E113: Christopher Zook: Playing to Win - Lessons Learned from Scaling CAZ Investments to $8B and Building a Winning Culture

Christopher Zook, Founder, Chairman, & Chief Investment Officer at CAZ Investments sits down with David Weisburd to discuss the cost of keeping the wrong person on the team, the crucial mistake CEOs make when building a strong culture, and the secret behind faster growth and success. (0:00) Investing in sports franchises (0:39) Introduction and welcome (0:54) The real reason behind investing in sports (2:13) Partnering and opportunities in sports investments (3:50) Underwriting and growth in sports franchises (8:00) Insights from "The Holy Grail of Investing" (10:23) Compounding in investment firms (12:06) Investing in asset managers' careers and specialization (15:20) Risk management and maintaining a high batting average (20:57) Finding positive asymmetry in investment opportunities (21:06) Unpacking the details of the trade referenced in The Big Short (23:39) The significance of the John Paulson trade for CAS (24:44) Avoiding market gaslighting and sticking to first principles (26:14) Sponsor: Carta (27:01) Current non-obvious investment themes (30:03) CAS culture and core values (32:23) Enforcing and maintaining an excellent culture (37:08) The difference between good managing and good coaching (39:25) Turnover expectations and transforming bad culture (41:34) Hiring slowly and firing quickly with feedback systems (44:14) Utilizing annual 360 reviews for growth (46:35) Christopher Zook's partnership with Tony Robbins (48:46) Aligning stated and actual culture in organizations (49:02) Expanding alternative investment access to the masses (51:27) How to stay connected with CAS and final thoughts