The Business Brew
Bill Brewster
Welcome to The Business Brew
This podcast’s mission is to dig deep into the thought patterns and analysis of investors and business people. The podcast stemmed from Bill Brewster consistently feeling like he was listening to prepackaged material while listening to podcasts. Instead, he wanted long form, in depth, discussions about finance, capital allocation, and the psychology of investing/business.
Bill is a private investor. He cohosts the podcast Value: After Hours with Tobias Carlisle and Jake Taylor. Tobias, Jake and Bill met at a Berkshire Hathaway meeting and formed a lasting friendship. And, as it turns out, people really like the podcast.
While Bill tries to replicate Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger’s thought processes, he is heavily influenced by Bill Miller III, Stan Druckenmiller, and others. This podcast is his attempt to dig deeper into other investing/business philosophies and share the knowledge with the world.
We are interested in interviewing portfolio managers, Wall Street sell side analysts, buy side analysts, private investors, owner operators, and anyone that is willing to go in depth about running a company/division. So, if you are interested in participating please email us with the subject “Guest Appearance.”
Disclaimer: Bill manages a portfolio under the name of Sullimar Capital Group. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this podcast or on SullimarCapital.Group is investment advice. All information in this is opinion based, potentially biased, and requires verification.
Bill and his guests make no representation, warranty or undertaking, express or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, completeness or reasonableness of the information contained in these podcasts. Any assumptions, opinions and estimates expressed constitute the participant’s judgment as of the date thereof and are subject to change without notice. Any projections contained in the information are based on a number of assumptions as to market conditions and there can be no guarantee that any projected outcomes will be achieved. This podcast does not accept any liability for any direct, consequential or other loss arising from reliance on the contents of this presentation.
This podcast series DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICIATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY ANY SECURITIES MENTIONED OR DISCUSSED. Seek the your financial, tax, legal, accounting, or other advisor’s advice before making any investment decisions. We are not your fiduciary or advisor.
This podcast’s mission is to dig deep into the thought patterns and analysis of investors and business people. The podcast stemmed from Bill Brewster consistently feeling like he was listening to prepackaged material while listening to podcasts. Instead, he wanted long form, in depth, discussions about finance, capital allocation, and the psychology of investing/business.
Bill is a private investor. He cohosts the podcast Value: After Hours with Tobias Carlisle and Jake Taylor. Tobias, Jake and Bill met at a Berkshire Hathaway meeting and formed a lasting friendship. And, as it turns out, people really like the podcast.
While Bill tries to replicate Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger’s thought processes, he is heavily influenced by Bill Miller III, Stan Druckenmiller, and others. This podcast is his attempt to dig deeper into other investing/business philosophies and share the knowledge with the world.
We are interested in interviewing portfolio managers, Wall Street sell side analysts, buy side analysts, private investors, owner operators, and anyone that is willing to go in depth about running a company/division. So, if you are interested in participating please email us with the subject “Guest Appearance.”
Disclaimer: Bill manages a portfolio under the name of Sullimar Capital Group. This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this podcast or on SullimarCapital.Group is investment advice. All information in this is opinion based, potentially biased, and requires verification.
Bill and his guests make no representation, warranty or undertaking, express or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, completeness or reasonableness of the information contained in these podcasts. Any assumptions, opinions and estimates expressed constitute the participant’s judgment as of the date thereof and are subject to change without notice. Any projections contained in the information are based on a number of assumptions as to market conditions and there can be no guarantee that any projected outcomes will be achieved. This podcast does not accept any liability for any direct, consequential or other loss arising from reliance on the contents of this presentation.
This podcast series DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICIATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY ANY SECURITIES MENTIONED OR DISCUSSED. Seek the your financial, tax, legal, accounting, or other advisor’s advice before making any investment decisions. We are not your fiduciary or advisor.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Dec 9, 2021 • 1h 43min
Tren Griffin - Giving to Get
Tren Griffin stops by The Business Brew for a fun conversation about his career, investing, and life. Tren is an author of 7 books, had a front row seat to Bill Gates’ career, sold ½ of his business in the .com bubble, deeply studied Charlie Munger, and now works at Microsoft. This conversation spans Tren’s career, his advice regarding giving to get, the importance of being brave, and much more. Tren, thank you for joining The Brew. It was a pleasure speaking with you. We hope you enjoy the discussion. You can find Tren on Twitter @trengriffin and read his work at https://25iq.com/ Detailed show notes below the Stream by Mosiac sponsor copy and thank yous. Please leave us a rating in your favorite app store. This episode is brought to you by Stream by Mosaic, a product that is integral to any fundamental research process. Stream has developed an extensive library of expert interviews that cover a variety of industries. https://streamrg.co/BB features over 300 expert interviews per week. 70% of Stream's experts are found exclusively on https://streamrg.co/BB. Visit StreamRG.comhttps://streamrg.co/BB today for a 14 day trial. Album art photo taken by Mike Ando. Please see https://www.mikeando.com/ Thank you to @mathewpassy (on Twitter) for the show production. Audio ~6:20 – Scaling luck ~9:15 – Age creating humility ~11:30 – Coming up with a startup idea when the internet was nascent ~15:21 – Interesting Seattle connecti
Dec 3, 2021 • 1h 8min
Louisa Nicola - Enhancing Performance
Louisa Nicola stops by The Business Brew to discuss her time as a triathlete, recovering from a major injury, and how she got curious about the power of the brain during her rehab from injury. Today, Louisa is Director and Head Neuroscientist at Neuro Athletics. Her firm helps athletes and hedge fund managers monitor their sleep, diet, etc. in order to help them achieve their maximum potential. You can follow Louia @lousianicola_ on Twitter or read her writing at https://substack.com/profile/32674240-louisa-nicola We hope you enjoy the discussion. Detailed show notes below the Stream by Mosiac sponsor copy and thank yous. Please leave us a rating in your favorite app store. This episode is brought to you by Stream by Mosaic, a product that is integral to any fundamental research process. Stream has developed an extensive library of expert interviews that cover a variety of industries. StreamRG.com features over 300 expert interviews. 70% of Stream's experts are found exclusively on StreamRG.com. Visit StreamRG.com today for a 14 day trial. Tell them The Business Brew sent you! Album art photo taken by Mike Ando. Please see https://www.mikeando.com/ Thank you to @mathewpassy (on Twitter) for the show production. Audio/YouTube ~3:00 – Louisa’s history as an elite triathlete ~9:45 – Learning by treating the body as a science experiment ~13:00 – Facilitating healthy sleep ~18:45 – Negative impacts from not enough sleep ~23:00 – Neurology 101 ~28:30 – General dietary discussion (NOT ADVICE) ~31:00 – What engaging Louisa’s firm “looks like” ~35:00 – Heart Rate Variability and an inconvenient truth about alcohol (and cannabis) ~40:00 – Tracking health ~47:50 – Social media is not good for sleep ~53:00 – How to contact Louisa
Nov 24, 2021 • 1h 57min
David Gardner - An Investing Fool
The one and only David Gardner stops by The Business Brew for an interview Bill has been looking forward to for over a year. David is a Co-Founder of The Motley Fool. He is best known for his Rule Breaker investing strategy but Bill knows him as a person that forced Bill to contemplate how he looks at investing. You can find David’s Rule Breaker podcast at https://www.fool.com/podcasts/rule-breaker-investing/, follow him on Twitter at @DavidGFool, and sign up for The Motley Fool at https://www.fool.com/. See also his podcasts with Invest Like The Best https://podcasts.apple.com/dk/podcast/david-gardner-finding-companies-that-break-the-rules/id1154105909?i=1000392148108 or https://open.spotify.com/episode/4bwyONARX4WeVcsPYosiuR?si=H8lR4qlwTgS92N5u6IQ2mA and Wealth Track https://wealthtrack.com/category/guests/david-gardner/ We hope you enjoy the discussion. Detailed show notes below the Stream by Mosiac sponsor copy and thank yous. Please leave us a rating in your favorite app store. This episode is brought to you by Stream by Mosaic, a product that is integral to any fundamental research process. Stream has developed an extensive library of expert interviews that cover a variety of industries. https://streamrg.co/BB features over 300 expert interviews per week. 70% of Stream's experts are found exclusively on https://streamrg.co/BB. Visit https://streamrg.co/BB today for a 14 day trial. Album art photo taken by Mike Ando. Please see https://www.mikeando.com/ Thank you to @mathewpassy (on Twitter) for the show production. Audio/YouTube 5:24 – David’s minimum investment time horizon 8:30 - What running a business did for David’s investments 14:30 - Rule Breaking for the long term 19:30 – David’s thoughts on investing vs. tradi
Nov 18, 2021 • 1h 28min
Jonathan Boyar - Intrinsic Value Opportunities
Jonathan Boyar stops by The Business Brew to discuss his investing philosophy. Jonathan is the President of Boyar's Intrinsic Value Research LLC., an independent research boutique established in 1975 that counts some of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, hedge funds, mutual funds and family offices as subscribers. He is also a Principal of Boyar Asset Management, which has been managing money utilizing a value oriented strategy since 1983. He has been interviewed by Barron’s, Welling on Wall Street and GuruFocus. He spoke at the 2017 London Value Investor Conference, the 2017 GuruFocus Value Conference and the 2017 International Value Investing Conference. He is also a contributor to the latest edition of Harriman’s Book of Investing Rules: The Do’s & Don’ts of the World’s Best Investors. He is a senior contributor to Forbes as well as the host of The World According to Boyar podcast. We hope you enjoy the discussion. Detailed show notes below the Stream by Mosiac sponsor copy and thank yous. Please leave us a rating in your favorite app store. This episode is brought to you by Stream by Mosaic, a product that is integral to any fundamental research process. Stream has developed an extensive library of expert interviews that cover a variety of industries. https://streamrg.co/BB features over 300 expert interviews per week. 70% of Stream's experts are found exclusively on https://streamrg.co/BB. Visit https://streamrg.co/BB today for a 14 day trial. Album art photo taken by Mike Ando. Please see https://www.mikeando.com/ Thank you to @mathewpassy (on Twitter) for the show production. Youtube: 05:00 - What makes The Berkshire Weekend so great 10:00 -
Nov 11, 2021 • 1h 35min
David Fauchier - Market Neutral Crypto
David Fauchier stops by The Business Brew to discuss crypto and market neutral strategies in crypto assets. David works at Nickel Digital Asset Management, an investment manager connecting traditional finance with the digital assets market. The firm deploys highly sophisticated low-latency algorithmic trading, pursuing a range of arbitrage strategies in both spot and derivative markets, as well as a range of directional buy-and-hold products. All funds are designed with institutional clients in mind, but we hope the discussion is broadly applicable. You can reach David at @dfauchier on Twitter. We hope you enjoy the discussion. Detailed show notes below the Stream by Mosiac sponsor copy and thank yous. Please leave us a rating in your favorite app store. This episode is brought to you by Stream by Mosaic, a product that is integral to any fundamental research process. Stream has developed an extensive library of expert interviews that cover a variety of industries. https://streamrg.co/BB features over 300 expert interviews per week. 70% of Stream's experts are found exclusively on https://streamrg.co/BB. Visit https://streamrg.co/BB today for a 14 day trial. Album art photo taken by Mike Ando. Please see https://www.mikeando.com/ Thank you to @mathewpassy (on Twitter) for the show production. Youtube: 4:19 - What David does - market neutral strategies in crypto 6:04 - How to look at market neutral strategies when there is not "value" in a coin 8:48 - David's take on crypto and monetary regimes 14:39 - H
Nov 8, 2021 • 1h 15min
Alexandra Blumenfeld - Red Rover Founder
Alexandra Blumenfeld stops by The Business Brew to discuss her business, Red Rover. Alex is a Junior at Vanderbuilt University and founded Red Rover, an expert network. Bill, Josh Tarasoff, Trey Kuppin, and Elliot Turner have all used Alex's service and all recommend the service. This conversation will highlight the value Alex provides. See show notes below for details of the conversation. Red Rover Website: redrovernetwork.com Red Rover Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/RedRoverNetwork If you'd like to order a poll please see the website and click on "order polls" or contact Alex at alex@redrovernetwork.com. NOTE: The timestamps should be accurate for those listening to the podcast on a dedicated podcast player. YouTube's timing is different because of how we edit the podcast audio. In this show you will hear about: 3:33 - 15:33 - Alex's path to entreprenuership 16:25 - The type of data Alex's business provides 18:21 - Whether there is geographical bias in Red Rover sampling 21:50 - How Alex is thinking about expanding Red Rover's capabilities 22:50 - Examples of surveys Red Rover has run 23:45 - Alcohol consumption among college students 25:45 - Video streaming services 30:00 - Insights on Spotify vs. audio streaming 35:20 - Discussion about podcasts 35:15 - How Gen Z ranks social media 37:15 - Gen Z is comfortable with a lack of privacy 39:50 - What Red Rover is doing to monitor levels of engagement 43:10 - Cultivating an Instagram account to make sure people don't say no to friendship 45:30 - How much time does video get with Gen Z? 48:10 - Body image and Instagram 50:30 - Metaverse (note: this was recorded before Facebook's announcement) 52:40 - Growing up with the internet and whether that is tough on the mind 58:50 - Subscription billing practices 60:00 - How Alex thinks about building a culture that will last.
Nov 4, 2021 • 1h 34min
Kyler Hasson - Playing His Game
Kyler Hasson (Kyler@hassoninvestments.com) stops by The Business Brew to discuss how he has morphed as an investor and as a Registered Investment Advisor. Kyler is one of Bill's good friends and they've chatted about investments for a number of years now. Kyler is an investor that has gravitated to high quality businesses. He has also gravitated towards a less concentrated portfolio in order to fulfill client objectives. We hope you enjoy listening to the two of them sharing lessons they've learned. We hope you enjoy the discussion. Detailed show notes below the Koyfin sponsor and thank yous. Please leave us a rating in your favorite app store. This episode is brought to you by Koyfin, one of the fastest-growing platforms for financial data and analytics to research stocks and understand market trends. Check out Koyfin.com to see what a Bloomberg-lite, with tons of high-quality fundamental data and a powerful graph engine looks like. Album art photo taken by Mike Ando. Please see https://www.mikeando.com/ Thank you to Mathew Passy for the podcast production. You can find Mathew at @MathewPassy on Twitter or at thepodcastconsultant.com In this episode you will learn how Kyler and Bill think about: 1:35 - How Kyler started his investing career 4:22 - How Kyler views being an RIA (Registered Investment Advisor) 7:17 - Tax drag and how that can hurt investment performance 11:04 - Why finding a great business that can compound returns over time may be a better strategy 15:00 - Mean reversion and risk 18:49 - Moving towards a more diversified portfolio and avoiding overconfidence bias 24:49 - Whether investors *really* want to be like Charlie Munger. 26:02 - A very cool class Kyler took in college 30:32 - Why certain tribe of investors talk past each other 34:12 - Being aware of behavioral biases 36:00 - Lessons from an energy investment 40:36 - Lessons from Altice and why demanding execution might have been a better idea 42:19 - Looking for high quality companies that sell off for non core reasons 48:00 - Culture compounding as a competitive advantage 52:54 - The individual investor's greatest advantage 56:40 - Buying a new position or adding to an existing position 58:00 - Whether buying "cheap" is harder than owning fairly priced quality companies
Oct 28, 2021 • 2h 12min
Chris Bloomstran - Taking Principled Stances
This week Chris Bloomstran stops by The Business Brew to catch up. Part of this conversation are a bit scary. Parts you may disagree with. Regardless, it's very apparent that Chris thinks A LOT about what he is investing in. Chris is the President and Chief Investment Officer of Semper Augustus Investments Group. He is best known for his annual letters; most of which have an incredibly detailed analysis of Berkshire Hathaway. See https://www.semperaugustus.com/clientletter We hope you enjoy the discussion. Detailed show notes below the Koyfin sponsor and thank yous. Please leave us a rating in your favorite app store. This episode is brought to you by Koyfin, one of the fastest-growing platforms for financial data and analytics to research stocks and understand market trends. Check out Koyfin.com to see what a Bloomberg-lite, with tons of high-quality fundamental data and a powerful graph engine looks like. Album art photo taken by Mike Ando. Please see https://www.mikeando.com/ Thank you to Mathew Passy for the podcast production. You can find Mathew at @MathewPassy on Twitter or at thepodcastconsultant.com In this episode Chris and Bill discuss: 0:34 - Chris' wine hobby 7:34 - Chris setting weight lifting records in high school 11:33 - Playing football against Barry Sanders 17:04 - Pivot to investing 17:47 - What about today rhymes with the late 90s 25:00 - Chris' warning about Twitter, Shopify, and Tesla 28:00 - What rhymes between ARK and Janus 30:54 - How Chris thinks about today's multiples 38:25 - Why Chris has positions in energy companies 43:00 - Chris' use of Twitter and his Twitter threads 50:31 - Chris' love for teaching 53:03 - Bill and Chris discuss Berkshire 60:45 - Berkshire Hathaway Energy and how it fits within the renewable energy landscape 1:04:45 - Discussion about opportunity cost and value traps 1:08:45 - Why Chris is lukewarm on Big Tech 1:10:00 - Chris' take on the idea of never selling a great business 1:16:10 - Chris discusses Costco vs. Amazon and concludes the opportunity cost discussion at 1:18:52 1:22:00 - More energy (in the context of opportunity cost)
Oct 21, 2021 • 56min
Margot Edelman - Trust This!
Margot Edelman stops by The Business Brew to discuss corporate communications as well as the Edelman Trust Barometer (see https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/files/aatuss191/files/2021-01/2021-edelman-trust-barometer.pdf). Edelman is an award-winning global public relations consultancy firm. Key findings from the 2021 Trust Barometer are as follows: - Trust in business increased in 17 of 27 countries - Trust is technology declined a substantial amount - People turned to their employer for facts/trust - There was a fairly substantial reduction in trust in China - Social leaders are not trusted to do what is "right" We hope you find this conversation educational and entertaining. Margot Edelman is the General Manger of Edelman’s Bay Area Hub, where she leads a team of skilled practitioners and innovators in Edelman’s San Francisco and Sacramento offices as they deliver industry-leading communications strategies that build brand trust and visibility. Her clients range from private equity and venture capital firms to technology companies and well-known individuals.Before becoming General Manager, Margot led the Bay Area Tech team, advising executives and business leaders in Silicon Valley. Prior to moving to California, Margot led the firm’s Research and Insights group in New York. Margot is a regular contributor to Edelman’s Annual Trust Barometer and host of the monthly “Meet the Press” series for Edelman, which features speakers from the FT, Bloomberg, NYT, and other top-tier media outlets.Margot is a graduate of Harvard Business School and Harvard University. This episode is brought to you by Koyfin, one of the fastest-growing platforms for financial data and analytics to research stocks and understand market trends. Check out Koyfin.com to see what a Bloomberg-lite, with tons of high-quality fundamental data and a powerful graph engine looks like. Album art photo taken by Mike Ando. Please see https://www.mikeando.com/ Thank you to Mathew Passy for the podcast production. You can find Mathew at @MathewPassy on Twitter or at thepodcastconsultant.com
Oct 14, 2021 • 2h 24min
Stinson Dean - Talking Lumber
Stinson Dean (@lumbertrading on Twitter), owner of Deacon Lumber, stops by The Business Brew to discuss the current lumber market, what happened to lumber in 2020, and how the market got to where it is. This is a long conversation, but deserves the length. Stinson goes deep into what it means to trade physical lumber, how he manages risk, why he is hedged, and much, much more. The goal of this conversation was to have a calmer conversation about lumber than what may have occurred just a year ago. Lumber is an extremely volatile market and Stinson is a fantastic person to discuss the market with. We hope you enjoy this conversation. Please rate the show in your favorite app! This episode is brought to you by Koyfin, one of the fastest-growing platforms for financial data and analytics to research stocks and understand market trends. Check out Koyfin.com to see what a Bloomberg-lite, with tons of high-quality fundamental data and a powerful graph engine looks like. Album art photo taken by Mike Ando. Please see https://www.mikeando.com/
