The Business Brew

Bill and Dr. Luke Benoit talk about Luke's invention, the RypStick.  This is a golf specific episode.  Luke Benoit founded RypStick, a product Bill uses and enjoys.  RypStick helps golfers add distance to their game and Bill wanted to feature Luke because he respects what Luke created.Normal episode will be back next week.

Note - This podcast has some advice that may be able to help you think about marketing your firm and/or yourself. Should you need a host, reach out to Bill. Should you need an editor, reach out to Mathew. Mathew Passy (@mathewpassy on Twitter), founder/owner of The Podcast Consultant stops by The Business Brew to discuss his career, how he started his business and became the person behind your favorite finance podcasts, the podcast industry generally, tips for appearing on podcasts, the business of podcasting, and much more. As you should know by now, Mathew produces this show. The Business Brew, and the listening base, owes him a big thank you for how this podcast sounds. This episode is sponsored by ⁠Stratosphere.io⁠.  ⁠Stratosphere.io⁠ is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc.  A key differentiator is ⁠Stratosphere.io⁠’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy.  Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc. Head over to ⁠Stratosphere.io⁠ for a free trial.  Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off. Detailed Show Notes -  3:52 - How Mathew became The Podcast Consultant 13:30 - Why did the Wall Street Journal kill its first podcast network 22:00 - Starting a business 27:50 - What was the podcast business like in 2019 31:45 - How is the podcasting ecosystem evolving? 39:50 - Different monetization strategies of podcasting 48:15 - How have Mathew's thoughts about podcasting changed? 50:30 - What makes successful podcasters? 54:30 - Some advice Bill thinks is worth thinking about 1:00:00 - Meta dicussion 1:05:00 - Some advice on how to start a podcast 1:11:00 - Podcasts as internal communication 1:13:00 - What do the different hosting services offer? 1:18:30 - Onboarding with The Podcast Consultant

Ian Cassel stops back by The Business Brew to check in.  As you may remember, Ian is a full-time microcap investor and founder of MicroCapClub. Ian started investing as a teenager and learned from losing his money over and over again. Today he is a full-time private investor that supports himself and his family by investing in microcaps.  He is also the author of two books: Intelligent Fanatics Project: How Great Leaders Build https://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Fanatics-Project-Sustainable-Businesses/dp/0997576502/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=7vP7f&content-id=amzn1.sym.22f5776b-4878-4918-9222-7bb79ff649f4&pf_rd_p=22f5776b-4878-4918-9222-7bb79ff649f4&pf_rd_r=140-2211477-9010244&pd_rd_wg=oufjI&pd_rd_r=438a9be9-ba2c-44c0-a800-30367bc020a7&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk Intelligent Fanatics: Standing On The Shoulders of Giants https://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Fanatics-Standing-Shoulders-Giants/dp/0997576537/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=7vP7f&content-id=amzn1.sym.22f5776b-4878-4918-9222-7bb79ff649f4&pf_rd_p=22f5776b-4878-4918-9222-7bb79ff649f4&pf_rd_r=140-2211477-9010244&pd_rd_wg=oufjI&pd_rd_r=438a9be9-ba2c-44c0-a800-30367bc020a7&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk Ian and Bill chatted because there was some noise about small and microcaps being cheap.  Then Bill said “Come on the show.”  And Ian said “Sure.”  And then they had this conversation.  And now you are listening.  We hope you enjoy!   This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io.  Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc.  A key differentiator is Stratosphere.io’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy.  Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc. Head over to Stratosphere.io for a free trial.  Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off. Thank you to the team at ⁠thepodcastconsultant.com⁠ for producing the show. Detailed Show Notes -  2:50 - Staying patient in illiquid ideas 6:28 - The MicrocapClub conference 10:20 - Findings a micro cap worthy of holding 12:03 - Fallen angels vs rising stars 18:50 - Quality vs value 25:50 - What is Ian looking for in investments 28:20 - Look global for microcaps 30:20 - Why it is easier to raise money internationally than in the US 35:50 - SPAC talk 47:50 - Cogstate 1:00:30 - How microcap changed over the past year 1:05:50 - Training LPs, and yourself, to handle volatility 1:06:50 - Why the first discovery is powerful 1:11:30 - How Ian started MicroCapClub 1:13:05 - Some briefy therapy 1:15:30 - Concluding conversation

Devin Anderson, CEO and co-founder of Convexitas, stops by The Business Brew to discuss his firm's approach to risk management via options strategies. In short, Convexitas seeks to exploit structural options mispricing resulting from market participant's biases. What does that mean in plain English? Well, there are people that sell financial yield strategies that involve selling puts and selling covered calls. If enough of the market does that there is a chance the front month option pricing is not high enough. In that case, Convexitas might consider purchasing some of those options. Why is Devin worth listening to? Before Convexitas, he was at Deutsche Bank for 15 years where he most recently was Managing Director and Head of Solutions in the Americas leading the structuring and sales teams which designed and distributed the risk premia, retail structured product, and the fund derivative businesses. His Deutsche Bank experience also includes covering institutional clients for listed options and OTC derivatives. Prior to the financial services industry, Devin had a previous career in technology where he held both engineering and sales roles at two early stage internet service & datacenter hosting providers, and former search engine Lycos. He holds a Bachelor of Finance from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon, where he also guest lectures on options and option market micro-structure. In short, the guy is smart and you can learn something. Enjoy the episode. Hope you enjoyed this show note! This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io.  Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc.  A key differentiator is Stratosphere.io’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy.  Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc. Head over to Stratosphere.io for a free trial.  Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off. Thank you to the team at thepodcastconsultant.com for producing the show. Detailed Show Notes -  2:00 - Devin's background 6:25 - Convexitas is a very risk focused firm 12:00 - The decision to reduce risk vs. manage risk 15:15 - What Convexitas is very good at 19:40 - Why an options thesis should start with the behavioral biases of the options market 24:50 - An options position should be better than a resized cash position 27:30 - If at any time short options strategies are changing your lifestyle then you should probably do less of it 35:00 - What about options counterparty risk? 37:30 - A discussion of one day options and why they exist (hint: they are a great business for market makers) 41:50 - How was Convexitas started? 45:10 - Does AI help Convexitas and/or is it a risk? 53:00 - It's not actually the risk, but how you manage to the risk 57:40 - The difference between financial products and investment products 1:01:25 - Performance under pressure and mindfulness

Michael Batnick, author of The Irrelevant Investor blog (https://theirrelevantinvestor.com/) and Big Mistakes: The Best Investors and Their Worst Investments (https://www.amazon.com/Big-Mistakes-Investors-Investments-Bloomberg/dp/1119366550) and Co Host of The Compound and Friends (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-compound-and-friends/id1456467014 for Apple and https://open.spotify.com/show/5VKsKPZUtwVylxslLie36k on Spotify) stops by The Business Brew for a quick chat. In this episode Bill and Michael discuss Michael's book, his early days breaking into finance, his early investing style, and how he looks at the world now. They also touch on some personal chit chat at the end. Please note this episode was recorded before Bill's episode with Tom Gayner. Bill talks about Tom searching for ideas on the 52 Week High list. That part of the conversation is somewhat inaccurate and you should listen to Tom's episode for clarification. This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io.  Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc.  A key differentiator is Stratosphere.io’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy.  Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc.Head over to Stratosphere.io for a free trial.  Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off. Detailed Show Notes 4:50 - Mark Twain as an investor 7:00 Mike's background and building an online presence 13:00 - How Mike got through a bad first job 18:00 - Dealing with emotions while investing 19:00 - How Future Proof started 21:00 - How Mike approaches The Compound and Friends 24:30 - Helping Clients 28:00 - Why people should consider buying stocks that have gone up 35:00 - Stock chit chat 37:00 - Writing Big Mistakes

Dan Zwirn, CEO and CIO of Arena Investors, stops by The Business Brew to discuss his investing strategy.  Arena Investors, LP is a registered investment advisor that originates investments (generally below $50 million) with borrowers and other counterparties who need access to financing and are otherwise not able to access conventional sources.  They have complete mandate flexibility across industry, product, and geography.    In Dan's words, "The real beauty of our approach, to me, is that there’s no ceiling on the creativity we can use to shape alignment for our clients, our partners and ourselves. If someone needs capital and there’s any way to do it that makes sense for all parties, we will find that way." Bill enjoyed this conversation very much and hopes you will as well.    Arena's Website: https://www.arenaco.com Dan's Investor Letter: https://www.arenaco.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Arena_Investors_Letter_YE_2022.pdf    Dan's Official Bio: https://www.arenaco.com/team/daniel-zwirn/ This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io.  Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc.  A key differentiator is Stratosphere.io’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy.  Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc.Head over to Stratosphere.io for a free trial.  Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off. Detailed Show Notes   What Arena does - 3:30  How big money invests at times - 6:30  Process oriented vs. security selection - 9:30  Financial Products vs. Investment Products - 13:10  Why Arena has invested in servicing - 19:30  The incentives to not see what is going on - 22:10  Where are we in a credit/business/fiscal cycle - 25:00  How Arena thinks about opportunity - 32:30  How Arena thinks about LTVs - 39:05  "We are at a casino and there has never been more gamblers" - 44:00  Are defaults bad? - 48:00  Does diversification solve all problems? 52:30  A CLO discussion - 56:50  What is going on with the job market - 1:03:30

Mike and Eli, hosts of Chasing Scratch: A Golf Podcast, join The Business Brew to discuss their podcast, how they monetize podcasts, what they were trying to accomplish when they started podcasting, and, yes, golf. Bill is a huge fan of the podcast they have put together.  Check it out on your favorite podcast player! Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chasing-scratch-a-golf-podcast/id1281285953 Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/show/2W77oe7Nw7G8RzKkhsMi5E This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io.  Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc.  A key differentiator is Stratosphere.io’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy.  Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc.Head over to Stratosphere.io for a free trial.  Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off.

Tom Gayner stops by The Business Brew to discuss a number of things. You can see the detailed show notes for specifics, below the stratosphere.io sponsor copy. In summation, Bill has wanted to interview Tom for a long time but didn’t know how to make the interview unique. We think this interview covers some topics Tom has not discussed elsewhere. Please consider attending Markel’s annual meeting. On Wednesday, May 17th, from 9-10:30 the good folks at Robotti and Co. are hosting an investor panel. There will be 8-12 “best ideas” presented. The Markel annual meeting will follow that event. Food, music, and beer will follow the Markel annual meeting. We hope you enjoy this podcast episode. This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io.  Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc.  A key differentiator is Stratosphere.io’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy.  Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc. Head over to Stratosphere.io for a free trial.  Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off. Thank you to the team at thepodcastconsultant.com for producing the show. Detailed Show Notes - 5:00 – The goal of the Markel annual event 7:30 – Tom’s background 9:35 – Blue capital and orange capital 17:05 – Creating dealflow and how long that takes 20:10 – Learning how to delegate 24:55 – What happened with the ILS transactions 33:20 – Searching New Highs and New Lows 38:40 – How investing at Markel does or does not impact Tom’s investing style 34:20 – The intertwining of Berkshire, Markel, and The Davis Funds 43:50 – The importance of relationships 48:40 – The Big Lebowski 49:10 – What traveling to India has taught Tom 56:25 – Decisions in March 2020 and how being at Markel impacted Tom 1:02:20 – How was the transition from Co-CEO to CEO 1:05:40 – How to be a deserving spouse Book Mention: The Way We Live Now https://www.amazon.com/Way-Live-Now-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140433929/ref=asc_df_0140433929/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=475771750252&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16689022937612321338&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9011844&hvtargid=pla-469518675534&psc=1

Adam Wyden, founder of ADW Capital, stops by The Business Brew to share his investing philosophy, discuss some ideas, and talk about lessons learned.  ADW is a concentrated, long biased investment partnership founded in 2010.  In this episode Adam cautions against idol worship, talks about how he monitors positions and companies, shares his thoughts on management character, and much more.  Bill's favorite line from this episode is "Invest with people that have more to lose than you do." We hope you enjoy the show. This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io.  Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc.  A key differentiator is Stratosphere.io’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy.  Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc. Head over to Stratosphere.io for a free trial.  Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off. Thank you to the team at thepodcastconsultant.com for producing the show. Detailed Show Notes - 8:00 – Meeting Joel Greenblatt 14:45 – Lessons from Fiat 22:30 – How Ferrari could grow faster 30:30 – Adam’s background as an investor 40:40 – Pivoting to better businesses 43:00 – Being proud of admitting mistakes quickly 44:30 – Takeaways from 2022 48:00 – Where to hunt 51:50 – What is the etymology of a return? 54:00 – Monitoring a position over time 59:30 – Watch out for idol worship 1:10:00 – The biggest risk is (a) investing with sociopaths and (b) becoming one 1:18:15 – Further discussion about APi Group 1:30:30 – The comfort of owning assets with honorable managers

Arnaud Cosserat, CEO of Comgest, and Rick Mercado, PM at Comgest stop by The Business Brew to discuss quality growth investing.  Comgest is an independent, international asset management group, which since its creation in 1985, has pursued a long-term ‘Quality Growth’ and responsible investment style. Arnaud is a long-standing Analyst and Portfolio Manager specialising in European equities. He started his career in 1989 as an Analyst at Banque Paribas, before joining Société de Bourse Oddo and then Generali as a Portfolio Manager. He holds a Master of Science degree from the ESSEC business school (France) and is a member of the French Society of Financial Analysts (SFAF, Société Française des Analystes Financiers). Before joining Comgest, Rick worked in London as a Portfolio Manager responsible for a North American equities fund with USS Investment Management and prior to that, as a Global Equities Portfolio Manager with F&C Investments. From 2001-2008 he worked in Australia, with Capital Partners as an Investment Analyst and with AMP Capital Investors as an Investment Strategist. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the University of New South Wales. He is also a CFA® charterholder. This episode is sponsored by Stratosphere.io.  Stratosphere.io is a web based terminal that has financial data, KPIs, links to filings, hedge fund letters, etc.  A key differentiator is Stratosphere.io’s segment data and KPIs, which are triple checked for accuracy.  Stratosphere saves users time, enables easy comparisons between companies, and offers company specific metrics such as subscriber counts, numbers of locations, etc. Head over to Stratosphere.io for a free trial.  Should you want to sign up for a paid offering please use the promo code BREW for 15% off. Big shoutout to @mathewpassy and the team at The Podcast Consultant. Detailed Show Notes: 4:10 - Comgest's philosophy and focus on culture 8:10 - Fighting the ABCs (arrogance, bureaucracy, and complacency) of decay 12:05 - How to appraise culture Paper cited https://hbr.org/1996/11/what-holds-the-modern-company-together 18:48 - Handicapping quality among high quality companies 24:05 - How does Comgest consider valuation risk of the portfolio? 33:35 - Comgest's 80/20 rule and how they hold companies with higher valuations 39:20 - Why recessions are great from an investment perspective 46:20 - What inflation might do to quality companies 53:30 - When to exit an investment (and how to stay in) 1:00:00 - How macro events impact Comgest's analysis