We Study Billionaires - The Investors Podcast

On today’s show, Stig Brodersen talks with co-host William Green, the author of “Richer, Wiser, Happier.” With a strong focus on building meaningful relationships and traveling with friends along the path, they discuss what has made them Richer, Wiser, or Happier in the past quarter IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 02:12 - Why the opposite of a virtue is also a virtue 23:06 - Why the Nomad Partnership principles resonate so deeply with the value investing community 29:22 - Why it simplifies your life when you put quality front and center 38:57 - Where to find the intersection between authenticity and honesty 52:07 - Why does the value investing community have some similarities to a cult, and whether it is a problem 1:15:20 - Why you need to hold two contradictory thoughts in your head and still stay sane 1:26:34 - How to travel with friends along the path in business and life 1:35:13 - How to think about partnerships and relationships with the titans in the investing industry  Disclaimer: Slight

On today’s episode, Clay and Kyle give an overview of their best quality stock idea for Q4 2024. This quarter, they discuss Mastercard. Mastercard is a well-known company in the world of quality investors. Since its IPO in 2006, the stock has compounded at north of 30% per year. Alongside Visa, Mastercard operates in a duopolistic industry which enables them to continue to grow for long time periods with little capital investment. The company is also held in many superinvestors portfolios, including Chuck Akre, Dev Kantesaria, Warren Buffett, Francois Rochon, Guy Spier, and Tom Russo — many of which have been featured on our podcast. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 02:06 - An overview of Mastercard’s business model and what happens when we make everyday payments. 09:51 - Why Fintech companies aren’t a threat to Mastercard and Visa. 14:44 - Why Mastercard and Visa have one of the strongest moats in the world. 44:32 - The potential risks of investing in Mastercard. 57:30 - Our thoughts on Mastercar

Join us as we delve into Dread’s inspiring story, from his days as a world-class athlete to his significant contributions in the world of Bitcoin. Learn about the Caribbean crypto landscape, challenges of CBDCs, and his work with OpenSats funding innovative Bitcoin projects. Discover more about Flash, his Bitcoin wallet and exchange platform, and the fascinating world of e-cash engineering. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 01:34 - How Dread transitioned from a track and field career to Bitcoin entrepreneurship. 11:25 - Insights into how Bitcoin businesses operate in the Caribbean. 13:30 - Reasons behind the failure of CBDCs in the Caribbean and why initiatives struggle. 19:11 - The purpose and impact of OpenSats, a nonprofit funding Bitcoin projects. 21:40 - Key projects supported by OpenSats that are making waves in the industry. 23:38 - Unique aspects of Bitcoin engineering, including e-cash technology, that intrigue Dread. 24:30 - An overview of Flash, a Bitcoin wallet and exchange tailored for

In today’s episode, William Green chats with Brad Stulberg about how to thrive amid change. Brad is the best-selling author of Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything is Changing—Including You & The Practice of Groundedness: A Transformative Path to Success that Feeds—Not Crushes—Your Soul. Here, he shares practical tools & strategies based on scientific research, battled-tested wisdom, & his work as a high-performance coach to business leaders & elite athletes. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 04:55 - How Brad Stulberg became an expert on adapting to change.  14:04 - Why Howard Marks & Bill Miller are obsessed with impermanence. 18:35 - How “rugged flexibility” can help you navigate a fast-changing world. 35:20 - Why it’s so valuable to have a “fluid sense of self.”  43:38 - Why Viktor Frankl recommended a mindset of “tragic optimism.”  52:10 - How routines & rituals provide stability & order amid change & disorder. 52:10 - Why getting exercise & building community is mission critical. 52:

On today’s episode, Clay is joined by Andrew Brenton to discuss his biggest investment lessons from beating the market over the past 25 years. Andrew Brenton is the CEO and co-founder of Turtle Creek Asset Management. Since its inception in 1998, Turtle Creek has achieved an average annual return of 20.3% versus just 8.3% for the S&P 500. $10,000 invested into their fund at inception would have grown to over $1.2 million as of September 30th, 2024, and had that money been invested in the market, it would have been worth around $75,000. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 01:39 - The fundamental drawbacks of a buy-and-hold investment strategy. 10:58 - Why the stock market in the US is becoming less efficient over time. 28:48 - How Andrew thinks about allocating to AI and software businesses in his portfolio. 38:51 - How Turtle Creek manages risk investing in stocks. 52:55 - Why Turtle Creek added Kinsale Capital to their portfolio this year. 01:00:02 - What keeps Andrew going after 30 years in the ind

NVK joins the show to discuss the potential of AI, explore the impact of Nostr on data vending and content creation, and share his thoughts on security, hardware manufacturing challenges, and what's exciting in Bitcoin’s evolving tech landscape. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 08:34 - The core concept behind NVK's AI project, Unleashed.chat 14:54 - What digital vending machines are, and how they tie into Nostr. 21:13 - Frustrations NVK has with common security advice. 22:36 - Key advice for newcomers to the Bitcoin space. 26:16 - The challenges and intricacies of hardware manufacturing that often go unnoticed. 35:31 - Why Nostr is revolutionizing long-form content creation. 37:43 - The most exciting technical developments happening in Bitcoin and Nostr. 42:57 - NVK's perspective on Nostr’s growing role in decentralized communication. Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences. BOOKS AND RESOURCES NVK’s AI project: Unleased.chat. NVK’s X (Tw

On today’s episode, Kyle Grieve discusses the anatomy of a speculative event, why it’s so easy for people to take part in them, and why these events are unlikely to stop in the future; a few major euphoric episodes from history outlined in the book, three more recent bubbles that most listeners lived though, why the rise in IPOs are often the result of mini bubbles, six primary takeaways from the book to help protect yourself from investing in bubbles, and a whole lot more! IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 03:26 - The blueprint of a speculative event 04:10 - Why we fool ourselves into following people with money who don't deserve to be followed 10:04 - A contrast of risk tolerance between Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffet 15:13 - A detailed account of Tulipomania and the story of the $80,000 price tag for a Tulip 19:13 - How a convicted criminal helped mastermind one of the most giant bubbles in history 25:36 - The importance of due diligence in assisting investors to avoid bubbles 28:13 - How bub

Many investors who analyze stocks take the numbers provided by the company at face value, but there are times when this can be a massive investing mistake. To help shed light on what the earnings provided by a company really mean for us as investors, we reviewed the book — Quality of Earnings by Thornton O'Glove. Thornton is a Wall Street veteran known for pioneering red flag deviation analysis.  This book is an indispensable guide to determining how much money a company is really making to help us avoid making costly blunders. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 07:26 - Why you shouldn’t trust your analyst or the auditors. 15:13 - What to keep an eye on when reading an annual report. 22:35 - Red flags to look out for when analyzing a company’s filings. 31:13 - How managers and accountants can legally manipulate earnings per share, however they see fit. 34:06 - Tools we can use to help determine the quality of earnings for a company. 35:55 - How we can make use of accounting items like accounts recei

In this episode, Matt Odell discusses how open-source Bitcoin development is funded through initiatives like OpenSats, the significance of ignoring Satoshi’s identity, and why Nostr, Cashu, and Fedi are critical for Bitcoin’s future. He also shares insights on building Bitcoin Park, a community hub, and reveals one of his pet peeves in the Bitcoin space. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 03:04 - Why it’s essential to ignore the mystery behind Satoshi’s identity. 08:26 - What OpenSats is and how it supports open-source Bitcoin development. 08:49 - Insights into building Bitcoin Park, a community space for Bitcoin enthusiasts. 18:38 - The importance of Nostr for Bitcoin communications. 27:26 - How Cashu and Fedi are advancing Bitcoin payments. 32:44 - Why Matt Odell is frustrated by price predictions in the Bitcoin space. 37:46 - Lessons Matt has learned from spending time around Jack Dorsey. Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences. BOOKS AND

On today’s episode, Kyle Grieve chats with Larry Connor about why being different is crucial to outperformance, why turning over the most rocks and ruthlessly eliminating opportunities is vital to success, why Larry searches for “train wreck” apartments to optimize, the importance of investing counter-cyclically, how being unconstrained by conventional thinking has propelled his success, the critical importance of being disciplined to your core values, and a whole lot more! Larry Connor is the founder and managing partner of The Connor Group. He founded the Connor group in 1992 with $400k and one investor to purchase three apartment communities. Today, the business has over 1,300 investors and $5 billion in assets. It operates in 18 markets across the United States. Larry is also the founder of The Connor Group Kids & Community Partners, a non-profit organization that helps disadvantaged kids in communities where The Connor Group operates. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 09:17 - The power of thi

On today’s episode, Clay reviews the wonderful book — Am I Being Too Subtle by Sam Zell.  Sam Zell has an impressive background, having started his career in real estate in the late 1960s.  He was the founder and chairman of Equity Group Investments, a leading private investment firm. Over the course of his career, Sam made many bold moves and investments, earning him a reputation as a savvy and fearless investor. One of Sam’s most notable achievements was his role in creating the modern-day real estate investment trust (REIT) industry. He did this by founding Equity Office Properties Trust in 1997, which became the largest office REIT in the United States. In 2007, he sold the company for a record-breaking $39 billion. Just prior to passing away on May 18th, 2023, Sam had his final recorded interview with The Investor’s Podcast Network. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 07:38 - The story of Sam’s family escaping Poland in 1939 to head to the United States. 12:08 - Sam’s early entrepreneurial and r

Alex Leishman discusses River's recent report on the 30% growth in business Bitcoin adoption, detailing trends in cross-border payments, treasury management, and the unique ways businesses are integrating Bitcoin. He also touches on River's major new service, the importance of proof of reserves, and shares insights on how companies can navigate volatility in the crypto space. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 01:46 - Why Bitcoin adoption among businesses grew by 30% in just one year 12:37 - How private companies are outpacing public firms in Bitcoin holdings 14:53 - The future growth trajectory of business Bitcoin holdings through 2026 15:54 - Three key areas where Bitcoin adds value for businesses beyond treasury management 27:34 - River’s new service offering interest on FDIC-insured cash deposits 30:05 - What big banks may misunderstand in the coming Bitcoin bull cycle 32:12 - How Alex Leishman stays balanced and his personal hobbies outside of work 34:26 - Top advice for newcomers to the crypto

In today’s episode, William Green chats with Jason Zweig about his updated & revised edition of Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor, which Warren Buffett describes as “by far the best book on investing ever written.” Jason, who also writes the Wall Street Journal’s Intelligent Investor column, explains why Graham’s classic book still holds vitally important lessons for today’s investors. He also shares what he’s learned from interviewing Buffett & Charlie Munger. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 03:33 - How Jason Zweig tackled the “honor & burden” of revising The Intelligent Investor. 11:06 - How Ben Graham’s 4 core principles can help you to invest intelligently. 25:24 - What a sudden plunge in Japanese stocks shows about the craziness of markets. 27:56 - What Jason views as the most important paragraph ever written about investing. 32:42 - How Warren Buffett & Bill Miller profit from being “inversely” emotional. 33:57 - How regular investors can win by tuning out Wall Street’s propaganda.

On today’s episode, Clay is joined by Derek Pilecki. Derek is a managing member and portfolio manager at Gator Capital Management, which manages Financials sector long/short portfolios for private partnerships and mutual funds. Since its inception in July 2008, Gator Capital has compounded capital at 21.0% per annum versus 11.8% for the S&P 500 over the same time period. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 01:48 - Derek’s experience of launching a financials-focused fund 10 weeks before the collapse of Lehman Brothers. 12:13 - Derek’s advice to aspiring hedge fund managers. 14:30 - How Derek achieved a return of 186% in 2009. 14:30 - What led Derek to purchase General Growth Properties, whose stock increased by 20x in less than one year. 23:25 - Why Warren Buffett likes financial companies, especially the big banks. 27:38 - Why Derek puts his focus on financial companies. 33:36 - How banks can create a sustainable competitive advantage in their market. 36:08 - Why First Citizens Bancshares is Derek’s

In this episode, Allen shares his thoughts on the Saifedean vs. Saylor debate on borrowing against Bitcoin, the role of stablecoins in expanding fiat, and their underlying protocols. He also delves into the risks of stablecoins compared to traditional bank accounts and highlights current technical risks in the crypto space. Allen gives his take on free speech and technologies like Nostr and discusses the growing custody and derivatives activity with institutions like BNY Mellon and IBIT. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 01:26 - Allen’s perspective on the Saifedean vs. Saylor debate regarding borrowing against Bitcoin. 05:55 - Why stablecoins may or may not be more risky than traditional bank accounts. 10:26 - How stablecoins might help in the expansion of fiat currencies globally. 14:46 - Technical risks that Allen is currently concerned about in the crypto space. 27:19 - Whether stablecoins require protocols like Tron or Solana for long-term functionality. 31:51 How institutional involvement is c

In today's episode, Stig Brodersen outlines 10 things he has learned about investing since he started The Investor’s Podcast in 2014. In the second segment of the show, Clay Finck joins to discuss his top takeaways from his investing career.  IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 02:12 - Why you should be careful who you listen to about stock investing.  07:45 - Why you should not screen for stocks. 08:29 - Why Stig’s circle of competence is getting smaller. 11:31 - Why Stig do not read as many investing books as he used to. 16:05 - Why you should set up guardrails for yourself. 19:36 - Why you shouldn’t look at your track record more than once per year. 20:17 - Why you shouldn’t only have public equities in your portfolio. 31:23 - Why you should run your track record 1,000 times. 32:53 - How one could think about position sizing. 35:59 - What are the implicit assumptions? 45:43 - What Clay learned about investing. Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform di

On today’s episode, Clay is joined by Professor Hendrik Bessembinder to discuss his renowned research on the performance of individual stocks. Professor Bessembinder is a finance professor at Arizona State University, and his research titled, ‘Do Stocks Outperform Treasury Bills?’ has been referenced many times on the show. As a frequent speaker at conferences, financial markets, and universities around the world, Professor Bessembinder has more than 25 years of successful consulting experience, providing strategic advice and analysis for major firms, financial markets, and government agencies. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 01:58 - Why most stocks lose money in the long run. 10:26 - What level of asymmetry exists in the stock market. 12:47 - Why stocks continuously outperform treasury bills over long time periods. 15:02 - What the average drawdown for a high-performing stock is. 20:57 - The common characteristics of the biggest stock market winners. 34:28 - What it takes to be a stock picker in today’s marke

In this episode, we dive into the technicalities of Bitcoin block templates, the Stratum V1 and V2 protocols, and the innovations brought by Ocean’s Datum Protocol. We also explore a fascinating story of Tesla hacking and the challenges of implementing decentralized mining pools. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 02:48 - What a Bitcoin block template is and its role in decentralization. 07:07 - The function and limitations of Stratum V1 software. 09:12 - How Stratum V2 aims to improve mining decentralization and why adoption has been slow. 14:52 - A fascinating story of how Jason Hughes hacked a Tesla in front of its Chief Technology Officer. 21:49 - How the Datum Protocol manages reward distribution among miners with different templates. 22:31 - How Ocean’s Datum Protocol enables decentralized block templates for both small and large miners. 41:36 - The challenges Ocean faces with large miners, especially regarding SOC2 compliance. Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due

On today’s episode, Kyle Grieve chats with co-host Clay Finck about Clay’s favorite book, The Joys of Compounding. They discuss how compounding can profoundly affect people's lives inside and outside of investing, simple thinking tools to make better decisions, why humility is such an important trait all good investors possess, how to think about value and quality traps regarding evaluation, why you should emphasize compounding in your relationships with others and your health, and a whole lot more! IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 03:07 - Why compounding can be found in all areas of life 10:01 - The importance of self-education after a formal education in the wealth-building process 13:03 - Valuable thinking tools that can help you optimize your decision-making and think at a higher level 18:26 - A breakdown of two of Guatam Baid's first principles of investing 21:39 - The importance of humility in investing and understanding whether you have an advantage or disadvantages 29:05 - Why living life

On today’s episode, Clay and Kyle review The Most Important Thing by Howard Marks and share their most impactful takeaways. Howard Marks is the co-founder and co-Chairman of Oaktree Capital Management, a global investment giant with more than $190 billion in assets. He’s also the author of two best-selling books, “The Most Important Thing” and “Mastering the Market Cycle,” and his client memos have earned him renown as one of the world’s most insightful thinkers on financial markets and the art of investing. Warren Buffett has said, “When I see memos from Howard Marks in my mail, they’re the first thing I open and read. I always learn something.” IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 05:12 - How second-level thinking can improve our skills as investors. 10:54 - The most common reasons for a stock to be mispriced. 13:40 - Howard’s thoughts on the efficiency of markets. 18:26 - How Howard Marks thinks about risk. 28:25 - Ways in which we can recognize risk in the market. 50:31 - How to differentiate luck