How I Invest with David Weisburd

Mark Sotir, President of Equity Group Investments and a long-time colleague of Sam Zell, shares intriguing insights about the owner's mindset in investing. He emphasizes why preparation for potential setbacks is crucial, illustrating how adaptability outweighs mere prediction. Mark explains the importance of cash flow discipline and long holding periods for sustainable growth. He contrasts long-term ownership with short-term trading, and highlights how operational value creation trumps transactional gains, providing a fresh perspective on navigating volatile markets.

In this discussion, Logan Allin, Founder and Managing Partner of Fin Capital, dives into the changing landscape of venture capital. He highlights how a lack of liquidity disrupts the industry's cycle and why secondaries are overtaking traditional IPOs. Logan argues that larger fund sizes often reduce returns and warns against the risks of retail capital in venture. He also shares insights on contrarian investing and the significance of focusing on the orchestration layer in AI, emphasizing the need for diligence and structural alpha in tough markets.

Joshua Browder, founder and CEO of DoNotPay, discusses groundbreaking investing strategies that focus on making one transformative decision each year rather than constant optimization. He shares insights on why grit surpasses IQ in determining a founder's success and how momentum is essential for survival in the early stages of startups. Joshua emphasizes the importance of being a founder's first believer and outlines how to identify serious entrepreneurs through practical diligence cues. His unique approach has led to sustainable profitability for innovative companies.

In this engaging conversation, Deepak Sindwani, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Wavecrest Growth Partners, shares his insights on growth equity. He explains why maintaining fund size discipline is crucial, even against strong demand. Deepak discusses the competitive landscape above $50M checks and introduces his 'treasure hunting' model to find hidden growth companies. He emphasizes the importance of founder partnerships, a supportive culture, and how adversity shapes better investors. Discover the values driving a successful growth equity firm!

Britt Harris, a veteran institutional investor and former CIO of major funds, shares insights on investment simplicity and success. He emphasizes that engagement, rather than intelligence, drives performance, and explains why scale provides negotiating advantages. Britt discusses the importance of a culture of empowerment and that most innovations come from recombination rather than invention. He also introduces the 30–50–20 rule of engagement and warns against the pitfalls of complexity in investing, advocating for straightforward solutions.

Larsen Jensen, Founding General Partner of Harpoon Ventures, shares insights from his background as a former Olympic swimmer and Navy SEAL. He discusses the importance of choosing hard challenges and how they foster resilience and personal growth. Larsen explains that true venture success comes from embracing risks and trusting great teams over models. He highlights the necessity of mental toughness in both founders and investors, emphasizing that product-market fit relies on understanding customer needs and building strong, adaptable teams.

Brett Hillard, Founder and CEO of GLASFunds, dives into how alternatives investing often faces barriers beyond just access. He highlights how infrastructure is crucial, detailing how GLASFunds simplifies complex reporting, especially around K-1s. Brett emphasizes the importance of being invested, arguing that friction leads to missed opportunities. He also critiques the overused label ‘alternatives’ and recommends secondaries and private credit as entry points. Moreover, he discusses the protective benefits of illiquidity and the significance of emotional intelligence in investment decisions.

Join Alex Tonelli, Co-founder of Endurance and a seasoned entrepreneur behind Funding Circle and Collective Medical, as he delves into the transformative impact of managing capital with an entrepreneurial mindset. He shares insights on why internal investment offices outperform traditional ones, emphasizing the importance of principal-driven decision-making. Discover the value of vintage discipline over market timing, the advantages of endowment-style allocations, and how managing personal stakes fosters better investment strategies. Alex also highlights the significance of founder signals in identifying top managers.

Ben Lamm, Co-Founder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences, dives into the fascinating world of de-extinction. He discusses how bringing back species like mammoths isn’t just dream-like fantasy but a practical engineering challenge. Lamm highlights how Colossal transforms genetic technology into viable businesses, even creating new companies like Form Bio. He shares how cultural trends and social media are being used to make science relatable and outlines the ecological importance of reviving these species for biodiversity.

In this enlightening discussion, Jonathan Lacoste, Founder and General Partner of Space VC, dives into the nuances of frontier tech investing. He highlights the crucial difference between deep tech and frontier tech, emphasizing the importance of founder migration as a key signal for early investment opportunities. Jonathan shares his insights on why grit and mission often outweigh IQ in predicting success. The conversation also covers the rising significance of hardware startups and the advantages of concentrated portfolios over diversification in early-stage investing.