My Worst Investment Ever Podcast

Stocks for the Long RunClick here to get the PDF with all charts and graphsWhat long-term return do you expect for US stocks? In Siegel’s “Stocks for the Long Run,” he tells us to expect a 5% LT real US stock market return I became a finance teacher in Thailand in 1992Then started as a financial analyst in 1993Siegel’s book came out in 1994 and was one of the best references available at the timeUS nominal returnsUS real returnsMore than 200 years of returns95 years of returnsHigher inflation and higher nominal stock market returns, but only slightly higher real returnsSlightly lower real LT bond return, near zero ST bond returnPost WWII/Bretton Woods 75 years of high inflationReal stock returns up slightlyReal LT bond returns downReal ST bond returns down to zeroGold outperformed ST bondsThe 21 years after the Dot Com bubble saw an unprecedented level of globalizationInflation was down, and real US stock returns also downReal US LT bond returns upNominal ST bond collapse, and real returns turn neg.Gold beats allSiegel’s adviceOver the long-term, an investor has paid about 15x PE for about 6-7% after inflation US stock market returnIn the future, expect to pay about 20x PE for about 5% after inflation returnClick here to get the PDF with all charts and graphsAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassThe Become a Better Investor CommunityHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleFVMR Investing: Quantamental Investing Across the WorldBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsAchieve Your GoalsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramThreadsTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

BIO: Folarin Daniel Adeboye was a CEO and Co-Founder at F&K Savings. In 5 years of operations, F&K Savings was able to onboard over 35,000 users while processing over 4 million dollars in transaction volume.STORY: Daniel and his partner’s desire to grow F&K Savings fast made them lose substantial money to an investment they blindly entered. This, and other managerial mistakes, caused the business to go under.LEARNING: Don’t mix pleasure or family with business. Never forget why you got started. “Don’t mix pleasure or family with business; stick to basic business principles.”Folarin Daniel Adeboye Guest profileFolarin Daniel Adeboye was a CEO and Co-Founder at F&K Savings. In 5 years of operations, F&K Savings was able to onboard over 35,000 users while processing over 4 million dollars in transaction volume. F&K stopped operations due to many factors, some of which were simple mistakes by the management team. Folarin Daniel is currently consulting and branding whilst still open to new opportunities in emerging markets. He’s a tech enthusiast, a financial and business consultant, and determined to help people make better business decisions.Worst investment everDuring his university days, Daniel participated in so many activities in school. He was the Auditor General of his faculty for two years and did some internship jobs with some financial platforms. So Daniel had a basic knowledge of finances. But despite that, Daniel didn’t save any of his pocket money—and he received a lot from my parents. He was a reckless spender in school, and so when he wanted to start a business after university, he didn’t have enough money to start.Nevertheless, Daniel went ahead with his business idea because there was a need for his services. He wanted to help young students prepare for their financial future. Daniel partnered with a Ghanaian friend of his, and together, they started F&K Savings.This was at that point when startups were coming up and getting funded. The partners felt they could play in this space and do something incredible. And that was how it all started. The business started very well. They had to do everything manually because they were broke. They had to find ways to get things done. The partners got some people on board and shared the dream with them.The business had remarkable growth within two years. The partners were getting deals from companies ready to partner with them. That’s where their problems started. Down the road, the partners forgot why they started the business. They now just wanted to grow as fast as other startups did. They badly needed to raise money because they were spending so much on hiring as they needed to build the best app. Funds meant to grow the brand were used to pay people and consulting services.The partners started telling people that they were a full-fledged financial institution. They started spending more on setting up an office space. All this fast expansion started affecting the business. The partners had overexposed themselves.An investment partner came to Daniel and his partner with a fantastic offer. And since they wanted to grow too fast, they jumped onto this offer because it would give them so much money. Two years after jumping into the proposal, Daniel and his partner lost a considerable percentage of their customers’ funds to this investment after it went down.Another major issue the partners faced was that they didn’t have any frameworks in place when they got into the partnership. They simply trusted their abilities and trusted each other. They believed they were young and agile and could do whatever they wanted. So they left a lot of documentation and legal frameworks undone.Daniel and his partner did well with customer acquisition and retention. They did well with the cash flow but messed up with basic business principles, which would have allowed them to stay afloat and continue to win the market.Lessons learnedDon’t mix pleasure or family with business. Stick to basic business principles.Never forget why you got started. As long as you feel connected to what led to the idea/problem you’re going to solve, you’ll keep going.Understand your business environment.Andrew’s takeawaysTaking care of clients’ money is a serious business requiring much trust. It’s different from handling your own money.Actionable adviceTrust yourself and nobody else. [spp-transcript] Connect with Folarin Daniel AdeboyeLinkedInAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassThe Become a Better Investor CommunityHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleFVMR Investing: Quantamental Investing Across the WorldBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsAchieve Your GoalsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramThreadsTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

BIO: Dana Anspach is the founder and CEO of Sensible Money, LLC, a firm specializing in retirement income planning. In 2022, Sensible Money ranked on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing privately owned companies in the U.S.STORY: Dana loved a fitness product so much that she decided to open her own franchise. Soon enough, she discovered running a business is so much different from loving its product. She sold the company at a loss.LEARNING: Just because a product is great doesn’t mean the business will succeed. Instead of opening a second business, create a new revenue stream in your existing one. “Just because you love the product doesn’t mean the business itself will be highly profitable.”Dana Anspach Guest profileDana Anspach is the founder and CEO of Sensible Money, LLC, a firm specializing in retirement income planning. In 2022, Sensible Money ranked on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing privately owned companies in the U.S.She is the author of How to Plan for the Perfect Retirement, a lecture series on The Great Courses and Control Your Retirement Destiny, available on Amazon. She has hundreds of articles online and numerous educational webinars on YouTube. Because of her continuing contributions to financial literacy, Investopedia named her three times to the country’s Top 100 Financial Advisors.Worst investment everFitness has been part of Dana’s life. One of her best friends married a man who founded a fitness franchise called Rockbox Fitness. When her friend moved to North Carolina, Dana and her fiancee visited. They went to check out Rockbox, and it was terrific. This was the best workout she’d ever been to.The couple inquired how much it costs to open a franchise, and they felt the franchise fee was reasonable. The price was about $40,000 at the time. The couple decided to open a franchise since there were none in the Phoenix area. They signed up to open four because of economies of scale—they wouldn’t profit from one.They found a beautiful location a mile from their house, did the pre-sales, followed the program exactly, and opened their franchise in October 2019. They had the most successful opening that the franchise had had so far. Running the gyms turned out to be more exhausting than Dana had anticipated.She thought it was all about handling the financials, payroll, and stuff that could be done in the background. But the gym required her to be at the forefront too. Not only that, they were open for less than six months when COVID hit. They had to shut down for eight weeks. They reopened for about four weeks and then got shut down again. At that point, Dana decided this wasn’t going to work.Eventually, they found a buyer for the franchise. The sale was substantially less than what the couple had put into it. Getting the franchise open cost about $400,000; they sold it for just $100,000.Lessons learnedLoving a product and being thrilled with the daily running of the business and making it profitable are two different things.Just because a product is great doesn’t mean the business will be a success.Andrew’s takeawaysInstead of opening a second business, create a new revenue stream in your existing one and make sure it’s five times higher.Actionable adviceIf you have a financial planner, run your investment ideas by them and listen to them.Dana’s recommendationsWhen it comes to investing, Dana recommends her go-to books, The Four Pillars of Investing, The Behavior Gap, and The Psychology of Money. She also recommends visiting her website Sensible Money which has a learning page with all kinds of resources you can download. She also hosts a free webinar about every six weeks.No.1 goal for the next 12 monthsDana’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to focus on the next growth phase for the business.Parting words “It’s been wonderful to be here. Thank you.”Dana Anspach [spp-transcript] Connect with Dana AnspachLinkedInTwitterYouTubeWebsitePodcastBooksAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassThe Become a Better Investor CommunityHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleFVMR Investing: Quantamental Investing Across the WorldBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsAchieve Your GoalsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramThreadsTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

In this episode of Investment Strategy Made Simple (ISMS), Andrew and Larry discuss three chapters of Larry’s book Investment Mistakes Even Smart Investors Make and How to Avoid Them. In this eighth episode, they discuss mistake number 13: Do you confuse the familiar with the safe? Mistake number 14: Do you believe you’re playing with the house’s money? And mistake number 15: Do you let friendship influence your choice of investment advisors?LEARNING: Just because you’re familiar with something doesn’t make it less risky. Diversify globally to get the real benefits of diversification. Your financial advisor is not your friend; it’s a business. Value and protect your investment gains as much as you value and protect the principle. “We’re all human beings and have made these mistakes. What differentiates smart people from others is that they don’t repeat the same behavior when they learn it’s a mistake. They change it. They become aware of investment biases and overcome them either on their own or with the help of a trusted financial advisor.”Larry Swedroe In today’s episode, Andrew continues his discussion with Larry Swedroe, head of financial and economic research at Buckingham Wealth Partners. You can learn more about Larry’s Worst Investment Ever story on Ep645: Beware of Idiosyncratic Risks.Larry deeply understands the world of academic research and investing, especially risk. Today Andrew and Larry discuss a chapter of Larry’s book Investment Mistakes Even Smart Investors Make and How to Avoid Them. In this eighth episode, they discuss mistake number 13: Do you confuse the familiar with the safe? Mistake number 14: Do you believe you’re playing with the house’s money? And mistake number 15: Do you let friendship influence your choice of investment advisors?Missed out on previous mistakes? Check them out:ISMS 8: Larry Swedroe – Are You Overconfident in Your Skills?ISMS 17: Larry Swedroe – Do You Project Recent Trends Indefinitely Into the Future?ISMS 20: Larry Swedroe – Do You Extrapolate From Small Samples and Trust Your Intuition?ISMS 23: Larry Swedroe – Do You Allow Yourself to Be Influenced by Your Ego and Herd Mentality?ISMS 24: Larry Swedroe – Confusing Skill and Luck Can Stop You From Investing WiselyISMS 25: Larry Swedroe – Admit Your Mistakes and Don’t Listen to Fake ExpertsISMS 26: Larry Swedroe – Are You Subject to the Endowment Effect or the Hot Streak Fallacy?Mistake number 13: Do you confuse the familiar with the safe?People tend to double up on investments they’re familiar with compared to new companies. But according to Larry, knowing about something doesn’t make it safer. When it comes to risk, people think of something they’re familiar with as safer. When they’re less familiar with it, it becomes more uncertain.People over-allocate to their domestic stock market and underweight international stocks. This bias causes investors to be overconfident and take too much risk by concentrating on assets they’re most familiar with.To avoid this bias, the guiding principle is that just because you’re familiar with something doesn’t make it less risky. Diversify globally to get the real benefits of diversification.Mistake number 14: Do you believe you’re playing with the house’s money?To explain this mistake, Larry uses the story of the man in the green bathrobe. In the story, a newlywed couple goes to Las Vegas on their honeymoon. Being intelligent, they set aside $1,000 as their gambling money for their week in Las Vegas.Unfortunately, by the end of the second night, they’d blown the entire $1,000. At the end of that night, the husband was getting ready to go to bed when he saw a little shiny object on the dresser. He picked it up, and it was a $5 chip. The man saw this as a sign to go to a roulette wheel and use that chip. So he quietly left the room and took a cab to the nearest local casino.The man put the $5 chip on the number 17 because that was the number on the chip. At 35 to-one odds, he won. He played again and won. The man won about five times and now had $6.1 million.A huge crowd had gathered around the table to watch the man play again. The roulette dealer spun the wheel, and it looked like it would drop on 17. Then it fell over the next number. The man lost all his winnings. Because he was in such a hurry when he left his room, the man was still wearing the hotel’s green bathrobe—in which he had to walk back to his hotel and explain to his wife what’s happened. He tried to sneak in, but his wife was awake. He told her that he’d gone to the casino. She asked how it went, and he said he’d lost five bucks.The man’s problem was thinking that he didn’t lose $6 million because it wasn’t his money but the house’s money. Now, if someone had given him a check for $6 million, there’s no way he would have bet it on the roulette wheel.When it comes to investing, Larry says that most people are lucky to find stock at low prices. But when the stocks become winners, they don’t see the gains made as their money. So majority never feel the need to protect their profits and end up losing them.Mistake number 15: Do you let friendship influence your choice of investment advisors?Many investors will often hire financial advisors who are their friends. Their decision is not based on facts but on emotion. They’ll continue depending on the financial advisor even when their investments perform poorly. They won’t fire them because they’re friends. The truth is that they’re only your friend because they’re making commissions or other fees off of you. Friendships have caused people so much of their fortunes unnecessarily.About Larry SwedroeLarry Swedroe is head of financial and economic research at Buckingham Wealth Partners. Since joining the firm in 1996, Larry has spent his time, talent, and energy educating investors on the benefits of evidence-based investing with an enthusiasm few can match.Larry was among the first authors to publish a book that explained the science of investing in layman’s terms, “The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You’ll Ever Need.” He has authored or co-authored 18 books.Larry’s dedication to helping others has made him a sought-after national speaker. He has made appearances on national television on various outlets.Larry is a prolific writer, regularly contributing to multiple outlets, including AlphaArchitect, Advisor Perspectives, and Wealth Management. [spp-transcript] Connect with Larry SwedroeLinkedInTwitterWebsiteBooksAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassThe Become a Better Investor CommunityHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleFVMR Investing: Quantamental Investing Across the WorldBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsAchieve Your GoalsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever PodcastFurther reading mentionedLarry Swedroe and RC Balaban, Investment Mistakes Even Smart Investors Make and How to Avoid ThemPhilip E. Tetlock, Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know?Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Third Edition: Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful ActsGary Belsky and Thomas Gilovich, Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes and How to Correct Them: Lessons from the Life-Changing Science of Behavioral Economics

BIO: Manisha Thakor has worked in financial services for over 30 years, focusing on women’s economic empowerment.STORY: From a very young age, Manisha equated her self-worth to her achievements. This led her to overwork herself almost to death—twice.LEARNING: Don’t underestimate the incredible power of the net present value of your future earnings. Invest concurrently in your financial health and your emotional wealth. “Investing concurrently in your financial health and your emotional wealth is the secret formula to maximizing the NPV of your potential future earning stream.”Manisha Thakor Guest profileManisha Thakor has worked in financial services for over 30 years with a focus on women’s economic empowerment. A nationally recognized thought leader around the issues of financial literacy and education, Manisha has been featured in national media such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Barron’s, CNN, and CNBC. She has written two personal finance books for women in their 20s and 30s. Her latest book MoneyZen: The Secret to Finding Your “Enough,” comes out on August 8th, 2023. Manisha earned her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BA from Wellesley College. She also holds the CFA and CFP designations.Worst investment everGrowing up, Manisha lived in a small town in Indiana. Being mixed race, she got picked on a lot, particularly in grades four, five, and six. Those formative years put her on the search for a sense of belonging. The cheerleaders and football players didn’t like Manisha, but the teachers did because she worked hard and got good grades. So Manisha started getting endorphin high from teachers’ approvals and getting good grades. She kept studying and going after those grades because they made her feel whole and worth something in a way that she didn’t feel socially.When Manisha entered finance, she realized there were no teachers or grades, just bosses and money. And so, she developed a profoundly toxic relationship with work, money, success, and accomplishments. Manisha had come to identify her self-worth in her school years with grades. In her professional years, Manisha placed her self-worth in her net worth. Because Manisha was so locked into her identity and sense of self-worth as her achievements at work, she didn’t have friends or hobbies. She worked seven days a week and traveled 40 weeks a year for a decade.One day she was sitting on a plane and had tears streaming down her face. She had piles of paperwork on her small tray that she was trying to work on. All Manisha could think of was that she had no idea how she would make it through the next 48 hours of meetings because she had no energy left.A lady sitting across from Manisha came and gave her this look like she knew what she was going through. The lady opened this expensive-looking silver pill case and pulled out three yellow pills. She handed them to Manisha and told her to take just half a pill. Manisha grabbed the pills like candy. She didn’t even ask what she was putting in her mouth. Turns out it was Valium, and it helped. Manisha was able to calm down. She took another pill the following day and made it through her meetings.Manisha kept this life going until she had two near-death experiences. Both times Manisha wished she’d spent more time with family, that she’d not missed her grandmother’s funeral or the many weddings because she had meetings that were so important.The second near-death experience was her big wake-up call. Manisha had reached this point where she could only stay awake for about five to six hours daily. She found out her body was attacking itself. It took Manisha nine months to get her energy back. During this period, she realized that she had spent the entirety of her adult life on this 24/7 hamster wheel of hustle culture. Manisha was so driven by this mental model of self-worth equals net worth that she didn’t understand the power of the net present value of her future earnings.Lessons learnedWhat we have that’s entirely our own, and we have enormous control over, is our brain and how we use it to generate our future income.Don’t underestimate the incredible power of the net present value of your future earnings. Always protect it.Investing concurrently in your financial health and emotional wealth is the secret formula to maximizing the NPV of your potential future earning stream.Andrew’s takeawaysDon’t be internally driven to work seven days a week. Get away from that.When pressure is on, step back and take time.No.1 goal for the next 12 monthsManisha’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to achieve less.Parting words “If people think that this may be a problem for them, but they’re not quite sure, I put together a really fun quiz at MoneyZen.com. Check it out and see if you’ve gone down the rabbit hole. I want to help pull you out.”Manisha Thakor [spp-transcript] Connect with Manisha ThakorLinkedInTwitterFacebookInstagramYouTubeWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassThe Become a Better Investor CommunityHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleFVMR Investing: Quantamental Investing Across the WorldBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsAchieve Your GoalsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramThreadsTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

BIO: Dr. Richard Smith – Berkeley Mathematician and Ph.D. in System Science – is a fintech entrepreneur, the CEO of The Foundation for the Study of Cycles, and cofounder of the investment tool Finiac.STORY: Richard invested his entire live savings ($10,000), and in 18 months, it had grown to $40,000. Then suddenly, the investment went down to $30,000. He believed it would go up again, so he held on. Then it went further down to $20,000. Richard kept waiting. Eventually, it went to $10,000, and that’s when he panicked and took out all his money.LEARNING: Integrate trailing stops. It’s hard to do the right thing in the markets. “The markets wouldn’t be as interesting or as potentially valuable if it wasn’t hard. Anything valuable is hard.”Richard Smith Guest profileDr. Richard Smith – Berkeley Mathematician and Ph.D. in System Science – is a fintech entrepreneur, the CEO of The Foundation for the Study of Cycles, and cofounder of the investment tool Finiac.Richard has built a reputation as “The Doctor of Uncertainty” amongst his academic peers and has helped government agencies and Fortune 500 companies make sense of complex data sets.With his background in mathematical theories of uncertainty combined with his investing and trading experience, he is a regular speaker and lecturer and particularly enjoys opportunities to share his knowledge and help others gain an edge in the market.Worst investment everIn 1998/99, during the Dotcom boom, Richard had just started investing while in graduate school. In about 18 months, he’d managed to get his investment account up from $10,000 (his life savings at the time) to $40,000. Richard was over the moon and felt like a real expert investor.Then in March of 2000, all of a sudden, his $40,000 fell to $30,000 practically overnight. Though a significant loss, Richard decided to hold onto the investment and wait until it returned to $35,000. But instead, it went down to $20,000. Again, he said he’d get out when it gets back to $25,000. Finally, it went down to $10,000, and at that point, Richard panicked and got all his money out of the market.Lessons learnedIntegrate trailing stops.It’s hard to do the right thing in the markets.Andrew’s takeawaysAs a new investor, protect your capital first. This allows you to stay in the game, keep learning, and win over time.Actionable adviceGet your head out of the mass media. The opportunity isn’t there if everybody’s looking in the same place. Be willing to look off the beaten path.No.1 goal for the next 12 monthsRichard’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to make his business cash flow positive.Parting words “Stay the course. Remember that it’s time in the markets, not just timing the markets that will bring you success. Targeting the right level of exposure for you is also very important.”Richard Smith [spp-transcript] Connect with Richard SmithLinkedInTwitterYouTubeBlogWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassThe Become a Better Investor CommunityHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleFVMR Investing: Quantamental Investing Across the WorldBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsAchieve Your GoalsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramThreadsTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

BIO: David Perry was in the video game industry for over 30 years, making hits like The Matrix, Aladdin, The Terminator, and Earthworm Jim. He sold his last company to Sony PlayStation and the one before that to Atari. He’s now building a startup in e-Commerce called Carro.STORY: One of David’s top former employees started a VR company and invited him to invest. Though David believed in this employee, experiencing motion sickness while trying out the VR games made him not invest in what became a multi-billion dollar company.LEARNING: When you really believe in somebody, go ahead and support them. Bet on the person, not the idea. “When you get great people, incredible things tend to happen. So when you’re betting on a CEO, bet on someone who you think can attract talent.”David Perry Guest profileDavid Perry was in the video game industry for over 30 years, making hits like The Matrix, Aladdin, The Terminator, and Earthworm Jim. He sold his last company to Sony PlayStation and the one before that to Atari. He’s now building a startup in e-Commerce called Carro. If you email hello@getcarro.com and mention My Worst Investment Ever podcast, you’ll get VIP personal support.Worst investment everDavid firmly believed that someday, every game ever made would be available on every device everywhere in the world instantly. And so, if that will eventually exist, why not start building it now?With that thought in mind, David began to build that technology and had some massive breakthroughs. He demonstrated that you could play a game from the cloud with the same feeling as playing with a console on your table. That caused people’s heads to pop off. Samsung wanted to work with David to power its video game strategy, and Sony bought the company.David’s employees made significant amounts of money from the company’s success and eventual sale. One of the employees decided to leave and start his own company using the money he had just made from the exit to Sony. As a CEO, David was committed to working with PlayStation. So he was watching this former employee build his own company.The employee contacted David and asked if he’d be interested in investing in his new company. David decided to check out the company. The guy demonstrated what he was working on, which was virtual reality. The company was called Oculus. David sat down and put on the VR headset. Then he started getting motion sickness because he was moving all over the place. He couldn’t wait to finish the demo.David was initially very interested in investing in the company because he genuinely believed in his former employee. But after the motion sickness, he needed time to think about it. He researched and read some military papers on how the military had tried their hardest to stop motion sickness but had found no solution as it’s biological. David decided to pass on the opportunity to be a founding Oculus investor.The company was a huge success and was bought for billions of dollars. David would have made hundreds of millions of dollars had he invested in the company.Lessons learnedWhen you really believe in somebody, go ahead and support them.Bet on the person, not the idea.Andrew’s takeawaysWe get stuck into frames of reference, and sometimes we get beholden to those references, and we can’t think beyond them.Actionable adviceIf there’s something wrong or something missing in an idea or business you want to invest in, ask yourself if there’s anything you can do to help. Can you see a way out of this? If yes, then maybe that would be the thing that unlocks you.David’s recommendationWhatever you want to learn, there is somebody on planet Earth that’s amazing at it and is willing to teach you. Your job is to find that person and do whatever you must to get in a room with them and learn.No.1 goal for the next 12 monthsDavid’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to grow his company and get it to a point where it’s crystal clear what they’re doing and why they’re doing it.Parting words “Think of a question that 100% of people will say yes to, and then go after that.”David Perry [spp-transcript] Connect with David PerryLinkedInTwitterBlogWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassThe Become a Better Investor CommunityHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleFVMR Investing: Quantamental Investing Across the WorldBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsAchieve Your GoalsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramThreadsTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever PodcastFurther reading mentionedDavid Perry, David Perry on Game Design: A Brainstorming ToolBoxKen Robinson and Lou Aronica, Finding Your Element: How to Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life.

BIO: Tom Wall holds a Ph.D. in Retirement Income Planning, with original research on Whole Life as a Fixed Income Alternative under the advisement of industry thought leaders: Wade Pfau, Michael Finke, and Stephen Parrish.STORY: Tom got pulled into the Bitcoin frenzy in 2018 and made huge gains. He had also invested in an NFT performing really well and made 15X his investment. Tom took his investment from the NFT and invested the money in Bitcoin. Then Bitcoin’s value dropped, and Tom lost almost half of his investment.LEARNING: If you make some money, sell, or at least take half off the table. Have a piece of your portfolio that is continually growing but also accessible. “If you make any gain, take back your original investment, and let your gain ride.”Tom Wall Guest profileTom Wall holds a Ph.D. in Retirement Income Planning, with original research on Whole Life as a Fixed Income Alternative under the advisement of industry thought leaders: Wade Pfau, Michael Finke, and Stephen Parrish. His focus on academics and selling from a place of integrity comes from a 20-year career of positioning whole life insurance and competing against its alternatives.Recently he published Permission to Spend: Maximize Your Retirement with the Best-Kept Secret in Personal Finance. Starting in college as an award-winning advisor with Northwestern Mutual before moving his practice to MassMutual, he subsequently grew his career in prominent home office sales and marketing leadership roles.Tom has been a well-known storyteller at nationwide perennial company conferences and firm meetings. Tom now coaches and consults with financial advisors, hosts the Whole Life Masterminds study group, and authors multiple original thought leadership pieces, books, and other content.Worst investment everIn 2017/18, Tom’s friends started texting him about this thing called Bitcoin. He had heard about it before but dismissed it because he couldn’t find it anywhere or buy it. But when his friends started talking about it, he got interested and decided to invest in it. At the time, Bitcoin was at $2,000. Tom invested $10,000, and in just a year, Bitcoin’s value was $20,000. Tom made some really good money.Then the NFT craze started, and there was one in particular that Tom believed in, and he bought it. The NFT went up about 15 times his investment. Tom was pleased. Then he decided to move the NFT winnings to Bitcoin, but unfortunately, Bitcoin had started going down at the time. Tom lost over half the value of his gains.Lessons learnedIf you make some money, sell, or at least take half off the table.A bird in the hand is absolutely worth two in the bush.Have a piece of your portfolio that is continually growing but also accessible.Andrew’s takeawaysIf you make some gains, take 50% off the table, and keep the other 50%.No.1 goal for the next 12 monthsTom’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to add value to as many people as possible and be the voice of reason in the insurance space.Parting words “Go out there and take those risks. Just make sure you do it responsibly and take those gains off the table when you get them.”Tom Wall [spp-transcript] Connect with Tom WallLinkedInBlogWebsite Andrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassThe Become a Better Investor CommunityHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleFVMR Investing: Quantamental Investing Across the WorldBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsAchieve Your GoalsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramThreadsTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

BIO: Rick Warner is a personal development coach, mentor, and highly respected real estate broker based in California. Rick’s story is one of triumph over adversity.STORY: Rick took his money from well-performing stocks and decided to time the market. After much waiting, he came across the First Republic Bank’s stock, whose share price had fallen from $300 to $30. He bought 700 shares at $29 each. The price kept falling. Rick bought 700 more shares at $13, hoping the price would turn around, but it didn’t. The bank was bought out, and the shares went to zero.LEARNING: Do a lot of research before investing. Banks are very volatile, so you must be careful when investing in them. “Availing myself to others, reading books, learning stuff, and listening to people like you has been my biggest game changer.”Rick Warner Guest profileRick Warner is a personal development coach, mentor, and highly respected real estate broker based in California. Rick’s story is one of triumph over adversity. At 20 years old, he found himself homeless and addicted to drugs. But with the help of a supportive community, he was able to turn his life around. Now, over 30 years later, Rick remains committed to personal growth and helping others achieve success. He has developed the Navigator program, a groundbreaking approach to personal productivity and purposeful living.Worst investment everRick had made some pretty good investments in stocks about three years ago. Then he felt things would go sideways, so he took all his money off the table. Rick’s plan was to wait and time when the market was right to reinvest. He waited and waited, but the market kept going up and stayed up, so Rick couldn’t get in until recently with the banking crisis.First Republic Bank’s stock, previously $300, had gone down to $30. He figured this was what he’d been waiting for. Rick bought 700 shares for $29 each, and by the end of that day, it had gone down to $21.The stock price kept falling; at some point, it was $13. Rick figured this was a big well-known bank with a good reputation and had done lots of business, so the stock price would eventually turn around. With this in mind, he decided to double down and bought another 700 shares. Three weeks later, the share price was $3. JP Morgan later bought the bank, and the shares went to zero.Lessons learnedDo a lot of research before investing.Andrew’s takeawaysWhen investing in banks, you invest in a highly speculative asset.Banks are very volatile, so you must be careful when investing in them.If you invest in something and it starts to go down, and you never thought it would, there’s nothing wrong with getting out. You can always get in again at another point.Actionable adviceAvail yourself to the people that have been around before you and be willing to ask them for help instead of doing everything yourself. Learn from other people’s mistakes instead of waiting to make the mistakes yourself.Rick’s recommendationRick recommends reading The Four Agreements, a simple guide on personal development. You can also look Rick up on his website if you want to just have a conversation or if you need mentorship.No.1 goal for the next 12 monthsRick’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to make his real estate business location independent so he can spend more time in his coaching and mentoring program.Parting words “Thank you so much for having me on the show, Andrew.”Rick Warner [spp-transcript] Connect with Rick WarnerLinkedInFacebookInstagramWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassThe Become a Better Investor CommunityHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleFVMR Investing: Quantamental Investing Across the WorldBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsAchieve Your GoalsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramThreadsTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

BIO: Mohit Tater is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and consultant. He founded BlackBook Investments and quickly became a recognized expert investor in online businesses and digital assets.STORY: Mohit got enticed by the numbers his favorite pizza shop was turning and decided to start his own shop. Since he and his partner had no experience in the F&B industry, they were to receive full support from the franchise owner. Unfortunately, the owner went into a coma before the shop opened. The partners tried all they could, but the shop eventually failed.LEARNING: Don’t venture into an industry you don’t understand and chase high returns. You don’t know what you’re getting into until you are in it. “It’s more difficult to execute something you don’t know. Try and stick to something that is already working for you.”Mohit Tater Guest profileMohit Tater is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and consultant. He founded BlackBook Investments and quickly became a recognized expert investor in online businesses and digital assets. Mohit has extensive experience in SEO, content marketing, social media marketing, and conversion rate optimization. He has worked closely with brands such as eBay, Groupon, Microsoft, Nokia, and many more on their digital marketing strategies. Today, Mohit lives his passion as an investor, growing online businesses for himself and his clients.Worst investment everMohit would visit a pizza place in his city every so often. One day he casually talked to the manager about how many pizzas they sell daily, what the operations are like, how much it costs to start a pizza shop like that one, etc. The numbers the manager shared with Mohit were very lucrative and enticing.Mohit set up a meeting with the owner of the franchise. He seemed very positive, and the numbers looked good. The guy had the whole business plan mapped out for expansion. Mohit and his business partner decided to open a pizza shop with the manager’s support, who would hire the team for them and ensure that the operations ran smoothly. Mohit and his partner had no experience in this business. Still, they believed they’d learn eventually and hopefully turn around and make a profit.The partners spent $100,000 setting up the shop, and just before it was about to open, the franchise owner got a stroke and went into a coma. This guy was the brains behind branding, marketing, operations, and everything, basically. Without him, Mohit and his partner were like sitting ducks. They had no option but to continue with the plan because they had spent so much money building it.The team the franchise owner had hired came and tried to run the pizza shop as efficiently as possible. But they were not turning a profit. The partners were just putting more money every month into sustaining and still not breaking even. Both partners had no experience with the F&B industry, and even though they tried all they could, the shop eventually failed.Lessons learnedDon’t venture into an industry you don’t understand and chase high returns because it’s not as easy as it looks from the outside.Unless you have good experience in an industry, don’t bother putting your money at stake. Learn about it first.You don’t know what you’re getting into until you are in it.You have to dedicate time to your business.Andrew’s takeawaysGet into a business knowing that unexpected things are going to happen.You think you can control all the variables, but you can’t.Only buy a company you understand where you can add value to its core.Actionable adviceTry and stick to what you know and what’s already working for you.Mohit’s recommendationMohit recommends you visit his website, BlackBook Investments, and click on the investor questionnaire to see if you’re a good fit to invest in online businesses.No.1 goal for the next 12 monthsMohit’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to be at a point where he’s not needed in his business and his team can still handle everything.Parting words “Do what you know best and stick to it until it works for you.”Mohit Tater [spp-transcript] Connect with Mohit TaterLinkedInTwitterInstagramWebsite Andrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassThe Become a Better Investor CommunityHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleFVMR Investing: Quantamental Investing Across the WorldBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsAchieve Your GoalsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramThreadsTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast