Reflections on Insight and Connection

In this episode, William Green chats with renowned hedge fund manager Guy Spier, who has run the Aquamarine Fund since 1997. This conversation has been split into two episodes. Here, in Part 2, Guy shares insights on how to succeed over the long run by avoiding dumb investment behavior, building the right relationships, and recognizing our weaknesses. This is an unusually candid conversation between William & Guy—old friends who collaborated on Guy’s classic book, “The Education of a Value Investor.”

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:

00:00 - Intro

01:36 - What dumb investment behavior Guy Spier strives to avoid

05:12 - What type of companies he shuns

07:05 - Why good relationships are a key to financial & personal success

07:25 - Why we should be especially wary of leverage

15:46 - Why it’s vital to find “friends along the path” who support us emotionally

29:34 - Why it’s helpful to shine a light on our own weaknesses

41:18 - How he handles painful, contentious conversations

51:24 - How to engage with people whose beliefs & experiences differ from ours

1:07:05 - What role money does—or doesn’t—play in a rich & meaningful life

1:11:11 - What Guy learned from Warren Buffett’s exercise of writing your own obituary

1:31:39 - How reading great literature can make you wiser & happier

Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences.

BOOKS AND RESOURCES

• Related Episode: William Green’s 2023 interview with Guy Spier | YouTube Video.
• Related Episode: William Green’s 2022 interview with Guy Spier | YouTube Video.
• Related Episode: William Green’s interview with Daniel Goleman & Tsoknyi Rinpoche | YouTube Video.
• Related Episode: William Green’s interview with Chris Davis | YouTube Video.
• The Dishcast podcast with David Brooks on “Transcending Hate & Loneliness”.
• Daniel Siegel’s book “The Developing Mind”.
• Harville Hendrix’s book “Doing Imago Relationship Therapy in the Space-Between”.
• Marcel Proust’s book “In Search of Lost Time”.
• Guy Spier’s book, “The Education of a Value Investor" – read reviews of the book.
• Subscribe to Guy Spier’s free newsletter.
• Guy Spier’s podcast and website.
• Guy Spier interviews William Green about his book, “Richer, Wiser, Happier”. 
• William Green’s book, “Richer, Wiser, Happier” – read the reviews of this book.
• Follow William Green on X (AKA Twitter).
• Check out all the books mentioned and discussed in our podcast episodes here.

NEW TO THE SHOW?

• Follow our official social media accounts: X (Twitter) | LinkedIn | | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok.
• Browse through all our episodes (complete with transcripts) here.
• Try our tool for picking stock winners and managing our portfolios: TIP Finance Tool.
• Enjoy exclusive perks from our favorite Apps and Services.
• Stay up-to-date on financial markets and investing strategies through our daily newsletter, We Study Markets.
• Learn how to better start, manage, and grow your business with the best business podcasts. 

SPONSORS

Support our free podcast by supporting our sponsors:

• River
• Toyota
• Wise
• NetSuite
• Fidelity
• TurboTax
• NDTCO
• Linkedin Marketing Solutions
• Fundrise
• Vacasa
• NerdWallet
• Babbel
• Shopify

HELP US OUT!

Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts! It takes less than 30 seconds, and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm