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Edwin Dorsey is the author of The Bear Cave, a weekly newsletter exposing publicly traded companies that are misleading investors and harming customers.
I’ve enjoyed Edwin’s writing since he launched his newsletter the Bear Cave in 2020, and he shares his best kept secret for doing customer research: FOIA requests. We also get into short selling more broadly, common corporate red flags, the economics of his media business, almost getting kicked out of Stanford for raising issues at Care.com his sophomore year, Planet Fitness’s illegal billing operation, Hershey’s Mr. Beast problem, and the creator economy more broadly.
(00:00) Intro
(05:11) How shorting works
(07:20) How short sellers exposed Enron
(10:51) Edwin’s process for finding bad companies
(15:52) Root Insurance and aggressive pricing
(20:14) FOIA: the best kept secret for company research
(24:30) Biggest corporate red flags
(28:17) Most common industries for bad actors
(29:32) Why scammers target minorities and low income consumers
(31:46) Edwin’s $1B to $10B market cap sweet spot
(34:03) The challenges of mainstream media
(38:15) Exposing Care.com as a student at Stanford
(45:25) Why immediate board resignations are a red flag
(49:45) Launching The Bear Cave in Feb 2020
(49:37) Using podcast appearances to grow
(56:06) The newsletter's business model
(1:00:00) Experimenting with side-newsletters, job boards, and consumer surveys
(1:10:04) Planet Fitness: gym or illegal billing operation?
(1:18:45) Herbalife the pyramid scheme
(1:21:05) Hershey’s MrBeast problem
(1:28:15) Marketing and social signaling in CPG products
(1:30:47) AgEagle Aerial Systems: $4B market cap, zero revenue
(1:34:50) The most ridiculous SPACs
(1:41:06) How Edwin differentiates his research
(1:47:07) Favorite short sellers
(1:47:59) Companies that will lose to AI
(01:49:29) Why creator-led business will steal share from incumbents
Referenced
The Bear Cave: https://thebearcave.substack.com/
FOIA Request Template (#13 here): https://www.readideabrunch.com/p/our-2023-hedge-fund-analyst-christmas
SEC Full Text Search: https://www.sec.gov/edgar/search/
WSJ’s Care.com Story: https://www.wsj.com/articles/care-com-puts-onus-on-families-to-check-caregivers-backgroundswith-sometimes-tragic-outcomes-11552088138
Planet Fitness CEO resignation letter: https://x.com/StockJabber/status/1762220603715596460
Aurelius Value: https://x.com/AureliusValue
Big River Capital: https://x.com/BigRiverCapita1
Marc Cahodes: https://x.com/AlderLaneEggs
David Orr: https://x.com/orrdavid
Citron Research: https://x.com/CitronResearch
Where to find Edwin:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StockJabber
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwin-dorsey-a9195273/
Where to find Turner:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TurnerNovak
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/turnernovak/
Newsletter: https://www.thespl.it/
The Peel with Turner Novak