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My guest today is Shyam Sankar, the CTO of Palantir Technologies. In this conversation, we explore the ideas that shape how Shyam thinks about technology, talent, and national power. We discuss the origins of Palantir's forward-deployed engineering model and the lessons he learned from Alex Karp about identifying people's "superpowers". We also talk about Shyam's fascination with the "heretics" of American history, the unconventional builders who challenged bureaucracy and created many of the systems that powered America's military and industrial success. Shyam argues that the United States must reindustrialize after decades of moving production overseas, and explains what we can learn from America's industrial past. In a new Colossus profile, our Editor in Chief Jeremy Stern tells the story of how Shyam became one of the most important but largely unseen figures behind Palantir, tracing his journey from immigrant roots to employee #13 and the architect of the company's success and distinctive culture. 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. Visit vanta.com/invest. ----- WorkOS is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit WorkOS.com to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- Rogo is an AI-powered platform that automates accounts payable workflows, enabling finance teams to process invoices faster and with greater accuracy. Learn more at 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 (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Timestamps: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like the Best (00:02:43) Intro: Shyam Sankar (00:03:24) Defining Heretics in US Military History (00:05:01) The Story of Hyman Rickover (00:09:55) Formative Experiences & Worldview (00:14:50) Components of American Greatness (00:17:56) How to Unlock Talent (00:25:56) Palantir's Distinct Culture (00:28:15) Origin of Forward Deployed Engineering (00:34:24) What Does Palantir Actually Do? (00:36:19) Example: Airbus (00:40:20) State of the US Military Today (00:47:33) The U.S. Needs to Reindustrialize (00:52:19) Perspective of China (00:55:56) Our Key Asymmetric Advantages (01:00:57) Executive Orders for a Day (01:02:37) Negative Aspects of US Culture (01:04:47) Managing Rapid Pivots (01:09:17) Where Will AI Value Accrue? (01:12:37) Undeclared State of Emergency (01:15:45) Surprising Aspects of Palantir (01:17:50) To Do or To Be (01:18:50) Reflecting on Fatherhood (01:19:46) The Kindest Thing
Katelin Holloway is a Founding Partner at Seven Seven Six, a technology-focused venture firm backing great early-stage entrepreneurs that she started with Alexis Ohanian in 2020. Alexis was a past guest on the show, and that conversation is replayed in the feed. Katelin and I explore the intersection of human capital and venture capital. We cover her upbringing, work alongside Steve Jobs at Pixar, and turnaround of Reddit with Alexis. We then turn to the application of her operational experience to venture investing. We discuss 776's sourcing and underwriting of founders, interviewing approach, investment selection, and scaling the highly personal approach it takes to add value to portfolio companies. Learn more about our Strategic Investments: Old Well Labs. 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)
Alexis Ohanian is the General Partner and Founder of Seven Seven Six, an early-stage venture capital firm with $1 billion under management that he describes as a technology company that deploys venture capital. Alexis was the co-founder of Reddit, one of the most popular online forums in the world, which he sold 18 months after its 2005 launch for $10 million and returned as Executive Chair in 2014 to help lead the turnaround of the business. In between and since, he has invested in early-stage ventures as a partner at Y Combinator, a co-founder of Initialized Capital, and most recently founder of 776. Despite his success in entrepreneurship and investing, Alexis is most well known in the world at large as the husband of tennis star Serena Williams. Our conversation covers Alexis' initial ride at Reddit, taste of early-stage venture capital, and return to Reddit to scale the business alongside the challenges of managing a modern social media platform. We then turn to his investing as a technology company, including Cerebro – 776's transparent operating system, thematic ideas, traits of successful founders, social media engagement, investments in women's sports, and lessons learned from his wife Serena. 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)
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 John Arnold. John is probably the most famous energy trader of all time and certainly the most successful. One of the things John talks about is cultivating the best seat in your industry – the seat with the best perspective, the most information, the best systems.. John has been closely watching China's convergence in robotics, AI, and EVs, and shares his perspective from his recent trip to the country. We talk about the state of energy markets today – the misaligned goals and incentives, the NIMBYism that prevents building in America, and what he actually thinks about the wave of nuclear energy startups that everyone seems excited about. John is also one of the most innovative philanthropists working today, applying that same analytical rigor to diagnosing structural failures across America — in healthcare, criminal justice, education, and beyond 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. Visit vanta.com/invest. ----- WorkOS is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit WorkOS.com to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- 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 (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Timestamps (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:02:43) Episode Intro (00:03:43) Learnings from John's Trip to China (00:06:28) The EV Industry in China (00:08:43) How Subsidies Create Intense Competition (00:10:54) US-China Relationship (00:12:42) The Cost of Greatness (00:14:52) Creating the Best Seat in the Market (00:19:30) Baseball Card Arbitrage (00:23:03) Trading Natural Gas Futures (00:24:59) Energy Market Making Explained (00:27:11) Why Energy is Exciting Again (00:31:14) Meeting the Increased Demand for Energy (00:32:53) Why Policy is the Biggest Threat to Progress (00:36:28) Fixing Energy Infrastructure in the US (00:39:29) Advanced Nuclear Technology (00:42:05) The Prospects of Energy Startups (00:43:44) Input Costs in Solar & Batteries (00:47:54) Geothermal Energy: The Most Exciting Sector (00:50:57) Housing Reform in the US (00:53:39) The Role of Philanthropic Foundations (00:57:00) Reforming the Criminal Justice System (01:03:48) Social Outcomes Downstream of Education (01:07:20) Misaligned Incentives in the Healthcare System (01:12:08) Journalism as a Public Good (01:14:17) The Kindest Thing
My guest today is Kristin Olson, Global Head of Alternatives for Wealth at Goldman Sachs. Last year she was named one of the 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance by Barron's. In today's episode, Kristin discusses the explosive growth of the alternatives market over the past decade. She explains what has driven interest from individual investors, particularly millennials, and touches on recent volatility within software and private credit BDCs. Finally, she shares her expectations for the 2026 IPO market, the potential for renewed interest in hedge funds, and how AI is set to reshape sourcing, underwriting, and portfolio construction. (0:00) Starts (1:31) Introduction of Kristin Olson (3:16) Evolution of alternative investments (10:19) Secondary strategies (13:05) Private equity alpha and liquidity concerns (19:13) Private credit market concerns (22:29) Manager selection and due diligence (24:17) Non-traditional investments and hedge fund interest (27:17) Millennial interest in alternatives (31:40) Infrastructure and global opportunities ----- 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 ----- Sponsor: Register for Alpha Architect's LIVE HIDE webinar on March 26th here. Want to Learn More about Alpha Architect? Visit www.funds.alphaarchitect.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
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.Today's episode dives into what it takes to start, build, and scale an alternative asset manager.We sat down in Stable Asset Management's London office with Erik Serrano Berntsen.Erik is the CEO of Stable, where he defines and executes the firm's investment strategy. Stable is one of the largest and most tenured GP stake builders globally. The firm manages around $5B in assets and has built over 40 firms since 2006.Stable makes strategic seed and acceleration investments to launch and scale alternatives GPs across public and private markets. With offices in New York, London, and Palm Beach, the firm backs investment firm Founders who understand that extraordinary performance requires building exceptional organizations.Committed to education as a catalyst for change, Erik supports the LSE Alternative Investments Conference — the world's largest student conference for alternatives, which is how we met 16 years ago — as well as Girls Who Invest and Girls Are Investors. Stable backs 100 Women in Finance and is a Founding Partner of the 10,000 Interns Foundation.Erik holds a BA in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from Keble College, Oxford, and an MBA with honors and a concentration in Finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.Erik and I had a fascinating conversation about what it takes to be a great investor and build a unique investment firm. We discussed:How the business of asset management has evolved since 2006.The incentives gap between LPs and GPs — and how that evolves as GPs scale.How GP seeding and GP stakes can be a solution to LP / GP misalignment.How to discern a manager's “edge" and how “edge” can change with firm growth.The most non-obvious trait that makes for a great asset management founder.The nuances of evergreen structures and which strategies might be better suited for evergreen structures.The merits of the GP stakes investment strategy for LPs.Thanks Erik for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about GP stakes and asset management.Show Notes00:00 Likeability Wins00:37 Welcome to the Alt Goes Mainstream Podcast01:50 Introduction to Erik Serrano Berntsen and Stable04:08 Why the Name Stable06:26 From Benchmarks to Solutions05:31 Branding as Alts Evolve08:11 Stable's Two Market Gaps08:47 Fixing LP / GP Misalignment09:29 GP Stakes Alignment Model09:59 Non-Market Risks vs. Operating System11:15 How Edge Changes with Scale14:06 Three Edges to Underwrite16:18 Founders Think in Decades19:53 Timing Cycles and Strategy Drift23:31 Seed vs Acceleration Playbook25:39 Evergreen Capital Goes Mainstream29:01 Smaller Managers Winning Evergreen31:19 Wealth Channel Core vs Specialist33:25 Evergreen vs Drawdowns Debate34:03 Evergreen by Asset Class35:47 GP Stakes Lifecycle 38:29 Picking Tides and Boats39:03 Specialist Strategy Edge40:15 Podshopification in Private Markets41:55 What Drives New GP Formation44:52 Self Awareness as Edge46:31 Always Be Sourcing48:23 Founder to Founder Trust50:37 Lessons Running Stable53:23 Building the GP Operating System59:00 Capital as a Service01:01:43 Stigma Fades in GP Stakes01:05:18 How to Spot Manager Edge01:08:47 Founders to Emulate01:10:35 Communication and Closing ThoughtsA 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 John Arnold. John is probably the most famous energy trader of all time and certainly the most successful. One of the things John talks about is cultivating the best seat in your industry – the seat with the best perspective, the most information, the best systems.. John has been closely watching China's convergence in robotics, AI, and EVs, and shares his perspective from his recent trip to the country. We talk about the state of energy markets today – the misaligned goals and incentives, the NIMBYism that prevents building in America, and what he actually thinks about the wave of nuclear energy startups that everyone seems excited about. John is also one of the most innovative philanthropists working today, applying that same analytical rigor to diagnosing structural failures across America — in healthcare, criminal justice, education, and beyond 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. ----- This episode is brought to you by Ramp. 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. ----- This episode is brought to you by Vanta. 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. Visit vanta.com/invest. ----- This episode is brought to you by WorkOS. WorkOS is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit WorkOS.com to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- This episode is brought to you by Rogo. Rogo is an AI-powered platform that automates accounts payable workflows, enabling finance teams to process invoices faster and with greater accuracy. Learn more at Rogo.ai/invest. ----- This episode is brought to you by Ridgeline. 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 (00:02:43) Episode Intro (00:03:43) Learnings from John's Trip to China (00:06:28) The EV Industry in China (00:08:43) How Subsidies Create Intense Competition (00:10:54) US-China Relationship (00:12:42) The Cost of Greatness (00:14:52) Creating the Best Seat in the Market (00:19:30) Baseball Card Arbitrage (00:23:03) Trading Natural Gas Futures (00:24:59) Energy Market Making Explained (00:27:11) Why Energy is Exciting Again (00:31:14) Meeting the Increased Demand for Energy (00:32:53) Why Policy is the Biggest Threat to Progress (00:36:28) Fixing Energy Infrastructure in the US (00:39:29) Advanced Nuclear Technology (00:42:05) The Prospects of Energy Startups (00:43:44) Input Costs in Solar & Batteries (00:47:54) Geothermal Energy: The Most Exciting Sector (00:50:57) Housing Reform in the US (00:53:39) The Role of Philanthropic Foundations (00:57:00) Reforming the Criminal Justice System (01:03:48) Social Outcomes Downstream of Education (01:07:20) Misaligned Incentives in the Healthcare System (01:12:08) Journalism as a Public Good (01:14:17) The Kindest Thing
ETFs look simple on the surface—you buy a ticker and move on. But behind every ETF is a set of mechanics that explains how shares get created, why prices usually stay close to what the fund owns, and when trading costs and tax outcomes can surprise you. In Part 2 of this three-episode series, I break down the ETF "plumbing" in plain English so you can use ETFs more confidently and avoid common mistakes. Listen now and learn: ► What authorized participants actually do—and why they matter to everyday ETF investors ► How the creation/redemption process works behind the scenes when supply and demand shift ► Why NAV and market price can diverge, and what typically pulls them back together ► The practical implications for you: spreads, execution, and when ETFs can behave differently than mutual funds Visit www.TheLongTermInvestor.com for show notes, free resources, and a place to submit questions. 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. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
In this episode, Tony welcomes Kim Flynn, a pioneer in researching the growth of evergreen funds in private markets and founder of XA Investments. Kim shares insights from her latest report on the interval and tender offer fund marketplace, which has exploded to over 308 funds growing at 25% annually. They discuss how the market has evolved beyond its private credit origins to include private equity, infrastructure, hedge funds, and emerging sectors like tech and AI. Kim offers practical guidance on due diligence in an increasingly crowded field, the importance of track records as products mature, and why advisors must set proper expectations about liquidity and investment horizons. We also explore future trends including public-private partnerships, model portfolio implementation, and opportunities in underserved sectors. Kimberly Ann Flynn is a President at XA Investments. She is a partner in the firm and responsible for all product and business development activities. Kim is responsible for the firm's proprietary fund platform and consulting practice. Kim has developed an expertise in closed-end fund product development and is a frequent contributor to media and industry events on topics including interval funds, alternative investments and London-listed investment companies. Kim has earned the CFA designation and is a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society Chicago. She is also Series 7, 63 and 24 licensed. Resources: Kimberly Ann Flynn, CFA | LinkedInFranklin Templeton Private MarketsTony Davidow, CIMA® | LinkedIn Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Resources: National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP) NPIAP eCQM Resources NPIAP International Guidelines eCQI Resource Center Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) eCQM Library WOCN® Society eCQM Navigation Center WOCNext® 2026 Session on Electronic Clinical Quality Measure HH-PI About the Speaker Michelle Deppisch, PT, CWS, FACCWS, is a self-employed wound care consultant. She is a physical therapist and holds certifications as a Clinical Wound Specialist from the American Board of Wound Management and as a Fellow in the American College of Clinical Wound Specialists. Her expertise and dedication extend to various leadership roles within the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (or NPIAP), where she currently serves as President-Elect on the Board of Directors. Michele's commitment to advancing the pressure injury prevention is further exemplified by her role as the NPIAP Task Force Resource for the Electronic Clinical Quality Measure: Hospital Harm-Pressure injury or HH-PI, secretary for the Prophylactic Dressing Standards Initiative, Co-Chair to Education Committee, and she serves on the Standards Committee She has authored numerous resources for NPIAP, most notably the Root Cause Analysis/OR Toolkit 3.0 and published and presented works for S3I on the clinical relevance of support surface tests. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.
Gavin Baker is the Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Atreides Management, which oversees $7 billion across public, private, and crossover strategies focused on technology and the consumer. Gavin's deep knowledge of semiconductors and AI may be second to none, but our conversation barely touches the space. We begin with Gavin's upbringing, intellectual curiosity, and path to investing, before turning to the beliefs that shape his approach. We explore his view that investing is a search for truth best pursued through debate, intellectual honesty, and a willingness to be wrong, and why people, culture, execution, and risk management matter more than investment process in driving long-term performance. We then turn to the application of those beliefs at Atreides, where Gavin emphasizes the importance of deep fundamental understanding, hypothesis-driven research, and culture that rewards constructive disagreement. We discuss how crossover investing can create informational and behavioral advantages - particularly in AI - and how portfolio construction in both hedge funds and venture capital can narrow the gap between insight and performance. As a disclaimer, I am both an LP and an advisor to Atreides, so I'm a little biased in my suspicion that you will really enjoy this conversation with Gavin Baker. Learn more about our Strategic Investments: Thema. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com) All opinions expressed by Ted and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Capital Allocators or their firms. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. It should not be construed as investment advice or a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offering of any kind. Clients of Capital Allocators or podcast guests may maintain positions and securities discussed on this podcast. The statements and opinions contained herein may change at any time, based on market or other conditions.
My guest today is Aswath Damodaran, a professor at NYU, where he teaches corporate finance and equity valuation. In today's episode, Professor Damodaran explains why he trimmed two Magnificent Seven stocks. He digs into AI's real impact on valuations and moats, why big software incumbents face an Innovator's Dilemma, and why the biggest risk isn't tech spending itself, but overconfidence and debt-fueled capex that could ripple beyond tech. He also weighs in on corporate Bitcoin balance sheets, sports franchises as “trophy assets” driven by billionaire demand rather than cash flows, and the rise of prediction markets. (0:00) Starts (0:34) Professor Damodaran on the Magnificent Seven (7:26) OpenAI's growth, AI's impact on valuations, and software industries (16:07) High capex investment risks (23:10) Market timing (33:43) Trust and the rise of gold and silver (45:12) Cryptocurrencies on company balance sheets (47:42) Sports franchises (52:27) Prediction markets ----- 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
Frazer Rice and Bram Weinstein, the “Voice of the Washington Commanders,” discuss the shift in sports media for entrepreneurs. The current state of sports journalism is in flux, especially with the decline of the Washington Post’s sports section and its implications for local coverage. We explore the opportunities that come from this void. (Including the potential for new media ventures and the challenges of monetizing content in a fractured media landscape). The discussion also touches on the future of the Washington Commanders, the importance of audience engagement, and the evolving nature of podcasting and digital media. https://youtu.be/O0syDGcSkvU https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Ut9QRj7X9QD1pGEA6y6qt?si=39nLO2reQ8SK_nj0zenzDA Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com) Takeaways The Washington Post’s sports section closure is seen as a significant loss. There is a growing opportunity for new media companies to fill the coverage void. Monetizing media ventures requires innovative strategies and diverse revenue streams. Podcasters face challenges in gaining audience traction and monetization. The Commanders’ future depends on effective roster changes and health improvements. Engagement with the audience is crucial for media success. Digital platforms like YouTube provide exposure but limited revenue. The media landscape is rapidly changing, requiring adaptability. Local sports coverage is essential for community engagement. The importance of maintaining journalistic integrity in a changing media environment. SPORTS MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURS CHAPTERS 00:00 The State of Sports Journalism 02:59 Opportunities in Media 06:07 Monetizing Media Ventures 09:05 Navigating Podcasting Challenges 11:59 The Future of the Commanders 15:06 Engaging with the Audience DISCOVERING BRAM, THE COMMANDERS, AND AMPIRE MEDIA BRAM on SPOTIFY AMPIRE MEDIA ON YOUTUBE AMPIRE MEDIA WEBSITE Transcript of “SPORTS MEDIA FOR ENTREPRENEURS” Frazer Rice (00:00.686)Welcome aboard, Bram. Bram N Weinstein (00:02.551)Hey, Frazer, how are you? Frazer Rice (00:03.736)Doing great. The last time we spoke it was about three days before the Chicago Hail Mary, so I’m viewing that as good luck. That must have been something having to call that game. Bram N Weinstein (00:14.071)That was part of the most magical season I’ve ever been a part of. Not only first ever for the franchise, but 12 and five, NFC championship game, hadn’t done that in a generation. It was pretty incredible, yeah. Frazer Rice (00:28.652)No, as a skins fan, now commander’s fan, it’s been a long time, but it was a wild ride. One of the things that’s happened recently, which I know strikes near and dear to your heart, and frankly, for people who grew up sort of following it, has been, I guess, kind of the evisceration of the Washington Post sports section. And it’s got all sorts of impacts. But from your perspective, How do you make sense of that and what does it look like going forward for a city essentially that has all the major sports and the major paper not really covering it? Bram N Weinstein (01:09.719)I don’t make sense of it. I don’t understand it. I think at its core, The Washington Post is two things. It’s one of the most important publications in the world as the paper of record in the most powerful city in the world and the democratic center of the world. But it also is a local newspaper for one of the top 10 markets, top five markets in the country. And the idea that it would not cover its sports teams, or Metro desk, which, I know, you know, for our purposes, we focused a lot on the sports desk being shuttered. The Metro desk is too. So the Washington Post not covering the mayor’s office, city council meetings like in especially in these political times where, you know, the district budget is held by the federal government. To me, it doesn’t even it doesn’t compute that that wouldn’t exist. as far as like the sports section goes, which I think is like the lesser of the two real problems with this, but obviously is a real problem is, you I think for me, it feels like a death. I grew up reading the Washington Post. A lot of the reasons why I wanted to do what I wanted to do was through osmosis of reading Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon and Tom Boswell and all of the great writers that came through the Washington Post. And I just don’t really understand how it’s not within the business model to be part of this. At the same time, you know, it does open opportunities for entrepreneurs like myself who have media companies and are always looking for new talent and always looking for openings. And I can tell you that void is going to get filled. But I do think it is sad that the Washington Post could not figure out a way to modernize itself to allow its coverage to continue for its loyal readership. This is a local paper that isn’t covering local news. That is astoundingly terrible in terms of a business practice to me. Frazer Rice (03:14.317)It’s weird because from my perch here in New York, I work across the street from the New York Times building and there’s a little bit of sort of guffawing that the New York Times has turned into a gaming company and sort of a media company second, which has helped to subsidize its continued commitment to long form journalism. But even then, I mean, it’s really focusing on arts and leisure and cookbooks and wordel and all sorts of things like that. And it’s a shame that the Washington Post either couldn’t pivot in that direction or otherwise make sense of things. Bram N Weinstein (03:48.727)Is the business model of media the same that was no. so there are a few things that play here to be fair. I’m not asking Jeff Bezos to lose money. You know, like, or just be the beneficiary to subsidize something, but you do bring up a point, which is. And I read this quote recently from, the old ownership group, the Graham family, who basically said. “You know, the newspaper is a grocery store. Like you are supposed to go in there and pick all the different things that you want. And hopefully there’s something for everybody or hopefully a number of things for everybody. And in modern times, the New York Times has done a very good job of putting together a new modern grocery store for people. So there’s a variety of different things that does subsidize the important work that it does. And in the end, like to me, the New York Times and the Washington Post and maybe the Wall Street Journal. Are the three most important newspaper entities, if you can call them that, in the United States of America. And for one of them to not understand their role in protecting democracy, in covering our world, in informing the readership, whether it’s locally or nationally, to me is an absconding responsibility. So I don’t know what the answer is. Again, I’m not like demanding Jeff Bezos just…money to keep things subsidized. Like it is a business and I understand that, but there must have been better ways to go about it or maybe, you know, sell it to someone who does have ideas because it’s important for its foundations to remain intact. And so I just, you know, for me, it’s, been hard to digest, honestly. And like to your original question of like, like, how do you make sense of it? I really don’t. I don’t make any sense of it. Frazer Rice (05:39.692)Well, you also now have a fledgling media company and I’m a devourer of yours and Kim’s and Standix podcasts and I learned something from it each time. I see an opportunity there if major component of the media establishment in the area is abdicating its role, not only to the major sports that aren’t getting covered as much. There’s an opportunity there. But even like the local hotbed sports like lacrosse, they’re completely ignored, I would imagine. And that might be a way to sort of get some grassroots component going. Bram N Weinstein (06:17.195)Yeah, we also here with my company Empire see the opportunity, unfortunately, but we do. And there’s a lot of talent that is available. There is a void in coverage. We know, you know, the size of our community, the appetite for sports. And so, you know, I don’t want to say too much, but we are actively seeking partners to expand in a pretty large way if possible. So Frazer Rice (06:24.045)Right. Bram N Weinstein (06:46.067)We’re working towards that and I’ve been working towards that and moving very fast in the hopes that we’re not the only ones thinking this like you. There’s a lot of people thinking there’s an opportunity here. I wish it wasn’t the opportunity that it is, but it has presented itself and it’s an opportunity that we intend to see through. So we are actively speaking to a number of different interested parties about funding a major expansion of what we’re doing. Frazer Rice (07:11.379)Really cool. Well, I’ll be sure to keep an eye on that as it develops. When you’re thinking about sort of the money making aspect of it, we don’t do things for free and it’d be lovely if we all had time and disposable income to do that without giving away the playbook because you’re raising money and you don’t want to give that up necessarily. But how do you think about that in terms of delivering value for sponsors or advertisers or the general audience? Have you made any…sort of commitment strategy-wise there. Bram N Weinstein (07:42.197)Yes, digital audio video forward. You know, I also believe in enterprise journalism. I also very much believe in long form journalism, but the audience appetite for it is limited. And so you do have to subsidize it. And that comes in the form of a number of different properties repurposed for different platforms in various ways, podcasts, video shows, YouTube. All offer opportunities to monetize the same content. I have been studying very closely the things the New York Times has done and thought about what kind of engagement tools would be necessary to be an added perk for those who would end up probably subscribing to a situation like this. So there are a lot of different types of financial models. One is subscriptions. in a variety of different ways, whether it’s premium content, newsletters, one of them is obviously advertising, which would come with YouTube or different streaming channel, streaming network, podcasts, obviously, sponsorship, which could go across the board for all of the different categories. And, lastly, live events. And this is something that we are very capable of doing as well. So there are a tremendous amount of different models to make money. None of them are easy. And because the audiences are so fractured, I think you have to find ways to make financial streams in the same content in various different forms. But we’re willing to do that. And we’ve already kind of done that with what I’ve done with Empire on a very limited role, which is why we think we’re ready to make this expansion and move. But we need an investor to buy in and to the investors, I would say to them, we intend to make you money and we intend to be something that could be purchased in a three to five to 10 year plan. So we understand the importance of making sure that the investment is paid off in the end as well. Frazer Rice (09:52.205)Cool. Are you thinking about expanding into other subject matter areas? you’re in DC, so politics, guess, would be a natural fit. Right. Bram N Weinstein (09:59.965)Not really. And I wouldn’t personally, like, I just don’t feel like that’s my expertise. So no, but like, could we be something like the ringer where you’re looking into culture, you’re looking into arts, music, dining, those types of things? Yeah, I think like that’s something I’m not sure that I would move fast into a realm like that. Like we see the void in sports coverage for this marketplace. We would like to fill that void. And whatever we do after that would be dabbling in those spaces to try to, again, find new ways to find new audiences. But we want to go with our core products first. And certainly for me personally, the politics world is completely above my pay grade. So I’m out of that. Yeah. Frazer Rice (10:46.028)It’s above everybody’s I think if anybody could figure it out It’s it’s one of those Rubik’s cubes that it’s not worth solving oftentimes So, you know one of the things I don’t know if I’d struggle with or I’m Would like to expand on my front is just getting my podcast out to more people and the concept of discover ability and one of the strengths that I think you have Is you know your current position in traditional media with the commanders? Keim has it a little bit with ESPN, Ben Stendig has it with his Substack, which isn’t traditional media, but there’s different outflows on that front. How do you view that competitive advantage in terms of getting the message out and almost having a bit of a head start over some of the other possibilities out there? Bram N Weinstein (11:30.175)Yeah, well, I think there was always like, you know, for the podcast world. Yes, anybody can do a show and you know, they could be good. The reality is, though, you know, the people who already have stakes in the marketplace, at least from name value, are always going to have a head start. It’s going to come down to how you market yourself and how you go about getting your show out there as much as possible. The reality is you need some level of a robust social presence to get to as many eyeballs or ears as possible. And if you don’t, then you typically have to kind of go down a paid route of making sure that it gets into algorithms. And so it’s a hard climb, like for sure. You know, like when podcasts and kind of open the gates for everybody, same thing with YouTube, like Frazer Rice (12:14.54)Mm. Bram N Weinstein (12:23.444)You know, there’s going to be a lot of success stories. There’s going to be a lot more people who are either doing it for love of the game, but not for money. And that’s just the reality of how much time any person has to give up to content. And secondarily, who can get to enough of an audience to make it worthwhile? As you probably know, you need thousands of downloads to really make any kind of real money at all on a podcast episode. Getting to thousands of downloads. doesn’t sound like a big, like if I said, you have to get to a thousand, like a thousand doesn’t sound like a lot for one episode, but it’s way harder to do. wager a guess that 90 % of podcasts do not reach 1000 downloads per episode. So it’s a very hard number to reach. And if you really want to make money, money on it, we’re talking about getting 10,000 an episode. Sure, anybody like myself that has various different platforms I can use to promote my own shows has a head start in that manner. And that would always have been for anybody in traditional media who had a following to start with, if they were willing to jump into the digital side quickly, they were always going to have a head start because they already had an audience that was built in. It was just converting them. Frazer Rice (13:39.572)You know, and for me, the conversion isn’t so much, you know, buying pillows or mattresses from the advertising that comes on the show. I don’t have any advertisers. The ROI for me is, in a client, one client, maybe listening to it and then calling up. And all of a sudden that pays for everything, in sort of my day job. Bram N Weinstein (13:52.992)Yes. Bram N Weinstein (13:57.813)Yeah, well, I think you’re actually looking at it the right way. Like, could your show end up having a big audience? Yeah, of course it could. But like, the reality is for most people who are doing podcasts for the other purpose, which is either marketing, client curation, branding, like those have extraordinary value to like my company’s done a lot of B2B type podcasts. And I explained this, you know, to them, and most of the people I work with aren’t looking, they don’t think they’re going to be Pat McAfee. But like, they understand that like, The value in doing this well is going to get paid back exponentially in client curation, marketing, entering new market spaces, expanding business opportunity, because it done well, it can really have that kind of benefit for you. Frazer Rice (14:43.563)How do you make sense of all the different platforms that are out there? You know, I converted to video because ignoring YouTube meant basically ignoring Google and I was like, well, that’s dumb. I know, Spotify’s out there. iTunes has just converted to video. And then you’ve got all the different podcasts, platforms, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. How do you, it just seems like it changes weekly in many ways as to what’s in favor, what’s not. When you’re making a bet on your company, how do you deal with that? Bram N Weinstein (15:06.996)Yeah. Yeah, think. Yeah, it’s hard. Things have changed a lot. Like, for the most part, we double up our podcasts now and they’re taped on video. So they’re disseminated with not a tremendous amount of production value behind them. And of course, you know, used as audio podcasts as well. So it’s a two in one situation. And we find that YouTube. The advertising dollars there are very small, but the exposure, not unlike when we were talking about kind of marketing yourself, the exposure of being there, if you can get thousands of views, often offers up a lot of different opportunities. Sponsors prefer to be visually seen than just audibly heard. So like in both of those cases, they can be beneficial. like we don’t frankly make a lot of like we have on YouTube. We only have two primary shows with Empire Media that are on YouTube on our channel. We have about 18,000 subscribers now and we get on an average month like 127,000 views between just the two shows, which is a lot, know, especially for like a niche thing where we’re really just talking about one thing, the commander. So we’re like, we’re not expanding out much more than that. So it’s a very niche thing and yet we’re getting a really, really sizable number. Frazer Rice (16:11.787)That’s good. Bram N Weinstein (16:25.15)If I told you how much money we get paid for that, you’d laugh like it’s it’s pennies on the dollar. But the exposure of having it and the amount of views and impressions that it generates gets us sponsorship opportunities because people want to be part of that. And that’s where the real opportunity comes with YouTube. As far as like using Facebook Live, IG, like TikTok, I suppose. Like. I don’t know, like I don’t think you can be everywhere. I think the idea is to try to be, I think you’re talking to different audiences on each of these things. So I don’t think it’s one size fits all. And it has to be worth it. For me, it has to be worthwhile. Like, is there a reason why we’re there other than we’re just trying to get people but if there’s no benefit of a carryover beyond it and it just happens to hit their feed, but we’re not getting any sponsorship money out of it or any activation out of it? Well, then what was the point? So I’m always looking for right places to be. But there has to be an incentive structure that makes sense, either true carryover audience growth or obvious sponsorship opportunity. Frazer Rice (17:32.076)The cost of coordination of all of that too starts to overwhelm. I know you’ve got a schedule to keep here. I would be silly not to ask about my commanders a little bit. Two new assistant coaches, offensive and defensive coordinator, lots of changes coming in terms of personnel and hopefully sort of a rethink of Jaden and hopefully a lot better health going into next year. But… Bram N Weinstein (17:36.17)Yes. Yeah. Frazer Rice (17:59.84)Potentially better division in many ways, how do you see things going forward? Bram N Weinstein (18:04.71)I don’t know what their team looks like yet. So this is like a hard question to answer because I think they’re going to be very aggressive in free agency and then obviously they have the seventh overall pick. I kind of need to see what their roster looks like before knowing. I you know, David Blough been here the last couple of years. He is one of these very young, very impressive people. I’m glad they kept him in the building. It’s a big ask to jump from where he was to go to offensive He at least is talking a big game like he’s ready for this and I hope he is, you know, like we’ll have to see. I think a lot of it will have to do with the quarterback stays healthy and that just didn’t happen a year ago and the whole team didn’t stay healthy. So they fell apart and you know, like I don’t think health was the only reason they had the record they had, but I think the health made it worse than it could have been like their record probably would have been a little more respectable if the health wasn’t as bad as it was. Hopefully Jayden stays healthy. He’s fine now. So hopefully he stays healthy and on defense Deonte Jones. This is his first opportunity doing this but he’s actually been in the league for 20 years and he’s worked with every almost every major defensive coordinator up until this point So he feels like someone that’s been overdue for an opportunity. I like the system He’s coming out of does he have the personnel to win with I don’t think right now and that’s why I’m like Let me see what they do in free agency. How much money do they spend at what positions? How are they looking to upgrade that side of the ball? And if they bring in what I think will be two, three, four new starters, whether it’s via the draft and free agency combined, then I think we could have a different conversation about what I think it’s gonna look like, because I kinda need to see what the roster looks like first. Frazer Rice (19:44.691)No, there’s so many holes in the free agency component. Not to pin you down on a record going into next year, because we don’t even know what the components are going to be. To that end, as you said, the injuries were a real problem. Everything that possibly could go right in 2024 didn’t in 2025. How does that work over the course of time in terms of regression to the mean? Is just every season completely different or is there something that carries over? Bram N Weinstein (20:19.542)So 2023 was nothing like 2024, which was nothing like 2025. So we’ve had a roller coaster for sure. Um I last year was a surprise like. If you had told me the beginning of the season look like the schedules too hard. They had too many injuries. They went 9889 didn’t make the playoffs. I would have believed you. You know, like it’s just things were just harder to try to replicate. I didn’t expect what ended up. So can they flip that back around and be more competitive again? I do believe so. I also agree with something you said, which was. Right now and again don’t know what the teams look like exactly yet, but I do think the division on the whole will be better. The Giants will be better coached for sure. They have a lot of defensive talent and we’ll see if Jaxson Dart takes another step. And if that’s the case, the Giants may be more formidable than they’ve been in 10 years. The Eagles are still going to have a very, good roster. No matter Frazer Rice (21:04.938)Mm-hmm. Bram N Weinstein (21:16.106)Whatever they do this off season, even if it includes moving off of a couple of primary people, they still have an extremely strong high level roster. And I like how the Cowboys pivoted from Micah Parsons. I know it hurt them last year, but I do like what they did in the return that they got since. So they play their cards right. They could be in line to really make a jump back this year. Like they’re the ones that feel kind of ready to me. If they play their cards right and if they don’t end up, which is the second part, which is never they avoid, they never avoid this. They turn themselves into a circus. So if they could ever stop turning themselves into a circus, I think it would serve them. You know, I think it would be a very positive outcome for them, but their owner doesn’t live in that world. He likes to be a ringmaster. And, you know, I think that that’s probably more than anything been the hindrance to them winning a Super Bowl over the last. Frazer Rice (21:55.004)You Bram N Weinstein (22:14.422)30 years, they’ve had good enough teams to do it. They just don’t and I think they get in their own way. But you know, maybe this year’s a little different for them. Frazer Rice (22:21.364)No question. Alright, how do people find Ampire and sample all the different media that you’re putting out there? Bram N Weinstein (22:31.766)YouTube is Empire Media AMPIRE. We have our YouTube page. You can find that there. My show is under my name, Bram Weisside Show. John Keim Report covers the commanders and Last Man Standing is Ben Standing’s show. And who knows, maybe in four to six months, we’ve got some new offerings. I’m hoping that’s gonna be the case pretty soon. Frazer Rice (22:51.466)Terrific. Thanks for coming on, Bram, and rootin’ for your success. Bram N Weinstein (22:55.414)Thanks a lot. Take care BRAM on “WEALTH ACTUALLY” three days before the JAYDEN HAIL MARY Keywords: sports journalism, Washington Post, media opportunities, podcasting, Commanders, monetization, audience engagement, digital media, sports coverage, media landscape Titles The Decline of Sports Journalism Seizing Media Opportunities https://www.amazon.com/Wealth-Actually-Intelligent-Decision-Making-1-ebook/dp/B07FPQJJQT/
In this episode, we sit down with Tom Hardin, also known as "Tipper X," the former hedge fund analyst who became one of the most prolific informants in the largest insider trading crackdown in U.S. history. Tom walks us through his journey from rule-following soccer referee in Georgia to Ivy League graduate and rising Wall Street analyst—before crossing the line into insider trading at age 29. What makes this conversation so compelling is not just the crime, but how ordinary it felt at the time. Tom explains how small rationalizations, cultural pressures, ambition, and the normalization of questionable behavior gradually eroded his ethical boundaries. After being arrested and recruited by the FBI, he wore a wire 48 times and helped build over 20 cases in Operation Perfect Hedge, exposing widespread misconduct across the hedge fund industry. We explore the psychology of ethical failure, the "fraud triangle," moral licensing, and the difference between ethics in the classroom and ethics in the real world. Tom also reflects on redemption, forgiveness, mentorship, and how he now defines success after losing his finance career. Key Points From This Episode: (0:04) Introduction to Tom Hardin, former hedge fund analyst turned FBI informant. (5:15) Tom's conviction: One count of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy after four illegal trades netting $46,000. (6:11) Early life as a rule-following soccer referee and how ambition shaped his identity. (8:07) The hedge fund world as a meritocracy—high pressure, high stakes, and performance-driven culture. (9:13) How insider trading networks operated openly in certain hedge fund circles. (12:21) The legal definition of insider trading: material non-public information and breach of fiduciary duty. (15:25) How difficult it is to consistently generate returns without some form of edge. (16:26) The first insider tip—and the rationalizations that followed. (19:03) The "fraud triangle": pressure, opportunity, and rationalization. (22:16) Placing the first illegal trade—and feeling almost nothing. (24:39) Peer validation and the normalization of wrongdoing. (28:38) The 6:30 a.m. arrest and being approached by the FBI. (31:43) Deciding to cooperate—and becoming "Tipper X." (36:24) Learning to wear a wire and extract incriminating statements over multiple meetings. (38:26) Inside Operation Perfect Hedge: 81 individuals charged, 32 cooperators. (39:28) The chilling effect on hedge funds and the possible decline of illicit "edge." (42:12) Being publicly unmasked as Tipper X and the personal cost to his family. (44:02) Why ethical failures are incremental—not sudden transformations. (45:11) The gap between academic ethics and real-world psychological pressure. (46:57) The role mentorship could have played—and how culture shapes behavior. (50:29) Tom's view on hedge funds for retail investors: high fees, limited liquidity, and questionable value. (52:04) Ethical drift, rationalization, and warning signs to watch for. (52:35) Redemption: Owning mistakes fully and learning to forgive yourself. (55:02) Redefining success—relationships, honesty, and meaningful contribution. 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/ Dan Bortolotti — https://pwlcapital.com/our-team/ Dan Bortolotti on LinkedIn — dan-bortolotti-8a482310 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 Nick Grous sit down with Leif Abraham, co-founder and co-CEO of Public. They examine how the brokerage landscape is shifting as digital-native investors seek more sophisticated tools, and why Public is focused on the top quartile of earners positioned to compound wealth. Leif discusses agentic AI workflows, generated assets, platform design trade-offs, prediction markets, and how Public is balancing short-term monetization with long-term customer lifetime value.Key Points From This Episode: 00:00:00 Public's positioning in the modern brokerage landscape00:07:17 The K-shaped economy and focusing on the top quartile00:09:04 Building a “serious” financial service centered on trust00:10:06 Product depth vs. simplification in brokerage design00:11:00 Generated Assets: prompting AI-built custom portfolios00:13:21 Digital natives as hybrid self-directed investors00:15:04 How AI is transforming internal product development00:19:55 Launching agentic workflows for money movement and trading00:23:38 Compressing the distance from idea to execution00:27:34 Guardrails, approvals, and trust in AI-driven execution00:30:26 Short-term trading revenue vs. long-term lifetime value00:33:32 Agents as retention and lock-in strategy00:35:05 Replacing financial advisors: automation, advice, and emotion00:37:54 Tokenization and private asset access00:40:40 Prediction markets and avoiding sports betting00:45:55 Building the last investing account customers ever openEditing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
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 Dan Sundheim. Dan is the founder and CIO of D1 Capital Partners. He thinks about markets and businesses constantly, and has built a career entirely around that obsession. He manages over $30B across both public and private markets, with investments in SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic, and a public portfolio of names you may never have heard of. Dan shares the story of the short case he wrote on Orthodontic Centers of America and posted on Value Investors Club, which crashed the stock, and helped him land his first job. He shares why he backed Anthropic at a moment when many people told him it was the Lyft to OpenAI's Uber, what reading Dario Amodei's essays reminded him of Jeff Bezos, and how he thinks about LLM business models through the lens of Netflix and Spotify. We spend time on the extraordinarily stressful moment in early 2021 when GameStop hit the firm, and what Dan believes is the single biggest tail risk facing the global economy right now. 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. Visit vanta.com/invest. ----- WorkOS is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit WorkOS.com to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- 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 (00:02:43) Intro: Dan Sundheim (00:03:58) The State of Public & Private Investing (00:07:32) Investing in OpenAI and Anthropic (00:10:22) LLMs Business Model (00:14:13) How LLMs are like Netflix and Spotify (00:17:08) Focus v. Scope (00:22:43) The Bear Case for Hyperscalers (00:26:36) The Software Sell-Off (00:31:08) If Scaling Laws Stopped (00:32:18) Advice to a 12-Year-Old Investor (00:33:54) GameStop: D1's Darkest Hour (00:37:14) The Pivotal Dinner with LPs (00:40:56) Staying Calm and Confident (00:42:08) Economic Optimism vs. Societal Uncertainty (00:44:26) Investing on SpaceX and Rivian (00:48:09) Why Dan Loves Shorting (00:48:51) Sources of Inefficiency in Today's Markets (00:51:45) The Importance of Loyalty (00:53:11) Dan's Group Chat for Founders (00:55:39) What Motivates Dan (00:57:28) Posting on Value Investors Club (01:01:46) What Dan Learned at Viking (01:04:22) The Beauty of Art (01:06:49) Under-appreciated Parts of the Global Economy (01:08:00) The US-China-Taiwan Collision Course (01:12:10) Good Leaders vs. Good Businesses (01:13:15) The Kindest Thing
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.Today's episode dives into how data and market structure are shaping private markets.We sat down in MSCI's New York office with Luke Flemmer, the Head of Private Assets at MSCI to discuss how standardization and normalization of data can help bring efficiency, transparency, and liquidity to private markets.Luke brings a unique perspective to private markets. He was previously Managing Director, Head of Digital Strategy for Alternative Investments at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and was Co-Founder and CEO of Lab49, a global solutions provider of investment and risk technology to asset managers and investment banks.When the ION Group acquired Lab49, Luke became Co-Head of ION's Capital Markets Division, delivering software and solutions to the group's global financial services customer base.Earlier in his career, Luke worked in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence. He is a CFA charterholder.Luke and I had a fascinating conversation about private markets market structure and how MSCI is playing a role in driving standardization, normalization, and transparency of data in private markets. We covered:Parallels to market structure evolutions in equities, fixed income, FX, and derivatives.Tradeoffs of transparency for private markets participants.What it will take to build transparency and price formation in private markets.Where investors will still be able to find durable alpha.What standardization and normalization of data means for secondary markets.Analogies between Greek mythology and private markets.How secondaries has gone from a trade to a portfolio management tool.How index creation will impact private markets.Thanks Luke for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion at the intersection of private markets and market structure.Show Notes00:00 “Data Wants to be Free”00:28 Welcome to the Alt Goes Mainstream Podcast01:02 Sponsor Spotlight: Ultimus Fund Solutions01:57 Private Markets, Data, and Market Structure02:17 Meet MSCI's Luke Flemmer04:26 From Robotics to Finance: Automation Needs Standardization05:18 Fixed Income's Transformation: From Trading Floors to E-Trading06:42 Connecting the Data Across the Lifecycle07:58 Harmonized Data → Transparency → Liquidity08:44 Scaling vs Information Asymmetry10:38 What More Transparency Does to Returns and Alpha11:15 Benchmarking Privates Like Publics: PMEs and Comparable Data12:35 Manager Skill and Illiquidity Premium14:14 Company-Level Data & Bilateral Origins16:19 The Ship of Theseus Parable and Should Privates Become Public?23:17 COVID, Denominator Effect, and LP Scrutiny23:50 The New Baseline for Private Funds24:15 Wealth Channel Tailwinds and the Rise of Active LP Portfolio Management25:23 Using Public Liquidity to Balance Private Illiquidity26:15 The 85/15 Public-Private Index: Why Blend Public Equity with Private Equity27:16 Daily Pricing Private Equity: Solving the “Stale Marks” Problem28:15 Smoothing, Stickiness and Forced Secondary Sales29:20 What Tech/Data You Need to Nowcast PE Daily (and What's Still Missing)30:31 Price Formation Feeding Better Indexes31:34 From Secondaries to Derivatives: Lessons from Fixed Income NAVs33:14 Building Trust in Private Benchmarks: Data Scale and Adoption Over Cycles33:53 Unlocking 401(k)s: What Must Be True for Wealth to Go Big in Privates37:05 Liquidity, Suitability, Risk & Factor Decomposition39:05 Durable Private Markets Alpha (and the Index Question)41:51 Standardizing the Language: Defining “Liquidity” and MSCI as the Connective Tissue (Wrap)A Word from Our Sponsor, Ultimus This 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.
This is Part 1 of a three-episode series on ETFs—and how their behind-the-scenes mechanics ultimately make 351 exchanges possible. When a new ETF shows up in your brokerage account, it can feel like it appeared out of thin air. In reality, launching an ETF is more like launching a regulated business: sponsors test demand, build infrastructure, line up seed capital, and then hope the fund survives long enough to reach scale. Listen now and learn: ► The real "go/no-go" questions sponsors ask before they ever file paperwork ► Why some ETFs take off quickly while others quietly disappear ► What seed capital actually does—and why it matters on day one ► The hidden investor costs of owning an ETF that never reaches escape velocity Visit www.TheLongTermInvestor.com for show notes, free resources, and a place to submit questions. 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. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
My guest today is Dan Sundheim. Dan is the founder and CIO of D1 Capital Partners. He thinks about markets and businesses constantly, and has built a career entirely around that obsession. He manages over $30B across both public and private markets, with investments in SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic, and a public portfolio of names you may never have heard of. Dan shares the story of the short case he wrote on Orthodontic Centers of America and posted on Value Investors Club, which crashed the stock, and helped him land his first job. He shares why he backed Anthropic at a moment when many people told him it was the Lyft to OpenAI's Uber, what reading Dario Amodei's essays reminded him of Jeff Bezos, and how he thinks about LLM business models through the lens of Netflix and Spotify. We spend time on the extraordinarily stressful moment in early 2021 when GameStop hit the firm, and what Dan believes is the single biggest tail risk facing the global economy right now. 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. Visit vanta.com/invest. ----- WorkOS is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit WorkOS.com to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- 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 (00:02:43) Intro: Dan Sundheim (00:03:58) The State of Public & Private Investing (00:07:32) Investing in OpenAI and Anthropic (00:10:22) LLMs Business Model (00:14:13) How LLMs are like Netflix and Spotify (00:17:08) Focus v. Scope (00:22:43) The Bear Case for Hyperscalers (00:26:36) The Software Sell-Off (00:31:08) If Scaling Laws Stopped (00:32:18) Advice to a 12-Year-Old Investor (00:33:54) GameStop: D1's Darkest Hour (00:37:14) The Pivotal Dinner with LPs (00:40:56) Staying Calm and Confident (00:42:08) Economic Optimism vs. Societal Uncertainty (00:44:26) Investing on SpaceX and Rivian (00:48:09) Why Dan Loves Shorting (00:48:51) Sources of Inefficiency in Today's Markets (00:51:45) The Importance of Loyalty (00:53:11) Dan's Group Chat for Founders (00:55:39) What Motivates Dan (00:57:28) Posting on Value Investors Club (01:01:46) What Dan Learned at Viking (01:04:22) The Beauty of Art (01:06:49) Under-appreciated Parts of the Global Economy (01:08:00) The US-China-Taiwan Collision Course (01:12:10) Good Leaders vs. Good Businesses (01:13:15) The Kindest Thing
Ed Grefenstette is the CIO of The Dietrich Foundation, which supports charitable organizations in Western Pennsylvania through a truly unique investment strategy that seeks to first, last, and always grow the assets. Bill Dietrich, a successful industrialist, published historian, international investor, and innovative philanthropist, formed the foundation after selling his business for $170 million in 1997. Since then, the pool has grown 11.5x to $1.5 billion after distributing $400 million to supported charities, including contributions that make it among the largest donors every year to Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. Over the last twenty years, the Dietrich Foundation's performance sits at the very top of all endowments and foundations. Our conversation covers Ed's journey to investing and mentorship by Bill Dietrich, which led to him taking the helm at the Foundation in 2007. We discuss the Foundation's bold approach to illiquid investments, with 90% of assets invested in venture capital and private equity, its governance structure, and its thematic focus on innovation and emerging markets. Along the way, Ed shares insights into managing liquidity, constructing the portfolio, selecting managers, and navigating geopolitical risk to maintain conviction in an uncomfortably different strategy. Ed's approach and results will open your aperture to what's possible in an institutional portfolio with the right goals, structure, and governance in place. 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 show dives into the state of the venture capital from the LP perspective. Sean Warrington is a Partner on the Private Investments team at Gresham Partners, a $13 billion multifamily office, and Ed Grefenstette is the CEO and CIO of The Dietrich Foundation, a $1.6 billion foundation with an unusually large allocation to private markets and venture capital. Ed was a past guest on the show and that conversation is replayed in the feed. Our conversation covers the changing landscape of venture capital, including pricing distortions, power law winners, liquidity issues, GP behavior, and scaled platforms. Throughout the insightful conversation, Ed and Sean share LP strategies to capture opportunities and navigate risks across stages, sectors –mostly AI – and geographies. Learn more about our Strategic Investments: Old Well Labs. 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)
In this episode, we welcome back return guest Hank Bessembinder for a deeply analytical conversation spanning leveraged ETFs, volatility, and the future of performance measurement. Hank walks us through his latest research on leveraged single-stock ETFs, clarifying the misunderstood concept of "volatility decay" and decomposing returns into rebalancing effects and frictions. The results are striking: meaningful underperformance relative to simple levered benchmarks, driven by both embedded costs and the mechanics of daily resets. In the second half, we shift gears to a more foundational question: What is a return, really? Hank challenges the dominance of arithmetic averages and even geometric means, arguing that neither truly captures the long-term investor experience. He introduces the concept of the sustainable return—a measure based on the cash flows an investment can support without depleting capital—and outlines how it could reshape academic finance and real-world financial planning. Key Points From This Episode: (0:01:03) Welcome back to Hank Bessembinder and overview of his recent research. (0:06:16) What "volatility decay" really means—and why the term may be misleading. (0:09:16) Why volatility does not necessarily reduce mean returns in constant leverage ETFs. (0:10:11) Ex-ante decision-making and the wedge between mean and median outcomes. (0:11:26) Single-stock vs. index leveraged ETFs: Similar mechanics, different magnitudes. (0:12:52) Why past research has been so cautionary about long-term use of leveraged ETFs. (0:15:53) How rebalancing costs differ for long and short leveraged products. (0:16:57) The benchmark: Levered buy-and-hold versus constant daily rebalancing. (0:19:46) Empirical results: Long funds underperform by ~0.8% per month; short funds by ~1% per month. (0:21:10) Decomposing underperformance into rebalancing effects and frictions. (0:24:15) The real (though rare) possibility of returns below –100% in leveraged products. (0:27:04) Simulation results over 50 years: Skewness, negative medians, and rebalancing drag. (0:28:38) Why volatility tends to coincide with reversals—and why reversals drive rebalancing costs. (0:31:15) Practical guidance: Who, if anyone, should use leveraged single-stock ETFs. (0:34:58) The limitations of arithmetic means and single-period models. (0:36:55) Why aggregate investors are not buy-and-hold investors. (0:39:17) The shortcomings of arithmetic averages, alphas, and Sharpe ratios for long-horizon measurement. (0:42:38) Why log returns don't solve the core measurement problems. (0:44:56) The case for dollar-weighted returns and the limitations of IRRs. (0:48:18) Modified IRRs and their role in capturing aggregate investor outcomes. (0:50:14) Introducing the sustainable return: Measuring what can be withdrawn without depleting capital. (0:53:22) Expected sustainable return and its close relationship to the geometric mean. (0:56:09) Proportional sustainable return and withdrawal-based performance measurement. (1:00:00) Individual stock returns through the lens of sustainable returns. (1:00:53) Nudging academic finance beyond the "econometric streetlight." 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/ Cameron Passmore — https://pwlcapital.com/our-team/ Cameron on X — https://x.com/CameronPassmore Cameron on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronpassmore/ Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
With early exposure to Paul Tudor Jones and then stints on the sell-side in credit research, Michael Contopoulos is now Deputy CIO of Richard Bernstein Advisors, a macro-oriented asset manager overseeing roughly $20 billion across long-only portfolios. Our discussion centers on portfolio construction in an era of extreme equity concentration and shifting global leadership.On the equity side, the firm is under-weight the most concentrated segments of U.S. equities and overweight international markets, citing valuation gaps, earnings acceleration abroad, and under-ownership by investors.Using his background in quantitative credit strategy and a Merton framework for modeling spread risk, Michael brings a structural lens to today's corporate debt markets. Our conversation focuses on the surge in long-dated issuance tied to AI infrastructure build-outs. He argues that history rarely rewards lenders who finance capital-intensive growth booms at their peak.Drawing parallels to late-1990s telecom boom, Michael questions whether investors are being adequately compensated for duration and technology risk embedded in 40- and 50-year debt issued by hyperscalers building data centers. The core concern is twofold: that AI-driven revenue gains may not justify the scale of investment, and that infrastructure built today may not remain technologically relevant decades from now.I hope you enjoy this episode of the Alpha Exchange, my conversation with Michael Contopoulos.Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
This is my second conversation with Josh Kushner, founder and managing partner of Thrive Capital. I recorded this conversation in October after publishing the Colossus cover story about him and Thrive. Given the overwhelming response, we created some breathing room before releasing it. Josh started Thrive in 2011. The firm now manages approximately $50 billion with a very small investment team. What makes Thrive different is how concentrated they are and how involved they get with their portfolio companies. We cover the iconic investments that defined Thrive: Instagram, Stripe, GitHub, and spend a lot of time on OpenAI. Josh explains how Thrive thinks about investing today and the three categories they're currently focused on. Josh also talks about building the firm, why they keep the team small, and what he's learned from A24 about enabling artists to do their best work. He shares personal stories that shaped him, including his grandmother's experience surviving the Holocaust, and lessons from Stan Druckenmiller, Jon Winkelried, and others at formative moments in Thrive's history. Please enjoy my great conversation with Josh Kushner. 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. Visit vanta.com/invest. ----- WorkOS is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit WorkOS.com to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- Rogo is an AI-powered platform that automates accounts payable workflows, enabling finance teams to process invoices faster and with greater accuracy. Learn more at 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 (00:02:43) Intro: Josh Kushner (00:03:46) How Thrive Has Changed Since 2023 (00:05:18) Thrive's Entrepreneurial Culture (00:12:22) The Power of Small Teams (00:13:35) Sponsors (00:14:35) Concentration as Differentiation (00:16:16) The Github Deal (00:18:08) Lesson from Stan Druckenmiller (00:20:37) Leading Stripe's $50 Billion Round (00:23:16) Instagram: Doubling an Investment in Days (00:25:43) Isomorphic: Thrive as an Enabling Technology (00:27:04) Thrive & A24 (00:28:19) OpenAI: The Product Josh Couldn't Unsee (00:32:09) Pricing the OpenAI Investment (00:33:40) OpenAI and Power (00:35:26) Finding Joy in Hard Work (00:39:15) Inside View of the Tech & AI Landscape (00:42:28) Three Investment Categories Thrive is Focused On (00:44:37) Thrive Holdings: Inside-Out Disruption (00:48:54) Competition in Venture (00:50:49) Sponsors (00:51:48) Thrive's Immutable Values (00:54:21) A Family Story of Survival (00:56:43) The American Dream (00:58:03) What Artists Can Teach Investors (01:00:26) Never Compromise Your Values (01:01:33) The Story Behind Josh's Forever Watch
Wondering if you're making the right financial moves? Let's build a strategy you can rely on. Schedule a call with Peter to get professional guidance. ----- SpaceX could be one of the most anticipated IPOs since Facebook—and whether it happens this year or years from now, the same IPO dynamics will show up the moment the headlines hit. In this episode, I use explain how IPOs actually work, why the "IPO price" isn't the price most investors can buy, and what tends to happen once trading begins. The goal isn't to talk you out of curiosity—it's to help you keep a long-term plan from getting hijacked by a short-term story. Listen now and learn: ► The one IPO detail most investors miss—and why it changes how you read every "IPO popped 30%" headline ► How shares really get distributed in a hot IPO, and why access isn't as straightforward as it sounds ► The post-IPO calendar events that can matter more than day one hype ► A simple, portfolio-first way to think about IPOs so your plan doesn't depend on "getting in early" Visit www.TheLongTermInvestor.com for show notes, free resources, and a place to submit questions. 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. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
William Layden is Co-founder and CEO at Rune, a company building modular, behind-the-meter micro data centers that plug directly into solar and wind plants. These units operate on a fully electric, DC-to-DC architecture—bypassing the traditional grid and unlocking new economics for compute at renewable energy sites.In this episode of Inevitable, Layden explains how solar clipping and curtailment leave vast amounts of clean power stranded—and how Rune's “RELIC” units turn that waste into usable compute. The conversation dives into DC architecture, Bitcoin as a beachhead market, and why traditional data centers are ill-suited to an era of distributed energy. Layden also unpacks why modular infrastructure may be the fastest path to deploying AI-scale compute at the edge of the energy transition.Episode recorded on Jan 27, 2026 (Published on Feb 17, 2026)In this episode we cover: (0:00) Intro(3:19) An overview of Rune(7:15) How energy flows and gets los in today's power stack(10:50) Clipping: the hidden inefficiency in solar(14:17) Curtailment: why the grid rejects clean energy(20:47) Starting with Bitcoin before scaling to AI workloads(25:50) Which compute loads can run interruptibly(27:26) Rune's business model and value to power producers(33:16) Where Rune operates and who's backing it(36:10) Why modular, DC-native design matters for scaleLinks:William Layden on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-laydenRune: https://www.rune.energy/ 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
Bobby Jain is the CEO and CIO of Jain Global, a global multi-strategy hedge fund he launched last year that manages about $6 billion with over 350 employees. Bobby's storied Wall Street career includes spending seven years as the Co-CIO of Millenium and twenty at Credit Suisse in a range of leadership roles spanning proprietary trading, derivatives, and asset management. Our conversation traces Bobby's path from growing up as the son of immigrants in Queens to the trading floors of O'Connor and Credit Suisse, all of which shaped his thoughtful, framework-driven perspectives on markets. We explore the evolution of prop trading and the migration of risk taking from banks to hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, and private credit. We then discuss Bobby's ambitious launch, including the principles guiding its design, scale and diversification out of the gate, talent strategy, risk management, portfolio construction, and the many tradeoffs that create the different cultures and complexions of multi-manager hedge funds. We close with Bobby's application of financial innovation to helping others. Learn more about our Strategic Investments: Ascension. 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)
Dr. Frank Peacock and Dr. Damon R. Kuehl join BioTalk for a focused discussion on one of emergency medicine's most persistent challenges: accurately diagnosing and predicting outcomes in mild traumatic brain injury. As Scientific Advisory Board members for BrainBox Solutions, Inc., they walk through what happens when a patient presents to the emergency department after a fall or sports injury and why current tools, including CT scans, often leave clinicians without clear answers. The conversation explores the gap between a "normal" scan and ongoing symptoms, and what missed or uncertain diagnoses can mean for patients weeks later. Dr. Peacock outlines the HeadSMART II study and explains why combining blood biomarkers with neurocognitive testing provides a more complete assessment than biology alone. Dr. Kuehl discusses how multi-modal data, integrated through artificial intelligence, can generate an objective score to support real-time clinical decision-making and help identify patients at risk for persistent symptoms. The episode also highlights BrainBox's leadership, including CEO Donna Edmonds, a member of the BioHealth Innovation Board of Directors, and the company's role in advancing objective mTBI testing. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Dr. W. Frank Peacock IV is Professor of Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Chief Medical Officer at AseptiScope, and the founder of both a contract research organization called Comprehensive Research Associates, LLC and a medical education company named Emergencies in Medicine, LLC. Dr. Peacock received his medical degree from Wayne State University Medical School and completed his Emergency Medicine training at William Beaumont Hospital. He has >900 peer reviewed publications and is also the co-editor of multiple medical textbooks on heart failure, acute coronary syndromes, and traumatic brain injury. Dr. Damon R. Kuehl is the Vice Chair of Research and Academic Affairs and Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Virginia Tech, School of Medicine. He completed Medical School at University of Minnesota Medical School and his Emergency Medicine Residency at Stanford University. He has also completed residencies in Preventive Medicine and a Research Fellowship in the Center for Policy and Research in Emergency Medicine, at Oregon Health and Science University. Dr. Kuehl's research primarily focuses on diagnostic and prognostic uncertainty in brain injury. He is a lead investigator for HeadSMART II and for HeadSMART Geriatrics, a NINDS funded 3 year study to develop a diagnostic tool for head trauma in older adults. He is the founder of the Carilion Brain Injury Center and also an investigator with the Virginia Tech Center for Biomechanics studying the boundary conditions associated with injuries in older adult falls.
Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.The Goldman Sachs Alternatives Summit “convened leaders across finance, geopolitics, technology, and culture” to discuss themes driving global markets.2025's Alternatives Summit was about “navigating a world in flux,” as the firm's recap of its event noted. The event aimed to help investors cut through the noise and put together the pieces of the puzzle in a dynamic and increasingly complex world. Alt Goes Mainstream joined the event to have unscripted conversations with Goldman Sachs Alternatives leaders to cut through the noise by unpacking key themes and trends at the intersection of private markets and private wealth.In this special series, we went behind the scenes and interviewed six Goldman Sachs Alternatives leaders about their current thinking on private markets and how the firm has built and evolved its private markets capabilities.This conversation was with Jeff Fine, Partner, Global Co-Head of Alternatives Capital Formation within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, with responsibility for capital raising, product strategy, research and investor relations across private equity, private credit, real assets, secondaries, GP stakes and hedge funds/liquid alternatives. Jeff is a member of the Real Estate Investment Committee and Urban Investment Group Investment Committee. Jeffrey is also on the boards of GS Real Estate Investment Trust and GS Real Estate Finance Trust. Previously, he was Global Head of Real Estate Client Solutions for Goldman Sachs Asset Management and a senior real estate investor in the Merchant Banking Division for more than 20 years. Jeffrey joined Goldman Sachs in 2002 in the Merchant Banking Division as an Analyst. He was named Managing Director in 2012 and Partner in 2018. Jeff is Chairman of the Dyson School Advisory Council and a member of the SC Johnson College of Business Leadership Council at Cornell University. He is a member of the Cornell Endowment's Risk, Liquidity, and Operations Subcommittee and the Board of Directors of the Pension Real Estate Association Foundation. Jeffrey is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Met Council at the Brookings Institution.Jeff and I had a fascinating conversation about the intersection of private markets and private wealth, fundraising trends, and the growing role of insurers and the wealth channel in private markets capital formation. We covered:The evolving private markets landscape.The important role of the product specialist.The impact of AI on investing and what it means for private markets.What it takes to be a great investor.The importance of the value creation process in driving investment value.The future of capital formation in private markets.Thanks Jeff for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about private markets and private wealth. Show Notes01:05 Welcome to the Alt Goes Mainstream Podcast02:08 Jeff Fine's Background and Career Journey03:43 Sophistication in the Market05:05 The Role of Product Specialists07:16 Talent and Resourcing in Asset Management 08:01 The War for Talent in Asset Management09:07 Investment Performance as a Priority10:05 Balancing Origination and LP Demand11:42 Meeting Client Needs in Wealth Channel12:06 Transparency and Risk Communication12:59 Growth in Private Markets18:07 Global Capital and Diversification19:31 Smart Allocation in Private Markets20:58 Private Credit as a Yield Instrument22:23 The Role of Insurance in Private Markets24:33 Customization and Scale in Private Markets28:55 Trends in LP Relationships30:39 Strategic Partnerships and Cost Efficiency31:40 Concerns About Market Valuations32:43 Belief in a Transformative Future35:24 Advice for LPs in Current Market36:21 Conclusion and Final ThoughtsEditing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.
Today's guest is Jim Reid, Global Head of Macro Research at Deutsche Bank. In today's episode, Jim walks through lessons from his annual report, The Ultimate Guide to Long-Term Investing, which covers over 200 years of market data from 56 countries. He explains why cash is one of the riskiest long-term assets, how inflation quietly destroys wealth, and why valuation is the single most reliable predictor of long-term returns. He also discusses how fiat money has reshaped bonds, gold, and equities since 1971. To close, Jim reminds us that history consistently rewards investors who buy cheap, diversify globally, and respect long-term market cycles. (0:00) Starts (1:54) Importance of real vs nominal returns (5:36) Historical returns of gold (8:28) Global investment opportunities (18:06) Bond market performance and growth's impact on asset prices (23:11) Potential impact of AI (30:34) Valuation importance (37:03) Index weighting strategies (42:43) Predictors of bond performance and equity return distribution (47:01) Historical periods of high valuations (52:45) Global banking and stock market performance (55:12) Impact of AI on economics ----- 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 ----- Sponsor: Visit Alpha Architect's 351 Education Center for use cases, tools, FAQs, upcoming launches, and more. 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 of Money & Meaning, host Jeff Bernier talks with Tommy Newberry—executive coach, Wall Street Journal and New York Times best-selling author, and founder of The 1% Club and head coach of Tommy Newberry Coaching. Together, they explore what it means to live with clarity, purpose, and intentionality, especially in the second half of life. Tommy shares the core habits behind lasting success, the risks of distraction and drift, and how gratitude and reflection help fuel a meaningful life. This conversation offers a framework for those planning their next chapter with energy and direction. Topics covered: Tommy's early career journey and founding Newberry Consulting ● The importance of doing work that energizes you ● Finding clarity on what you want versus what you don't want ● The key habits behind long-term success ● The Four D's that derail progress: Distraction, Dispersion, Drift, and Delay ● Living with your priorities in order, not necessarily "balance" ● Developing habits and rhythms that support your goals ● How gratitude shapes mindset and impacts daily awareness ● The role of reflection in staying aligned with your vision ● Encouragement for midlife professionals in Act II of life ● Why retirement isn't the goal—building and solving remain vital ● Helping young adults create intention in their 20s Useful Links: Jeff Bernier on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffberniercfp/ TandemGrowth Financial Advisors: https://www.tandemgrowth.com/ Tommy Newberry: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommynewberry/ The 1% Club: https://www.achievingoptimal.online/1pc-home Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
In a world dominated by short-termism, does it seem odd that private equity holding periods are getting longer? Private equity professionals don't have different genes than other investors. They face a structural problem: too many portfolio companies cannot find a buyer. Private equity-owned businesses continue to grow in number and size, but demand from IPOs and strategics has not – and likely will not – keep up. This means that more companies will have to remain within the private equity ecosystem. The end of the private equity bottleneck is not in sight. Instead, the industry may be heading toward structural change. In this WTT – Can Private Markets Normalize, I pose the question of whether private equity will ever be able recycle capital fast enough to support successive fundraises without strain. The answer, I'm afraid, is no. Read Ted's blog here. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
In this episode of the Rational Reminder Podcast, we are joined by Theresa Ebden, Vice President of the Investor Office at the Ontario Securities Commission, for a deep dive into how regulators are thinking about modern investor risks—from AI-powered scams to finfluencers and the gamification of investing apps. Theresa explains how the OSC works to protect investors through policy, education, behavioral research, and direct engagement with the public, and why investor education is one of the most powerful tools regulators have. Key Points From This Episode: (0:01:55) Overview of the OSC and why its investor research and education work matters. (5:42) What the Ontario Securities Commission does and its mandate to protect investors and capital markets. (6:25) Inside the OSC Investor Office: policy, education and outreach, and the investor contact centre. (9:28) How the Investor Office identifies priority issues using inquiry data, behavioral insights, and global collaboration. (12:11) The nature of investor inquiries: fraud, crypto confusion, complaints, and recovery room scams. (14:01) How contact-centre data feeds into education, outreach, and policy responses. (16:07) Overview of GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca and its role in investor education. (20:43) Major retail investor risks today: AI-enhanced scams, finfluencers, dark patterns, and gamification. (24:43) What to do if you're impersonated by AI in scam advertisements. (29:28) What a "finfluencer" is and the different categories they fall into. (31:01) Research findings on how strongly finfluencers influence investor decisions. (32:55) Why non-investors are especially vulnerable to finfluencer advice and social-media scams. (36:11) How investors can evaluate online financial advice and check credentials. (38:02) Regulatory challenges in overseeing finfluencers and online financial content. (41:04) How AI magnifies traditional scams and why AI-enhanced fraud is more effective. (43:42) Mitigation strategies: education, just-in-time warnings, and system-level tools. (47:25) Relationship investment scams and why they are especially damaging. (52:53) Research on gamification in investing apps and its effects on investor behavior. (55:25) The Get Smarter About Trading simulator and how it demonstrates gamification effects. (57:19) How gamification can be used positively to improve diversification and outcomes. (58:16) Theresa's perspective on success and her focus on improving the individual investor experience. 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/ Dan Bortolotti — https://pwlcapital.com/our-team/ Dan Bortolotti on LinkedIn — https://ca.linkedin.com/in/dan-bortolotti-8a482310 Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
In this episode, ARK's Cathie Wood and Brett Winton speak with Bryan Pellegrino and Simon Baksys of LayerZero, a leading interoperability protocol aiming to unify fragmented blockchain environments. The conversation covers LayerZero's origins, the evolving landscape of crypto infrastructure, and the expanding role of stablecoins and tokenized assets. Bryan shares his personal journey from professional poker to crypto entrepreneur, and how LayerZero emerged from a need for seamless cross-chain communication.Together, they explore the trade-offs in blockchain scaling, institutional adoption of crypto, and how LayerZero could power a future shaped by AI agents and global, permissionless finance.Key Points From This Episode: (00:02:55) Bryan Pellegrino's path from poker to crypto infrastructure(00:06:31) Why interoperability is critical in a multi-chain world(00:10:36) Institutional adoption and the trade-offs in decentralization(00:13:09) The rise of Layer 2s and the compromises in blockchain scalability(00:16:34) The future of chain proliferation vs. reconsolidation(00:23:22) How LayerZero works from a user perspective(00:31:43) Winning market share and competitive dynamics in bridging(00:43:13) AI x Blockchain: Enabling agentic commerce and microtransactions(00:49:34) Stablecoins as bottom-up globalization and financial empowerment(00:54:04) How LayerZero is becoming the default stablecoin infrastructure(01:02:57) Final thoughts: Stablecoins, tokenization, and AI agents convergingEditing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com)
Today we are breaking down the cybersecurity giant, Cloudflare. Today, Cloudflare controls over 20% of the world's web traffic, and more impressively, absorbs 2.5mn cyber attacks per second. My guest is Sam Eden, Investor at Square Peg's Global Tech Fund. And while I understood on the surface what Cloudflare does, Sam helped me get into the weeds on how the digital pipes actually work. So we go through the rise of Cloudflare and how they differentiated themselves vs. the incumbents and fellow upstarts. Through this story, Sam details the product offerings that led to Cloudflare's leading market share, and what growth looks like moving forward. Please enjoy this episode on Cloudflare. 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 — Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. 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 (00:02:33) Episode Intro: Cloudflare (00:03:56) What Cloudflare Does: A Digital Postal Service (00:06:24) How Shopify Uses Cloudflare (00:07:29) Serving 20% of the Internet's Traffic (00:08:19) The Internet Before Cloudflare (00:12:01) Cloudflare's Founding Story (00:14:32) Easy Onboarding, Powerful Network Effects (00:16:05) Why Hackers Were Early Customers (00:16:58) How Cloudflare Benefited from the Innovator's Dilemma (00:19:38) Why Partnering with ISPs Was a Win-Win (00:20:44) Bigger is Better: Cloudflare's Reinforcing Loop (00:22:50) Product Evolution Over Time (00:26:37) How the Internal Security Offering Works (00:27:53) Act 3: Developing a Proprietary Software Stack (00:33:21) Four Ways AI Impacts the Business (00:37:04) Building Out the Enterprise Sales Function (00:40:06) The “Pool of Funds” Bundling Strategy (00:43:55) How Channel Partners Drive Growth (00:46:58) Revenue in 3 Acts (00:48:23) Mastering the Freemium Model (00:51:00) Margins & EBITDA (00:52:47) Capital Allocation: Reinvestment Rules (00:54:09) Potential New Competitors and Threats (00:55:17) Lessons Learned From November 2025's Outage (00:59:17) Why Cloudflare's Competitive Position is Strong (01:01:19) How Canva Uses Cloudflare (01:02:29) How Sam is Thinking About Risks (01:04:36) 25x Sales Requires Flawless Execution (01:07:21) 4 Lessons from Studying Cloudflare
Your finances have layers—investments, taxes, planning for the future. If you want a second set of eyes, Peter opened up a few spots for a quick, no-obligation call. Grab yours now. ----- If you ever hire help, how do you tell whether you're getting a high-quality advisor? Ranie Verby, Plancorp's Director of Practice Management, joins the show to explain what "financial advisor" can really mean, how to spot a true fiduciary at an RIA, and why the best advice shows up when life gets messy, not when markets are calm. Listen now and learn: ► The quickest screening questions that reveal whether an advisor is transparent, fiduciary, and actually aligned with you ► The firm-structure red flags that signal thin service, weak continuity, and no real succession plan ► Why "owned outcomes" matter more than portfolio picks when you hit a major life event ► How Plancorp uses behavioral finance and AI to improve the client experience without burning out advisors Visit www.TheLongTermInvestor.com for show notes, free resources, and a place to submit questions. (01:30) How to choose a high-quality financial advisor: fiduciary duty and RIA screening (04:51) Signs of a great advisor: trust, continuity, and why a team matters (08:26) Behavioral finance in financial planning: tough conversations, estate planning, and family decisions (13:44) DIY investing vs hiring an advisor: accountability, decision support, and owned outcomes (16:29) How Plancorp uses AI in financial planning to save advisor time and improve meetings (21:49) Advisor burnout and capacity: why it affects client experience and continuity (26:23) Financial advisor red flags and green flags: team size, succession plan, and relationship fit (29:08) Integrated financial planning under one roof: investing, taxes, and estate coordination (32:22) For advisors: how to evaluate your firm and build a sustainable advisory career (36:20) Choosing a financial advisor: fiduciary in writing and meet the full team (37:08) Where to follow Ranie Verby 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 guests today are Alex Behring and Daniel Schwartz, Co-Managing Partners of 3G Capital. 3G has built one of the most distinctive firms in investing around a simple idea: there are only a handful of truly great businesses and even fewer great CEOs. Their model is to raise capital with the intention of making just one investment per fund, commit meaningful amounts of their own money alongside their partners, and focus all of their time and best people on that single opportunity. Their approach has produced a series of iconic deals, including Burger King, Tim Hortons, Hunter Douglas, and Skechers. They have also become known for developing talent early, giving young leaders real responsibility and ownership, and holding an unusually high bar. Once you've heard from Alex and Daniel, I highly recommend you read our in-depth profile on them and 3G Capital. They gave our managing editor Dom Cooke unprecedented access and the outcome is an excellent profile about the fifty year history of 3G and how the model began with Jorge Paulo Lemann in Brazil. 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. Visit vanta.com/invest. ----- WorkOS is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit WorkOS.com to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- Rogo is an AI-powered platform that automates accounts payable workflows, enabling finance teams to process invoices faster and with greater accuracy. Learn more at 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 (00:02:43) Episode Intro: Daniel Schwartz & Alex Behring (00:04:03) The “One Investment Per Fund” Model (00:08:22) Great Businesses Own the Relationship With Their Customers (00:11:23) The Unique Structure of 3G Capital (00:13:36) How a Transaction Takes Shape (00:17:04) Why Hunter Douglas Was Appealing (00:21:34) The Advantages of Staying Small (00:23:58) Alex's Railroad Story (00:26:36) Ownership is Key (00:30:26) Centralize the What, Decentralize the How (00:31:55) The “Burger King is Run by Children” Story (00:34:21) Negotiating with Tim Hortons (00:40:39) Never Compromise on Quality (00:42:01) Talent Over Tenure (00:50:26) 3G's Operating System (00:57:14) When a Brand is Bigger than the Business (01:00:17) Why Burger King Was Undervalued (01:03:15) The Beauty of the Franchise Model (01:06:24) Kraft Heinz: A Case Study in Concentration Risk (01:09:07) Skechers: Great Product Meets Great Distribution (01:16:07) Finding Forever Businesses (01:17:52) Zero-Based Budgeting & When It Works (01:21:10) The Current State of Capital Markets (01:25:23) Misconceptions About 3G (01:32:01) The Power of Patience (01:33:39) The Kindest Thing
Varun Sivaram is Founder and CEO of Emerald AI, a company building software that makes AI data centers power flexible. As AI data centers become one of the fastest-growing sources of electricity demand, grid constraints are emerging as a critical bottleneck for compute deployment.In this episode, the conversation focuses on why power availability — not GPUs — is increasingly the limiting factor for AI. Data centers concentrate massive electrical loads in specific locations, creating grid stress, long interconnection delays, and rising electricity costs for surrounding communities. Traditional grid expansion alone is too slow to meet near-term AI demand.Emerald AI's response is to treat AI data centers as flexible loads rather than fixed ones. Its software coordinates compute with grid conditions by shifting workloads across time, geography, and on-site energy resources like batteries. The episode walks through real-world demonstrations, including a published field trial showing a 25% power reduction during grid stress without breaking compute performance. The discussion frames flexible load as one of the fastest ways to unlock power for AI while improving grid stability.Episode recorded on Feb 2, 2026 (Published on Feb 10, 2026)In this episode, we cover:(0:00) Intro(1:36) What Emerald AI is and how it works(6:41) Varun's background and why he founded Emerald(10:59) Emerald's software for power-flexible data centers(19:04) The three types of flexibility: temporal, spatial, and resource(23:29) How much control customers give Emerald(28:20) Coordinating compute with on-site energy like batteries(31:27) Off-grid vs. grid-connected data centers(35:39) Why exiting the grid creates political and systemic risk(37:12) Emerald AI's open rolesLinks:Varun Sivaram on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/varunsivaramEmerald AI: https://www.emeraldai.co/AI data centers as grid-interactive assets paper 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
Stephen Gilmore is the Chief Investment Officer of CalPERS, which at $600 billion is the largest public pension fund in the U.S. and one of the largest institutional pools of capital in the world. Stephen joined CalPERS eighteen months ago from a career spanning Wall Street, the IMF, and two of the most innovative sovereign wealth funds, where he was Chief Investment Strategist at Australia Future Fund and CIO at New Zealand Super Fund. Our conversation dives into the theory and implementation of the Total Portfolio Approach, drawing on Stephen's experience at Australia and New Zealand, and his plans for CalPERS. We cover the TPA mindset, its fostering of sound governance and accountability, comparisons to Strategic Asset Allocation, challenges of implementation, and the adaptation of the model at CalPERS. Stephen is one of the most experienced practitioners of TPA in the world. Our discussion pairs well with my recent conversation with Ashby Monk, as more allocators learn and consider this approach to managing assets. Learn more about our Strategic Investments: Thema. 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)
Matt Whineray is the CEO of New Zealand Superannuation Fund or Super Fund, one of the highest performing, most innovative and well-regarded large-scale investment allocators in the world. The New Zealand government created the Super Fund in 2001 to help defray the costs of retirees in the country in the decades to come. Matt joined the organization in 2008 and became the CEO in 2018 and oversees NZ$42 billion. Our conversation starts with Matt's background and the creation and objectives of the Super Fund. We then walk through the Super Fund's investment philosophy, which is guided by four competitive advantages or endowments and nine investment beliefs. From there, we dive into the implementation of the strategy, covering the risk allocation process, reference portfolio or benchmark of liquid assets, long-term risk budget and medium-term tactical targets across five risk baskets. We discuss the difference between these risk allocations and a traditional asset class structure, hybrid structure employing internal and external managers, internal strategic tilting program, structure of the team, current perspectives on asset classes, ESG, scaling activities to support upcoming inflows, and culture. 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)
Raff Arndt is the Chief Investment Officer of Australia's AUZ$145 billion Sovereign Wealth Fund, the Future Fund. He trained as an engineer and dove into infrastructure policy at the beginning of Australia's privatizations in the late 1990s. After investing in the space for six year, he joined the Future Fund in 2008 to head the infrastructure team. Six years later, Raff became CIO. Our conversation spans all aspects of the management of a next generation institutional portfolio, including a one team, one portfolio philosophy, disaggregating beta and factors from skill in public markets, separating the impact of leverage and timing from skill in private markets, venture capital and co-investment opportunities in a large pool of capital, the option value of flexibility, the team required to make decisions in this format, compensation, fees, views on China, and the current market environment. Australia created the Future Fund only eleven years ago with a mandate to compound capital for 20 years before even contemplating withdrawals. It has been described to me as a pool of capital with the size and transparency of CalPERS and the sophistication of Yale. I'm sure you'll soon understand why. 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 returning guests are Dan Rasmussen, founder of Verdad Advisers, and D.A. Wallach, a venture capital investor for Time BioVentures. In today's episode, we unpack the recent biotech surge through the lens of Dan's recently published biotech report. We also explore China's growing biotech market, shifting IPO and VC trends, and how valuation tools like CAPE fit into today's regime. Finally, we also discuss technology's effect on productivity and corporate profits in the US, Japan's economic anomaly, home country bias, and more. (0:00) Starts (1:20) Dan's research on the biotech sector (19:10) D.A. on biotech in China (27:01) IPO landscape (31:01) Biotech VC update from D.A. (32:16) Are US stocks overvalued? (51:53) Dan's view of Japanese stocks (57:40) Global equity markets and home country bias (1:03:34) Book recommendations (1:11:55) Wrap-up and future plans ----- 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 ----- ----- Sponsor: Visit Alpha Architect's 351 Education Center for use cases, tools, FAQs, upcoming launches, and more. 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
Brendan O'Connor is the CEO of Regal Partners, a premier alternatives manager in Australia with A$21B of FUM across hedge funds, credit and royalties, real and natural assets, and growth equities. Brendan joined the firm in 2016 and has helped lead its expansion from a $1B long short specialist to a publicly listed, multi-strategy alternatives firm today. Our conversation traces Regal's evolution from its origins as a founder-led hedge fund into an integrated multi-strategy platform. We discuss the unique economic and structural dynamics of the Australian market, and how Regal leverages its deep sector and cross asset expertise to hunt for alpha. We cover Regal's 4 step investment analysis and risk process, the integration of investment teams, and perspectives on the exciting future of Australian markets. For more information, please visit Regal Partners or get in touch. 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)
Ben Felix and Braden Warwick are joined by Dr. Charles Chaffin, a leading voice in financial psychology, to explore why investors so often act against their own best interests—and how better tools and frameworks can help bridge the gap between rational plans and real human behavior. The conversation blends behavioral finance, goal setting, and risk profiling, while also introducing a new evidence-based risk tolerance questionnaire now being made publicly available to listeners. The episode digs into why humans are wired for short-term survival rather than long-term optimization, how biases and environment shape financial decisions, and why coaching—not transactions—is becoming the advisor's most important role. Charles explains concepts like money scripts, financial flashpoints, identity-based goals, and financial self-efficacy, tying them directly to investing behavior and client outcomes. The discussion also goes deep on financial risk tolerance: what it really is, why people consistently misjudge it, and why psychometric tools outperform traditional questionnaires. Key Points From This Episode: (0:00:00) Introduction to Episode 395 and guest Dr. Charles Chaffin (0:01:15) Charles' background in financial planning psychology and authorship (0:02:30) Why PWL wanted to move beyond the Grable–Lytton Risk Tolerance Scale (0:03:40) Introduction to the Money and Risk Inventory (MRI) and full disclosure (0:04:55) Announcement: Public access to a psychometric risk tolerance questionnaire (0:05:10) Risk tolerance vs. risk capacity—and how PWL combines both (0:06:43) Why firms must map risk scores to asset allocations themselves (0:08:35) The role of psychology in financial planning beyond technical advice (0:10:17) The Klontz–Chaffin model of financial psychology (0:12:05) Why humans are "bad with money": survival brains and emotions (0:13:30) How heuristics and biases derail long-term planning (0:15:42) Tools for overcoming bias: automation, pre-commitment, and friction (0:21:29) How environment and social context shape financial behavior (0:26:38) Financial flashpoints and their lasting impact on risk tolerance (0:29:35) Financial self-efficacy and why low confidence leads to avoidance (0:36:01) Money scripts: avoidant, worship, status, and vigilant (0:40:07) Why understanding your own money scripts matters (0:41:19) Common behaviors that lead to poor financial outcomes (0:42:59) Practical strategies for recognizing and mitigating bad behaviors (0:48:22) The role of identity in goal setting (0:50:07) Why goals matter for motivation and behavior alignment (0:52:56) Intrinsic vs. extrinsic goals and self-determination theory (0:58:26) When quitting a goal is the right decision (1:00:26) What financial risk tolerance really is (1:02:16) Why people consistently misjudge their own risk tolerance (1:03:31) How stable risk tolerance is over time—and what changes it (1:05:12) Why reassessing risk tolerance regularly improves outcomes (1:06:05) Handling couples with mismatched risk profiles (1:07:37) Psychometric vs. revealed-preference risk questionnaires (1:09:30) Evidence showing psychometric tools better explain real risk-taking (1:10:39) Where traditional risk tolerance questionnaires fall short Links From Today's Episode: PWL Risk Profile Tool — https://research-tools.pwlcapital.com/research/risk-profile 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)
Today we have a special episode breaking down how investors are using AI. This is a question I get from many of you, and while there is no shortage of content on the implications of AI, I know there's an appetite to learn more about tangible use cases, how to make sure you're getting the most out of these tools, how to think about advancements in the technology, and ensuring that you're keeping pace with the innovation curve. So my guest today is David Plon, Founder of Portrait Analytics. Now, David and Portrait have been partners of Business Breakdowns since last year, but I specifically asked David to do this episode because, one, he is really front and center to how investors are using and applying AI. But two, and maybe more importantly, he and his team come with a background in investing. So while the conversation doesn't really focus on Portrait, you'll hear references to what he and his team are building and how they've shaped it for investors, you'll very much understand when you hear David talk that he is someone who understands the pain points of an investor. I think everyone will find something in this episode that will benefit them in their day to day, and I would love to hear the feedback. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. — This episode is brought to you by 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 — Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. 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 (00:04:05) Meet David Plon: Investor to Founder (00:05:54) Pain Points in the Investment Process (00:09:08) AI as a “Smart Filter” for News (00:11:54) AI's Role in the Pre-Buy Process (00:14:34) How AI Enables Specific Quantitative Analysis (00:17:24) Using AI for Investment Idea Generation (00:21:42) How to Write Good Prompts for LLMs (00:25:27) Structured vs. Creative Tasks (00:27:47) The Value of Experimentation & Real-Time Feedback (00:32:28) Best Practices for Deploying AI in an Institutional Setting (00:35:57) Why Documenting Decision Making is Essential (00:39:19) How Models Have Improved at Using Provided Context (00:42:02) Memory in LLMs: Near-Term Limitations, Long-Term Potential (00:46:24) Applying Agentic AI in Investment Research
My guest today is Ben Horowitz, the co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz. Since its founding in 2009, a16z has grown into one of the most influential firms in venture capital, reshaping how technology companies are funded and how power and ideas move through Silicon Valley and around the world. This conversation focuses on sides of Ben's story you don't often hear. Ben reflects on the people who shaped him, including Nas, Andy Grove, and his father, and shares why he chose to personally fund new technology for the Las Vegas Police Department. We also talk about how he thinks about a16z's responsibility in shaping the trajectory of America, the scale of his ambition for the firm, and what he sees as the biggest risk facing the country. Please enjoy this great and unique conversation with Ben Horowitz. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Ramp. 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. ----- This episode is brought to you by Vanta. 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. Visit vanta.com/invest. ----- This episode is brought to you by Rogo. Rogo is an AI-powered platform that automates accounts payable workflows, enabling finance teams to process invoices faster and with greater accuracy. Learn more at Rogo.ai/invest. ----- This episode is brought to you by WorkOS. WorkOS is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit WorkOS.com to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- This episode is brought to you by Ridgeline. 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 (00:02:43) Episode Intro: Ben Horowitz (00:03:27) The State of America Right Now (00:06:06) How Policy Could Destroy America (00:08:29) AI Changes the Laws of Company Building and Investing (00:11:40) Why AI Researchers are Paid $100M (00:13:16) Thoughts on Growing Inequality (00:18:07) Societal Challenges Due to AI (00:19:56) Ben's Scope of Ambition for the Next 20 Years (00:22:48) Andy Grove's Influence on Ben (00:27:44) Starting Andreessen Horowitz (00:32:53) Early Mistakes (00:36:17) What Capital Markets Are Missing (00:37:44) Why VC and Not PE (00:40:03) Tradeoffs with Scale (00:41:10) A Culture is Not a Set of Ideas, it's a Set of Actions (00:43:05) Lessons from His Father (00:45:03) Exciting Use Cases of AI (00:46:46) Ben's Friendship with Nas (00:50:05) Funding New Technology for the Las Vegas Police Department (00:54:07) The Kindest Thing
In today's radio show, Meb breaks down why market-cap–weighted investing may be nearing its limits after an extraordinary run in U.S. stocks. He explores CAPE ratios near historic extremes, the quiet resurgence of gold and commodities, and why equal weight, value, and global markets are suddenly back in the conversation. To close, Meb explains how trend following and real assets can help investors navigate regime shifts. Note: this was recorded on January 29, 2026. (0:00) Starts (3:03) US stock market update (11:24) Global stock performance (18:03) The role of gold in asset allocation (27:52) Demographics of gold investors (35:47) One-fund portfolios & 351 conversions (42:07) Meb's travel plans ----- 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
On today's manager meeting, Kristen VanGelder speaks with Jonathan Lewinsohn. Kristen is Deputy Chief Investment Officer at Evanston Capital, a $4 billion hedge fund of funds whose CEO and CIO, Adam Blitz, was a past guest on the show. She's spent the last eighteen years at Evanston alongside Adam and the team. Jonathan co-founded Diameter Capital four years ago alongside Scott Goodwin and today manages a $6 billion credit-focused hedge fund alongside $1 billion in CDOs and a $1 billion drawdown fund. The two were colleagues at Anchorage Capital, and Jonathan spent some time at Centerbridge Capital as well before starting Diameter. Their conversation includes insights into the credit markets, Diameter's approach, and how it all comes together. Before we dive in, Kristen and I discuss how Evanston came to back Diameter on day one and how it fits into their portfolio. 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)
Jonathan Lewinsohn is the co-Managing Partner of Diameter Capital Partners, a credit-focused investment firm he founded with Scott Goodwin in 2017 that manages $25 billion across hedge fund, dislocation, CLO, and direct lending strategies. Jonathan last appeared on the show five years ago interviewed by Kristen VanGelder from Evanston Capital, and that conversation is replayed in the feed. Our conversation offers a comprehensive credit market update, including Jonathan's take on the business of credit investing, private credit, industry microcycles in AI, housing, telecom, chemicals, and healthcare, competition among creditors, the insurance-driven investment grade market, and the importance of macro awareness in credit investing. Jonathan's blend of investment insights and market opportunities is a real treat, and comes on the occasion of a likely public listing of a Diameter BDC. Learn more about our Strategic Investments: Ascension Data. 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)
My guest today is Gokul Rajaram, Founding Partner at Marathon Management. Gokul is one of the most prolific product builders and investors of the last twenty years. He has built the core ad and product businesses at Google, Facebook, Square, and DoorDash, working at each company during its most formative scaling periods. Alongside his operating career, Gokul has invested in more than 700 companies, giving him an unusually broad view into how products are built and scaled. This conversation is about how product building is changing with AI. We discuss the one thing Gokul believes is truly future-proof in AI, why companies like Zendesk and Slack are more exposed than Salesforce or NetSuite, and the only sources of defensibility. We also talk about everything Gokul has learned from helping build the most important ads businesses, including the only three ways an ad business can make money, how those constraints shape product decisions, and what consumer behavior change threatens every major platform. Gokul shares lessons from working closely with Larry and Sergey, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Tony Xu. Please enjoy my conversation with Gokul Rajaram. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Ramp. 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. ----- This episode is brought to you by Vanta. 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. Visit vanta.com/invest. ----- This episode is brought to you by Rogo. Rogo is an AI-powered platform that automates accounts payable workflows, enabling finance teams to process invoices faster and with greater accuracy. Learn more at Rogo.ai/invest. ----- This episode is brought to you by WorkOS. WorkOS is a developer platform that enables SaaS companies to quickly add enterprise features to their applications. Visit WorkOS.com to transform your application into an enterprise-ready solution in minutes, not months. ----- This episode is brought to you by Ridgeline. 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 (00:00:53) Meet Gokul Rajaram (00:02:05) How Product Development is Changing with AI (00:07:32) Philosophy of Product Management (00:10:19) What is Future-Proof in AI Era (00:11:25) Building AI Applications Today (00:15:03) Systems of Record vs Agent Companies (00:16:58) Which Legacy Software Companies Are Most Exposed (00:22:15) Stickiness in the AI Era (00:24:10) Learning from Larry Page and Sergey Brin (00:28:15) Learning from Mark Zuckerberg (00:31:31) Learning from Jack Dorsey (00:35:40) The Art of Great Product Design (00:36:49) Weekly CEO Communication (00:40:27) Three Ways to Succeed in Advertising (00:44:27) What Should Scare Major Ad Platforms (00:48:24) North Star Metrics (00:50:09) Self-Serve Products (00:54:50) Careers in the AI Era (00:59:03) Stay Long Enough to Have Impact (01:00:10) Founder Authenticity and Superpowers (01:02:21) Navigating the Idea Maze (01:03:42) Role of Boards (01:06:31) Excellence in Customer Acquisition (01:09:11) The Kindest Thing