We Study Billionaires - The Investor’s Podcast Network

TIP569: An Investor's Guide to Clear Thinking w/ Chris Mayer

Aug 11, 2023

Chris Mayer, a portfolio manager at Woodlock House Family Capital and author of "100 Baggers," returns to share wisdom from his latest book, "How Do You Know?" He emphasizes the importance of clear thinking in investing, challenging traditional finance terms that often confuse investors. Mayer critiques the reliance on economic labels and insists on understanding company dynamics over mere market trends. He discusses lifelong learning as key to investment success and shares insights on navigating perceived unattractive industries for long-term gains.

53:27

Episode guests

Chris Mayer

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Beyond P.E.: Understand the True Cost of Earnings

01:33

The Influence of General Semantics on Wall Street and Investing

03:55

The Fundamentals That Drive Returns

02:55

The Importance of Taking a Relaxed Perspective in Investing

01:54

Intro

2min

Investing Through Continuous Learning

12min

Rethinking Economic Metrics

6min

Rethinking Investment Labels

17min

Challenging the Concept of Mean Reversion in Market Analysis

5min

Navigating Investment Complexity

14min

Closing Reflections and Resources for Investors

2min

Back by popular demand, Clay Finck brings back Chris Mayer to chat about his book, How Do You Know – A Guide to Clear Thinking About Wall Street, Investing, and Life. This book is one that really made us think as it is not your conventional investing book and questions much of traditional thinking in the world of finance. If you’re interested in becoming a better thinker as an investor, then this episode is a must-listen.

Chris is the author of 100 Baggers and How Do You Know?, and the co-founder and portfolio manager of Woodlock House Family Capital.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN:

00:00 - Intro.

02:13 - How being a learning machine has impacted Chris as an investor.

07:30 - Chris’ goal as a long-term investor in public equities.

09:59 - What general semantics is, and how it relates to investing.

10:42 - Finance terms that investors use that muddy the waters of how people think about stocks.

13:10 - How either/or thinking doesn’t align with how the real world typically operates.

14:31 - Why can we do without broad terms as investors such as: “GDP,” “the economy,” “value investors,” “growth investors,” etc.

20:17 - Why we shouldn’t always take labels and names at face value.

22:20 - What companies Chris owns are in what many would call “unattractive industries.”

24:21 - Chris’ opinion on what drives long-term shareholder returns.

27:24 - What Sosnoff’s Law is.

30:17 - How meeting management teams play into Chris’ investment process.

33:17 - Why Chris believes that “This Time is Always Different” and that reversion to the mean is a flawed concept.

42:58 - How Chris thinks about judging what numbers actually mean rather than judging the numbers themselves.

44:06 - Why we shouldn’t take accounting earnings at face value.

47:50 - Why Chris encourages investors to develop a “delayed reaction.”

50:29 - How Chris developed the ability to not take himself too seriously.

55:08 - Chris’ book recommendations.

Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences.

BOOKS AND RESOURCES

Join the exclusive TIP Mastermind Community to engage in meaningful stock investing discussions with Stig, Clay, and the other community members.
Chris Mayer’s book: How Do You Know?
Chris Mayer’s book: 100 Baggers.
Rick Rubin’s book, The Creative Act.
Richard Rorty’s book, Philosophy as Poetry.
Chris’s fund & blog: Woodlock House Family Capital.
Thomas Phelps’ book: 100 to 1 in the Stock Market.
Follow Chris on Twitter.
Follow Clay on Twitter.
Check out our recent episode covering TIP568: Current Market Conditions, Alternative Assets, & AI w/ David Stein or watch the video here.
Check out TIP531: Mark Leonard: The Best Capital Allocator You’ve Never Heard of or watch the video here.

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