bug. So we wonder: how much have you got the bug? Do you plan on doing more writing, more books, or do you still want to lean more heavily into speaking? James: Primarily the income for me will still come from speaking. I remember listening to Elizabeth Gilbert once when she talked about her writing. She said she always wanted to have other things, so she never had to push onto her writing that it had to be the income stream for her. If it was successful, great, that's fantastic. So I have a little bit of a similar view to that. In terms of my own writing, I've got about five different nonfiction book ideas I'm now looking at. Some of them relate to speeches that I already do. Some don't. I'm looking at different versions of the SuperCreativity book, so there'll be other versions coming out—different industries, different languages. That gives you a few years of work. The other side that I want to develop is the fiction writing side. I'm already starting to work on a fiction book at the moment—a little bit like this idea of one for them, one for me. Jo: Mm-hmm. James: So one for them is for the corporate audience, that world that I live in, and the other one is for me, for my own creativity. My hope—and I don't know, maybe we need to speak in a year's time when I've written and published it—is that by doing the fiction side, it will make me a better storyteller on stages as well for my corporate audience. It will help me understand story arcs, slightly different ways of expressing stories, building emotion, building the anti-hero characters within a book, for example. So I'm hoping that they both feed off each other. But we will see. Jo: Yes, we will. All the best with that. So where can people find you and your books and everything you do online? James: The easiest place to go is JamesTaylor.me, and you can find the book, which is called SuperCreativity, there. Or just go to wherever you buy your books—your local independent bookstore—and get a copy of SuperCreativity. The audiobook may already be out by the time you're listening to this as well. If you want to learn a little bit more, we also have a podcast called the SuperCreativity Podcast, where I interview lots of wonderful guests talking about this area of super creativity. Jo: Well, thanks so much for your time, James. That was brilliant. James: Thank you, Joanna. Thanks for having me as a guest on the show.The post SuperCreativity And KeyNote Speaking With A Non-Fiction Book With James Taylor first appeared on The Creative Penn.

Jess interrupts the Quantum Money Series to explore one of the most contested questions in business and spiritual circles: do you need to grind harder, or is there another way entirely?The answer, it turns out, depends entirely on your state of consciousness.Drawing on David Hawkins' Map of Consciousness, Jess unpacks why "work harder" advice (think Alex Hormozi) is not wrong — it's simply calibrated to a particular frequency. Below 200 on the consciousness scale, effort and push are genuinely what's needed to escape the gravity of survival energy. But above that threshold, the rules change entirely.In higher states of awareness you become more of a witness to reality than a participant in the struggle — and from that vantage point, you stop problem-solving your way to results and start seeing what was always there: opportunity, leverage, precision, ease.This episode covers:Why working hard and working from ease are both correct — just at different levels of consciousnessHow Warren Buffett's partner Charlie Munger embodies high-frequency business (sitting in his study, reading, waiting for the precise moment)Why Neville Goddard's "live from the end" teachings don't work below a certain vibration — and what that means for your manifestation practiceThe concept of frequency hygiene: how the mass consciousness field is constantly pulling your vibration down, and what it looks like to maintain yoursDifferent portals for raising frequency: meditation, somatic and movement practices, sound healing, and the energy of simply doing what you loveWhy chaos, conflict, and scarcity show up as visible signals that your vibration has dropped — and how to read those signsThe geometry of healing and beauty: how coherence restores form, health, and abundanceWhy in high frequency you create from the heart — and people find you, rather than you pursuing them_____________________________________________If this episode landed somewhere deep in you — if you recognised yourself in the oscillation between high frequency and the pull of the mass, between ease and the urge to just push harder — Spiritualised membership is where this work lives.Spiritualised is a monthly membership for women who already hold a deep current within them and are ready to stop managing their frequency and start living from it. This is not about learning more. It's about going further in.Each month you'll go deeper into consciousness, frequency, and the architecture of a life and business built from the inside out — with Jess as your guide.→ Join Spiritualised — email jess@goinward.co.uk for details

Quotes from the episode:   "We're not just selling tools anymore — we're building solutions that make the trade pro's life easier."   "EOS gave us the discipline to focus on what really matters when everything is pulling at you."   "(In golf,) you can't hit everything with a driver — great businesses know which tool to use and when."   In this episode, Bill talks with Rich Benninghoff about Malco's evolution into the broader Malco Group and what it means to shift from a product company to a solutions platform. Rich shares how his 30-year journey across different business models shaped his approach to growth, ultimately leading to the strategic alignment and acquisition by Aspen Pumps. The result is a multi-brand platform designed to serve HVACR professionals more holistically, built around the "back of the van" concept — delivering a full suite of tools and solutions that make technicians' lives easier. A major enabler of this growth has been EOS, which Rich credits with bringing clarity, accountability, and alignment across a complex, multi-brand organization. Rather than reinventing systems, the team has stayed true to EOS fundamentals, embedding them into tools like Microsoft Teams to scale effectively. The conversation highlights how discipline, focus, and simplicity are critical when managing rapid expansion without losing operational integrity. Rich also emphasizes the importance of respecting the legacy of acquired brands while enhancing the customer experience through better access, service, and integration. Drawing inspiration from leaders like Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, he reinforces a core principle: do a few things exceptionally well. The episode closes with a reminder that while strategy and systems matter, success ultimately comes down to people — both inside the organization and out in the field.   Rich's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rich-benninghoff/   The Malco Group website: https://malcogrp.com/   What is EOS: https://www.eosworldwide.com/what-is-eos   This episode was recorded in May 2026.

Discover how to spot undervalued stocks like Deutsche Bank (DB) using the proven QAV (Quality at Value) methodology from Tony Kynaston – a systematic, checklist-driven approach inspired by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger to beat the market. This week I spoke with Cameron Reilly from the QAV Investing Podcast for another episode of Weekend Watchlist. Deutsche Bank delivered its best results in 156 years after a major turnaround. Learn how the bank refocused, rebuilt, and returned to strong profitability.Discover how to pick winning stocks and beat the S&P 500 with Tony Kynaston's proven QAV (Quality at Value) investing methodology.It's a systematic checklist for identifying undervalued quality companies, timing buys and sells with a "three-point trend line" and avoiding market noise. QAV America has delivered 64% returns since September 2023 vs. the S&P 500's 54%, perfect for beginners and pros seeking long-term compounding.Learn about the checklist manifesto, operating cash flow focus, and why QAV is expanding to cover US stocks. Use promo code SFBUS for 20% off QAV plans: QAV Club America (annual/monthly) for full tools and community, or QAV America Light for simple buy/sell signals. Start your 14-day free trial by clicking this link. Subscribe to this channel for more stock picking tips, value investing strategies, and market-beating ideas.Are you Australian and investing in the ASX and ready to go beyond ETFs? Learn from the master - Tony Kynaston's QUALITY AT VALUE. Sign up with code SFB for a 20% discount on QAV Club plan or SFBLIGHT for a free month of QAV Light by clicking this link. for Australians or those wanting to invest in Australian stocks.Disclosure: The links provided are affiliate links. I will be paid a commission if you use this link to make a purchase. You will receive a discount by using these links/coupon codes. I only recommend products and services that I use and trust myself or where I have interviewed and/or met the founders and have assured myself that they're offering something of value.Stocks for Beginners is a production of Finpods Pty Ltd. The advice shared on Stocks for Beginners is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. Opinions expressed by guests are theirs alone and may not represent the views of Finpods, Money Sherpa, or Phil Muscatello. Stocks for Beginners exists purely for educational and entertainment purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD, and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Philip Muscatello and Finpods Pty Ltd are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708, AFSL - 451289. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Discover how to spot undervalued stocks like Deutsche Bank (DB) using the proven QAV (Quality at Value) methodology from Tony Kynaston – a systematic, checklist-driven approach inspired by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger to beat the market. This week I spoke with Cameron Reilly from the QAV Investing Podcast for another episode of Weekend Watchlist. Deutsche Bank delivered its best results in 156 years after a major turnaround. Learn how the bank refocused, rebuilt, and returned to strong profitability.Discover how to pick winning stocks and beat the S&P 500 with Tony Kynaston's proven QAV (Quality at Value) investing methodology.It's a systematic checklist for identifying undervalued quality companies, timing buys and sells with a "three-point trend line" and avoiding market noise. QAV America has delivered 64% returns since September 2023 vs. the S&P 500's 54%, perfect for beginners and pros seeking long-term compounding.Learn about the checklist manifesto, operating cash flow focus, and why QAV is expanding to cover US stocks. Use promo code SFBUS for 20% off QAV plans: QAV Club America (annual/monthly) for full tools and community, or QAV America Light for simple buy/sell signals. Start your 14-day free trial by clicking this link. Subscribe to this channel for more stock picking tips, value investing strategies, and market-beating ideas.Are you Australian and investing in the ASX and ready to go beyond ETFs? Learn from the master - Tony Kynaston's QUALITY AT VALUE. Sign up with code SFB for a 20% discount on QAV Club plan or SFBLIGHT for a free month of QAV Light by clicking this link. for Australians or those wanting to invest in Australian stocks.Disclosure: The links provided are affiliate links. I will be paid a commission if you use this link to make a purchase. You will receive a discount by using these links/coupon codes. I only recommend products and services that I use and trust myself or where I have interviewed and/or met the founders and have assured myself that they're offering something of value.Shares for Beginners is a production of Finpods Pty Ltd. The advice shared on Shares for Beginners is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. Opinions expressed by guests are theirs alone and may not represent the views of Finpods, Money Sherpa, or Phil Muscatello. Shares for Beginners exists purely for educational and entertainment purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD, and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Philip Muscatello and Finpods Pty Ltd are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708, AFSL - 451289. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the He Said, She Said: Razor Branding™ Podcast, Jaci and Michael sit down with Andy Weiss, CMO and marketing strategist, to talk about why the playbooks that got us here will not get us where we need to go – and what to do instead. Andy brings a perspective shaped by decades of experience scaling B2B companies and working with brands like Sprint, Comcast, and Oscar Mayer, and a conviction that mental models and frameworks outlast any tactical script. He opens up about flaming out in his first in-house marketing role and how that failure led him to Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, and a completely different way of thinking about marketing strategy. From the danger of operating like a day trader to the flattening effect of AI giving everyone the same tools and playbooks, Andy makes a compelling case for why the marketers who stop and think before they execute are the ones who will stand out. He also breaks down why B2B brands hide behind rationality when buyers are still making emotional decisions first and justifying them second. Key Takeaways Playbooks work when conditions are ideal, but frameworks and mental models give you a way to think when conditions are not Operating like a day trader in marketing – chasing quick wins without fundamentals – is not sustainable over the long haul AI has flattened execution, which means brands that cannot create a real point of difference are more vulnerable than ever If you do not know your customers well enough to describe them, your marketing will be generic by default B2B buyers make emotional decisions first and rational justifications second – the best marketers meet them on a human level The goal is not to avoid playbooks entirely, but to know when to use them and when to think beyond them Listen wherever you get your podcasts or at razorbranding.org

Why do so many people feel financially behind — even when the numbers say they're not? Often, the problem isn't the plan. It's the expectation. Charlie Munger, near the end of his life, gave a one-sentence answer that cuts straight to the point: reasonable expectations. In this conversation, I look at the gap between the life we imagined and the life we're living, and what happens when we never examine where our financial expectations came from in the first place, which may be one of the most underrated financial insights there is. I share the story of a family that had done almost everything right but couldn't shake the feeling of being behind because the scoreboard they were measuring against had been set decades earlier. The action step this week is small but not easy: pick one area where you feel financially behind and ask where that expectation actually came from. Not to fix it. Just to notice it. Because you can't rewrite a story you haven't read yet. Connect with Paul If you're a family with multiple kids who feel like your money should be working harder but aren't sure where to start, I do complimentary 30-minute financial reviews. Schedule a meeting here. For resources discussed in this episode, visit tammacapital.com/podcast. Follow Paul on LinkedIn. Resources Featured in This Episode: Optimize Your Spending to Increase Your Happiness Wealth Planning is For Everyone

Turning a problem upside down can be the best way to achieve long-term success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Markets are surging in 2026, but the headlines don't tell the full story. In this episode, we break down the latest market rally, analyze earnings from the world's largest companies, and uncover what's really driving growth in Big Tech. We also tackle one of the most debated topics in investing: diversification. Is owning hundreds of stocks actually reducing risk or just limiting returns? Drawing insights from legends like Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, we explore the difference between average investing and truly understanding what you own. Here's to wise investing.

Dr. Killeen reflects on a quote from Charlie Munger and how the idea of waiting applies far beyond investing. In a dental practice, real success rarely comes from big moments or quick wins. It comes from consistently doing the simple, often repetitive things that move the practice forward. Weekly meetings, morning huddles, and ongoing conversations with your team may not feel exciting, but they are what shape culture and drive long term growth. Over time, those small actions begin to compound and create meaningful change. Patience and consistency often matter more than chasing the next big idea. Steady effort, repeated over time, is what builds a strong and successful practice.

One of the most common arguments you hear from company executives racing to develop super-intelligent AI is that it will cure cancer. It's an incredibly powerful and seductive promise.  If superintelligent AI really can cure cancer, then anyone who stands in the way of it, anyone who wants to slow it down — even because of its serious risks — is essentially letting people die. In fact, the biggest risk would be going too slowly. But what if a superintelligent AI isn't actually capable of solving cancer in the way it's been described? What if we're being sold a false promise to justify a dangerous race? That's exactly what our guest this week argues is happening. Dr. Emilia Javorsky is a physician, public health researcher, and director of the Futures Program at the Future of Life Institute. She's worked across scientific research, clinical trials, tech startups, and AI policy.   Emilia recently wrote a paper titled “How AI Can and Can't Cure Cancer,” in which she argues that the promise of superintelligence curing cancer falls apart under scrutiny.  Emilia lost a parent to cancer, so her criticism of this promise comes from a place of real concern, not cynicism. It also comes from her belief that AI can be really revolutionary for medicine, if we build it the right way. Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on X: @HumaneTech_ and subscribe to our Substack.RECOMMENDED MEDIA How AI Can and Can't Cure Cancer by Emilia JavorskyThe Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES Decoding Our DNA: How AI Supercharges Medical Breakthroughs and Biological Threats with Kevin Esvelt Forever Chemicals, Forever Consequences: What PFAS Teaches Us About AI Big Food, Big Tech and Big AI with Michael MossCLARIFICATIONS: Emilia's claim that “the doubling rate of medical knowledge has gone from 50 years in the 1950s down to 73 days” comes from an oft-cited 2011 paper from the NIH. However, this paper does not include any methodology for arriving at this claim. Emilia stated that we have yet to cure any complex, chronic disease in humans. However, we have been able to cure Hepatitis C, which is considered a complex infectious disease, and we have managed to effectively cure some types of Leukemia Correction: Tristan incorrectly paraphrased a quote from Charlie Munger about incentives. The actual quote is “The basic rule of incentives is you get what you were owed for. So if you have a dumb incentive system, you get dumb outcomes."     Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Adam Mead is a professional investor, CEO of Mead Capital Management, and author of the 850-page second edition of The Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway — one of the most exhaustive chronicles of Warren Buffett's conglomerate ever written.Episode Sponsor: Fiscal AI is a modern data terminal that gives investors instant access to twenty years of financials, earnings transcripts, and extensive segment and KPI data—use my link for a two-week free trial plus 15% off: https://fiscal.ai/talkingbillions/3:00 – Adam explains why a second edition was necessary: the pandemic, Apple's rise to 50% of the portfolio, Allegheny and Pilot acquisitions, Japanese trading houses, losing Charlie Munger, and Buffett's retirement 5:58 – Berkshire's underlying philosophy hasn't changed — it's the world that changed; living through history feels more intense than researching it on the page 8:25 – Why Buffett sold the airlines: as largest shareholder, Berkshire could have blocked bailout funds, putting the airlines' survival at risk 11:28 – New investment cases rhyme with the past; patient capital allocation works; $72B in share repurchases between 2020–2024 was the real “elephant” 15:22 – Japanese trading houses financed with 1% yen-denominated debt — currency-insulated and opening future partnership opportunities 17:56 – The new chapters are Buffett's final years; succession to Greg Abel was methodical, not sudden; Greg made material improvements visible in the financials 22:01 – Global expansion under Greg Abel could be Berkshire's next chapter, following Fairfax's playbook 23:50 – Sum of the parts walkthrough: $373B cash (~$320B deployable), $234B equities (after Apple adjustment and deferred taxes), BNSF $80-90B, BHE ~$70B, MSR businesses ~$205B, insurance underwriting ~$42.5B, minus $22.5B holding company debt = just over $1 trillion intrinsic value 44:41 – S&P underperformance is more about the index going “nuts” than Berkshire missing something 48:47 – Cash buildup is confluence, not structural: Apple gains, expensive market, Berkshire shares at/above intrinsic value — like a water balloon filling up 56:41 – Berkshire's edge: de-emphasize information, emphasize continual learning, patience, and underappreciated liability management 1:00:54 – AI won't replace conviction; if it could be done by clicking a button, the advantage negates itself 1:10:15 – Conviction requires deep work; shallow roots won't hold through volatilityPodcast Program – Disclosure StatementBlue Infinitas Capital, LLC is a registered investment adviser and the opinions expressed by the Firm's employees and podcast guests on this show are their own and do not reflect the opinions of Blue Infinitas Capital, LLC. All statements and opinions expressed are based upon information considered reliable although it should not be relied upon as such. Any statements or opinions are subject to change without notice.Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed.

AI has completely inverted how we build and scale software, which begs the question: What exactly is a moat anymore? In this Freestyle Friday, recovering from jet lag and hiking through the beautiful hills of Salt Lake City, I'm breaking down a recent conversation with a VC friend about defensibility in the era of coding agents. I also look at this through Charlie Munger's lens of "inversion" to figure out what isn't a moat anymore (spoiler: thin foundation model wrappers, "AI", and feature velocity are dead).I also dive into what is defensible today, from mission-critical systems of record like DuckDB and Postgres, to personal branding, to shifting SaaS pricing from per-seat to per-token.

Mental Models for Running Startups and Businesses, SXSW 2026 on March 16, 2026. (00:00:00) - Introduction  (00:00:28) - Charlie Munger's mental models  (00:01:52) - Model 1: The Bedrock model: Take a simple idea and take it seriously  (00:02:31) - Model 2: Truth vs. Trust; David Hawkins: Power vs. Force  (00:05:43) - Costco  (00:07:56) - Model 3: Your deepest desire is your destiny  (00:09:40) - Model 4: Heads I win; Tails I don't lose much; Jeff Bezos  (00:10:36) - How to start a business without capital  (00:12:44) - Model 5: Be a shameless cloner; Sam Walton & Walmart and Bill Gates & Microsoft  (00:14:49) - Model 6: Use hacks to improve yourself; Be a harsh grader  (00:16:02) - Model 7: Hire slow fire fast  (00:16:53) - Model 8: Incentives are more powerful than you think  (00:17:51) - Model 10: Pursue quality intensely; Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance by Robert Pirsig  (00:18:50) - Model 11: Focus on durable moats  (00:19:16) - Model 12: The purpose of business is not to make money  (00:19:45) - Model 13: Outsourcing smaller tasks  (00:20:39) - The latticework of mental models; Listen to your customer  (00:24:07) - Focus on taking larger market share  (00:25:19) - Model 14: Go all-in on no-brainers; Founders Podcast, Business Breakdowns & Acquired podcasts  (00:28:54) - Book recommendations: Poor Charlie's Almanack, Influence & Excellent Advice for Living  (00:29:27) - Duan Yongping: Fast is slow  (00:30:56) - Lifetime ban at a casino in Vegas; Blackjack  (00:33:09) - Exponential effect of implementing the models together  (00:34:24) - Benefit of mental models to non-venture backed businesses  (00:35:12) - El Cortez casino in Las Vegas; Blackjack (00:41:49) - Mental models for creative professionals; Seinfeld's Is This Anything? The contents of this website are for educational and entertainment purposes only, and do not purport to be, and are not intended to be, financial, legal, accounting, tax or investment advice. Investments or strategies that are discussed may not be suitable for you, do not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs and are not intended to provide investment advice or recommendations appropriate for you. Before making any investment or trade, consider whether it is suitable for you and consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser. Thumbnail Photo credit: Nick Piacente

Jeff Dudan's free digital copy of his book What if the most valuable skill in an AI-dominated world is something you already have - and just haven't fully leveraged? Graham Weihmiller, former CEO and Executive Chairman of BNI - the world's largest business referral organization with 11,500 chapters in 77 countries and 350,000 global members - sits down with Jeff Dudan on the Unemployable Podcast to share the leadership principles, entrepreneurial lessons, and contrarian insights that shaped his extraordinary career. Graham opens up about growing up in financial hardship (broken plumbing, buckets in the bathtub, couldn't fill the gas tank), how those early struggles forged a scrappy, resourceful mindset that carried him to William & Mary, Harvard Business School, a seven-month backpacking trip on a maxed credit card, a search fund acquisition of Griswold Home Care, and ultimately the leadership of one of the world's most recognizable franchise networks.  In this episode you'll learn: ✅ Why real human relationships will be MORE valuable as AI advances - not less ✅ The search fund model: how early-career entrepreneurs buy and run real companies ✅ Why "you learn on your first, you earn on your second" is the best entrepreneurship philosophy ✅ The three-bucket framework for founder-to-CEO transitions (from Dr. Ivan Misner of BNI) ✅ Why hiring all-stars beats fixing processes yourself - and how micromanaging kills growth ✅ Charlie Munger's incentive principle and how to apply it to your team ✅ The leadership rule: race to the conflict ✅ Why franchising is the ultimate team sport for entrepreneurs ✅ The untapped business opportunity Graham says he'd start tomorrow ✅ One sentence that could change your life Whether you're a franchise owner, aspiring entrepreneur, early-stage CEO, or just someone building something from scratch - this episode is packed with the kind of honest, hard-won wisdom that only comes from decades of doing the real work.  Homefront Brands: https://www.homefrontbrands.com Jeff Dudan: https://www.jeffdudan.com Guest: Graham Weihmiller Guest YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BNIOfficialChannelGlobalHQ  Guest Website: https://www.bni.com/  Guest Socials: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grahamweihmiller  Pioneer Equity: https://www.pioneerequity.com/  #BNI #Entrepreneurship #Franchising #SearchFund #Leadership #BusinessGrowth #Networking #CEOMindset #UnemployablePodcast #JeffDudan Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jeff Dudan's free digital copy of his book What if the most valuable skill in an AI-dominated world is something you already have - and just haven't fully leveraged? Graham Weihmiller, former CEO and Executive Chairman of BNI - the world's largest business referral organization with 11,500 chapters in 77 countries and 350,000 global members - sits down with Jeff Dudan on the Unemployable Podcast to share the leadership principles, entrepreneurial lessons, and contrarian insights that shaped his extraordinary career. Graham opens up about growing up in financial hardship (broken plumbing, buckets in the bathtub, couldn't fill the gas tank), how those early struggles forged a scrappy, resourceful mindset that carried him to William & Mary, Harvard Business School, a seven-month backpacking trip on a maxed credit card, a search fund acquisition of Griswold Home Care, and ultimately the leadership of one of the world's most recognizable franchise networks.  In this episode you'll learn: ✅ Why real human relationships will be MORE valuable as AI advances - not less ✅ The search fund model: how early-career entrepreneurs buy and run real companies ✅ Why "you learn on your first, you earn on your second" is the best entrepreneurship philosophy ✅ The three-bucket framework for founder-to-CEO transitions (from Dr. Ivan Misner of BNI) ✅ Why hiring all-stars beats fixing processes yourself - and how micromanaging kills growth ✅ Charlie Munger's incentive principle and how to apply it to your team ✅ The leadership rule: race to the conflict ✅ Why franchising is the ultimate team sport for entrepreneurs ✅ The untapped business opportunity Graham says he'd start tomorrow ✅ One sentence that could change your life Whether you're a franchise owner, aspiring entrepreneur, early-stage CEO, or just someone building something from scratch - this episode is packed with the kind of honest, hard-won wisdom that only comes from decades of doing the real work.  Homefront Brands: https://www.homefrontbrands.com Jeff Dudan: https://www.jeffdudan.com Guest: Graham Weihmiller Guest YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BNIOfficialChannelGlobalHQ  Guest Website: https://www.bni.com/  Guest Socials: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grahamweihmiller  Pioneer Equity: https://www.pioneerequity.com/  #BNI #Entrepreneurship #Franchising #SearchFund #Leadership #BusinessGrowth #Networking #CEOMindset #UnemployablePodcast #JeffDudan Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

He got conned so often, he decided to study the con. The result: over seven million copies sold, a persuasion framework taught worldwide, and a thank-you check from Charlie Munger. In this episode, Igor talks with Dr. Robert Cialdini about fake scarcity, the tiny welcome line that can beat your best headline, why “what you'll lose” outperforms “what you'll gain,” and how the same principles that move people can nudge AI past its own guardrails. Plus, Cialdini's seventh principle, his environment trick for clearer writing, and the two books he still turns to on influence.

Buying a home together might be the dream but for many couples, it's where things start to fall apart.In this episode, we unpack Charlie Munger's “ladies, liquor, and leverage” rule, diving into how property debt, rising interest rates, and financial pressure are driving relationship breakdowns, the risks of going all-in on leverage, and what happens legally and financially when couples split after buying a home.Next steps: Thinking about getting on the property ladder? Talk to the Lighthouse Mortgages team today and make sure you're set up the right way from the start.For more money tips follow us on:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The content in this podcast is the opinion of the hosts. It should not be treated as financial advice. It is important to take into consideration your own personal situation and goals before making any financial decisions.

What does it look like when a Google VP, a Flipkart CTO, and a 30-year technology veteran stop managing people — and start building again with AI?In this episode of SparX, Mukesh Bansal (Founder of Myntra & Cult.fit) speaks with Peeyush Ranjan (former VP of Engineering at Google Pay and Group CTO of Flipkart) about what's actually happening inside companies as AI agents begin to reshape how products are built.This isn't a conversation about the future of AI.It's about what's already happening — in their companies, on their laptops, and in the way builders are now working.This is a builder's conversation.Peeyush shares how he built Enrico-  an AI chief of staff (AI agent) that has become the most productive “employee” in his company. With company-wide memory, a virtual board of advisors featuring Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Charlie Munger, Peter Thiel, and Sam Altman, and the ability to autonomously improve itself, it represents a new way of operating.Mukesh shares how he went from watching others build to launching a fully functional v1 product in under 10 days — faster than what a $100,000 outsourcing agency failed to deliver.But this goes far beyond productivity.They explore what this shift means for how companies are structured, how capital is deployed, how hiring changes and what happens when revenue per employee jumps from $40,000 to potentially millions.How to build an AI chief of staff (AI agent) for your companyWhy curiosity + agency now matter more than expertiseThe real risk of AI: intellectual laziness and cognitive debtWhy distribution — not innovation — is becoming the new moatWhat a 10-person, billion-dollar company could look likeHow to think about open source vs frontier AI modelsWhy the idea of a “non-technical founder” is disappearingThe gap between imagination and instantiation has never been smaller. The question is whether you're on the right side of it.Guest:Peeyush Ranjan : Co-founder Fermi.ai, Partner at Meraki Labs, Former VP Engineering Google Pay & Google Assistant, Former Group CTO FlipkartIf you found value, hit like & subscribe.

Discover how to spot undervalued stocks like PagBank (NYSE:PAGS) using the proven QAV (Quality at Value) methodology from Tony Kynaston – a systematic, checklist-driven approach inspired by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger to beat the market. This week I spoke with Cameron Reilly from the QAV Investing Podcast for another episode of Weekend Watchlist. We looked at PagBank (NYSE: PAGS), Brazil's fast-growing digital bank and payments leader, formerly known as PagSeguro.Discover how to pick winning stocks and beat the S&P 500 with Tony Kynaston's proven QAV (Quality at Value) investing methodology.It's a systematic checklist for identifying undervalued quality companies, timing buys and sells with a "three-point trend line" and avoiding market noise. QAV America has delivered 64% returns since September 2023 vs. the S&P 500's 54%, perfect for beginners and pros seeking long-term compounding.Learn about the checklist manifesto, operating cash flow focus, and why QAV is expanding to cover US stocks. Use promo code SFBUS for 20% off QAV plans: QAV Club America (annual/monthly) for full tools and community, or QAV America Light for simple buy/sell signals. Start your 14-day free trial by clicking this link. Subscribe to this channel for more stock picking tips, value investing strategies, and market-beating ideas.Australian and investing in the ASX and ready to go beyond ETFs, learn from the master - Tony Kynaston's QUALITY AT VALUE. Sign up with code SFB for a 20% discount on QAV Club plan or SFBLIGHT for a free month of QAV Light by clicking this link. for Australians or those wanting to invest in Australian stocks.Disclosure: The links provided are affiliate links. I will be paid a commission if you use this link to make a purchase. You will receive a discount by using these links/coupon codes. I only recommend products and services that I use and trust myself or where I have interviewed and/or met the founders and have assured myself that they're offering something of value.Stocks for Beginners is a production of Finpods Pty Ltd. The advice shared on Stocks for Beginners is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. Opinions expressed by guests are theirs alone and may not represent the views of Finpods, Money Sherpa, or Phil Muscatello. Stocks for Beginners exists purely for educational and entertainment purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD, and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Philip Muscatello and Finpods Pty Ltd are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708, AFSL - 451289. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Discover how to spot undervalued stocks like PagBank (NYSE:PAGS) using the proven QAV (Quality at Value) methodology from Tony Kynaston – a systematic, checklist-driven approach inspired by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger to beat the market. This week I spoke with Cameron Reilly from the QAV Investing Podcast for another episode of Weekend Watchlist. We looked at PagBank (NYSE: PAGS), Brazil's fast-growing digital bank and payments leader, formerly known as PagSeguro.Discover how to pick winning stocks and beat the S&P 500 with Tony Kynaston's proven QAV (Quality at Value) investing methodology.It's a systematic checklist for identifying undervalued quality companies, timing buys and sells with a "three-point trend line" and avoiding market noise. QAV America has delivered 64% returns since September 2023 vs. the S&P 500's 54%, perfect for beginners and pros seeking long-term compounding.Learn about the checklist manifesto, operating cash flow focus, and why QAV is expanding to cover US stocks. Use promo code SFBUS for 20% off QAV plans: QAV Club America (annual/monthly) for full tools and community, or QAV America Light for simple buy/sell signals. Start your 14-day free trial by clicking this link. Subscribe to this channel for more stock picking tips, value investing strategies, and market-beating ideas.Australian and investing in the ASX and ready to go beyond ETFs, learn from the master - Tony Kynaston's QUALITY AT VALUE. Sign up with code SFB for a 20% discount on QAV Club plan or SFBLIGHT for a free month of QAV Light by clicking this link. for Australians or those wanting to invest in Australian stocks.Disclosure: The links provided are affiliate links. I will be paid a commission if you use this link to make a purchase. You will receive a discount by using these links/coupon codes. I only recommend products and services that I use and trust myself or where I have interviewed and/or met the founders and have assured myself that they're offering something of value.Shares for Beginners is a production of Finpods Pty Ltd. The advice shared on Shares for Beginners is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. Opinions expressed by guests are theirs alone and may not represent the views of Finpods, Money Sherpa, or Phil Muscatello. Shares for Beginners exists purely for educational and entertainment purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD, and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Philip Muscatello and Finpods Pty Ltd are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708, AFSL - 451289. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's Stansberry Investor Hour, Dan welcomes Alex Morris back to the show. Alex is the founder of TSOH (The Science of Hitting) Investment Research and an author. TSOH, which boasts more than 24,000 subscribers, aims to generate attractive long-term returns while providing complete transparency on the research process, portfolio decision-making, and returns.   Alex kicks things off by reflecting on the potential changes in Berkshire Hathaway due to the passing of Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett's retirement. He believes the company is in a good position to continue the momentum that was built up when Buffett was at the helm and acknowledges that the issues the company currently faces were present during Buffett's final days. Alex then begins sharing the names of companies that have fallen but he believes will be able to improve their positions. Though he's wary about picking beaten stocks that might be going nowhere. (0:00)   Next, Alex gives his outlook on the next set of stocks he's considering. The first was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. But Alex believes that it's taking the right steps to combat inflation without causing its customers to turn away. The second stock is in a niche field. It's currently facing headwinds from a stagnant housing market, but Alex is confident that once conditions improve, the company is set to boom. The third is building up its business by providing higher-quality, premium beverages compared with the competition, which can produce loyal customers who won't want to settle for anything else. And the fourth also provides premium products, only directed at the egg industry. (24:54)   Finally, Alex discusses his final stock pick. This is a company that has faced controversy surrounding user safety, but Alex says the company has improved and continues to improve its safety protocols and is righting the ship. In the long run, he sees the company being comparable with YouTube due to the way its creators make experiences that can't be rivaled by any similar platform. And he concludes by stressing the importance of creating goals in your life. (44:13)

Twenty years. Nearly one thousand episodes on this show. And starting today, we're going to try something a little different this season. Season 21 is about the decisions that actually determine whether innovation lives or dies inside any organization. The real calls. Not the fluff stuff we read in academic textbooks. I want to actually put you in the rooms where these decisions are happening. What went right. What went wrong. My objective is to expose you to the patterns in innovation decisions so that you can recognize them. Recognize them in yourself, in the people you need to influence, long before you step into any landmines. So let's get into it. The Encounter on the Top Floor of Building 25 Making generational decisions on innovation investment can be a make-or-break moment. What I refer to as a CLM, a Career Limiting Move. In my case, it started with a chance conversation with Mark Hurd, HP's CEO. Let me take you back to 2005. HP headquarters is on Page Mill Road in Palo Alto, referred to internally as Building 25. The top floor is where all of the executive offices are. That's where Mark's office was. I was up there doing some meetings and got snagged by Mark. Now, Mark had a reputation. He was a big numbers guy. He believed in what he called extreme benchmarking. You tore into your competitors' numbers. You knew your own numbers in and out.1 Others had warned me about this. He had a famous quote that everybody shared:  "Stare at the numbers long enough, and they will eventually confess." Mark believed you could not lead a critical role at HP if you did not know your numbers cold, inside and out. Didn't matter whether it was sales, CTO, a function, or a division. It didn't matter. And Mark tested everyone on the leadership team. Not just the leadership team. He would randomly stop employees and ask them for their numbers based on what group they worked in. It was non-stop. It was constant. To where support staff was literally constantly preparing briefing books for managers, VPs, leaders, just in case they got nabbed by Mark. In my case, I happened to be walking past his office. Mark waved me in. I sat down, and he immediately started drilling me on the CTO numbers. The number he focused on was R&D as a percentage of revenue. The Broken Benchmark: R&D as a Percentage of Revenue Now, if you've been a regular listener of this show, you know my opinion of that metric. R&D as a percentage of revenue is a meaningless number.2 It is absolutely meaningless. But every public company CEO at an innovation-dependent company, all the tech companies, AI companies, even automotive, they live by this number. It's a number that Wall Street looks at. You have to report it as part of your quarterlies, and from there it's simple math.3 When Mark grilled me, he was focused specifically on the PC group at HP. HP's number at the time for the PC group was about one and a half percent. R&D as a percentage of the PC group's revenue. Acer, which was a key competitor, was at 0.8%. Less than one percent. Roughly half of HP's number.4 Apple was at four percent.5 Mark's question, and he was really pounding on this, was: How do we get our ratios in line with Acer? Basically, he was saying: how do we cut costs so that our R&D expense as a percentage of revenue equals Acer at 0.8%? This is exactly the problem with choosing the wrong metric. Now I'm going to quote somebody who I think was probably one of the most insightful leaders in the business world. Charlie Munger. If you've ever watched any of his talks, he had a really strong opinion on certain metrics. Specifically EBITDA, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Charlie referred to EBITDA as BS earnings. It was a metric Wall Street swore by, and Munger said it hid more than it revealed. His exact words: "Every time you see the word EBITDA, just substitute the word 'bullshit' earnings."6 R&D as a percentage of revenue is the same problem in a different disguise. It's the metric that makes every company look like it's investing when all it's doing is spending. Mark was using a broken instrument to make a generational decision. If you make decisions based on R&D as a percentage of revenue, and then you do comparisons like "let's make our numbers look like Acer," what you are actually deciding to do is cut your R&D. That is generational. You will destroy a company's innovation capability over the next ten to twenty years before you can even have a hope of rebuilding it.7 "We Are Not Apple and We Never Will Be" I looked at him and said: Why aren't we raising our R&D spend to match Apple? Mark didn't hesitate. He said: "We are not Apple and we never will be." I took offense at that. I was offended that he wouldn't even contemplate it. And I pushed back. I pushed back hard. I argued we could be Apple in areas where we had genuine advantage. Here's one example. Go back to September 2004, about a year before my meeting with Mark. Carly Fiorina was still CEO. Carly had just handed Steve Jobs access to the retail shelf space HP spent thirty years building.8 At that time, HP controlled about nine, nine and a half percent of all retail shelf space for consumer electronics, the largest single entity holding in that category. Where did all that come from? It traces back to the calculator days in the 1970s. Those relationships, those stocking slots, that footprint: HP had spent three decades building that access. Apple was launching the iPod.9 It had no retail distribution in consumer electronics. None. And rather than HP taking advantage of that for itself, it actually opened the door and allowed Apple to come in. That is how the iPod got its traction. It bought Apple the time to build out its own retail strategy, which is ultimately what allowed Apple to be where it is today. That wasn't an accident of history. That was HP giving away a structural competitive asset. When I tried to push back on Mark, saying we could be better with the right investment, it didn't land. Mark viewed the PC business as a commodity. And if it's a commodity, you manage expenses. You don't invest in capabilities. Monthly Arguments and the Search for Better Metrics There was no decision made that day. But something shifted in me. That was the first of many monthly arguments I had with Mark. And they were non-stop. What it drove me to do was start looking for better metrics. We had something most companies don't have: HP's complete financial history going all the way back to the 1940s. I had access to the numbers, division by division, for one of the founding companies of Silicon Valley.10 We were getting traction. I was actually getting Mark to align. I was getting the HP board to align. And then what happens? Mark gets removed as CEO and Leo comes in. Then Meg kicked Leo out and she took over. Then the split of HP into two companies. Acer today? Still roughly 0.9% of revenue in R&D.11 Twenty years later, almost exactly where Mark wanted HP to get to. What I Would Do Differently: Right Argument, Wrong Language If I'm being honest about what I would do differently, I had the right argument. I had the wrong language. The job wasn't to prove Mark wrong. Nobody changes their mind when they're being told they're wrong. I needed to stop speaking CTO and start speaking CEO. Meet him where he was. Make the case in the language of margin, risk, competitive position, the language he already trusted. But that language didn't exist when it came to R&D and innovation. That's the reason I spent the rest of my career building something better. And that is what this season is about. What Comes Next: The Metrics That Tell the Truth That conversation with Mark sent me looking. If R&D as a percentage of revenue was the wrong metric, and I believe to my core that it was, and is, then what's the right one? We went back through HP's own numbers. We back-cast all the way to the 1940s, looking at the numbers by division, by the overall organization. And then something unexpected happened. The archive team at HP gave me access to something nobody had looked at in decades: Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard's original notebooks. What I found in there pointed me somewhere nobody had thought to look. In the next episode, we're going to talk about the metrics that actually tell the truth when it comes to R&D and innovation.     If this episode gave you some insights, shifted something, share it with somebody who you think needs to hear it. Particularly if you're trying to fight senior leaders around R&D investment. And in the comments below, tell me: what's that one benchmark that you are required to hit, and yet you've never questioned? Is it the right benchmark? Have you really looked at it? I genuinely would like to know. Show notes and this week's Studio Notes are over at philmckinney.com. Subscribe there. That's where the deeper analysis lives. Every Monday that we post, subscribe. You don't want to miss the next one. I'll see you in the next episode.  

Qasar Younis is the co-founder and CEO of Applied Intuition, a $15 billion AI company that adds intelligence to cars, tractors, planes, submarines, and other vehicles—essentially, Tesla or Waymo without the hardware. He was previously COO of Y Combinator, started his career as an engineer at GM and Bosch, and was born on a farm in Pakistan.We discuss:1. Why the biggest AI revolution will play out in mining, farming, construction, and trucking over the next 5 to 10 years, not in software2. Why Qasar intentionally stayed under the radar for nearly a decade while building Applied Intuition, and why most founders shouldn't do that3. The truth about China's AI capabilities and why comparisons to American companies are fundamentally flawed4. The company values that drive Applied Intuition: speed above everything, laugh a lot, half the work is follow-up, never disappoint the customer5. The biggest lessons from Qasar's stint as YC's COO, including that the most successful companies show traction very early6. How reading old books is the best way to build taste—Brought to you by:Omni—AI analytics your customers can trustVanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security.Lovable—Build apps by simply chatting with AI—Episode transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-most-successful-ai-company-youve-never-heard-of—Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0—Where to find Qasar Younis:• X: https://x.com/qasar• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qasar• Website: https://qy.co• Reading list: https://qy.co/books—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction to Qasar and Applied Intuition(04:01) The optimistic vision: How AI will create abundance(08:49) Why anxiety about AI comes from misunderstanding—and how to fight fear with knowledge(12:58) The market sell-off explained(16:31) Self-driving cars: Why 30,000 annual deaths prove we need autonomy now(20:22) The spectrum of physical AI(28:00) How AI is coming just in time(33:26) Why comparing Chinese AI companies to American AI companies is a category error(39:12) Why Qasar finally joined Twitter after staying silent for a decade(45:08) Why successful companies almost always show early signs of traction(50:40) Applied Intuition's core values(56:00) Why the company cleans its own office—and never spent a dollar of raised capital(58:50) Quasar's reading philosophy(01:06:14) How to operationalize listening to naysayers(01:12:53) The importance of decisiveness(01:14:55) Removing emotions from decisions(01:19:02) Why most Silicon Valley CEOs don't have great taste—and how to develop it—Referenced:• Applied Intuition: https://www.appliedintuition.com• Marc Andreessen: The real AI boom hasn't even started yet: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/marc-andreessen-the-real-ai-boom• Elad Gil's website: https://eladgil.com• Bosch: https://www.bosch.com• Berkshire Hathaway: https://www.berkshirehathaway.com• Naval Ravikant on X: https://x.com/naval• Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com• Waymo: https://waymo.com/• Tesla: https://www.tesla.com• DeepSeek: https://www.deepseek.com• Rivian: https://rivian.com• Crate & Barrel: https://www.crateandbarrel.com• OpenClaw: https://openclaw.ai• Sam Altman on X: https://x.com/sama• Peter Ludwig on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterwludwig• What Steve Jobs really meant when he said ‘Good artists copy; great artists steal': https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/what-steve-jobs-really-meant-when-he-said-good-artists-copy-great-artists-steal• 7 quotes on the power of reading from Charlie Munger: https://www.neil.blog/articles/7-quotes-power-reading-charlie-munger• Andreessen Horowitz: https://a16z.com• John Doerr on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-doerr-03248211• Gandhi's quote: https://www.azquotes.com/author/5308-Mahatma_Gandhi/tag/truth#google_vignette• Steve Ballmer on X: https://x.com/Steven_Ballmer• General Motors: https://www.gm.com—Recommended books:• House of Huawei: The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company: https://www.amazon.com/House-Huawei-History-Powerful-Company/dp/0593544633• Maintenance: Of Everything, Part One: https://press.stripe.com/maintenance-part-one• The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley: https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Malcolm-Told-Alex-Haley/dp/0345350685• High Output Management: https://www.amazon.com/High-Output-Management-Andrew-Grove/dp/0679762884• The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer: https://www.amazon.com/Emperor-All-Maladies-Biography-Cancer/dp/1439170916• Made in America: https://www.amazon.com/Sam-Walton-Made-America/dp/0553562835• My American Journey: https://www.amazon.com/American-Journey-Autobiography-Colin-Powell/dp/0679432965• Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies: https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Germs-Steel-Fates-Societies/dp/0393317552• Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed: https://www.amazon.com/Collapse-Societies-Choose-Succeed-Revised/dp/0143117009• SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome: https://www.amazon.com/SPQR-History-Ancient-Mary-Beard/dp/0871404230• A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness: https://www.amazon.com/World-Appears-Journey-into-Consciousness/dp/198488199X—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com