Pods & Recs: No. 181
Today we have Dr. William Bernstein on all things bubbles, a panel with Billy Beane and others on the impact of SPACs on the business of sports, an episode about how our experiences affect our understanding of the world, and Wes Gray & Patrick Cleary on all things ETFs.
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Investing
Compounders: The Anatomy of a Multibagger: Leading the Used Car Auction Digital Revolution with Jim Hallett, Executive Chairman, KAR Auction Services, Inc (NYSE: KAR). This is a great interview with someone who has navigated change, fought off incumbents, and shifted a business model to fully digital as a result of COVID. Jim Hallett is the former CEO and now Executive Chairman of KAR Auction Services, which is a $2.25B market cap company that operates within the wholesale auto remarketing industry. The conversation between Hallett and host Ben Claremon is a look into what an interview consists of between an investor and a company’s management team. [August 31, 2021–63 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | YouTube Link
“Don’t get too comfortable and think that you’re going to maintain your position just by the status quo. You can disrupt yourself or you can let someone else disrupt you.”
Invest Like The Best: Scott Malpass — Building a Great Endowment. Malpass was the CIO of Notre Dame’s endowment for 32 years. He focuses on covering three main topics in this episode: the qualitative aspect of identifying top investors, how you build a firm that can achieve sustained excellence, and how the different asset classes have evolved over the course of his career. [August 31, 2021–62 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link
“I found the best folks were very resilient and were able to adapt to changing times.”
The New Bazaar: Our inescapable experiences. Ulrike Malmendier is the premier economic scholar for understanding how our experiences affect our decisions, even in ways we might not recognize. In this fascinating episode, she shares how this concept applies to something like our personal view of inflation, our inclination to invest in a certain asset class, and even policy makers (FOMC) view on predicting future inflation. The overwhelming takeaway is that we are not rational and context matters in how we behave in the world. [September 2, 2021–71 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link
SSAC: Alternative Investing: Teams and SPACs. This panel discussion (ft. Oakland A’s Billy Beane, Philly 76ers Josh Harris, DraftKings Jason Robbins & John Collins of the $SEAH SPAC) from the 2020 Sloan Sports & Analytics Conference focuses on the impact of SPACs on the sports-business landscape. They walk through the need for the capital structure of sports franchises to change and the role SPACs can play there, the reason that DraftKings SPAC’d, and the reason sports franchises are able to recruit top human capital away from VC & IB firms. They wrap at 38:30 on NFT’s and their future in helping create ties between fans and teams. [September 3, 2021–47 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker
“This is a creative capital structure that will be part of the future; not just in sports, but in a lot of businesses.” — Billy Beane
The Tim Ferriss Show: #530: Sir James Dyson — Founder of Dyson and Master Inventor on How to Turn the Mundane into Magic. Sir James Dyson is the founder and chairman of Dyson and author of Invention: A Life. He shares his beliefs around innovation, grit, the benefits of multiple perspectives (being a designer and engineer) and the grind that an entrepreneur must endure. He also shares why he’s been reluctant to take his company public and why he’s chose to launch his own university, The Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology. [September 2, 2021–95 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link
“There’s nothing wrong in always being dissatisfied; always look for improvement.”
The Meb Faber Show
#345 — Africa Startup Series — Dr. Abasi Ene-Obong, 54gene — There Really Hasn’t Been Human Genomics Infrastructure In Africa. Dr. Abasi Ene-Obong is the founder of 54gene, a company pioneering the inclusion of the African genome in research. Less than 3% of genomic data represented in research is from African populations. He walks us through the origin story of the company and the ins and outs of what it’s like to both gather and analyze genetic data. Then he shares the process of partnering with pharmaceutical companies and what the long-term prospects of the company are. [August 30, 2021–42 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link
#346 — William Bernstein, Efficient Fronter — We Are Creatures That Seek Compelling Narratives. Dr. William Bernstein is a neurologist, author, and co-founder of Efficient Frontier Advisors. The episode begins with a discussion about his recent book, The Delusions Of Crowds: Why People Go Mad in Groups. He explains why we’re susceptible to manias and walks us through situations that have seen extreme speculation. Then they turn to discuss today’s market, covering Robinhood, meme stocks, lofty valuations, and crypto. They touch on what narratives Dr. Bernstein sees today, whether it’s with star fund managers or the idea that the Fed will save the market. [September 1, 2021–56 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link
#347 — Radio Show — Wes Gray & Patrick Cleary, Alpha Architect — All Things ETFs. Alpha Architect’s Wes Gray & Patrick Cleary join Meb to discuss all things ETFs. They walk through the process to launch an ETF, the benefits of the ETF structure compared to a mutual fund, the difference between active funds and index funds, and what the future of crypto ETFs will look like. [September 3, 2021–84 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link
