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My guests today are Gavin Uberti and Rob Wachen, the founders of Etched. A few years ago, when they set out to build a better AI chip than the largest companies in the world, almost everyone I called told me it could not be done. They have since done it, taping out a working chip on their first attempt and becoming the first hardware company founded after ChatGPT to do so. They already have more than a billion dollars of customer demand for their first product, and have raised eight hundred million dollars to build it. Etched builds chips and systems designed to run AI models faster and at lower cost. They started the company in 2023, and that product is a complete rack for inference, the chip along with the boards, the power delivery, the interconnects, and the manufacturing to produce it all. We talk about the technical bets behind their architecture, how they hired industry legends and paired them with elite 22 year-olds, and why they believe inference will become one of the largest markets in the world. I think you will find the story of what they have built hard to forget. Please enjoy my conversation with Gavin and Rob. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at colossus.com/subscribe. ----- Ramp's mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to ramp.com/invest to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, Vanta continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to vanta.com/invest. ----- WorkOS is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit ridgelineapps.com. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant. Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:07) Gavin Uberti and Rob Wachen (00:03:54) Two 21-Year-Olds Taking on NVIDIA (00:07:52) The Two Technical Bets Behind Their Architecture (00:14:15) Why Inference Becomes the Biggest Market (00:20:23) Rob and Gavin's Origins Stories (00:28:38) How They Recruit Industry Legends (00:36:30) Moving a Dozen Engineers to Bangalore for Six Months (00:38:01) Speed Wins (00:43:58) Getting More Concurrency Out of Every Megawatt (00:52:44) Vertical Integration (00:57:43) Hardest Obstacles to Overcome (01:01:09) Raising The Largest AI Chip Series A Ever (01:06:29) TSMC (01:13:20) Designing Gen 2 for Gigawatt-Scale Production (01:16:42) Why Machines Don't Think Like People (01:20:03) A Year of Compute Compressed Into a Month (01:23:44) The Trillion-Dollar Data Center (01:26:19) The Kindest Thing
Our first guest on the Senior Decision Makers mini-series is Nick Csicsko. Nick is a Managing Director at the Trinity Wall Street endowment, where he joined CIO Meredith Jenkins at the founding of the investment office in 2016 and has spent the last decade helping build a young endowment inside a 320-year-old institution. Today the endowment has grown to over $6 billion. Nick's path into investing is a fascinating one. He studied composition and earned his Doctorate of Music at Juilliard. While there, he talked his way into an internship at Juilliard's endowment and never looked back. Our conversation covers the lessons he carried from music into investing, his investment philosophy, and the details of his process. Manager selection sits at the heart of his work, and he articulates what separates the relationships that endure from the ones that don't. Nick is a remarkable storyteller and shares a number of real-life examples of manager relationships — some that worked out well, some that didn't, and others with insights for allocators and managers alike. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Today's guest is Ben Carlson of Ritholtz Wealth Management, author of A Wealth of Common Sense and host of the Animal Spirits podcast. In today's episode, Ben unpacks the counterintuitive math behind long term investing. He reveals that picking the wrong asset every year still makes money, that the average up year tops 20%, and that stocks grow less volatile than bonds the longer you hold. To close, Ben explains why patience has never been harder. (0:00) Starts (2:05) Ben Carlson on the secret to investing (5:00) The worst investor ever (15:20) Tax management as new alpha (17:12) Inflation's impact on asset classes (21:06) "Now do Japan" (33:02) Lessons from bear markets (41:54) Discretionary investing challenges (46:31) Poor performance of hyperactive traders ----- Sponsor: Ivy Invest - To learn more about Ivy Invest's SEC-registered endowment-style fund, view the prospectus, and learn how to invest, visit ivyinvest.co/fund ----- Follow Meb on X, LinkedIn and YouTube For detailed show notes, click here To learn more about our funds and follow us, subscribe to our mailing list or visit us at cambriainvestments.com ----- Follow The Idea Farm: X | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok ----- Interested in sponsoring the show? Email us at Feedback@TheMebFaberShow.com ----- Past guests include Ed Thorp, Richard Thaler, Jeremy Grantham, Joel Greenblatt, Campbell Harvey, Ivy Zelman, Kathryn Kaminski, Jason Calacanis, Whitney Baker, Aswath Damodaran, Howard Marks, Tom Barton, and many more. ----- Meb's invested in some awesome startups that have passed along discounts to our listeners. Check them out here! ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode, we are joined by Shannon Lee Simmons—Certified Financial Planner, Chartered Investment Manager, bestselling author, and founder of the New School of Finance—for a wide-ranging conversation about the emotional side of money. Drawing on more than two decades of working directly with Canadians, Shannon explains why financial stress has become so pervasive, how social comparison shapes spending habits, and why a well-built financial plan can be one of the most powerful antidotes to money anxiety. We also explore decision-making during financial crises, the psychology of regret, why traditional budgeting often fails, and how couples navigate money differently—particularly in retirement. Shannon shares practical frameworks for aligning spending with personal values, avoiding emotional financial mistakes, and helping households make confident decisions through life's biggest transitions. Key Points From This Episode: (0:03:56) Why people worry about money—and why financial uncertainty often feels like uncertainty about life itself. (0:04:24) Why so many middle- and upper-income Canadians still feel broke despite earning good incomes. (0:05:18) The importance of having a financial plan and reducing harmful social comparison. (0:06:55) How social media fuels overspending, comparison, and "financial dysmorphia." (0:08:35) Why cashless spending has fundamentally changed our relationship with money. (0:11:52) How perceived life milestones—especially home ownership—shape financial decisions and expectations. (0:13:36) Practical ways to manage financial stress, restore confidence, and build resilience. (0:15:55) The growing "spending arms race" and how rising expectations have redefined what's considered normal. (0:18:09) Why Shannon dislikes traditional budgeting—and what to do instead. (0:20:32) Her four-bucket framework for worry-free spending and maintaining financial flexibility. (0:22:35) A practical test for deciding whether a large purchase is truly affordable. (0:25:01) Aligning spending decisions with personal values using an "emotional return on investment." (0:28:12) Helping couples navigate different financial priorities without turning disagreements into conflict. (0:30:28) Separating good decisions from bad outcomes to overcome financial regret. (0:33:48) The major financial decision crises people commonly face—from divorce to illness to retirement. (0:35:16) Using "micro financial plans," guardrails, and scenario planning during periods of uncertainty. (0:37:45) The three phases of a financial decision crisis and how planners can help through each stage. (0:41:41) Why retirement often reveals differences in couples' relationships with money that never surfaced while saving. (0:45:19) The psychological challenge of withdrawing from investment portfolios after decades of accumulation. (0:46:41) Using cash wedges and realistic retirement projections to reduce anxiety around spending in retirement. (0:49:42) How saver-versus-spender dynamics can evolve into power struggles during retirement. (0:53:12) The question almost every client is really asking: "Am I going to be okay?" (0:54:41) Why planners should ask about clients' hidden DIY investment accounts. (0:56:21) The risks of becoming emotionally attached to concentrated investment gains. (0:57:16) The most impactful parts of a financial plan: realistic spending projections and actionable next steps. (0:58:25) How often financial plans should be updated—and when life events require immediate revisions. (1:01:08) Who benefits most from fee-only planning and who may be better served with ongoing advice. (1:07:00) Why implementation—not recommendations—is often the hardest part of financial planning. (1:10:00) The strengths and trade-offs of fee-only planning versus assets-under-management advice models. (1:15:05) Shannon's advice for improving financial well-being: build a plan, focus on your own values, and stop comparing yourself to everyone else. Links From Today's Episode: Meet with PWL Capital: https://calendly.com/d/3vm-t2j-h3p Rational Reminder on iTunes — https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast/id1426530582. Rational Reminder on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/rationalreminder/ Rational Reminder on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/channel/ Benjamin Felix — https://pwlcapital.com/our-team/ Benjamin on X — https://x.com/benjaminwfelix Benjamin on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminwfelix/ Shannon Lee Simmons – https://shannonleesimmons.com/ New School of Finance – https://www.newschooloffinance.com/ Worry-Free Money – https://www.amazon.ca/Worry-Free-Money-guilt-free-approach-managing/dp/1443454451 Making Bank: Money Skills for Real Life – https://www.amazon.ca/Making-Bank-Money-Skills-Real/dp/1443469815 Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Get updates for my new book here: https://Theperfectportfoliobook.com ----- After every major market move, investors are tempted to say, "I knew that was going to happen." In this episode, we explore hindsight bias: the mental shortcut that makes the past look more predictable than it really was, and why that can be dangerous for your portfolio. Listen now and learn: ► Why past market events often look clearer in hindsight than they felt in real time ► How the "I knew it" trap can lead investors toward overconfidence and market timing ► Why diversified portfolios can feel disappointing when judged only after the fact ► A simple way to make future investment decisions less dependent on unreliable memory Visit www.TheLongTermInvestor.com for show notes, free resources, and a place to submit questions. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com) Disclosure: This content, which contains security-related opinions and/or information, is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in any manner as professional advice, or an endorsement of any practices, products or services. There can be no guarantees or assurances that the views expressed here will be applicable for any particular facts or circumstances, and should not be relied upon in any manner. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment. The commentary in this "post" (including any related blog, podcasts, videos, and social media) reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints, and analyses of the Plancorp LLC employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded the views of Plancorp LLC. or its respective affiliates or as a description of advisory services provided by Plancorp LLC or performance returns of any Plancorp LLC client. References to any securities or digital assets, or performance data, are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see disclosures here.
My guest today is Vlad Barbalat, the Chief Investment Officer of Liberty Mutual Investments, the $120 billion investment platform that sits within one of the largest insurance companies in the world. Vlad grew up in Soviet Moldova, came to America in 1990, and built a career that eventually led him to one of the most distinctive capital allocator seats anywhere in finance. Today we talk about how the mutual insurance structure creates a unique investment platform, what Liberty looks for in a new deal or partner, and what it means to build a career and a life in a country that gave you opportunities you never would have had anywhere else. Please enjoy my conversation with Vlad Barbalat. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at colossus.com/subscribe. ----- Ramp's mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to ramp.com/invest to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, Vanta continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to vanta.com/invest. ----- WorkOS is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit ridgeline.ai. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant. Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:00:53) Vlad Barbalat (00:01:28) The Most Interesting Seat in the Market (00:05:53) Breaking Down the $120B (00:10:41) How the Portfolio Is Constructed (00:11:00) The House View (00:13:49) What Liberty Looks for in a GP (00:16:32) Why Not Just Buy Bonds (00:18:30) Benefits of the Mutual Structure (00:23:40) The Luxury of the American Citizen Through Immigrant Eyes (00:30:26) How Immigration Shaped His Worldview (00:32:45) Direct Deals vs. GP Allocations (00:35:23) Branded Capital (00:39:07) Geopolitics & Investing (00:43:48) AI's Impact on Investing (00:46:22) The Valuation Debate (00:50:47) Public vs. Private Markets (00:53:53) Lessons from Goldman (00:54:41) Why Excellence Matters (00:57:30) Managing Permanent Capital (01:03:54) The Kindest Thing
In today's episode, Meb celebrates the release of his new book, Investing in America, a coffee table history of the 250 year bull market. He explains the magic of compounding, why every decade feels like chaos, and the surprising fact that stocks become less volatile than bonds over long horizons. To close, Meb weighs today's valuations against the long view. ----- Follow Meb on X, LinkedIn and YouTube For detailed show notes, click here To learn more about our funds and follow us, subscribe to our mailing list or visit us at cambriainvestments.com ----- Follow The Idea Farm: X | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok ----- Interested in sponsoring the show? Email us at Feedback@TheMebFaberShow.com ----- Past guests include Ed Thorp, Richard Thaler, Jeremy Grantham, Joel Greenblatt, Campbell Harvey, Ivy Zelman, Kathryn Kaminski, Jason Calacanis, Whitney Baker, Aswath Damodaran, Howard Marks, Tom Barton, and many more. ----- Meb's invested in some awesome startups that have passed along discounts to our listeners. Check them out here! ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Michael Spencer is the Founder and CEO of Zeno, an electric mobility company building electric motorcycles, battery-swapping infrastructure, and distributed energy systems across East Africa. Drawing on experience from nearly a decade building businesses in East Africa and four years at Tesla during its hypergrowth era, Spencer is applying lessons from EV charging infrastructure to one of the world's largest transportation markets: two- and three-wheel vehicles. In this episode of Inevitable, Spencer explains why electrifying motorcycles in emerging markets may be one of the most efficient ways to reduce transportation costs and emissions. He discusses how Zeno combines hardware, software, and energy infrastructure to create a business that looks like an electric vehicle company on the surface but increasingly operates like a distributed utility. The conversation explores lessons from Tesla's Supercharger network, why Kenya became Zeno's launch market, how battery swapping and AI-powered infrastructure management drive capital efficiency, and why building hard-tech businesses may become even more valuable in an AI-driven world. Spencer also shares his vision for turning Zeno's charging network into a distributed renewable energy platform capable of serving both mobility and grid customers. Note: Zeno is an MCJ portfolio company Episode recorded on June 8, 2026 (Published on June 23, 2026) In this episode, we cover: [00:00] The Trojan horse: what Zeno actually is [03:00] From East Africa to Tesla: Michael's path [04:36] Inside the supercharger rollout — and what it really taught him [08:02] Why two-wheelers are paradoxically easier to electrify [10:17] The Kenya opportunity: spending half your income on fuel [16:19] 200 charge points, $8M spent — how they did it [20:27] The AI matching algorithm behind 75% network utilization [23:20] Building a world-class team across four continents [28:17] Supply chain, oil prices, and the double-edged sword [32:03] Why hardware can't be vibe-coded [36:41] The five-year vision: from motorcycle company to distributed utility Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc.Connect with MCJ:Cody Simms on LinkedInVisit mcj.vcSubscribe to the MCJ Newsletter*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
Collette Chilton is the CIO of Williams College where she has overseen its $3 billion since 2006. Collette is nothing short of a legend in the business. She has sat in a CIO seat since the early 1990s at the helm of public pension MassPrim and corporate pension Lucent before joining Williams. Institutional Investors bestowed its Lifetime Achievement Award on Collette in 2019, and Barron's named her one of the 100 Most Influential Women in Finance in 2020. Our conversation covers Collette's career path and lessons learned before joining Williams. We then turn to her arrival at Williams in 2006 to a phone, a computer, and a legacy portfolio, Williams' governance structure leveraging alumni advisors, asset allocation, manager selection, manager monitoring, hedge funds, venture capital, and navigating around popular managers. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com) Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership
Abigail Wattley is the Chief Investment Officer of Williams College, where she oversees the school's $4.5 billion endowment. She became CIO three years ago upon the retirement of Collette Chilton, whose past conversation is replayed in the feed. Abigail has spent two decades in the Williams investment office, and her tenure manifests the benefits of duration and institutional knowledge in the seat. Our conversation traces Abigail's nearly twenty-year journey inside the Williams Investment Office, from joining as an early analyst to becoming the internal successor CIO. We discuss the consistent mandate throughout alongside Abigail's evolution from analyst to deputy to decision-maker, including the knowledge retained as an internal candidate, the tension between respecting an institution's history and putting her own stamp on the portfolio, and perspectives on hedge funds, private markets, liquidity management, real assets, team development, and AI. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com) Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership
Today's guest is Bryan Taylor, founder and chief economist of Finaeon, which has the most comprehensive database of historical financial market data in the world. He's just published Five Financial Eras: How Financial Markets Transformed the World. In today's episode, Bryan explains his TWIG framework of trade, war, inflation, and government, and how their combination drives returns across centuries of market history. He challenges the belief in a fixed equity risk premium and revisits seven decades of negative real bond returns. To close, Bryan explains why the post-1981 playbook no longer applies. (0:00) Starts (1:25) Sponsor: Ivy Invest (2:37) Bryan Taylor explains the TWIG framework (10:20) There is no single equity risk premium (21:18) Government debt, market capitalization, and global market position (26:17) The impact of technology revolutions on markets (28:30) Historical changes in investment trends (38:22) Cultural shifts in investing (47:36) Evolution of stock market indices and future projects (52:03) Currency discussion ----- Sponsor: Ivy Invest - To learn more about Ivy Invest's SEC-registered endowment-style fund, view the prospectus, and learn how to invest, visit ivyinvest.co/fund ----- Follow Meb on X, LinkedIn and YouTube For detailed show notes, click here To learn more about our funds and follow us, subscribe to our mailing list or visit us at cambriainvestments.com ----- Follow The Idea Farm: X | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok ----- Interested in sponsoring the show? Email us at Feedback@TheMebFaberShow.com ----- Past guests include Ed Thorp, Richard Thaler, Jeremy Grantham, Joel Greenblatt, Campbell Harvey, Ivy Zelman, Kathryn Kaminski, Jason Calacanis, Whitney Baker, Aswath Damodaran, Howard Marks, Tom Barton, and many more. ----- Meb's invested in some awesome startups that have passed along discounts to our listeners. Check them out here! -----Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode, Ben Felix and Ben Wilson tackle a wide range of listener questions covering portfolio construction, home-country bias, currency exposure, ETF selection, retirement decumulation, leasing versus buying a car, discounted cash flow valuations, and the real work of portfolio management. Along the way, they revisit the Rational Reminder model portfolios, discuss how new products like CAGE have changed the DIY investing landscape, and explore whether Warren Buffett's long-term record still provides evidence that active management can outperform. The conversation also offers a behind-the-scenes look at PWL Capital's planning-centric approach to wealth management and why helping clients make better financial decisions often matters more than portfolio construction itself. Key Points From This Episode: (0:28) Why AMA episodes have become less frequent despite hundreds of listener questions waiting to be answered. (2:07) Ben shares observations from PWL's growing institutional investment business and why low-cost, planning-focused institutional advice remains surprisingly rare. (6:37) Revisiting the original Rational Reminder model portfolios and how newer products have simplified implementation. (10:09) Should U.S. investors underweight the U.S. market relative to global market-cap weights? (11:07) Research, home-country bias, and Ken French's arguments for overweighting domestic stocks. (18:11) Asset-allocation ETFs in retirement: Is there any benefit to separating stocks and bonds during withdrawals? (21:03) Leasing versus buying a vehicle, opportunity costs, depreciation, and convenience. (26:13) Currency exposure, RRSPs, withholding taxes, and common misconceptions about USD-denominated ETFs. (30:30) If Dimensional funds were unavailable, what would Ben choose instead? (31:26) Are there any popular ETFs investors should avoid? A look at Canada's largest ETF holdings. (38:28) Why discounted cash flow models often produce wildly different valuation estimates. (41:47) What portfolio managers at PWL actually do when they are not trying to beat the market. (45:57) Concentrated stock positions, client coaching, and helping investors make better long-term decisions. (50:02) Why financial planning questions are often portfolio management questions—and vice versa. (52:53) Helping clients navigate the transition from wealth accumulation to wealth preservation and spending. (58:06) Revisiting Berkshire Hathaway's long-term performance versus broad-market index funds. (1:02:35) The challenges of active management as assets under management grow larger. (1:04:22) Aftershow: Ben reflects on his experience appearing on Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett. Links From Today's Episode: Meet with PWL Capital: https://calendly.com/d/3vm-t2j-h3p Rational Reminder on iTunes — https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast/id1426530582. Rational Reminder on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/rationalreminder/ Rational Reminder on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/channel/ Benjamin Felix — https://pwlcapital.com/our-team/ Benjamin on X — https://x.com/benjaminwfelix Benjamin on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminwfelix/ Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
In this episode of FYI, Brett Winton and Chase Prather host Andy Tang, partner at Draper Associates, to discuss how venture capital is evolving alongside AI, deep tech, and shifting market dynamics. Andy reflects on his 20-year investing career, the growing importance of AI-native companies, and why the cost of execution is rapidly declining for startups. The conversation explores founder psychology, the role of contrarian investing, and how Draper approaches unconventional ideas ranging from artificial wombs to AI-generated companies and personalized cancer therapies. Andy also shares insights on venture ecosystems, market cycles, and the characteristics that separate enduring founders from everyone else.Key Points From This Episode: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:06:09 How AI-native startups are reshaping venture capital strategies.00:20:47 Why the cost of building companies is falling dramatically.00:28:18 How venture ecosystems evolve through successful Initial Public Offering (IPO) cycles.00:42:11 How venture investors evaluate founder ambition and long-term outcomes.00:50:02 How AI could enable single-person or founderless companies.00:53:26 The idea of growing replacement organs outside the human body.00:54:01 Personalized “end-of-one” cancer treatments and custom clinical trials.00:57:05 Why declining biotech costs could transform healthcare economics.Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This WTT, AI: Fundamentals, Valuation, and the Next Allocator Dilemma takes on a high-level assessment of AI companies as late-stage private winners prepare to go public, and the next big challenge allocators face as a result. Read Ted's blog here. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Hiring a financial advisor is a big decision. My "How to Interview a Financial Advisor" worksheet gives you the tools to navigate the process and choose an advisor who fits your goals. Download it for free. ----- In this episode, I'm joined by Cameron Passmore, co-host of The Rational Reminder and a leader at PWL Capital, to discuss whether financial advice can scale without getting worse. We explore why the portfolio problem may be easier to solve than the advice-business problem, and what advisors need to do once low-cost, evidence-based investing becomes the starting point rather than the value proposition. Listen now and learn: ► Why Cameron believes the future of advice depends on better firms, not just better portfolios ► How fee transparency could force advisors to better define and defend their value ► What scaled advisory firms can do that solo advisors and smaller practices often cannot ► How private markets, AI, and investor behavior will shape the next decade of financial advice Visit www.TheLongTermInvestor.com for show notes, free resources, and a place to submit questions. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com) Disclosure: This content, which contains security-related opinions and/or information, is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in any manner as professional advice, or an endorsement of any practices, products or services. There can be no guarantees or assurances that the views expressed here will be applicable for any particular facts or circumstances, and should not be relied upon in any manner. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment. The commentary in this "post" (including any related blog, podcasts, videos, and social media) reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints, and analyses of the Plancorp LLC employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded the views of Plancorp LLC. or its respective affiliates or as a description of advisory services provided by Plancorp LLC or performance returns of any Plancorp LLC client. References to any securities or digital assets, or performance data, are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see disclosures here.
My guest today is Kareem Amin, co-founder and CEO of Clay. Clay has become one of the fastest-growing software companies of the last few years, valued at over four billion dollars. It helps companies find their best customers and reach them at scale. But this conversation is about a lot more than Clay. Kareem is one of the most original thinkers I know. We talk about the statues he keeps at the center of how he runs Clay — truth, justice, and courage — and what those words demand of him in practice. We talk about risk, ambition, and what he learned about both on a ten-day silent meditation retreat. I've had a lot of conversations with Kareem over the years. This is one I'll remember. Please enjoy this unique conversation with Kareem Amin. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at colossus.com/subscribe. ----- Ramp's mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to ramp.com/invest to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, Vanta continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to vanta.com/invest. ----- WorkOS is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit ridgelineapps.com. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:29) Kareem Amin (00:03:07) Clay's Origin (00:10:50) Truth, Courage and Justice (00:16:09) Adulation (00:18:28) Risk, Courage & Self-Respect (00:21:14) Jony Ive & Steve Jobs (00:21:42) Role of Introspection (00:23:08) Lack to Wholeness (00:27:27) The Day Five Insight (00:29:57) Running a Startup Unusually (00:34:41) Learning from Magicians (00:36:27) Music's Role in Your Life (00:39:38) Making People Feel Something New (00:41:20) Vision in Company Building (00:44:29) Wealth & What It's Taught You (00:47:40) All Problems Are Communication Problems (00:52:14) Death Doula & Scaling (00:55:06) The Kindest Thing
Marc Berte is the Co-founder and CEO of Overview Energy, a startup developing space-based solar power systems designed to turn existing solar farms into around-the-clock power generators. By placing satellites in geosynchronous orbit, collecting near-continuous sunlight, and beaming energy back to Earth as safe near-infrared light, Overview aims to dramatically increase the utilization of solar infrastructure already deployed around the world. In this episode of Inevitable, Marc explains how space solar works and how Overview's approach differs from decades of prior space solar concepts. He talks about the economics of “photon fuel,” the company's gigawatt-scale agreement with Meta, and the concept of “supply response”—delivering power exactly where and when grids need it most. The conversation explores the manufacturing challenges of deploying thousands of satellites, the role of defense and energy security applications, and why the long-term value of solar assets could change dramatically if space-based power delivery becomes commercially viable. Finally, he shares one of the more unconventional engineering stories you'll hear this year: how 75 pounds of Otter Pops helped cool Overview's airborne power-beaming demonstration system. Episode recorded on June 1, 2026 (Published June 16, 2026) In this episode, we cover: (0:00) An overview of Overview Energy (2:34) Why space solar belongs alongside fusion, fission, geothermal, and storage (4:30) How geosynchronous satellites shift power between global demand peaks (5:59) The concept of “supply response” (8:57) How Overview's power-beaming technology works (12:51) Cloud cover and line-of-sight requirements (15:32) Creating a new energy market with “megawatt photons” (17:00) Overview's gigawatt-scale agreement with Meta (22:32) The economics of adding photon fuel to existing solar assets (26:22) Competing with gas peakers and complementing storage (36:38) US manufacturing advantages and competition with China (39:26) Defense, energy security, and powering remote military installations (42:48) Financing space-based energy infrastructure (48:10) The Otter Pop engineering story behind the airborne demonstration system Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc.Connect with MCJ:Cody Simms on LinkedInVisit mcj.vcSubscribe to the MCJ Newsletter*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
Glen Shields is the Founder and CEO of GP Fund Solutions., an independent fund administrator for private fund managers who want institutional-grade back-office operations without sacrificing the trust and partnership of a boutique firm.In today's conversation, Glen takes us through 25 years in fund administration — from his early days at PwC and AYCO through the Goldman acquisition and spin-out, leading to the launch of GPFS from scratch with a one-page contract and a single relationship built on trust.We dig into how GPFS has grown to over $125 billion in assets under administration and what staying independent means in a consolidating industry.From there, we get into the data question that sits at the center of everything Glen is building — why shadow books signal a trust gap, how GPFS is moving from deliverable-driven fund admin to data-enabled partnership, and what good data design actually looks like when your clients have complex waterfall structures, hybrid fund vehicles, and investors who want information at speed.For anyone running or building operations at a private fund, this is a grounded conversation on what a fund admin relationship can and should look like when trust, data, and culture are all working together.Learn MoreFollow Capital Allocators at @tseides or LinkedInSubscribe to the mailing listAccess transcript with Premium MembershipEditing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Resources: Read Repositioning Guidelines to Decrease Pressure Injury in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: A Quality Improvement Project in the July/August 2024 issue of JWOCN and watch the accompanying video abstract. About the Speaker: Margaret Birdsong, DNP, CPNP, CWOCN, is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at Johns Hopkins Children's Center. Margaret has been a dedicated member of the Division of Pediatric Surgery since 2000. She has been a Certified Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurse (CWOCN) since 2002 and serves as the primary wound care consultant for the pediatric hospital. In 2020, she earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. In addition to her clinical responsibilities, she works closely with Dr. Isam Nasr in the Colorectal Center, where she is also certified in biofeedback therapy. Margaret has presented nationally on a range of topics, including general pediatric surgery, wound and ostomy care, and pediatric continence management. Her clinical and academic work focuses on improving outcomes and quality of life for pediatric patients with complex surgical and continence needs. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.
Jonathan Wang is the founder and CEO of EOS Investors, where he has built three real estate investment platforms totaling $2 billion in assets under management across the hotel and residential sectors. Jonathan also created a wholly owned hotel management company that oversees 60 properties for the EOS funds and five core partners. Our conversation covers Jonathan's path to hotel investing and EOS' hotel investment process across market selection, property type, underwriting, vertically integrated operations, and managing through cycles. We also discuss extensions into residential real estate, hotel credit, and opportunities and risks going forward. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com) Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership
In this episode of BioTalk with Rich Bendis, Sara Dauber, Vice President, Startup Banking for J.P. Morgan's Innovation Economy team, joins the conversation to discuss how early-stage life science and healthcare companies can think more strategically about banking, financing readiness, and long-term growth. Sara shares how her career moved from life science operating companies to NIH and now to J.P. Morgan, where she works with early-stage life science and healthcare ventures across the DMV and surrounding regions. Drawing on her experience inside startups, supporting SBIR-funded companies, and advising founders from the business side, Sara brings a practical perspective on what early-stage teams need as they begin raising institutional capital and building the systems behind a company. The conversation explores how J.P. Morgan supports companies across the full lifecycle, from inception through IPO and beyond. Sara also discusses the importance of secure banking infrastructure, investor readiness, cap table management, startup-focused resources, and relationship-building in a market where founders are often asked to do more with limited time and capital. Rich and Sara also revisit her time at NIH, her work with BHI Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, and the value of the BioHealth Capital Region ecosystem in helping entrepreneurs connect with the right advisors, funders, and partners. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant. Sara Dauber is Vice President, J.P. Morgan's Startup Banking team, where she works with early-stage life science and healthcare companies in the DMV and broader Mid Atlantic. Before joining J.P. Morgan, Sara spent more than 14 years in life science operating companies, often working with early-stage startups across finance, program management, corporate development, business development, and operations. She later worked with NINDS at NIH, supporting SBIR-funded companies with business support. Today, she brings that experience to her work with founders as they build, finance, and scale life science and healthcare companies.
Today's guest is Jim Grant, founder and editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, which he's been publishing since 1983. He's a financial historian and one of the most well-respected Observers on Wall Street. In today's episode, Jim Grant explains why AI may be one of the greatest bubbles of all time, alongside the railroads and the dot-com era. He reframes deflation as progress, questions how murky the $2 trillion private credit market is, and explains why the Fed can't aggressively fight inflation. To close, Jim makes his case for gold and revisits 1984, which he calls the clearest example of how strange markets can be. (0:00) Starts (0:39) Jim Grant on AI mania (12:23) The economic implications of inflation & deflation (19:56) Interest rates and private credit concerns (27:13) The Fed's inflation target (41:10) How to fix the Federal Reserve (45:09) The history and role of gold in portfolios (54:34) Jim's most memorable investment (57:28) Historical periods to study ----- Follow Meb on X, LinkedIn and YouTube For detailed show notes, click here To learn more about our funds and follow us, subscribe to our mailing list or visit us at cambriainvestments.com ----- Follow The Idea Farm: X | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok ----- Interested in sponsoring the show? Email us at Feedback@TheMebFaberShow.com ----- Past guests include Ed Thorp, Richard Thaler, Jeremy Grantham, Joel Greenblatt, Campbell Harvey, Ivy Zelman, Kathryn Kaminski, Jason Calacanis, Whitney Baker, Aswath Damodaran, Howard Marks, Tom Barton, and many more. ----- Meb's invested in some awesome startups that have passed along discounts to our listeners. Check them out here! ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Invest Like the Best: Read the notes at at podcastnotes.org. Don't forget to subscribe for free to our newsletter, the top 10 ideas of the week, every Monday --------- My guest today is Alex Sacerdote, founder of Whale Rock Capital Management. Whale Rock is a technology focused investment firm that manages more than $17 billion across hedge fund, long only, and hybrid strategies. Over the past three years it has been one of the best performing hedge funds, compounding at roughly 44 percent a year. Alex invests through a single lens that he has refined over twenty years. He looks for technology S-curves, durable competitive advantages, and underappreciated earnings power. This conversation is a tour through how he applies that framework right now. We start with his highest conviction position, which is Anthropic, and use it to work through the entire AI stack from chips to models to applications. Please enjoy my conversation with Alex Sacerdote. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at colossus.com/subscribe. ----- Ramp's mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to ramp.com/invest to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, Vanta continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to vanta.com/invest. ----- WorkOS is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit ridgelineapps.com. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:29) Alex Sacerdote (00:03:08) Anthropic: Highest Conviction Position (00:13:23) Investing in Private Markets at Scale (00:19:08) S-Curves: The Full Framework (00:25:08) When to Buy Tech Companies (00:30:20) Identifying the Leader from the Pack (00:34:04) Anthropic & OpenAI's Competitive Moats (00:37:31) AI's Threat to Enterprise Software (00:43:18) Network Effects in the Agent Era (00:44:22) The Hardware Renaissance: Chips & Infrastructure (00:53:56) Why So Few Investors Get This Right (00:55:36) Key Risks to the AI Bull Case (00:57:47) The Application Layer (00:59:40) How AI Is Changing Research at WhaleRock (01:02:53) The Role of Investor Networks & Idea Sharing (01:03:40) Building a Multi-Product Firm (01:07:58) WhaleRock as a Learning Machine (01:09:15) The Kindest Thing
In this episode, we are joined by Morley Conn, Director of Sales and Strategy, ETF Services at Scotia Global Banking and Markets, for a deep dive into the mechanics of the ETF ecosystem. With more than 30 years of experience across equities, foreign exchange, and money markets, Morley pulls back the curtain on the creation and redemption process, ETF liquidity, block trading, market making, and the often-overlooked infrastructure that allows ETFs to trade efficiently every day. We explore how authorized participants and market makers facilitate liquidity, why ETF liquidity is driven by the underlying holdings rather than trading volume, and how large institutional ETF trades are executed. Morley also explains the differences between Canadian and U.S. ETF markets, discusses common misconceptions investors have about ETF trading, and shares practical advice for retail investors seeking better execution. This conversation offers a rare look at the operational machinery behind one of the most important innovations in modern investing. Key Points From This Episode: (0:04) Introduction to Morley Conn and his role in ETF market making. (4:29) The key participants in the ETF ecosystem: issuers, custodians, market makers, advisors, and dealers. (5:53) What market makers and authorized participants actually do. (7:03) How ETF creation and redemption works and why it matters for liquidity. (10:58) How ETF portfolio management differs from traditional mutual fund management. (12:44) Why ETF trading volume often greatly exceeds primary-market creations and redemptions. (13:35) The capital gains refund mechanism and its relationship to ETF trading activity. (16:04) What happens when ETF market prices diverge from net asset value (NAV). (18:24) Lessons from the March 2020 bond ETF dislocations and what they revealed about market pricing. (19:16) How market makers price ETFs when underlying securities are illiquid or difficult to value. (20:38) Managing ETF market-making risk when underlying markets are closed. (21:35) The major factors that influence ETF bid-ask spreads. (23:26) Why market makers prioritize trading volume and investor experience over wide spreads. (26:45) How large ETF block trades are executed and hedged behind the scenes. (29:26) Why ETF liquidity is determined by the underlying holdings rather than visible trading volume. (30:43) The difference between NAV trades and at-risk trades. (32:46) How market makers contribute to the development of new ETF products. (34:20) Best practices for retail investors when trading ETFs. (37:34) Factors that determine when block trades make sense. (38:46) Why pricing ETF blocks is both an art and a science. (43:14) What happens when an ETF is shut down and how investors are affected. (46:22) The balance between retail and institutional participation in the Canadian ETF market. (48:27) How institutions and retail investors use ETFs differently. (51:23) Key differences between Canadian and U.S. ETF markets. (54:56) ETF tax efficiency in Canada versus the United States. (56:23) Common misconceptions investors have about ETF liquidity and assets under management. (1:00:13) How CRM3 total cost reporting could influence ETF adoption in Canada. Links From Today's Episode: Meet with PWL Capital: https://calendly.com/d/3vm-t2j-h3p Rational Reminder on iTunes — https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast/id1426530582. Rational Reminder on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/rationalreminder/ Rational Reminder on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/channel/ Benjamin Felix — https://pwlcapital.com/our-team/ Benjamin on X — https://x.com/benjaminwfelix Benjamin on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminwfelix/ Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Days after ChatGPT launched, Intercom called it an “iPhone moment" and bet a $300 million ARR business that AI was the future of customer service. On this episode of Onward, Ben talks with Paul Adams, Chief Product Officer of Fin (formerly Intercom), about the pivot to AI customer service: why the decision was easier than you might think, why the culture change was brutal, and how the bet ended up strengthening the legacy business instead of killing it. Since Fundrise runs its own investor relations program on Fin, the episode doubles as a customer interview. They get into AI's effect on knowledge work, the risk of letting an agent write to a database, Claude Code as "magic," and why Paul calls himself a "delusional optimist" about what comes next.— For a deeper dive into these insights and more, be sure to listen to the full episode of the Onward podcast.Have questions or feedback about this episode? Drop us a note at Onward@Fundrise.com.Onward is hosted by Ben Miller, Co-Founder and CEO of Fundrise. Podcast production by The Podcast Consultant. Music by Seaplane Armada.About Fundrise:With over 2 million users, Fundrise is America's largest direct-to-investor alternative asset investment platform. Since 2012, our mission has been to build a better financial system by empowering the individual. We make it easier and more efficient than ever for anyone to invest in institutional-quality private alternative assets — all at the touch of a button.Please see fundrise.com/oc for more information on all of the Fundrise-sponsored investment funds and products, including each fund's offering document(s).Want to see the specific assets that make up and power Fundrise portfolios? Check out our active and past projects at www.fundrise.com/assets.More Info & DisclaimersThere are no guarantees investment holdings of the Fundrise Innovation Fund (the "Fund") will be successful.Investing in the Fund is speculative and involves substantial risks. You should purchase shares of the Fund only if you can afford a complete loss of your investment. Nothing in this material should be construed as tax advice, an offer, recommendation, or solicitation to buy or sell any security.Past performance does not guarantee future results. Current and future holdings are subject to risk, and returns of one portfolio company are not indicative of an investment in the Fund. For Fund performance and the most recent schedule of investments, visit GetVCX.com. The Fund's annual and semi-annual reports (Form N-CSR), quarterly portfolio holdings (Form N-PORT), and other periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission are available on EDGAR at sec.gov and at GetVCX.com.The Innovation Fund is publicly registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 as a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company.The Fund's portfolio will be concentrated in securities issued by technology companies and other investments that provide economic exposure to technology companies and as such, it may be subject to more risks than if it were broadly diversified across additional sectors and industries of the economy. Certain technology companies may face special risks that their products or services may not prove to be commercially successful. Technology companies are also strongly affected by worldwide scientific or technological developments, and as a result, their products may rapidly become obsolete.The Fund's investments in companies involved in, or exposed to, artificial intelligence-related businesses may be negatively impacted because of, among other things, limited product lines, markets, financial resources and/or personnel; intense competition and potentially rapid product obsolescence these companies may face; loss or impairment of intellectual property rights; and the inability to successfully develop products or services even after spending significant amount of resources.The Fund's investment in private company securities, whether made directly or indirectly (e.g., through derivatives or private pooled investment vehicles) are generally illiquid. Because private company securities are thinly traded, such securities may display especially volatile or erratic price movements, sometimes in response to relatively small changes in investor supply or demand or other market conditions.
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.We went to a mecca of football to film the latest episode. This conversation takes us to Turin, Italy, where we were in the Juventus Creator Lab with Italian football (I mean soccer for the Americans) legend and one of the best defenders of all time Giorgio Chiellini.Giorgio's career and playing style were defined by Juventus' very motto, fino alla fine (“until the end”). It's also a mentality that he brings to every aspect of life on and off the pitch. After an illustrious playing career at one of the world's biggest clubs, Juventus, and a career that also included two World Cup appearances for Italy and winning the Euro 2020 as the Captain of Italy, Giorgio came back home to Turin rejoin the club where he starred for 17 years: Juventus. Giorgio has gone from the pitch to the boardroom, helping to lead Juventus as the Director of Football Strategy. He has brought the player's perspective to the business side of football, balancing the nuances of sports and business.Despite the demands that Giorgio faced on the field as a player to maintain a standard of play at the highest levels of the game, he found time during his career to pursue his passion for business. He received his MBA while playing for Juventus and also was involved in the player development side in his final years as a player at LAFC. More recently, he became an investor in LAFC and in Mercury13, a multi-club investor in women's football teams, including FC Como. He's also an active investor in the European startup community.Giorgio and I had a wide-ranging and fascinating conversation that covered several dimensions of the business of sport. We discussed:How teams, owners, and investors can balance both the sport and business aspects of the game.What it means for sports now that players can have bigger social followings than their clubs or leagues.How Juventus has built and amplified its brand through initiatives like the Creator Lab.How clubs like Juventus can help players build their off-field brand while maintaining a high-quality on-field product.How Giorgio's work off the field while playing informed how he wanted to spend his time post-career in business.What Giorgio's day-to-day is like as Director of Football Strategy for Juventus.Why Giorgio invested in LAFC and what he thinks about the future of the MLS.What American owners and investors can learn from European soccer clubs and owners, and what European clubs and owners can learn from American owners and investors.Thanks, Giorgio, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and enthusiasm at the intersection of sports and business.Note: this episode was filmed in October 2025 with a plan to publish the conversation around the World Cup.Show Notes00:00 Split Second Decision01:06 A Message from Our Sponsor, Ultimus02:10 Meet Giorgio Chiellini04:17 What Is the Juventus Creator Lab04:36 Building Fans Through Content05:27 Football Brand Goes Global06:15 Revenue From Winning06:43 Two Hearts One Club07:52 Winning Versus Storytelling08:40 Fans Everywhere Now09:27 Too Many Games Problem09:51 Stakeholders and Calendar11:00 Owner Advice Communication11:28 From Kid to Club 14:12 Film Study for Matches15:02 The Saka Tactical Foul17:26 Social Media and Mental Health29:32 US World Cup Reality29:45 Grassroots Long Game30:09 MLS and USL Momentum30:14 Stadiums and Growth30:20 MLS Season vs Playoffs30:46 Supporters Shield Incentives31:11 Travel and Rest Mentality31:33 Europe Stakes Comparison31:54 Highlights Era Question32:24 Bite-Sized Sports Culture33:40 Choosing What to Watch33:55 Sports Must Adapt34:33 Owners Business View35:15 TV Rights and Strategy36:05 Institutional Money Trend36:42 Why Funds Love Sports37:04 Balancing Profit and Emotion38:12 Fiduciary Duty vs Winning39:15 Permanent Capital Advantage40:42 Mission Values Legacy41:54 Juventus DNA and Family44:31 Leadership Lessons Learned45:38 From Captain to Executive47:05 Humanity and Energy48:21 Player to Business Challenges50:00 Investing in Italian Startups51:47 How He Picks Investments52:43 Innovation and AI in Sport53:16 Favorite Alternative Investment54:34 Profitability and Winning55:21 ClosingA Word from Our Sponsor, UltimusThis episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus, the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands.That's Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you're already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team's deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals.Learn more at ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com.We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.
In this episode of The Entrepreneur's Journey, Michael Pallozzi and Jason Gabrieli discuss the importance of building a transition-ready business long before an owner decides to exit. Jason shares insights from his Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) coursework and explains how business owners can maximize the value of their companies through proactive planning, operational improvements, and aligning their personal, business, and financial goals.Michael and Jason break down the concept of the “three legs of the stool” — personal, business, and financial planning — and explain why successful exits depend on all three being aligned. They also discuss how business valuation multiples work, why systems and processes increase company value, and how many owners unintentionally leave money on the table by waiting too long to prepare.Tune into this episode to also learn:● Why exit planning should be treated as an ongoing business strategy — not a last-minute event.● How systems, leadership, and culture can dramatically increase business valuation multiples.● Why many business owners don't truly know what their company is worth.● How proactive planning creates more flexibility, better outcomes, and less stress during a transition.What we discussed● [00:01:17] Defining what “exit planning” means for business owners.● [00:03:01] Jason discusses earning his Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation.● [00:04:51] Why exit planning should be viewed as a long-term business strategy.● [00:06:57] Understanding business valuation and the importance of EBITDA.● [00:08:45] Why most business owners don't know the true value of their company.● [00:10:04] How systems, processes, and leadership teams increase valuation multiples.● [00:12:42] A simple breakdown of EBITDA and how business valuation multiples work.● [00:15:08] How improving operations can dramatically increase business value without increasing profit.● [00:15:52] Internal succession vs. external sale options for business owners.● [00:17:35] The number one reason many business sales fall apart.● [00:18:53] Why balancing personal, business, and financial goals matters before exiting.● [00:19:55] Why business owners should start these conversations early — even if they are years away from selling.● [00:21:37] The importance of building a team of advisors and specialists around the owner.● [00:23:48] “A transition-ready business is a valuable business.” 3 Things To RememberExit planning is not just about selling your business — it's about building a stronger, more valuable company over time. Systems, documented processes, leadership teams, and reduced owner dependency can significantly increase business valuation multiples. The earlier business owners begin planning, the more options and flexibility they create for themselves, their employees, and their families.Useful LinksConnect with Michael Pallozzi: pallozzi@hfmadvisors.com | LinkedInConnect with Jason Gabrieli: jgabrieli@hfmadvisors.com | LinkedInExit Planning Institute: https://exit-planning-institute.orgEditing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)Like what you've heard…Subscribe to our BuiltWealth™ Newsletter HERE
Edward Shenderovich is the Founder and CEO of Roebling, a software platform that helps industrial companies evaluate, design, and finance manufacturing projects before breaking ground. After initially setting out to solve bottlenecks in biomanufacturing, Shenderovich and his team uncovered a broader challenge: the economics of scaling physical infrastructure are often poorly understood until it's too late. In this episode of Inevitable, Cody and Edward explore whether the US is making the same mistake with domestic manufacturing that climate tech once made with the “green premium.” If consumers were unwilling to pay more for cleaner products, will they pay more for American-made ones? The conversation examines China's long-term manufacturing strategy, the gap between scientific breakthroughs and industrial scale-up, and why engineering—not invention—is often the missing link in commercial success. Edward argues that national security, data sovereignty, and AI infrastructure may become the forces that justify renewed domestic investment in manufacturing and energy systems. They also discuss the lessons learned from the recent biomanufacturing boom and bust, why many bioindustrial companies struggled to achieve economic viability, and how AI can help bridge the gap between R&D and large-scale industrial deployment. Finally, Edward shares how Roebling is using AI-powered techno-economic analysis to help companies build factories that can actually compete on cost and performance. Episode recorded on May 28, 2026 (Published on June 9, 2026). In this episode, we cover: (0:00) An overview of Roebling (3:37) Why consumers rarely pay more for domestic or sustainable products (6:12) How the US can compete with China's manufacturing strategy (7:25) The gap between R&D innovation and industrial scale-up (9:13) Why engineering is often the bottleneck (11:25) AI data centers as a catalyst for industrial and energy infrastructure (14:30) National security, data sovereignty, and domestic manufacturing (17:31) Roebling's origins in biomanufacturing (20:03) Why AI may finally help unlock biology at scale (23:25) Building products that are better, not just greener (26:11) How Roebling helps companies plan and finance factories (31:08) Lessons from the biomanufacturing boom and bio-winter (34:33) The opportunities of nuclear energy and industrial growth Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc.Connect with MCJ:Cody Simms on LinkedInVisit mcj.vcSubscribe to the MCJ Newsletter*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
Get updates for my new book here: https://Theperfectportfoliobook.com ----- When investors hear "SpaceX IPO," some wonder how to get access before shares begin trading, while others worry about what mega-IPOs could do to the funds they already own. This episode breaks down why IPO day gets too much attention—and why the more important story may unfold over time. Listen now and learn: ► Why the IPO price and the price most investors can actually get are two very different things ► What index rule changes around mega-IPOs may mean for mutual funds and ETFs ► Why a trillion-dollar valuation does not automatically translate into a massive index-fund position ► How to think clearly about SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, and other potential mega-IPOs without letting headlines drive your plan Visit www.TheLongTermInvestor.com for show notes, free resources, and a place to submit questions. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com) Disclosure: This content, which contains security-related opinions and/or information, is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in any manner as professional advice, or an endorsement of any practices, products or services. There can be no guarantees or assurances that the views expressed here will be applicable for any particular facts or circumstances, and should not be relied upon in any manner. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment. The commentary in this "post" (including any related blog, podcasts, videos, and social media) reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints, and analyses of the Plancorp LLC employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded the views of Plancorp LLC. or its respective affiliates or as a description of advisory services provided by Plancorp LLC or performance returns of any Plancorp LLC client. References to any securities or digital assets, or performance data, are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see disclosures here.
My guest today is Alex Sacerdote, founder of Whale Rock Capital Management. Whale Rock is a technology focused investment firm that manages more than $17 billion across hedge fund, long only, and hybrid strategies. Over the past three years it has been one of the best performing hedge funds, compounding at roughly 44 percent a year. Alex invests through a single lens that he has refined over twenty years. He looks for technology S-curves, durable competitive advantages, and underappreciated earnings power. This conversation is a tour through how he applies that framework right now. We start with his highest conviction position, which is Anthropic, and use it to work through the entire AI stack from chips to models to applications. Please enjoy my conversation with Alex Sacerdote. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at colossus.com/subscribe. ----- Ramp's mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to ramp.com/invest to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, Vanta continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to vanta.com/invest. ----- WorkOS is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit ridgelineapps.com. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:29) Alex Sacerdote (00:03:08) Anthropic: Highest Conviction Position (00:13:23) Investing in Private Markets at Scale (00:19:08) S-Curves: The Full Framework (00:25:08) When to Buy Tech Companies (00:30:20) Identifying the Leader from the Pack (00:34:04) Anthropic & OpenAI's Competitive Moats (00:37:31) AI's Threat to Enterprise Software (00:43:18) Network Effects in the Agent Era (00:44:22) The Hardware Renaissance: Chips & Infrastructure (00:53:56) Why So Few Investors Get This Right (00:55:36) Key Risks to the AI Bull Case (00:57:47) The Application Layer (00:59:40) How AI Is Changing Research at WhaleRock (01:02:53) The Role of Investor Networks & Idea Sharing (01:03:40) Building a Multi-Product Firm (01:07:58) WhaleRock as a Learning Machine (01:09:15) The Kindest Thing
In this episode of Money & Meaning, Jeff Bernier speaks with Peter Nakada, Chief Education Officer at Stone Ridge Asset Management, about alternative investments and the role they can play in building more resilient retirement portfolios. They examine why traditional portfolios are often overly dependent on corporate profits and interest rates, and how “true alternatives” like reinsurance may provide diversification benefits that traditional alternatives cannot. Peter explains catastrophe bonds, quota shares, risk premiums, and the behavioral challenges investors face when allocating to alternative asset classes during periods of uncertainty and market volatility. Topics covered: Why traditional portfolios may be overly tied to stocks and bonds The difference between traditional alternatives and “true alternatives” How reinsurance works and why it exists Understanding catastrophe bonds and quota shares Natural disaster risk as an investable risk premium Hard and soft insurance markets and how pricing adjusts after losses Why reinsurance may help improve portfolio resilience in retirement Expected return assumptions for reinsurance strategies Portfolio allocation considerations for alternative investments Behavioral challenges investors face during periods of natural disasters Probability biases and investor psychology in alternative asset classes Why staying invested through market cycles matters Useful Links: Jeff Bernier on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jeffberniercfp_the-money-and-meaning-show-activity-7202103509700227072-h0Qn/ TandemGrowth Financial Advisors: https://www.tandemgrowth.com/ Peter Nakada on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-nakada Stone Ridge: https://www.stoneridgeam.com/ Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
In this episode of BioTalk with Rich Bendis, Jeffrey N. Hausfeld, M.D., Chairman of the Board and Chief Medical Officer of BioFactura Inc., and Darryl Sampey, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Capitol Biologics, join the conversation to discuss the launch of Capitol Biologics as BioFactura's CDMO division. Jeff and Darryl explain how BioFactura's experience building biologics development and clinical manufacturing capabilities created the foundation for a more personalized CDMO model. The discussion explores the gap Capitol Biologics is designed to fill for emerging biotech companies that need integrated development support, scientific depth, analytical expertise, phase-appropriate quality, and early GMP manufacturing without being pushed into a large commercial-scale CDMO model too soon. The conversation also highlights what biotech CEOs and CMC leaders should consider before choosing a CDMO partner, including developability assessment, cell line and process development, analytical characterization, quality systems, cost of goods, regulatory readiness, and timing. Jeff and Darryl also discuss the growing importance of U.S.-based biologics development and manufacturing capacity, especially for emerging biotech and government-aligned programs. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant. Jeffrey N. Hausfeld, M.D., M.B.A., F.A.C.S., is a physician entrepreneur, biotechnology executive, investor, and healthcare innovator whose career spans clinical medicine, life sciences, healthcare real estate development, and entrepreneurial leadership. A graduate of Yale University School of Medicine and recipient of an M.B.A. from Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Hausfeld is an Associate Clinical Professor of Surgery at George Washington University and has been actively involved in national medical societies and healthcare leadership organizations for more than four decades. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board and Chief Medical Officer of BioFactura Inc., Chairman of Capitol Biologics, and Chairman and Co-Founder of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs. His work focuses on advancing healthcare innovation, biotechnology commercialization, physician entrepreneurship, and the responsible adoption of emerging technologies that improve patient care. Darryl Sampey, Ph.D., is a biopharmaceutical executive and company builder with more than 30 years of experience advancing biologics from discovery through clinical development and commercial manufacturing. He co-founded BioFactura in 2004 and has guided the company from start-up through incubator stages into a fully integrated biopharmaceutical product development and clinical manufacturing company. At BioFactura, he has raised more than $90 million in non-dilutive and strategic funding, built cGMP manufacturing capabilities, and led development of novel therapeutics, biodefense medical countermeasures, biosimilars, and cell therapies. Dr. Sampey is an inventor of the VeriCyte™ Discovery and StableFast™ Biomanufacturing Platforms and previously held process development and manufacturing leadership roles at Human Genome Sciences and North American Vaccine.
My guest today is Charles Ellis, founder of Greenwich Associates, longtime member of Yale's investment committee, and author of more than 20 books, including the classic Winning the Loser's Game. In today's episode, Charley reflects on writing the first major book on share repurchases 50 years ago, when the idea was so foreign that Goldman mailed it to 1,000 corporations as a “legitimizer.” Charley also walks us through his new book, Great American Investments: A History of the Bold Initiatives that Shaped a Nation, covering 14 audacious public investments from the Louisiana Purchase to the Marshall Plan. He explains how each came down to one or two obsessed individuals, why Alaska turned out to be the bargain of the century, and how Frances Perkins muscled Social Security into law. As the episode winds down, he shares the lunch with Sandy Gottesman in the early 1970s that led him to buy Berkshire Hathaway at $700 a share — and hold it ever since. (0:00) Starts (1:54) Charley on stock buybacks (8:06) Current state of investing and behavioral economics (11:37) Advice for young investors and long-term strategies (16:41) Charley's new book: Great American Investments: A History of the Bold Initiatives that Shaped a Nation (25:42) The origins of social Security (32:46) American entrepreneurship (36:43) Will AI be the next great American investment? (42:34) Most memorable investment ----- Sponsor: Ivy Invest - To learn more about Ivy Invest's SEC-registered endowment-style fund, view the prospectus, and learn how to invest, visit ivyinvest.co/fund ----- Follow Meb on X, LinkedIn and YouTube For detailed show notes, click here To learn more about our funds and follow us, subscribe to our mailing list or visit us at cambriainvestments.com ----- Follow The Idea Farm: X | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok ----- Interested in sponsoring the show? Email us at Feedback@TheMebFaberShow.com ----- Past guests include Ed Thorp, Richard Thaler, Jeremy Grantham, Joel Greenblatt, Campbell Harvey, Ivy Zelman, Kathryn Kaminski, Jason Calacanis, Whitney Baker, Aswath Damodaran, Howard Marks, Tom Barton, and many more. ----- Meb's invested in some awesome startups that have passed along discounts to our listeners. Check them out here! -----Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode, we are joined by Ben Carlson, Director of Institutional Asset Management at Ritholtz Wealth Management and author of Risk & Reward, for a wide-ranging conversation about market history, investor psychology, and the realities of long-term investing. Ben brings his trademark blend of data-driven thinking and plainspoken storytelling to topics like market crashes, inflation, diversification, and why investors are so tempted to time the market. We explore the lessons from Japan's historic asset bubble, the lingering impact of the Great Depression, and why diversification remains one of the few true free lunches in investing. Ben also explains the difference between volatility and risk, why the stock market is not the economy, and how investor behavior—not market performance—is often the biggest determinant of success. Along the way, we discuss inflation hedges, lost decades, speculative behavior, and the psychological challenge of staying invested through inevitable downturns. Key Points From This Episode: (0:00:20) Introducing Ben Carlson, his new book Risk & Reward, and his long-running blog A Wealth of Common Sense. (0:03:16) Why investors shouldn't panic about investing at all-time highs. (0:03:58) The Japanese bubble and crash as one of history's biggest market anomalies. (0:05:39) Why Japan's long-term returns look very different when viewed over 50 years. (0:06:27) Lessons from the Great Depression and the worst stock market crash in U.S. history. (0:07:43) Why the best long-term returns often follow the worst crashes. (0:08:53) The role of diversification and self-awareness in managing portfolio risk. (0:09:55) Defining investment success by achieving personal goals—not beating benchmarks. (0:10:42) Why inflation feels so painful psychologically for investors and households. (0:11:42) Ben's three favorite long-term inflation hedges: human capital, housing, and stocks. (0:13:47) Why market timing is psychologically seductive—and so difficult to execute successfully. (0:15:00) Why handling losses is the single most important skill in investing. (0:16:13) How devastating the economic side of the Great Depression really was. (0:18:49) What policymakers learned from the Great Depression and 2008. (0:20:39) The difference between recessionary and non-recessionary bear markets. (0:21:52) Why the biggest up days and down days tend to cluster together in bear markets. (0:23:18) Preparing for inevitable bear markets with a durable long-term plan. (0:25:07) Why the stock market and the economy can diverge dramatically. (0:28:10) The difference between volatility and risk—and why risk is often personal. (0:29:37) Why comparing the stock market to a casino is fundamentally wrong. (0:31:55) How modern investing platforms encourage speculative behavior. (0:33:18) How extreme Japan's 1980s asset bubble became before collapsing. (0:35:43) The most important diversification lessons from Japan's lost decades. (0:37:39) How common "lost decades" actually are in stock market history. (0:40:58) Three dimensions of diversification: geography, asset class, and strategy. (0:41:53) Why there is no perfect portfolio—only the right portfolio for you. (0:42:52) Common ways investors lose money in markets. (0:44:03) Why investors should be skeptical of billionaire market predictions. (0:45:57) Ben's evolving definition of success and raising good, kind children. Links From Today's Episode: Meet with PWL Capital: https://calendly.com/d/3vm-t2j-h3p Rational Reminder on iTunes — https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast/id1426530582. Rational Reminder on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/rationalreminder/ Rational Reminder on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/channel/ Benjamin Felix — https://pwlcapital.com/our-team/ Benjamin on X — https://x.com/benjaminwfelix Benjamin on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminwfelix/ Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
In this episode of FYI, Brett Winton, Cathie Wood, and Charlie Roberts sit down with Bryan Johnson, founder of Blueprint and creator of Braintree. They explore his pursuit of extending human life and the broader philosophical shift toward valuing existence itself. Bryan shares the origin of his ideas, the role of AI in accelerating change, and why he believes humanity must rethink its priorities. The conversation also covers practical approaches to improving health today, including sleep, behavior, and measurement, alongside the long-term implications of longevity science.Key Points From This Episode: (00:00:00) Bryan Johnson's motivation to pursue longevity and impact humanity(00:02:56) The belief that this generation may be the first that does not have to die(00:06:26) The need for a new ideology centered on life and death(00:16:24) Longevity as an economic and market-driven opportunity(00:22:48) The expanding complexity of AI and limits of prediction(00:27:28) Sleep as the foundation of health and longevity(00:28:16) Using resting heart rate as a core health metric(00:33:07) The impact of screens, light, and behavior on sleep quality(00:37:30) The role of caffeine, stress, and routine in sleep optimization(00:43:58) The current limits of anti-aging therapies and future breakthroughs(00:50:23) The role of exercise and building sustainable health routines(00:55:31) The “right to exist” as the next major societal frameworkEditing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.Today's conversation provides a fascinating window into the world of how one of the industry's largest wealth managers approaches private markets.We sat down with the man who holds the keys to the kingdom.Mark Sutterlin is the Head of Alternative Investments within the Investment Solutions Group at Bank of America. He leads the firm's strategy and platform development across hedge funds, private credit, private equity, physical precious metals, and real estate, delivering a broad spectrum of institutional-grade investment solutions to advisors and their clients.Mark brings the advisor's perspective to bear as he builds the alternative investments menu for Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank and helps educate advisors and clients on how and where to thoughtfully and appropriately include private markets in portfolios.Mark and I had a fascinating discussion. We covered:How GPs can work with private banks.What one of the largest private wealth allocators looks for in GPs.How Merrill approaches different product structures to deliver solutions across the wealth client spectrum.What constitutes a manager's edge.I loved this conversation with Mark, who takes such a thoughtful approach and brings a true passion to helping clients and advisors build and protect wealth.Thanks Mark for sharing your expertise, wisdom, and passion on private markets and private wealth.Show Notes00:00 Investor Edge Beyond Returns00:32 Sponsor Message from Ultimus01:41 Meet Mark Sutterlin04:15 Advisor Trust and Responsibility04:24 Penetration Across Wealth Tiers04:38 Scaling Alts Across Books04:49 Evergreen to Drawdown Spectrum05:12 Building the Shelf Challenge05:32 Evergreen Role in Portfolios05:42 Serving Broad Client Needs06:06 Optionality Not One Product06:20 Diligence as Core Identity06:48 Nuance in Private Credit07:27 Long-Term Themes Overlay07:56 Core and Satellite Question08:28 Drawdown vs Evergreen Tradeoffs08:48 Advisor Client Feedback Loop09:25 Evergreens Now Dominate Flows09:49 Evergreen Growing Pains10:14 Education and Expectations10:42 Rotation Within Evergreens11:11 Who Can Run Evergreens Well11:35 Scale Deal Flow Allocation Policy12:29 Post Sale Servicing Matters12:52 How Managers Should Service13:23 Transparency Builds Loyalty14:03 Vetting Managers for Private Banks14:45 Investor Skill Is Table Stakes15:22 Thousand Funds Deep Diligence16:07 Unpacking Firm DNA16:23 Private Wealth Is High Touch16:53 Eyes Wide Open Expectations17:14 Best GPs Listen and Adapt18:12 Customization Versus Scale19:13 Specialists and Custom Funds19:57 Proposal Tools for Advisors20:43 Menu Design From Client Needs21:25 Differentiation in UHNW22:31 Co-Invest and Capacity Access24:43 Tech DLT and Streamlining25:38 Biggest Blocker Education Gap26:45 Misconception Complexity27:52 Alts Invitationals Bootcamp29:45 Where Advisors Are Today30:16 What Why How Framework31:32 Implementation Needs Support31:51 Scaling the Alts Business32:45 Open Architecture Platform33:01 Lifecycle Ops Risk Controls33:40 Where to Invest Next33:53 Infrastructure and DLT Readiness34:42 Future Growth Sources35:37 Advisors Yet to Adopt36:00 Balanced Growth Outlook36:58 Client Sentiment Today38:11 Patience and Long-Term Adoption38:51 Next Gen Investor Mindset40:43 Defining a Manager's Edge41:23 Specialization and Storytelling42:31 Building a Menu of Edges42:47 Business Plan Plus Open Mind43:44 Advice for GPs Pitching Merrill44:39 Platform Differentiation and Exclusivity46:47 What Worries Mark Today48:19 Excited About AI and Infrastructure50:42 Wrap Up and ThanksA Word from Our Sponsor, UltimusThis episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus, the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands.That's Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you're already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team's deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals.Learn more at ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com.We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.
My guest today is Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO of Uber. Before Uber, Dara ran Expedia for thirteen years. We start with why he took this job in 2017, and a big part of that story is Daniel Ek, who told him that life is not about happiness, it is about impact. We talk about what the chaos felt like on day one, and how his family leaving Iran when he was nine shaped the way he handles pressure today. We spend most of our time on autonomous vehicles and Uber's role as the demand aggregator in a world of physical AI. Dara explains why Uber is a supply-led company, what it will take to win, and why he expects many winners in AVs rather than one. We also discuss Uber's $10 billion in free cash flow, the push toward a single app for everything, and what he has learned from Allen & Co, Barry Diller and Reed Hastings. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at colossus.com/subscribe. ----- Ramp's mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to ramp.com/invest to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, Vanta continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to vanta.com/invest. ----- WorkOS is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit ridgelineapps.com. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:29) Intro to Dara Khosrowshahi (00:03:37) How Daniel Ek Convinced Dara to Take the Uber Job (00:06:54) Bringing Order to Chaos (00:09:20) Managing Stress as a Leader (00:11:22) The Chip on His Shoulder (00:12:53) Parenting Lessons (00:17:01) Mandate for AI Adoption (00:21:21) Uber's Role in Physical AI (00:22:48) Winning the AV Demand Race (00:27:41) Partnering vs. Competing with Waymo (00:32:05) AV Success Unlocks New Markets (00:35:09) Why Drones Haven't Arrived Yet (00:36:27) Regional AV Rollout Differences (00:37:35) Uber Eats International Winning Formula (00:39:44) Key to Aggregating Supply Well (00:44:34) Adding Hotels to Uber Platform (00:50:46) Lessons in Marketing at Scale (00:52:59) Apps vs. AI Agents in Seven Years (00:54:08) What Dara Learned from Barry Diller (00:56:52) What Dara Learned from Allen & Co (01:00:09) Buybacks vs. Growth Investing (01:04:17) Lessons from Reed Hastings (01:05:49) The Kindest Thing
Get updates for my new book here: https://Theperfectportfoliobook.com ----- In this episode, I'm joined by Hendrik "Hank" Bessembinder to discuss why the stock market has created enormous long-term wealth even though most individual stocks have failed to beat Treasury bills. We explore what this means for diversification, stock picking, financial planning, sequence risk, and the way investors should think about long-term returns. Listen now and learn: ► Why most individual stocks lose money even though the overall stock market has created massive wealth ► How a small number of extreme winners drive long-term market returns ► Why average returns, alpha, and traditional planning assumptions can mislead investors ► What Hank's research suggests about diversification, sequence risk, and the future impact of AI Visit www.TheLongTermInvestor.com for show notes, free resources, and a place to submit questions. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com) Disclosure: This content, which contains security-related opinions and/or information, is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in any manner as professional advice, or an endorsement of any practices, products or services. There can be no guarantees or assurances that the views expressed here will be applicable for any particular facts or circumstances, and should not be relied upon in any manner. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment. The commentary in this "post" (including any related blog, podcasts, videos, and social media) reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints, and analyses of the Plancorp LLC employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded the views of Plancorp LLC. or its respective affiliates or as a description of advisory services provided by Plancorp LLC or performance returns of any Plancorp LLC client. References to any securities or digital assets, or performance data, are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others. Please see disclosures here.
Adam Ciborowski, Principal – RCP Advisors (EP.77)Intro Copy: Adam Ciborowski is the head of Research, Portfolio Monitoring, and Data Management at RCP Advisors, an investment firm focused on investing in private equity funds in the lower middle market.In today's conversation, we get into how RCP has built its data infrastructure in the fund of funds world across its central operating system, accounting, document collection, portal management, and collaborating with its fund administrator across a growing roster funds.Adam shares how selection of certain tech eliminated what used to be a dedicated full-time role — pulling documents, labeling them, routing them to auditors and administrators — and now turns that around in hours instead of weeks.We also dig into RCP's AI journey — why they passed on the turnkey vendor solutions, why data control and competitive differentiation drove that decision more than cost, and what they are actually building now: an agent that sits in their inbox, identifies incoming documents, scrapes defined attributes, and routes them for analyst review before uploading into their CRM.Adam's view is simple — AI is only as good as the data underneath it, and having 15 years of data with a robust infrastructure is exactly what makes that possible at RCP.Learn MoreFollow Capital Allocators at @tseides or LinkedInSubscribe to the mailing listAccess transcript with Premium MembershipEditing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Erik Brooks is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Ethos Capital, a middle-market private equity firm built to bring seasoned C-Suite operators into every aspect of the investment process. Erik's experience prior to founding Ethos in 2019 spanned privatizations in Eastern Europe, value investing at Baupost, and twenty years at Abry Partners. Our conversation covers Erik's path to private equity, lessons learned about risk, the importance of betting on people, and the evolution in his thinking that led to forming Ethos. We then cover Ethos' focus on durable business models, one-deal-a-year cadence, operating system to evaluate and improve companies, and an investment example that brings it all to life. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Today's guest is Will Goetzmann, Professor of Finance at the Yale School of Management. He is an expert on financial markets and securities, investment strategies, investor behavior and financial history. In today's episode, Professor Goetzmann walks through 5,000 years of financial history, showing how finance shaped trade, cities, corporations, and investing. He covers the first compound interest calculation, the world's oldest corporations and bonds, and historic bubbles from tulips to NFTs. To close, he explains why markets have repeatedly adapted through war, crisis, and uncertainty. (0:00) Starts (1:50) William Goetzmann on origins of money (7:06) The history of corporations (14:43) Yale's historical bond and early financial innovation (17:33) Parallels between historical and modern financial bubbles (25:52) SpaceX IPO and market valuations (27:26) Herd mentality and bubbles (32:47) Global investing, inflation, and currencies (41:13) Finance-related art (46:31) Most memorable investment ----- Sponsor: Ivy Invest - To learn more about Ivy Invest's SEC-registered endowment-style fund, view the prospectus, and learn how to invest, visit ivyinvest.co/fund ----- Follow Meb on X, LinkedIn and YouTube For detailed show notes, click here To learn more about our funds and follow us, subscribe to our mailing list or visit us at cambriainvestments.com ----- Follow The Idea Farm: X | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok ----- Interested in sponsoring the show? Email us at Feedback@TheMebFaberShow.com ----- Past guests include Ed Thorp, Richard Thaler, Jeremy Grantham, Joel Greenblatt, Campbell Harvey, Ivy Zelman, Kathryn Kaminski, Jason Calacanis, Whitney Baker, Aswath Damodaran, Howard Marks, Tom Barton, and many more. ----- Meb's invested in some awesome startups that have passed along discounts to our listeners. Check them out here! ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today, we are breaking down Toast, a name we have covered before but are revisiting because the story has changed enough to be worth telling again. Most listeners will have tapped a Toast terminal without thinking much about the business behind it. Our guest is Sean Barrett, founder, managing partner, and chief investment officer of Counter Global, who holds Toast as one of his largest positions and walks us through how a restaurant point of sale company became the operating system that runs the restaurant. He argues that Toast is best understood as the operating system for the restaurant rather than a payments terminal with software attached, and that the business grows as fast and as profitably as it does because the company spent years building purpose-built hardware, a multi-tenant software platform, and a sales force on the ground before it moved into new markets across grocery, enterprise, hospitality, and international. We also discuss why a business winning roughly half of new restaurant openings in the United States still trades at a multiple that looks closer to a mature company than a category killer. Please enjoy this Breakdown of Toast. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at colossus.com/subscribe. ----- This episode is brought to you by Portrait Analytics - your centralized resource for AI-powered idea generation, thesis monitoring, and personalized report building. Built by buy-side investors, for investment professionals. We work in the background, helping surface stock ideas and thesis signposts to help you monetize every insight. In short, we help you understand the story behind the stock chart, and get to "go, or no-go" 10x faster than before. Sign-up for a free trial today at portraitresearch.com ----- Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Timestamps (00:00:00) Welcome to Business Breakdowns (00:03:19) Toast Business Overview & Financials (00:06:31) Recurring vs. Reoccurring Gross Profit (00:07:39) Nuance on Revenue Semantics (00:10:05) Transformation from 2020 to Today (00:11:51) Full Product Offering Overview (00:14:13) Revenue Model — Recurring vs. Transaction-Based (00:16:08) Net Take Rate (00:17:22) Software Side of Revenue (00:18:49) Hardware & SaaSpocalypse Connection (00:22:31) AI Offering & What They're Shipping (00:27:01) Impact of 8% Revenue Uplift for Restaurants (00:27:12) Competitive Landscape (00:32:44) Switching & Churn Dynamics (00:34:52) Competitive Advantage & Moat (00:37:43) Management Team & Culture (00:39:57) $10B Gross Profit TAM & Runway (00:44:01) Valuation Approach (00:45:53) Key Risks (00:48:32) Key Lessons
My guest today is Dan Loeb, the founder and CEO of Third Point. Dan started Third Point in 1995 with a few million dollars, and today the firm manages over 24 billion across equities, corporate and structured credit, venture, and insurance. He is best known for his activist work at companies like Sotheby's, Sony, and Yahoo, and for the public letters he has written to boards over the years. What I find most interesting about Dan is how much his approach has evolved across thirty years. He came up as a credit and event-driven investor at Warburg Pincus and Jefferies, built Third Point, then layered in quality investing, thematic technology investing, and now a very large credit business that sits alongside the hedge fund. We cover how he thinks about the AI stack and the companies inside it he believes matter most, the difference between good and bad governance, what FTX taught him about due diligence, the Sony and Sotheby's stories, and the power of writing. Please enjoy my conversation with Dan Loeb. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at colossus.com/subscribe. ----- Ramp's mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to ramp.com/invest to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, Vanta continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to vanta.com/invest. ----- WorkOS is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit ridgelineapps.com. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:29) Dan Loeb (00:03:21) Mental Models Information Overload (00:06:50) Dan's Identity as an Investor (00:11:24) The End of Classic Event-Driven Investing (00:13:52) Evolving Strategy Over 30 Years (00:17:48) Return Opportunities in Today's Market (00:21:12) Sources of Alpha for Fundamental Investors (00:22:10) Good vs. Bad Governance (00:26:17) Writing as an Investing Tool (00:27:29) The Sotheby's Story (00:30:04) Activism Opportunities Today (00:31:03) Third Point's Evolution to 60% Credit (00:36:10) Dan as Sole Portfolio Manager (00:38:09) Value Investor Perspective on Today's Market (00:39:23) Investing Outside the US (00:40:33) The Sony Activism Story (00:43:59) Lessons from 30 Years of Investing (00:46:26) Danaher and Operational Excellence (00:48:48) Building the Insurance Liability Business (00:51:19) The FTX Story (00:53:07) Leading a Team Through Uncertainty (00:54:29) Where Third Point Is Most Contrarian (00:56:22) What Makes a Great Analyst Today (00:58:12) The Next 10 Years (01:00:24) The Kindest Thing
In this episode, Ben Felix and Braden Warwick unpack the surprisingly complex world of expected return modeling and why it matters so much for retirement projections, portfolio construction, and financial advice. They explain how PWL Capital currently estimates expected returns across asset classes, why traditional Monte Carlo methods relying on Gaussian distributions may miss important market behaviors, and how new research could improve the realism of long-term financial planning simulations. The conversation also explores a fascinating collaboration between PWL and Columbia Engineering student John Yang, who worked with Professor Michael Robbins on a project to build more realistic synthetic return data for financial planning. John explains how his team used empirical distributions, t-copulas, and Extreme Value Theory to better capture market crashes, fat tails, and asset co-movements during periods of stress. Ben and Braden then analyze how these improved simulation methods affect financial planning outcomes, sustainable spending estimates, and projections for long-term wealth accumulation. Key Points From This Episode: (0:00:00) Introduction to expected return modeling and why it matters for financial planning. (0:00:25) The importance of volatility, correlations, distribution shape, and time-series behavior in portfolio projections. (0:01:26) How Scott Cederburg's research on block bootstrapping influenced PWL's thinking on simulations. (0:02:03) Introduction to Columbia Engineering student John Yang and the industry research collaboration. (0:03:30) How Conquest Planning allows PWL to upload custom return simulations. (0:04:05) A new PWL client's detailed reasoning for moving from DIY investing to working with an advisor. (0:06:22) Why financial planning and Monte Carlo simulations were central to the client's decision. (0:07:22) Cross-border financial complexity and the value of professional advice. (0:08:03) Estate planning, cognitive decline, and the role of trusted financial relationships. (0:10:02) Research on cognitive decline and its impact on financial decision-making. (0:12:00) Delegation, accountability, and reducing mental overhead through advisory relationships. (0:13:47) Why the client chose PWL specifically and the appeal of evidence-based investing. (0:15:25) Ben and Braden discuss the perceived disconnect between online discourse and demand for AUM advisors. (0:16:12) Overview of PWL's methodology for estimating expected returns across asset classes. (0:17:05) How PWL combines historical returns with market-implied expected returns. (0:18:07) The use of factor premiums and expected return composition in taxable projections. (0:18:48) Why PWL previously relied on Gaussian multivariate normal distributions for simulations. (0:19:41) Arithmetic vs. geometric mean returns and why the distinction matters. (0:21:01) A simple example illustrating volatility drag. (0:23:29) Why diversification benefits must be incorporated into expected portfolio returns. (0:25:15) How correcting portfolio math improved expected return estimates by 20–30 basis points. (0:27:12) Transition to John Yang's interview and introduction to synthetic data generation. (0:30:07) John explains the limitations of Gaussian return assumptions. (0:31:04) Why realistic sequences of returns matter for retirement planning. (0:32:16) Empirical evidence that returns are not truly random. (0:33:25) The three modeling challenges: unique asset behavior, realistic co-movement, and tail risk. (0:37:49) Separating marginal distributions from dependency structures in the modeling process. (0:38:48) Using a t-copula to better model asset co-movement during market stress. (0:39:39) Why historical data alone struggles to capture rare crisis events. (0:40:06) Applying Extreme Value Theory and Generalized Pareto Distributions to model tail risk. (0:42:15) How Monte Carlo simulations generate many realistic future return paths. (0:43:00) Imposing forward-looking expected returns and volatility assumptions onto the simulations. (0:44:56) How the new framework better preserves skewness and kurtosis. (0:46:38) Evaluating the new model using marginal shape, tail behavior, and co-movement scores. (0:48:10) Why the new model significantly improved tail realism without sacrificing correlations. (0:49:05) Future extensions including dynamic correlations and volatility clustering. (0:50:28) Potential future use of GANs and machine learning for synthetic financial data. (0:52:02) Key takeaway: financial planning requires realistic return paths, not just summary statistics. (0:53:41) Braden analyzes how the new simulation framework affects financial advice. (0:55:04) Why monthly index data produced fatter tails than long-term annual DMS data. (0:58:47) The new model improved Monte Carlo success rates by roughly 2–3%. (1:00:25) Sustainable spending estimates changed only modestly under the new simulations. (1:02:27) Why the improved methodology matters more for alternative asset classes. (1:04:25) The surprising finding that median wealth outcomes increased while mean outcomes decreased. (1:05:47) Why Gaussian simulations can create unrealistic runaway wealth scenarios. (1:07:20) The practical implications for estate planning and multi-generational wealth projections. (1:08:30) Why better simulation methods are especially important for concentrated and alternative investments. Links From Today's Episode: Meet with PWL Capital: https://calendly.com/d/3vm-t2j-h3p Rational Reminder on iTunes — https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-rational-reminder-podcast/id1426530582. Rational Reminder on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/rationalreminder/ Rational Reminder on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/channel/ Benjamin Felix — https://pwlcapital.com/our-team/ Benjamin on X — https://x.com/benjaminwfelix Benjamin on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminwfelix/ Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
In this episode of Bitcoin Brainstorm, Rod Roudi is joined by Cathie Wood, Adam Back, Hunter Beast, Rob Hamilton, Ren Crypto Fish, and David Puell for a deep discussion on quantum computing and its implications for Bitcoin. The group examines the technical, financial, and governance challenges posed by advances in quantum technology, while also exploring the progress being made on post-quantum cryptography and Bitcoin security research. From institutional concerns and custodial infrastructure to migration paths and consensus-building, the conversation highlights how developers, researchers, and investors are collaboratively addressing one of Bitcoin's most discussed long-term risks. Guests on this month's Bitcoin Brainstorm include: Cathie Wood: Founder, CEO and CIO at ARK Invest David Puell: Research Trading Analyst/Associate Portfolio Manager, Digital Assets, ARK InvestAdam Back: CEO, BlockstreamRen Crypto Fish: General Partner, Electric CapialRob Hamilton: Co-founder & CEO, AnchorWatchHunter Beast: Author, BIP360Rod Roudi: Founder, Bitcoin Park Key Points From This Episode: [00:00:00] Why quantum computing has become a major topic within Bitcoin discussions.[00:02:07] The role of Wright's Law and Moore's Law in estimating quantum progress.[00:04:38] Different quantum computing architectures and their implications for Bitcoin security.[00:05:58] Adam Back's overview of post-quantum signatures and Blockstream's research efforts.[00:06:55] How Bitcoin layer twos like Liquid are being used as testing grounds for quantum-resistant tools.[00:07:30] The trade-offs between signature size, speed, and security in post-quantum cryptography.[00:09:35] The importance of minimizing feature creep in Bitcoin upgrades.[00:11:41] Institutional investor concerns surrounding Bitcoin's quantum readiness.[00:22:28] Why Bitcoin developers favor conservative cryptographic approaches.[00:26:20] The collaborative nature of Bitcoin's open-source research ecosystem.[00:31:45] The distinction between long-range and short-range quantum attacks.[00:38:49] How custodians and hardware security module providers may need to prepare for migration.[00:45:35] Discussions around lost coins and the philosophical debate surrounding frozen or deprecated keys.[00:50:40] The importance of rough consensus within Bitcoin governance.[01:01:20] Why communication and investor education remain critical during this process. Learn more about Bitcoin Park: bitcoinpark.com Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Haroon Inam is Co-founder and CEO of DG Matrix, a company that makes the world's most compact Power Router, aggregating distributed energy for GenAI datacenters, microgrids, fleet electrification, and associated systems. As AI workloads drive unprecedented electricity demand and legacy grid infrastructure struggles to keep pace, DG Matrix has commercialized the world's first multi-port solid-state transformer to meet the energy needs. In this episode, Inam explains why transformer bottlenecks, distributed generation, and 800V DC architectures are reshaping the future of power delivery for AI infrastructure. He discusses DG Matrix's product strategy, manufacturing scale-up plans, and the role of software-defined power systems in next-generation data centers. Finally, Inam shares his take on the future of distributed microgrids and “cellular power” and how to scale power electronics manufacturing. DG Matrix recently closed a $60 million Series A led by Engine Ventures that MCJ is proud to have participated in. Episode recorded on May 13, 2026 (Published on May 26, 2026) In this episode, we cover: (00:00) Overview of DG Matrix (01:41) Introducing the Founders: Haroon Inam and Dr. Bhattacharya (05:25) How traditional grid architecture became constrained for AI workloads (09:57) Solid-state transformers (SST), multi-port systems and voltage classes (12:18) Why early SST efforts struggled economically (13:13) How DG Matrix's multi-port architecture works (16:48) Comparing DG Matrix hardware footprint to legacy power systems (20:08) Transformer shortages and data center infrastructure bottlenecks (24:27) DG Matrix's medium-voltage and low-voltage product strategies (27:55) Product rebranding and current commercial deployments (30:45) Partnerships with EPC firms, battery providers, and turbine manufacturers (34:27) Manufacturing scale-up plan and hyperscaling production (36:36) Supply chain strategy to avoid rare earth dependencies (38:16) Reliability engineering and software-defined power systems (43:47) DG Matrix's go-to-market and hybrid hardware/software business model (46:36) The vision for distributed “cellular power” (48:14) Utilities, microgrids, and the future of interconnected distributed infrastructure Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc.Connect with MCJ:Cody Simms on LinkedInVisit mcj.vcSubscribe to the MCJ Newsletter*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
My guest today is Darren Farber, and this is his second appearance on the show. Darren is a Managing Partner of Albion River, a defense-focused investment firm and he previously served as a special advisor to the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense. We recorded this conversation in the middle of the Iranian contingency, and we spent most of our time on what winning actually means in a theater like Iran. We discuss why magazine depth matters for the American industrial base, lessons from Ukraine, and what the rise of neo-prime defense companies will require from Congress. Please enjoy my second conversation with Darren Farber. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at colossus.com/subscribe. ----- Ramp's mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to ramp.com/invest to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, Vanta continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to vanta.com/invest. ----- WorkOS is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit ridgelineapps.com. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:29) Darren Farber Intro (00:02:59) Defining What Winning Looks Like in Iran (00:12:16) The Strait of Hormuz (00:13:27) Eisenhower vs. Taylor: Two Military Doctrines Explained (00:17:12) US Military Readiness vs. the Pentagon Era (00:20:05) America's Magazine Depth (00:21:36) China's Vulnerability (00:25:28) Trading Freedom for Security (00:27:31) Today's Industrial Base (00:29:30) Lessons from the Ukraine War (00:31:11) Impact of Iran Conflict on Taiwan Risk (00:33:02) What Neo-Prime Defense Companies Need to Succeed (00:39:53) Can We Win Without Full Regime Change in Iran? (00:45:46) AI's Impact on Modern Warfare
John Kim, or Kimmer, has raised more than $70 billion across his career for leading venture capital and private equity firms. Kimmer recently distilled three decades of lessons into The Tao of Fundraising, the best book I've ever read on fundraising for investment managers. Since then, Kimmer joined a General Catalyst portfolio company, Lila Sciences, as Chairman and President of Corporate Development. Our conversation covers Kimmer's philosophy about raising capital, the sales process, art of persuasion, best practices in a meeting, frameworks determining fundraising success, taxonomy of institutional investors, ideal sales team structure and compensation, and the features he carried over from capital formation for funds to a new operating role. Learn More Follow Ted on Twitter at @tseides or LinkedIn Subscribe to the mailing list Access Transcript with Premium Membership Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
While in Omaha for Berkshire week, Meb hopped on another podcast as a guest. It was a fun one, so we're releasing it here as well. In today's episode, Meb Faber makes the case against home country bias, pointing to Korea's near-triple and Japan's decades-long round trip as reminders that cycles always turn. He explains why shareholder yield tells a truer story than dividends, why there are now more ETFs than stocks, and why tax alpha matters more than chasing returns. To close, Meb reflects on multi-decade compounding — and the mistakes that quietly take investors out of the game. (0:00) Starts (2:06) Meb's thoughts on Warren Buffett (5:11) Global diversification and home country bias (14:29) Shareholder yield (27:45) Positive investment behaviors (30:19) The ETF industry and the current investment landscape (35:18) Rapid fire questions ----- Sponsor: Want to learn more about 351 Exchanges? Visit the Alpha Architect 351 Education Center for use cases, tools, FAQs, upcoming launches, and more. Investments in securities entail risks, including possible loss of principal and are not suitable for all investors. ----- Follow Meb on X, LinkedIn and YouTube For detailed show notes, click here To learn more about our funds and follow us, subscribe to our mailing list or visit us at cambriainvestments.com ----- Follow The Idea Farm: X | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok ----- Interested in sponsoring the show? Email us at Feedback@TheMebFaberShow.com ----- Past guests include Ed Thorp, Richard Thaler, Jeremy Grantham, Joel Greenblatt, Campbell Harvey, Ivy Zelman, Kathryn Kaminski, Jason Calacanis, Whitney Baker, Aswath Damodaran, Howard Marks, Tom Barton, and many more. ----- Meb's invested in some awesome startups that have passed along discounts to our listeners. Check them out here! ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
My guest today is Gavin Baker, founding partner and CIO of Atreides Management, and this is our sixth conversation. The central theme is watts and wafers, the two physical constraints that in Gavin's view will dictate the next phase of AI. On power, he thinks the near-term shortage starts to ease in 2027 and 2028 as new sources of energy come online, and that orbital compute solves it in the long term. On wafers, he explains what is different this time from the dotcom bubble and why TSMC's capacity decisions may be the single most important variable to watch. We also discuss Elon's Terrafab, the disaggregation of GPUs, the role of new chip companies, and whether the economic value of AI will keep accruing to frontier models. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- Become a Colossus member to get our quarterly print magazine and private audio experience, including exclusive profiles and early access to select episodes. Subscribe at colossus.com/subscribe. ----- Ramp's mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to ramp.com/invest to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- Trusted by thousands of businesses, Vanta continuously monitors your security posture and streamlines audits so you can win enterprise deals and build customer trust without the traditional overhead. Invest Like the Best listeners get a special offer of $1,000 off Vanta when you go to vanta.com/invest. ----- WorkOS is the infrastructure B2B and AI-native companies use to sell to enterprise. It covers everything enterprise security requires: SSO, SCIM, RBAC, Audit Logs, AI governance, and more. Trusted by 2,000+ fast-growing companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Cursor, and Vercel. ----- Rogo is the AI platform for finance. They're building agents for Wall Street that are trained to understand how bankers and investors actually do work: from diligence and modeling, to turning analysis into deliverables. To learn more, visit rogo.ai/invest. ----- Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Visit ridgelineapps.com. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:29) Gavin Baker Intro (00:03:32) Anthropic's Record ARR Growth (00:11:49) Should OpenAI and Anthropic Raise at a Much Higher Valuation? (00:13:23) How Elon Preserves Investor Trust (00:14:00) Watts & Wafers (00:15:45) Data Centers in Space Explained (00:20:51) Orbital Compute's Impact on Terrestrial Data Centers (00:26:24) TSMC Supply Discipline & Bubble Risk (00:30:50) Demand for Frontier Tokens & The Bitter Lesson (00:35:33) Continual Learning & Memory (00:40:01) New Chip Companies & Startups (00:42:49) Prefill vs. Decode Disaggregation (00:48:40) AI-Native Founders: Different & Hard (00:51:27) Token Path & Application Layer (00:56:13) How Gavin Uses AI in Atreides (01:00:06) Signs of a Diversity Breakdown (01:05:42) Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft (01:11:42) Broader Knock-On Effects of AI