The Walking Around Method: A Simple Business Model

Episode 22 is live!

This week we've got George Livadas on the show. George is the founder and portfolio manager of Upslope Capital. George graduated with a Russian degree, but found his way into investment banking at Citigroup. He worked in IB covering the brokerage and can producer industries (to name a couple). 

George loves investing, but he didn't start out like many traditional value investors. He didn't read Buffett's letter, he didn't read Graham's doctrine. He developed a passion for investing by learning about business. 

George founded Upslope Capital to invest his own way -- a differentiated way. George employs a long and short strategy at Upslope. He prefers to hunt in the mid-cap space for ideas, and has a soft-spot for boring, unloved businesses. 

Here's what we cover in the conversation: 

• [0:00 - 5:00] Who is George Livadas
• [6:00 - 11:00] What Works For George in Investing
• [12:00 - 17:00] Why Mid-Caps & The Power of Simplicity 
• [18:00 - 22:00] What Makes A Good Investment? 
• [23:00 - 30:00] From Idea Generation To Investment 
• [31:00 - 42:00] George's Investment Process 
• [43:00 - 49:00] George's Thoughts on Shorting
• [50:00 - 55:00] Corporate Governance & COKE
• [56:00 - 60:00] Knowing Yourself & Being Wrong
• [63:00 - End] Concluding Questions

If you want to learn more about George, check out these links: 

• Upslope Capital Website: https://www.upslopecapital.com/
• George Livadas Twitter: https://twitter.com/UpslopeCapital

Also, if you're interested in the McKinsey Book on Valuation: https://amzn.to/2VTqHcK