The Education of a Value Investor

Eitan Chitayat leads Natie, a creative branding agency based in Tel Aviv.  I originally met Eitan at the founding of the Entrepreneurs Organization chapter in Tel Aviv. When it comes to branding, he's a creative genius. He's also the author of the extraordinary "I'm that Jew" viral youtube video that got more than 10 million hits on various social channelsI'm that JewEitan on twitterNatieBlog PostEpisode TranscriptKey momentsLeveraging technology to connect with clients (8:25)About that friend in Paris…during those three days of terror (10:25)Behind the scenes of the video production (12:53)Releasing the awe-inspiring video (16:33)Jewish advocacy (21:24)Eitan’s brand strategy (24:53)Articulating the story everyone wants to hear (31:42)Why is there so much noise in the world? (42:37)How the Golden Rule can motivate people to act like a human being (46:33)Benefits of avoiding negativity on social media (51:41)Teaching the children well (52:52)Eitan’s heroes: Tanenbaum and Collins (56:26)Spotlighting individuals who he admires (58:47)The impact Dana Satterwhite had on Eitan (1:02:32)The marvelus sound of silence (1:04:14)The magic touch of a sister (1:05:29)Keats and Tolkien as great writers (1:09)

I got together with my friend Dante Albertini of Omaha Capital and a group of Peruvian investors to discuss our impressions of the 2020 Berkshire Hathaway Annual General Meeting. We also discussed the world economy, the state of the markets, and coronavirus.More about Dante Albertini here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dante-albertini-8387491/?originalSubdomain=peFull transcript available here: https://aqfd.docsend.com/view/h6m5vjp4dewnp9b7 Contents:Covid’s Impact on the Economy (00:01:15)Long-Term Holding Expectations (00:08:00)Lessons from Bad Investing Experiences (00:16:33)Warren Buffet Lunch Photographs (00:23:04)Quantitative Easing (00:29:16)Impact of Trump & Adjusting to Covid (00:36:16)China vs US (00:45:09)Making Investment Decisions (00:50:34)Managing Information Overload (00:58:06)Going from Success to Significance (01:07:28)

Hermann Peterscheck used to make games at a company called Riot. Now he manages Hypernormal Capital which involves a lot of reading, some writing and the occasional investment decision.hypernormalcapital.com/www.linkedin.com/in/hermannpeterschecktwitter.com/petershk Q3 Letter to PartnersHe is my go-to expert in the gaming industry. We talked about Nintendo, League of Legends, Games Workshop, Tencent and more.Contents:• Hermann’s first exposure to games (03:15)• Childhood experiences programming (04:15)• Finding his passion in life and work (08:30)• Breaking into the industry (10:00)• Loses first gaming industry job when his company is bested by online gaming (14:00)• Passion and career choices (17:26)• Adventure and success with Riot Games (21:13)• Ignorance and passion: The “magical combination” (22:03)• From the beginning: Hermann joined Riot Games in 2009, at 33 (23:08)• For many years, Riot Game’s League of Legends was world’s top game (27:13)• Stratospheric growth of Riot Games under the aegis of Tencent (34:17)• Investing in U.K. company “Gamestop” (41:56)• Further adventures in investing (51:00)• Investing in Nintendo (54:41)• The Disney juggernaut (58:00)• The curious “suicide contraption” that besets some companies (1:00:25)• More on Gamestop (1:08:57)• Hermann talks about what’s important in life (1:13)Access the Transcript here: https://aqfd.docsend.com/view/ud6vfpscrkydcuhe

Is now the time to invest?  That's the question that I asked  Matthew Peterson.   The Covid-19 pandemic is raging. Countries are locked down, shelter-in-place orders have been issued, and market prices have collapsed with unprecedented volatility. Guy poses on the record questions and Matthew shares a rare message with all investors not to miss this opportunity.Matthew Peterson is the managing partner of Peterson Capital Management, a concentrated, long term, public equity fund. Full transcript available here: https://aqfd.docsend.com/view/c7i6zkyp6uhk7wu3Executives Referenced:Charlie Munger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_MungerJohn Malone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._MalonePeter Kaufman http://latticeworkinvesting.com/2018/04/06/peter-kaufman-on-the-multidisciplinary-approach-to-thinking/Guy Spier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Spier Businesses Discussed:Daily Journal https://journaltech.com/Berkshire Hathaway https://berkshirehathaway.com/Glenair https://www.glenair.com/ Books Recommended:Commons Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Philip Fisher https://www.amazon.com/Uncommon-Profits-Writings-Investment-Classics-ebook/dp/B00XCC5Y0OA Man for All Markets by Edward Thorp https://www.amazon.com/Man-All-Markets-Street-Dealer/ Whitepaper:With Whom I would Invest by Guy Spier https://aqfd.docsend.com/view/8ambrx27xjnmtp43 Content0:56 - A Message for Investors2:38 - Regret Minimization4:46 - With Whom I Would Invest5:29 - Admirable Business Managers10:22 - Recommended Books11:40 - Getting Connected12:12 - Final Words

In this conversation, I talk to Marcelo Lima who is the CEO of Heller House Capital management about how we should open up in the aftermath of coronavirus.Full episode summary here: https://www.guyspier.com/conversation-with-marcelo-lima-on-coronavirus/or PDF here: https://aqfd.docsend.com/view/x75c8hw26i6v6s74Contents:Marcelo on flipping the economy switch to “On”  (05:28)Tracking the COVID-19 trends (6:38)Tapping into the Twittersphere (13:40)Comparing Washington State to European countries (15:10)Thoughts on managing the risk and reopening society (16:51)Marinating on Winston Churchill’s adversity and resiliency (30:27)Marcelo on the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect (31:44)Promoting the examination and acceptance of alternative viewpoints (32:28) 

Email Update April 2020 by Guy Spier

This conversation was with Naama Baram - who is the General Manager of Teva Pharmaceuticals in Switzerland.Full transcript available here: https://aqfd.docsend.com/view/agf6a952mbzupdb9Teva and the Pharma Industryhttps://tevapharm.com/https://twitter.com/bnaamahttps://www.linkedin.com/in/naama-bar-am/https://www.instagram.com/p/BbZqLWpB4OF/?igshid=53huznuez7iMeditationhttps://plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh/biography/https://www.eckharttolle.com/PoetryMaria Wislawa Szymborskahttps://www.brainpickings.org/2017/10/23/wislawa-szymborska-pi/Teva Background: 00:48:500Teva and generics soon to come off patent: 03:05:500Teva Copaxone 04:38:000Teva R&D efforts: 06:42:500Teva R&D budget allocation: 07:51:000Investment stages in clinical trials: 09:400:500Teva R&D budget decisions: 10:53:500Evaluating Teva for investment: 11:11:500Teva Remicade: 12:23:500Worlds of healthcare services and devices: 15:17:500Pharma industry and covid19: 17:06:400Naamas' family life work balance: 19:50:000Key things about meditation: 21:56:000Mediation routine: 23:00:000Difference between daydreaming and meditation: 24:13:200Meditation Resources:Thich Nhat Hanh: 25:30:000Eckhart Tolle author of The Power of Now and A New Earth: 25:42:500Naamas' poetry journey: 26:23:000Favourite Poets:Maria Wisława Anna Szymborska: 27:32:000Bible poems: 28:43:000Whose texts should be in the Bible if it were to be rewritten:Yehuda Amichai: 29:06:900Rumi: 29:21:400Hafez: 29:34:500Companies & CEO admiration: 30:32:500

Introduction, Camilla Cavendish My conversation with Camilla Cavendish took place before the coronavirus – and hence in another world. Yet despite reminding us of cherished, past habits like routine trans-Atlantic travel – resident in London, she is a fellow at Harvard, and normally flies over every six weeks – the discussion was remarkably prescient. This should not be surprising: Camilla is a high-flying author, journalist, policy expert and – as Baroness – a parliamentarian in the British House of Lords. Currently a columnist for The Financial Times, chair of the 2013 Cavendish Review into health care in Britain and previously with the Number 10 Policy Unit under Prime Minister David Cameron, she is the author of Extra Time: 10 Lessons for an Ageing World, an exceptional book looking at the implications of our increased life expectancy. As Camilla – an old classmate of mine from Oxford – explained from the outset, her journalistic, policy and humanitarian passions have coalesced into a specialization on public health, which could hardly be more urgent and essential in these challenging times. When Harvard Medical School asked her to give a lecture on journalism and public policy, all three strands came together, and as she says, “I suddenly felt as if my life made sense almost for the first time in my career.” Back in November 2019 when we spoke, anticipating the British election and with Brexit still unresolved, we could not anticipate the global turmoil we face today. Yet Camilla was excoriating about US health care – facing “catastrophic” health issues, “shocking” in the number of people without coverage, and “extremely expensive and not saving people’s lives”. She hailed the NHS as Britain’s Holy Grail, with its admirable universal care, but unequipped for preventing illness and “sagging under the weight of incredible, exponentially increasing demand”. Camilla emphasized the threat of a determined, despotic China, and bemoaned America’s retreat from the values it has historically sought to project around the world. Against rising strains of populism in both the US and the UK, she underlined her faith that a pragmatic, “more rational and evidence-based” politics would emerge, driven by increasing engagement from both business leaders and the emerging generation. So many of Camilla’s remarks presaged the Covid crisis. But it was not all policy and politics, as we discussed the pleasure (for her, not me!) of writing, the vital importance of exercise, her favorite music (see below), and her guilty reading pleasure (you’ll have to see the full interview for that). When I get the chance to follow up with her, I’m looking forward to asking Camilla to provide an update on her views on the impact of the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd and on the prospects for political regeneration from that. See below for a number of links relating to Camilla’s work and interests.Link to Transcript here:https://aqfd.docsend.com/view/dq43impw5bk5pxmu Works: Financial Times Columnhttps://www.ft.com/camilla-cavendish Extract from Extra Time:https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/11/why-we-should-take-advantage-of-our-extra-time/ Purchase Extra Time:https://dauntbooks.co.uk/shop/books/extra-time/ (break the Amazon habit, why not!) The Cavendish Review: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/236212/Cavendish_Review.pdf Rachmaninoff’s Second Concerto:https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/article/the-best-recordings-of-rachmaninov-s-piano-concerto-no-2 Ikigai & the Language of Longevityhttps://message-house.co.uk/blog/ikigai-the-newest-language-of-longevity  

I have known Diana Wais for more than 20 years. If I had not met Diana, I would not have met my wife, Lory. And even if I had met Lory, without Diana's help and counselling, we would not have stayed married - I am sure.This was my first stab at a podcast - and was recorded more than two years ago - i.e. in 2018 or before.In this call, Guy Spier interviews Diana Wais to understand the real-world applications of her ‘emotional laws’ concept. She explains the reasons for which they should be taught in schools, especially given their impact on interpersonal relationships.Full transcript available here: https://aqfd.docsend.com/view/s46i2x9q48j7ayihContents:Studying Emotional Patterning (00:32)Redirecting Intellect (06:19)Emotional Laws (09:14)Application of Therapeutic Processing (12:56)

Discussing Warren Buffett's 2015 Annual Letter with Carol Massar and Noah Buhayar