The Investing for Beginners Podcast - Your Path to Financial Freedom

AAR28 - Confident Investing w/ Sean Tepper

Dec 16, 2025

Sean Tepper, founder and CEO of TYKR, a user-friendly stock analysis platform, shares his journey from a tech executive to an investing advocate. He reveals how the 2008 crash sparked his passion for financial literacy. Sean discusses the innovative traffic light system that simplifies stock evaluation, helping prevent analysis paralysis among beginners. He introduces the 4M Confidence Booster for risk management, highlights the benefits of consistent $100-a-week investing, and contrasts strategies for choosing individual stocks versus index funds.

38:13

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ANECDOTE

From Excel Frustration To TYKR

Sean Tepper got frustrated with analysis paralysis after 2010 and built an Excel model to score stocks.
He automated that model into TYKR to analyze thousands of stocks and save time for everyday investors.

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INSIGHT

Traffic Light Simplifies Decisions

TYKR reduces hundreds of data points into a traffic-light decision: on sale, watch, or overpriced.
This simplification converts complex analytics into a clear buy/sell signal for investors.

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ADVICE

Prefer Investing Over Trading

Do invest rather than trade if you want consistent long-term returns because most traders lose money.
Use TYKR to narrow ideas to a smaller, higher-quality short list before acting.

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Sean's financial awakening and 2008 wake-up call

02:49 • 3min

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What TYKR is and the traffic-light idea

05:46 • 3min

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Analysis paralysis and building the first tool

08:40 • 3min

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Investing vs. trading and TYKR use cases

The $100-a-week plan and compound returns

15:04 • 5min

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Reducing risk with the 4M Confidence Booster

20:15 • 1min

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The 'Seven' filter and selling signals

21:24 • 3min

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Individual stocks versus index funds

24:29 • 4min

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Dividend strategy and retirement protection

Market cycles, recency bias, and ignoring noise

34:09 • 6min

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Practical discipline: pick few stocks and keep investing

Making Big Money Is the Best Revenge!

Phil Town

In 'Payback Time', Phil Town explains the flaws in mutual fund investing, highlighting that only 4% of fund managers consistently beat the S&P 500 index. The book introduces the concept of 'stockpiling', a risk-free approach to investing in the right businesses at the right time. Town provides practical rules for long-term investing, emphasizing the importance of understanding the difference between price and value. The book is designed to be accessible and practical for new investors, offering a clear and conversational guide to finding, valuing, and selecting companies for investment.

#5490

• Mentioned in 7 episodes

Invested

How Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger Taught Me to Master My Mind, My Emotions, and My Money (with a little help from my Dad)

Danielle Town

Phil Town

In 'Invested', Danielle Town shares her yearlong journey of learning to invest from her father, Phil Town. Initially reluctant about the financial world, Danielle turned to her father to learn how to invest in companies that align with her values using the same strategies that have made Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger successful. The book is structured around a 12-month plan, with each chapter focusing on a different aspect of value investing, such as dissecting company financial statements and researching leadership. It aims to make the complex world of investing simple, straightforward, and approachable, helping readers formulate their own investment plans and build confidence in their financial decisions.

You can download Evan’s free monthly budgeting spreadsheet here:
https://einvestingforbeginners.com/budget/

In this episode of At Any Rate, Evan Raidt sits down with Sean Tepper, CEO and founder of TYKR, a platform designed to simplify stock analysis and help everyday investors buy and sell with more confidence.

Sean shares how the 2008 crash became his wake-up call, why most beginners get stuck in analysis paralysis, and how TYKR’s “traffic light” system turns a mountain of data into a simple signal: on sale, watch, or overpriced.

Sean also breaks down the “4M Confidence Booster” (math, meaning, moat, management), what signals can help you decide when to sell, and why long-term wealth is built by staying disciplined—especially when the market gets volatile.

Topics Covered:

The traffic light system: on sale (green), watch (gray), overpriced (red)
Why analysis paralysis stops new investors from taking action
The “$100 a week” investing mindset and consistency over time
Reducing risk with the 4M framework: math, meaning, moat, management
Individual stocks vs. index funds/ETFs depending on your timeline

Timestamps: 00:00 Intro: Evan welcomes Sean Tepper

02:12 From investing frustration to building ⁠TYKR⁠

02:56 The “traffic light” concept: simplify 100 data points into a decision

05:00 Analysis paralysis and why beginners freeze

07:00 From Excel stock analysis to software

08:30 Investing vs. trading (and why trading usually loses)

12:17 Treat investing like a “mandatory bill”

15:06 The 4M Confidence Booster: math, meaning, moat, management

20:16 Wealth building (10–15 stocks) vs. wealth protection (funds near retirement)

22:34 Dividend strategy in retirement

24:05 “Easy things get complicated” + staying disciplined

25:29 Why “never skip a month” matters (especially in volatility)

28:58 Recency bias vs. long-term market history

32:02 Where to find Sean + closing

Resources Mentioned:

TYKR (T-Y-K-R): ⁠https://tykr.com/⁠
Free monthly budgeting spreadsheet: ⁠https://einvestingforbeginners.com/budget/⁠
Email Evan: ⁠evan@einvestingforbeginners.com⁠

Have feedback or ideas for Evan? Comment below or email him at ⁠⁠evan@einvestingforbeginners.com⁠⁠—your suggestions help shape future episodes.

Remember, financial freedom is built one smart move at a time. Keep it simple, keep it steady, and at any rate, we’ll see you next time.

Timestamps are generated by artificial intelligence, and are not 100% accurate depending on the platform used for listening.

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