Investing Wisely: Global Opportunities and Personal Reflections | 3min snip from Capital Ideas Investing Podcast

Speaker 2
Okay, Matt, based on what you've said in this podcast so far, I think I already know the answer to this question. But let me ask you anyway, just broadly speaking, are you seeing more opportunities inside or outside the United States?
Speaker 1
I'm incredibly optimistic about the future for the United States and the future for a lot of U.S. companies. What concerns me is that the valuations of those U.S. companies are so high. And so there is such thing, in my view, as too high of a price you pay for something. Now, when I look at those same multiples of their international peers in Europe and South America and Asia and Japan, I see many companies with quite reasonable valuations. And so I've been focusing a lot of effort into companies where I see undervaluation and also a bright future. The U.S. is about 5% of the world's population. I think in that 95% of the world's population, there are a lot of things that aren't as exceptional as America. And I want my kids to grow up in America, but there are a lot of good entrepreneurs. There are a lot of really good businesses outside the U.S., maybe not as in abundance as the U.S., but they exist if you're buying those for a half or a third the price of their U.S. counterpart. I think you'll do better over time than by investing in something that's so highly valued.
Speaker 2
All right. We're going to shift gears once again in the final few minutes that we have with you, Matt. One thing we love to do on this podcast is, in addition to all the investment material that we've already covered, we'd like to learn a little bit about you as a person. So let's talk about where you grew up and how that shaped you as a a person and ultimately as an investor.
Speaker 1
I grew up in Lawrence, Kansas, which is a town just outside of Kansas City. It's a university town. I was raised a lot by my grandparents because my parents had me quite young. Both my grandfather and grandmother were two great mentors. My dad was an economist for a utility company in rural areas. And so I think his economics knowledge kind of has informed my investment approach throughout life. My mom was always and is always a hard worker. I think her work ethic really inspired me. I think a lot of that still translates into my work ethic, and I'm still informed a lot by economics as I approach various problems. I also mowed lawns. I had a lawn mowing business in Lawrence for about 10 years there before I went to college. I really learned the value of money through mowing lawns. You know, I still think of it as $10 was this lawn or a big lawn was $20. So I try to relate it back into work because the first investments I bought in later high school and early college weren't as successful at the time, but I learned a lot from. All the money that I invested there was earned through the lawn mowing business.

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