Ian Cassel - A Micro Perspective

Ian Cassel stops back by The Business Brew to check in.  As you may remember, Ian is a full-time microcap investor and founder of MicroCapClub. Ian started investing as a teenager and learned from losing his money over and over again. Today he is a full-time private investor that supports himself and his family by investing in microcaps.  He is also the author of two books:

Intelligent Fanatics Project: How Great Leaders Build https://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Fanatics-Project-Sustainable-Businesses/dp/0997576502/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=7vP7f&content-id=amzn1.sym.22f5776b-4878-4918-9222-7bb79ff649f4&pf_rd_p=22f5776b-4878-4918-9222-7bb79ff649f4&pf_rd_r=140-2211477-9010244&pd_rd_wg=oufjI&pd_rd_r=438a9be9-ba2c-44c0-a800-30367bc020a7&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk

Intelligent Fanatics: Standing On The Shoulders of Giants https://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Fanatics-Standing-Shoulders-Giants/dp/0997576537/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=7vP7f&content-id=amzn1.sym.22f5776b-4878-4918-9222-7bb79ff649f4&pf_rd_p=22f5776b-4878-4918-9222-7bb79ff649f4&pf_rd_r=140-2211477-9010244&pd_rd_wg=oufjI&pd_rd_r=438a9be9-ba2c-44c0-a800-30367bc020a7&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk

Ian and Bill chatted because there was some noise about small and microcaps being cheap.  Then Bill said “Come on the show.”  And Ian said “Sure.”  And then they had this conversation.  And now you are listening.  We hope you enjoy!

This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io.  Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc.  A key differentiator is Stratosphere.io’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy.  Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc.

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Thank you to the team at ⁠thepodcastconsultant.com⁠ for producing the show.

Detailed Show Notes - 

2:50 - Staying patient in illiquid ideas

6:28 - The MicrocapClub conference

10:20 - Findings a micro cap worthy of holding

12:03 - Fallen angels vs rising stars

18:50 - Quality vs value

25:50 - What is Ian looking for in investments

28:20 - Look global for microcaps

30:20 - Why it is easier to raise money internationally than in the US

35:50 - SPAC talk

47:50 - Cogstate

1:00:30 - How microcap changed over the past year

1:05:50 - Training LPs, and yourself, to handle volatility

1:06:50 - Why the first discovery is powerful

1:11:30 - How Ian started MicroCapClub

1:13:05 - Some briefy therapy

1:15:30 - Concluding conversation