Podcast appearances and mentions of jeff gramm

Jeff Gramm is the Founder and Portfolio Manager at Bandera Partners, an investment firm focused on special situation and activist investing. Jeff is also the author of Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism. This episode includes a deep dive into capital allocation, shareholder governance and activist investing. It also recounts great stories from Popeyes, Joint Corp (JYNT), PAR Technology (PAR), Donnelley Financial (DFIN) and Denny's (DENN).   To learn more about Jeff please follow him @jeff_gramm on Twitter. To learn more about Richard or to request a transcript of the podcast please visit www.thinkaen.com.   To order a copy of Jeff's book please use this link here.   Show Notes: (1:08) Background and introduction from Jeff. He talks about Columbia Business School and taking Joel Greenblatt's class. (03:06) Getting an MBA at Columbia and the value investing program. Figuring things out. Mario Gabelli and Seth Klarman. (05:45) Jeff's most difficult classes at Columbia. (06:30) Working at HBV Capital post MBA. Looking at bankruptcies. Denny's investment and filing 13Ds. (10:13) The ‘ins and outs' of filing a 13D. (16:43) Position tracking and Popeyes Investment. How to trim a portfolio holding. Cheryl Bachelder.  (19:36) The Power of Anchoring stock investments. Management's ability to create long-term value. Overcoming mental exercise of looking at portfolio every day. (21:37) JYNT Twitter Spaces with Edwin Dorsey @stockjabber (23:27) DFIN, DENN, JYNT and Popeyes going over the similarities and differences. (25:39) Speaking to other investors about portfolio holdings. Hearing the Bear Cases. (26:47) Investor fatigue on special situations and how it can sometimes create massive opportunities. Discussing 5+ year incremental returns chart posted by Dennis Hong. (30:37) Idea Generation Process and Wishful Thinking versus Fundamental Reality. (33:13) The Benefits and Dangers of speaking to company management. (34:14) Jeff has been on six company board of directors and he gives a brief overview of what it entails. (38:08) Talking about the role of a board of directors. Star Group Investment (SGU) (39:11) Public Company Annual Meetings. What you can learn and how it benefits investors. (41:22) Other Activist Investors. (42:38) Executive Compensation. Jeff delves into his contrarian thoughts. Performance over optics.

Jeff Gramm is a hedge fund manager and the author of "Dear Chairman". In a fun and multifaceted conversation, we discuss the crucial but sometimes overlooked topic of corporate governance. We also talk about small cap growth investing, biases, and Jeff's investment strategy.For more info about the podcast, go to the episode page.—————————————Episode Chapters(00:08) - Intro to Dear Chairman & Jeff Gramm(04:12) - Role of the Board of Directors(06:59) - The evolution of stock ownership(15:50) - Jeff's Shareholder activism(17:50) - Favorite chapter: Ross Perot vs. General Motors(27:25) - Management and the risk of bad governance(31:32) - Life at the Board(35:00) - How to get the right shareholder base?(38:17) - Small cap growth investing(41:19) - When shareholder activism fails(44:53) - How to run an overvalued company?(48:20) - Dividends vs. repurchases(57:28) - Value of M&A(1:02:48) - Jeff's investment strategy(1:12:32) - Biases, day trading, and birdwatching(1:22:20) - Advice for new shareholder activists (1:24:19) - Jeff's book and podcast inspiration —————————————Books MentionedDear Chairman - Jeff Gramm (2016)The Go-Go Years - John Brooks (1984)My Years with General Motors - Alfred P. Sloan (1963)On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors - Patrick J. Wright (1979)The Snowball - Alice Schroeder (2008)Quality Shareholders - Lawrence A. Cunningham (2020)You Can be a Stock Market Genius - Joel Greenblatt (1997)Warren Buffett's Ground Rules - Jeremy Miller (2016)Empire of Pain - Patrick Radden Keefe (2021)Bad Blood - John Carreyrou (2018)Richer, Wiser, Happier - William Green (2021)—————————————Companies MentionedBerkshire HathawayElectronic Data Systems (EDS)General MotorsEnronSearsBKF CapitalCalloway's NurseryJewett-Cameron TradingDanaherPopeyesThe Joint Corp.—————————————Podcasts MentionedBad Blood: The Final Chapter—————————————More on Jeff GrammJeff's twitter: https://twitter.com/jeff_grammJeff's book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25817264-dear-chairman—————————————What is Investing by the Books?Investing by the Books was founded by Henrik Andersson, Bo Börtemark, Mats Larsson and Michael Persson. It has published hundreds of book reviews in the past 10 years and operates on a non-profit basis. Visit the website: http://www.investingbythebooks.com/Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Investbythebook—————————————What is Redeye?Redeye is a research-centered boutique investment bank from Stockholm. Founded in 1999, Redeye cultivates investors through timeless knowledge, a humble attitude, and a strong focus on quality. Visit the website: https://www.redeye.se/Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Redeye_—————————————DisclaimerNotice that the content in this podcast is not, and shall not be construed as investment advice. This information is meant to be informative and for general purposes only. For full disclaimer, visit Redeye.se

📊Solo la inteligencia artificial puede suponer un crecimiento económico del pib mundial de entorno al 14% sobre 2030. En este casting strategies hablamos de la importancia de la tecnología y la inteligencia artificial para el futuro crecimiento económico, y sobretodo para mejorar nuestras inversiones. Inversiones basadas en un universo enorme de datos ayudados por una agente capaz de eliminar cualquier sesgo emocional que muchas veces nos llevan a cometer errores. [CONOCE LAS VENTAJAS DE ZONAVALUE AI]►►https://bit.ly/3q71QzW​ [UTILIZA NUESTRAS HERRAMIENTAS DE INVERSIÓN]►►https://bit.ly/2KtIipx​ 📺Entra en ZONAVALUE TV. Nuestra plataforma Streaming👉https://zonavalue.com/zonavalue-tv​ Si no quieres perderte nuestros vídeos, suscríbete al canal 👉https://bit.ly/3gheXZY​ Inteligencia artificial y machine learning aplicados a la inversion👉https://youtu.be/Bz-CwcOvSd4​ ¿Cómo aplicar las estrategias cuantitativas?👉https://youtu.be/nAPPq5Pc8dE​ Moat - ¿Cuál es la mejor ventaja competitiva de una empresa?👉https://youtu.be/eTesK0_pnRs​ ¿Cómo invertir mi dinero de forma segura?👉https://youtu.be/okLANM-xJ2k​ Iván Martín - Magallanes👉https://youtu.be/Hf8Y9hT7cBg​ Conversaciones con Adrián Godás👉https://youtu.be/fH0u1M-icbo​ Estrategias de inversión fáciles para principiantes👉https://youtu.be/qpwG1oL8q18​ ¿Qué es Zonavalue Club y cómo funciona?👉https://youtu.be/rdEn_gs3OfU​ Invertir en ETF o fondos indexados gracias a John Bogle👉https://youtu.be/oTm6D5Zs0fQ​ Disrupción tecnológica en el mercado👉https://youtu.be/c1fimgVY_5c​ Links a vídeos de Zonavalue TV: La aplicación de la Inteligencia Artificial en las finanzas►https://bit.ly/3h7Z223​ Carteras automatizadas. Las ventajas de invertir con un Robo-Advisor►https://bit.ly/3rEdhzx​ Estrategias con ETF►https://bit.ly/3aAEqhI​ Masterclass con Jeff Gramm►https://bit.ly/2M0Ltpx​ Conversaciones con Victor Higgons de Indépendance et Expansion►https://bit.ly/37xiRwx​ Las oportunidades en la renta fija para empezar bien el 2021►https://bit.ly/3nHJJyB​ Tesis de inversión – Delta Plus►https://bit.ly/2Wilwnc​ Curso – Iniciación a los fondos de inversión►https://bit.ly/2WmKMZC​ Curso – Iniciación al análisis cuantitativo►https://bit.ly/3oRxAIi​ Adrián Godás - Materias primas con potencial para 2021►https://bit.ly/3bB6SAw​ ★SÍGUENOS EN NUESTRAS REDES REDES★ 👉Facebook: https://bit.ly/3f2d9nL​ 👉Twitter: https://bit.ly/3ij05w7​ 👉Instagram: https://bit.ly/2ZjJteQ​ 👉Linkdn: https://bit.ly/2AjzTjM​

📊En esta entrevista contamos con la presencia de Adam Butler de Resolve Asset Management. Una empresa de gestión de activos Canadiense que tiene sus raíces en la inversión cuantitativa pero que está incluyendo en sus procesos de análisis el machine learning como parte en la construcción de portfolios de inversión. Además Adam es el autor del libro Adaptive Asset Allocation: Dynamic Global Portfolios to Profit in Good Times - and Bad y de un sinfín de whitepapers. En esta entrevista nos guiará por lo que él entiende son los "bespoke factors", sobre cómo el machine learning podría salvar a los factores tradicionales de inversión y mucho más... [APÚNTATE A NUESTROS WEBINARS]►►https://zonavalue.com/cursos​ [APÚNTATE A NUESTROS EVENTOS]►►https://zonavalue.com/actividades​ [UTILIZA NUESTRAS HERRAMIENTAS DE INVERSIÓN]►►https://bit.ly/2KtIipx​ 📺Entra en ZONAVALUE TV. Nuestra plataforma Streaming👉https://zonavalue.com/zonavalue-tv​ CURSO DE INICIACIÓN AL ANÁLISIS CUANTITATIVO►►►https://bit.ly/3avjTLj​ Si no quieres perderte nuestros vídeos, suscríbete al canal 👉https://bit.ly/3gheXZY​ Brett Winton👉https://youtu.be/TRwoKRs2qrU​ Wesley Gray👉https://youtu.be/xdSN_sNwPEo​ John Boyar👉https://youtu.be/osXgVd4k43Q​ Tobias Carlisle Parte 1👉https://youtu.be/iR5X31xhsao​ Tobias Carlisle Parte 2👉https://youtu.be/WPNvCC6UPtI​ Meb Faber👉https://youtu.be/Ze4s4WO6Xis​ Ciclo económico actual con Juan Ramón Rallo👉https://youtu.be/8_1D1xVhxgA​ Tavi Costa👉https://youtu.be/1VJsvOUc7UI​ Jesse Felder👉https://youtu.be/tPSWIAm5KCA​ Jeff Gramm👉https://youtu.be/vN1UtgyziVc​ Links a vídeos de Zonavalue TV: Emérito Quintana►https://bit.ly/3ahzvlB​ La aplicación de la Inteligencia Artificial en las finanzas►https://bit.ly/3h7Z223​ Masterclass con Brett Winton►https://bit.ly/2Wo5b0p​ Phil Bak – ¿cómo crear cartera de ETF para batir al mercado?►https://bit.ly/37nOaJP​ Carl Icahn y la Inversión Contrarian►https://bit.ly/34P3I87​ Tesis de inversión – Delta Plus►https://bit.ly/2Wilwnc​ Curso – Iniciación al análisis cuantitativo►https://bit.ly/3oRxAIi​ Curso – Iniciación a los fondos de inversión►https://bit.ly/2WmKMZC​ ¿Qué son los CFD´s?►https://bit.ly/3nEL0Y2​ ¿Qué es la bolsa y cómo funciona?►https://bit.ly/3pcrWRb​ ★SÍGUENOS EN NUESTRAS REDES REDES★ 👉Facebook: https://bit.ly/3f2d9nL​ 👉Twitter: https://bit.ly/3ij05w7​ 👉Instagram: https://bit.ly/2ZjJteQ​ 👉Linkdn: https://bit.ly/2AjzTjM​

📊¿Qué es el moat o foso defensivo de una empresa según Warren Buffett? En este casting veremos en que consiste el concepto de ventaja competitiva de una empresa como un factor de inversión a tener en cuenta. La marca como intangible, la capacidad de una empresa de crecer sin deuda, monopolios o patentes. No es nada fácil valorar este tipo de cuestiones dentro de una empresa. [APÚNTATE A NUESTROS WEBINARS]►►https://zonavalue.com/cursos [APÚNTATE A NUESTROS EVENTOS]►►https://zonavalue.com/actividades [UTILIZA NUESTRAS HERRAMIENTAS DE INVERSIÓN]►►https://bit.ly/2KtIipx 📺Entra en ZONAVALUE TV. Nuestra plataforma Streaming👉https://zonavalue.com/zonavalue-tv Si no quieres perderte nuestros vídeos, suscríbete al canal 👉https://bit.ly/3gheXZY Ratios financieros👉https://bit.ly/3pjKQWz Fernando San Emeterio👉https://youtu.be/0jpGXXqyQis Iván Martín - Magallanes👉https://youtu.be/Hf8Y9hT7cBg Conversaciones con Adrián Godás👉https://youtu.be/fH0u1M-icbo Estartegias de inversión fáciles para principiantes👉https://youtu.be/qpwG1oL8q18 ¿Qué es Zonavalue Club y cómo funciona?👉https://youtu.be/rdEn_gs3OfU Ciclo económico actual con Juan Ramón Rallo - Zonavalue club👉https://youtu.be/8_1D1xVhxgA Invertir en ETF o fondos indexados gracias a John Bogle👉https://youtu.be/oTm6D5Zs0fQ Conversaciones con Wesley Gray👉https://youtu.be/xdSN_sNwPEo Disrupción tecnológica en el mercado👉https://youtu.be/c1fimgVY_5c Links a vídeos de Zonavalue TV: Emérito Quintana►https://bit.ly/3ahzvlB Estrategias con ETF►https://bit.ly/3aAEqhI Masterclass con Jeff Gramm►https://bit.ly/2M0Ltpx Conversaciones con Victor Higgons de Indépendance et Expansion►https://bit.ly/37xiRwx Las oportunidades en la renta fija para empezar bien el 2021►https://bit.ly/3nHJJyB Tesis de inversión – Delta Plus►https://bit.ly/2Wilwnc Curso – Iniciación a los fondos de inversión►https://bit.ly/2WmKMZC Adrián Godás - Materias primas con potencial para 2021►https://bit.ly/3bB6SAw Cómo invertir en tiempos de crisis (I)►https://bit.ly/2WCa9qn Cómo invertir en tiempos de crisis (II)►https://bit.ly/3rnaDi8 ★SÍGUENOS EN NUESTRAS REDES REDES★ 👉Facebook: https://bit.ly/3f2d9nL 👉Twitter: https://bit.ly/3ij05w7 👉Instagram: https://bit.ly/2ZjJteQ 👉Linkdn: https://bit.ly/2AjzTjM

En este Casting Strategies contamos con el autor del libro Dear Chairman, un bestseller que fue reconocido por el propio Warren Buffett. Además Jeff Gramm es gestor del Hedge Fund Bandera Partners, un fondo de inversión Activista que rinde culto al viejo estilo de inversión de Benjamin Graham.

Jeff Gramm is a hedge fund manager and an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. Gramm has spent as much time evaluating CEOs and directors as he has trying to understand and value businesses. He has seen public companies that are poorly run, and some that willfully disenfranchise their shareholders. While he pays tribute to the ingenuity of public company investors, Gramm also exposes examples of shareholder activism at its very worst, when hedge funds engineer stealthy land-grabs at the expense of a company’s long term prospects. Ultimately, he provides a thorough, much-needed understanding of the public company/shareholder relationship for investors, managers, and everyone concerned with the future of capitalism. Jeff on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jeff_gramm Jeff's book: https://amzn.to/2PRRbsY Jeff's website: http://dearchairman.com/ ABOUT THE PODCAST Hi, I'm Tobias Carlisle. I've launched a new podcast called The Acquirers Podcast. The podcast is about finding undervalued stocks, deep value investing, hedge funds, activism, buyouts, and special situations. We uncover the tactics and strategies for finding good investments, managing risk, dealing with bad luck, and maximizing success. SEE LATEST EPISODES https://acquirersmultiple.com/podcast/ SEE OUR FREE DEEP VALUE STOCK SCREENER https://acquirersmultiple.com/screener/ FOLLOW TOBIAS Firm: https://acquirersfunds.com/ Website: https://acquirersmultiple.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Greenbackd LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobycarlisle Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tobiascarlisle Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tobias_carlisle ABOUT TOBIAS CARLISLE Tobias Carlisle is the founder of The Acquirer’s Multiple®, and Acquirers Funds®. He is best known as the author of the #1 new release in Amazon’s Business and Finance The Acquirer’s Multiple: How the Billionaire Contrarians of Deep Value Beat the Market, the Amazon best-sellers Deep Value: Why Activists Investors and Other Contrarians Battle for Control of Losing Corporations (2014) (https://amzn.to/2VwvAGF), Quantitative Value: A Practitioner’s Guide to Automating Intelligent Investment and Eliminating Behavioral Errors (2012) (https://amzn.to/2SDDxrN), and Concentrated Investing: Strategies of the World’s Greatest Concentrated Value Investors (2016) (https://amzn.to/2SEEjVn). He has extensive experience in investment management, business valuation, public company corporate governance, and corporate law. Prior to founding the forerunner to Acquirers Funds in 2010, Tobias was an analyst at an activist hedge fund, general counsel of a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, and a corporate advisory lawyer.

For this episode of the Planet MicroCap Podcast, I caught up with Jeff Gramm, Author of “Dear Chairman”. In our first interview on the podcast, Episode 40, we dissect his book, “Dear Chairman” - chapter by chapter. During that interview, we talk about the history and rise of shareholder activism, how it has evolved in the last 100 years, the difference between shareholder activism in large caps and microcaps, and much more. I invited Jeff back because I’ve been wanting to do an episode similar to ones I’ve done with Ian Cassel and Mike Schellinger about the life of a full-time MicroCap investor, but for this episode – the life of an activist investor and the best practices for those of you that may be interested in wanting to be an activist. The goal for this episode is to try and answer the question: so you want to be an activist investor? Planet MicroCap Podcast will be coming to YouTube! All archived episodes and each new episode will be posted on the SNN Network YouTube channel. I’ve provided the link in the description if you’d like to subscribe. You’ll also get the chance to watch all our Video Interviews with management teams, educational panels from the conference, as well as expert commentary from some familiar guests on the podcast. Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1Q5Yfym  Click here to rate and review the Planet MicroCap Podcast The Planet MicroCap Podcast is brought to you by SNN Incorporated, publishers of StockNewsNow.com, The Official MicroCap News Source, and the MicroCap Review Magazine, the leading magazine in the MicroCap market - check out the latest issue here: MicroCap Review Spring 2019 You can follow the Planet MicroCap Podcast on Twitter @BobbyKKraft, and you can also listen to this interview on StockNewsNow.com For more information about Jeff Gramm, Bandera Partners or "Dear Chairman", please visit: http://dearchairman.com/ You can Follow Jeff Gramm on Twitter @jeff_gramm

It's okay to call activist investors corporate raiders. At least that's the view of Jeff Gramm, the author of “Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism.” Gramm talked to The Deal for its Activist Investing Today podcast about his book, why he launched a proxy fight at Texas Restaurant chain Luby's and what he thinks about CEO pay packages.“ One big theme of the book is that these shareholder activists through history are kind of all the same,” Gramm said. “They are economic actors out to seek a buck on their investments in public companies and they use engagement with public companies as a means to generate their alpha.”

Is the corporate world an ‘insiders only’ club, or do ordinary shareholders have a real say in the company? Learn how shareholder activism may be changing the face of corporate America. Jeff Gramm, a portfolio manager at Bandera Partners, adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, and author, discusses what shareholder activism means for companies in the long run. Jeff gives examples of how shareholders can make significant changes to a company’s board of directors. How shareholders can have a voice in corporate decisions? Are you working with the right financial advisor? Doug put together a sheet for investors called What All Investors Need to Know About Their Investment Accounts. One of Doug’s recommendations is having an open channel of communication with your financial advisor. To better understand what a financial advisor does for you and your portfolio, watch this video. Free download: What All Investors Need to Know About Their Investment Accounts Learn more Jeff Gramm on his website or read his book Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism. Also, follow him on Twitter. If you’re not already receiving updates on new episodes, sign up now, and as a special bonus, receive Doug’s free ebook The Retirement Planning Book.

Since public markets have existed, there have been occurrences where new and existing owners fight for control of the business. In many cases, these boardroom disputes are resolved with marginal friction. But, sometimes these corporate raiders and take-overs result in dramatic stories and intense learning experiences. Today, we have an incredible guest on the show and his name is Jeff Gramm. Jeff owns his own hedge fund and is also an adjunct professor a Columbia Business School, where he teaches Benjamin Gramm and Buffett Style value investing. Jeff is the author of the book, Dear Chairman, which is an incredible account of some of this biggest boardroom battles that have happened in America. He profiles, boardroom battles from investors like Benjamin Graham, Buffett, Ross Perot, Carl Icahn and many other. In the middle of the interview we ask Jeff about an interesting story that happened to him where Warren Buffett mailed him a signed copy of his own book and let him know how much he enjoyed reading. Click here to get full access to our show notes.In this episode, you'll learn:Why the management often doesn’t represent the shareholder’s interestHow billionaire investors like Warren Buffett practice shareholders activismWhat retail investors can do if they’re not satisfied with the managementHow concentrated your stock portfolio should be

A future guest just told me, every band has a song about being in a band, so today I give you my version. I won’t do this often, and only do it this week in case listenership drops due to the holiday—I didn’t want any guest to have a smaller than normal audience. I have now been doing this for almost one year, and have learned a tremendous amount. Since the whole idea behind the show is to learn in public, I am going to share a few of the lessons I’ve learned with you today. I’ll shape it as a top ten list, which ends with a fun story about my recent dinner with Warren Buffett. You’ll notice that many of these are just good business and life lessons applied to something specific: a podcast. I hope you can pull the essence of one or more of these and change how you do things, especially if you create any sort of content as part of your job. (1:35) Conversation is my new favorite way to learn. I love books, and always will, but conversations are even more efficient and engaging. Talking with people who know their field deeply is the most fun thing in the world, and it is an underused method of learning. Lectures are too one-sided. Books often don’t flow the direction you want them to. Conversations are alive and interactive. I have been doing this very publicly on the podcast, but I’ve also been doing it more in private after realizing how powerful it can be. If you can commit to having conversations with new people where you tell them as little about yourself as possible, you’ll be off to a good start. I don’t mean that talking about yourself is bad—not at all--only that in each conversation, the time you spend talking about you is time that you aren’t learning something new. The less your ego gets involved, the more you will learn—and I should know because I used to have a big ego. This means asking dumb questions, sometimes more than once. It means probing on the simplest parts of a person’s field or knowledge. As everyone knows, it is fun to explain something you love to people that don’t know as much about the topic in question, but are eager to learn. So it logically follows that you should want to be the less knowledgeable person in most conversations. If everyone took this tact, things would be a mess, but I wouldn’t worry too much about that! One side effect of learning to ask good and interesting questions is that you realize how rarely anyone asks you good or interesting questions. An example of why it pays to remove ego: A month ago I didn’t even know what a cryptocurrency token was. Now I can have a fairly in-depth conversation on the topic because I made small incremental improvement improvements across ten different conversations. In each of those, I was the moron, trying to get up to speed. The more times you are willing to be the idiot, the faster you will learn. It is a pretty cool formula: ten times the idiot, one time the (relative) expert. They should teach you how to have a good conversation in elementary school. (3:31) Preparation and careful listening are everything. The best editing for the podcast is done before the conversation starts and during the conversation itself. Most of the episodes you hear are very lightly edited, if at all. A majority aren’t touched. The ones that I have edited a bit were my fault: I didn’t prepare well enough to be nimble and attentive in the conversation. What I’ve found is that the role of the person asking the questions is to create and sustain momentum. I have this visual of a rush of water running down a maze of tubes which have hatches that open and close. If the water hits a closed hatch, everything stops. My job is to anticipate by listening very carefully and get ahead of the water to open doors to keep the momentum going. The clues to what each person loves most are usually buried in another answer. I’ve gotten much better at picking up on those cues. One example: every time someone says “we can talk about that later,” it means “I want to talk about it now and if you ask me, I’ll give a great answer.” The way I prepare for this ahead of time is to read everything I possibly can and try to be able to discuss it as if I were answering my own questions. This way, I can sense when there is a deviation between how I’d answer my own question and how they do. That deviation is often the door to something very interesting: an opinion or idea not already discussed by the guest in some other medium. An example: Scott Norton mentioned in passing that he’d read up on the history of ketchup as part of his early research, so I asked him to tell me that history and it was one of my favorite answers. I moved it to the front of the podcast. (5:07) Finding the next guest is all about the quality of other guests and the quality of my questions. The first few guests on the show were people I knew well, or well enough to invite onto a non-existent platform to chat about investing. But in the majority of the conversations, I was meeting the person for the first time-- 39 of the 47 guests to be precise. That means that almost all of these wonderful conversations started because someone else introduced me to the guest and their ideas. They introduce me because they either 1) liked being a guest themselves or 2) like listening to the show. At the end of each episode, I ask the guest who I should talk to next, which allows the conversation to thread from person to person organically. But it isn’t just the guests, it is all of you. I am grateful to everyone who devotes their time to listening to this show and for all the thrilling and often random connections it has created in the investing world. One tiny example: Brian Bares of Bares Capital Management emailed me offering to connect me with Will Thorndike. Will is the author of one of my favorite books, and was near the top of my wish list. But I had no connection to him whatsoever, and then one just appeared. Brian has also connected me with another guest who you’ll hear from soon. Because of Brian’s kind outreach, I know more today. This has happened many times. If you are listening, and know someone fascinating, please send them my way. Sidebar: If you are someone whose job it is to book podcast guests, please stop emailing me (not that you are listening, anyhow). The network effect is what drives this shows success, I just happen to sit at the central node in this particular network. The more listeners, the more connections, the more connections, the more great conversations you’ll hear. It is a virtuous cycle. So please, send me guest ideas, send me topic ideas—things you want to understand but don’t. Send me anything, I read it all. I’ll do my very best to keep the quality up, and then depend on you. (7:01) Give your audience credit. There have been a few conversations—the recent one with Michael Mauboussin comes to mind—that have been pretty complicated. But these episodes often generate the most positive feedback. The accepted rules for content are that simple and short are good, but I’ve found the exact opposite. There is a strong positive correlation between the length of an episode and the number of listeners, and between the complexity or newness of the ideas explored and the number of listeners. I get emails from people all the time, and they are often a lot smarter than me. I’ve had countless coffees and lunches all over the country with listeners who have written incredibly thoughtful emails which help me understand fields like private equity and venture capital at a much deeper level. Because I push myself to the very limit of my brain’s abilities, I have been lucky to attract a ridiculously interested, smart, and kind audience. They say you get the investors you deserve, but its clear you also get the listeners you deserve. The biggest compliment I am paid is by the army of smart people who just give me their time. I think the real rule for content should be: just operate at your own level—don’t try to move simpler or more generic. The beauty of the internet is the power of the niche—find one and own it. (8:15) Avoid colonized topics. I have a lot to say about smart beta strategies, but it is a topic that has been so thoroughly picked over by the investing community that it is no fun anymore. It is a very good rule that if I’m bored of some topic, everyone else will be too. Instead, I search for aspects of the investing world that I don’t know much about, because if I don’t know, it’s a decent indicator that some chunk of the audience won’t know. I think this lesson is key. It is so easy to explore the same stuff as everyone else, because it’s less work. But as many guests have pointed out: the key to their personal success was that they wrote the playbook instead of reading someone else’s. If the playbook is already out there, look for a different question to explore. (8:59) Consider the user experience. An upcoming guest observed that most bank customers aren’t customers at all, but suppliers. They give banks the capital they need to do business, and are therefore treated like suppliers, not customers. I think it’d be easy to view podcast guests as suppliers—in this case suppliers of content—so I am very careful to remind myself that the opposite is true. The guests are my customer just as much as you are. I try to make the experience of coming on the show easy and fun, before, during, and after taping. I am careful to provide lots of feedback to each guest once the episode launches. I like Airbnb founder Brian Chesky’s notion of an 11-star experience. He suggests any business go through the thought experiment of explaining what an 1 through 11 star experiences would be for the product or service. When you do this, star levels 7 through 11 are ridiculous, but it helps you calibrate and re-orients you to your customer. I like to think I provide a 4-5 star experience now, but in the coming weeks I’ll sketch out what an 11-star experience might be and see how I can make it better. In fact, this is something I’d love to discuss with you: how to make both the guests and the listeners’ experience better. I’ll explain how to be a part of that conversation at the end of this episode. (10:16) Find great partners. The show sounds so clean because of my excellent producer Mathew Passy. If you want to start a podcast, he is your guy. He has already started working with others that I know and my plan is to fill his entire schedule. He is one example of a key partner. The show also works because I don’t have to spend much time on finding guests. This is because of the great network, but a few nodes in that network stand out. Khe Hy, Jeff Gramm, Brent Beshore, Morgan Housel, Josh Brown, and Ted Seides, among others, have been instrumental in introducing to some of the best guests on the show and for that I am deeply grateful. People often ask how I have time to do this show, but the secret is it doesn’t take that much time! This is only possible because of the great partners I’ve found in the last year. The person whose voice or face is attached to something always gets way too much of the credit. Partners drive everything, and I’m thankful to have such great ones. (11:11) A generalist mindset can be a huge advantage. It is easy to pay homage to Charlie Munger’s latticework of mental models, but when you live it, you see why he is right. Knowing the key drivers and major ideas in a variety of fields is a huge source of leverage. It is difficult to study broadly and deeply, but the two aren’t mutually exclusive. I could talk to you about quantitative equity strategies until you pass out, but a key to the podcast’s success is that I can usually fake it in other fields like history, psychology, science, philosophy, travel, books, food, economics, mythology, sports and so on. Having these in one’s repertoire is like having a set of keys to getting the best out of other people. Different keys unlock different people. I think that a lot of being a good investor is asking good questions. If you know a little about many different fields, it makes that task much easier, and increases the odds that you’ll get the goods from whomever you at talking to. If these seems too daunting, I’ve found food, travel, and sports to be the most widely accepted keys. (12:17) Amplify what works. The most downloaded guest on the podcast so far is Brent Beshore. He has been on three times, and you can bet he will be on again. The second most downloaded is Michael Mauboussin, also a repeat guest. Andy Rachleff told me that one of his best business lessons is that you learn far more from success than from failure, and that you should use success as a compass. Drive hard in the direction of what works rather than trying to shore up weaknesses. If something is working, more of that thing, or a better version is likely to work too. A better version of a failure is likely still going to fail. A lesson within this lesson: this is all even more true for unexpected Brent is now a close friend, but I didn’t expect him to be the most popular episode. This has been a recurrent theme in my conversations on venture capital: it is usually the thing you didn’t expect which yields the biggest payoff. When something is expected or obvious to you, it is expected and obvious to others. That means competition. If Brent had been on 10 other podcasts before mine, the results would have been very different. Instead, Brent my eyes (and about 100 thousand other sets of eyes) to a fascinating new area of investing. (13:29) Don’t expect anything in return. People always ask me what my goal is with the podcast. The answer is simple: none. I don’t expect to get anything out of this other than the conversations themselves. The means and the end are the same. This is so important to me. When the process itself is the goal, magical things happen. When I have a guest on the show, it is like buying a call option. Actually its better, because I’m not even paying for the option: instead the option is “purchased” through a conversation: it is free, and highly enjoyable. The beautiful thing about call options is that the potential upside is enormous and the downside is limited, or in this case close to zero. Investors everywhere hunt for asymmetric outcomes: low downside, huge upside. And that is exactly what I’ve found this podcast to be. The second-best compliment I get is from guests who often tell me that the podcast generated a bizarre amount of inbound feedback, or even opportunities that they never expected. I don’t expect anything in particular to happen, but now I know that crazy things just will Its hard to escape the most obvious example—so let me tell this story in closing. The entire podcast began because of a rule of mine: when I read an interesting book, I email the author and ask them to lunch. I emailed Jeff Gramm after I read Dear Chairman, we got lunch, and we hit it off. We hatched a plan to record a conversation, and that was the beginning of the podcast. Very simple. 6 weeks later, the same strategy paid off again, and I met and recorded an episode with Ted Seides on hedge funds. We give Ted endless grief for his losing bet with Buffett, but I have learned so much from him about all corners of the investing world. He quickly became a friend and confidant. Ted also happens to be friends with the best investor of all time—something I didn’t know when I first met him. Fast forward to this past week. Ted, Brent Beshore and I flew to Omaha to have dinner with Warren Buffett—street value of almost $3 million dollars, my dad reminded me. I’ll get back to Warren in a second, but first a key observation here: not in a million years would I have thought a podcast would turn into a three-hour private dinner with Warren Buffett. If I had had the temerity to set that as a goal, it would have probably been impossible. If I’d been angling to get a private dinner with him, it most likely would never have happened—because everyone hates that guy. I think that because I am never angling for anything, the outcomes are far more interesting and improbable than if I was trying to achieve some specific goal. Another thing: the best thing about the dinner wasn’t that it was with Warren, but that it was with Brent and Ted, who have become such close friends. And the chance to meet Todd Combs, who was fantastic. Back to Warren. He is incredible. Kind, sharp, funny as hell, and relaxed. Early on he said to us “do you know what it says on Wilt Chamberlain’s tombstone? It says, finally I sleep alone.” We spent the first hour talking about college football. He could be a football color commentator. The amount of facts and dates and people he was throwing at me was staggering, and I know a lot about college football. I went to Notre Dame, and he had 5 Notre Dame specific stories that were some of the best I’d ever heard. He told me he once got through to an ND captain by calling his dorm room. He’d heard that the player was a big Buffett fan, and when he called the kid was awestruck. The reason for his call was an offer: two stock picks in exchange for Notre Dame’s playbook for the upcoming game against Nebraska. I don’t idolize people, and I never will, because idols are just people like anyone else. What was most refreshing about this dinner was realizing that Warren is just a person too—an exceptional one, but still a normal person. One that wants to shoot the breeze, tell stories, tell jokes, and learn about you. Knowing that even the greatest investor of all time is just a person is so reassuring. It makes anything seem possible. I’ll keep most of the details of the dinner to myself, but suffice it to say it was something I’ll never forget. But, and this may be more important, it was something I never expected. If you can find some way to give back to other people which they enjoy, and do so without any expectation of a return, you’ll be so happy, and great things will result. It has worked for me and I’m sure it will work for you. So those are ten of many observations and lessons learned so far, and here is a bonus: there is room for a lot more. In the coming year, I plan on experimenting with lots of ways of bringing this community together, digitally or in person. If you are interested in being more involved in the podcast in general, stop by investorfieldguide.com/frontier to learn more and get involved. Thank you for listening, and have a happy fourth of July.   For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast. Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag

In this bonus episode of The Dismal Science, Ivan interviews Jeff Gramm, hedge fund manager and author of Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism. The book, which was on the AICD's summer reading list, traces the history of shareholder activism through eight famous shareholder letters and touches on many themes relevant to directors, including the relationship between board and management, director independence, the role of proxy advisers and the perils of groupthink.  

For this episode of Planet MicroCap Podcast, I spoke with Jeff Gramm, Author of the book, “Dear Chairman.” In Episode 22 with Adam Epstein, we discussed at length the importance of corporate governance, not just for MicroCap boardrooms, but for all public companies. Since that conversation, I wanted to learn more about corporate governance and what should be done in the event that C-suite management and board of directors aren’t acting in the best interest of shareholders. I discovered the best way for me to understand this topic was anecdotally. I came across “Dear Chairman” by Jeff Gramm on a reading list, and I’m glad I did because it really helped me understand the rise of shareholder activism and the effect it’s had on corporate governance. In this interview, you will learn about his background, his approach to investing and we discuss his book, “Dear Chairman.” Reading lists are great resources as I have found, and I highly recommend adding Jeff’s book to your list. Click here to rate and review the Planet MicroCap Podcast The Planet MicroCap Podcast is brought to you by SNN Incorporated, publishers of StockNewsNow.com, The Official MicroCap News Source, and the MicroCap Review Magazine, the leading magazine in the MicroCap market - check out the latest issue here: MicroCap Review Winter/Spring 2017 In this episode, Jeff and I discuss the following topics: - Jeff's background and how he got started investing in MicroCaps - His experience teaching a value investing course at Columbia Business School.  - Qualitative vs. qualitative approaches to investing - His investing strategy when looking at MicroCap stocks - What is "Dear Chairman" about and why he felt it was important to describe this aspect of financial history - What is shareholder activism? - Is there a difference in shareholder activism between Large Caps and MicroCaps? - One prevailing theme that each activist observed is that the management ownership of the company was not in line with the interests of the shareholders – specifically, CEOs owning a very small percentage of the business. Why he thinks this persists, and even if a company is being run well, doesn’t that leave an operator vulnerable? - “If shareholders continue to be passive, they will continue to shorn like sheep” – especially with MicroCaps, while CEOs are much more accessible, where he draws the line between passive and active? If everyone was active, how can the CEO run his/her business? - What is the “Poison Pill”? - In chapter 5, you also highlight how institutions started taking a more active approach with their holdings. How has the awakening of institutional investors impacted public company governance and is there a fundamental difference than from individual shareholders? - Based on the many examples you gave in the book, for MicroCaps, what he thinks is the best formula for a corporate board - Each chapter of the book highlights a new “era” of shareholder activism – what era would he says he learned the most from and had the greatest affect on his approach investing - How he sees shareholder activism evolving - Advice for new MicroCap investors For more information about Jeff Gramm and "Dear Chairman", please visit: www.DearChairman.com You can follow Jeff on Twitter @jeff_gramm You can follow the Planet MicroCap Podcast on Twitter @BobbyKKraft, and you can also listen to this interview on StockNewsNow.com

In this week's Five Good Questions, we're interviewing Jeff Gramm about his book Dear Chairman. http://amzn.to/2eQaVZV Jeff manages a hedge fund and teaches value investing at Columbia Business School. His recently published book, Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism, has been praised as "a terrific read" by Andrew Ross Sorkin in the New York Times, "a revelation" by the Financial Times, "a grand story" by The Wall Street Journal, and “an engaging and informative book” by The New Yorker. 1. I’ve heard you previously interviewed and have been impressed with your thoughts around governance and board dynamics. How can boards help management make better strategic decisions, especially with respect to capital allocation? 2. I’ve heard Munger say you could teach an entire MBA just from studying GM. Could you walk us through some of your insights, specifically during the period of Ross Perot’s involvement? 3. Of all of the stories, which one was your favorite to research? 4. We all see these major headlines of activists battling with management, but what percent of the work would you guess is being done behind the scenes? 5. The arc of activism seems to have gone from Graham’s “would you mind releasing some of these pent up assets, please?” to Icahn’s 1980s hostile takeovers to Loeb’s poison pen and quite personal attacks. Maybe it’s softening a little from there? Where do you see the future of activism going from here?

Hedge Fund Manager and author Jeff Gramm talks with Patrick O'Shaughnessy about the history and current state of shareholder activism and discusses how Jeff invests himself, taking large positions and often board seats in undervalued companies.   For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to investorfieldguide.com/gramm/ For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.  Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag

August 19 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg View columnist Barry Ritholtz interviews Jeff Gramm, who is the founder of Bandera Partners LLC. He is also the author of "Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism." This commentary aired on Bloomberg Radio.u0010u0010(Barry Ritholtz is a Bloomberg View columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

(Bloomberg) -- Arthur Levitt, former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, interviews Jeff Gramm, author of, “Dear Chairman; Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism,” on "A Closer Look With Arthur Levitt." To contact the producer and editor: Michael Lysak +1-212-617-5560 or acloserlook@bloomberg.net Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

(Bloomberg) -- Arthur Levitt, former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, interviews Jeff Gramm, author of, “Dear Chairman; Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism,” on "A Closer Look With Arthur Levitt." To contact the producer and editor: Michael Lysak +1-212-617-5560 or acloserlook@bloomberg.net

Hedge fund manager Jeff Gramm pops over to Times Square to discuss his new book, "Dear Chairman," which chronicles eight decades of pushy investing from Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett to Carl Icahn and Dan Loeb, and what this history means for markets now and in the future.The Exchange is a regular conversation with influential and interesting movers and shakers in business and markets. From Reuters' global headquarters in New York's Times Square, editors debate and discusses trends in finance, business and economics with those who shape them, from central bankers and corporate executives to authors and film directors. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we have a very down to earth conversation with hedge fund manager, professor, and author, Jeff Gramm. Although we cover many topics, we specifically discuss the morality of a career in finance, how to pick a winning company, and Jeff’s new book, Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism.  In...

Author and hedge fund manager Jeff Gramm talks to the FT's John Authers about the biggest boardroom battles of the last century, from the proxyteers of the 1950s, to the corporate raiders of the 80s and the hedge fund activists of today. Then, in an excerpt from the FT's Alphachatterbox podcast, writer and NYU Shanghai professor Clay Shirky outlines the rise of Chinese phone maker Xiaomi, a company considered to be the most valuable startup of all time. Go to FT.com/alphachat for show notes and links. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Apple squares off with the FBI. Investors bid Priceline higher. Wal-Mart stumbles. And Boston Beer falls flat. Our analysts discuss those stories and share three stocks on their radar. Plus, hedge fund manager Jeff Gramm shares some insights from his new book, Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism.