My Worst Investment Ever Podcast

Roger Dooley is an author and international keynote speaker. His books include FRICTION – The Untapped Force That Can Be Your Most Powerful Advantage and Brainfluence: 100 Ways To Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing. He writes the popular blog Neuromarketing as well as a columnist at Forbes. He is the founder of Dooley Direct, a marketing consultancy, and co-founded College Confidential, the leading college-bound website. He's been a serial entrepreneur since he left a senior strategy position at a Fortune 1000 company to enter the then-nascent home computer market. Also, you can check his podcast entitled The Brainfluence Podcast.   “We all have a tendency that if we're in a situation that is somewhat comfortable, we keep investing our time in that when we really shouldn't. We should say, ‘Okay, a year from now, this is not going to be any better; it is time to pull the plug and do something else.’” Roger Dooley   Worst investment ever Investing in a company that does not want to be obsolete Way back in the early days of home computers, Roger co-founded a business that focused on getting software, accessories and other products to the early owners of home computers. For years, Roger grew the business to a quite substantial size. But for the last five years, they began to level out and saw that the market was changing which made some of their original product areas defunct. Instead of looking for an exit before becoming obsolete, Roger stayed with the business and managed to run it for a couple more years. And in those years, the business never grew nor had experienced big financial losses. It just existed in the market in comfortable inertia. Money can be recovered but time can’t After 13 years, Roger realized that it was time to exit. Although he had no substantial losses from that investment, he felt like he was trapped for years in a situation that never paid off long term. This was for him his worst investment as it took so much of his time, which he can never get back. Yes, he invested money in that business, but for him, money lost can always be recovered. Lessons learned Treat time as money The same attitude you put in investing your money applies to time. If you are putting so much time and money into a business to keep it going and you realized at some point that it is not working, do not be afraid to pull the plug and exit. Find a way to exit it and keep yourself whole Ask yourself what to do to change the trajectory of the situation you are currently on. Even if it’s risky, maybe breaking it is better than just limping along for another few years. Andrew’s takeaways A strong company can die slowly Always be careful because you may be going down a slope and not even noticing it. Time lost can never be retrieved Time may be more precious than money because one can always recover from a financial loss but one cannot retrieve the time lost. Actionable advice Evaluate where you are periodically and take stock of where you are investing your time now. No. 1 goal for the next 12 months Roger will continue to keep promoting the ideas in his book FRICTION. He’s already booked for speeches around the world and workshops focused on the idea of how you can improve customer experience and employee experience by focusing on friction and making things easier. Parting words   “Just keep evaluating where you are and try and be as dispassionate as possible. You can never eliminate all your biases, but do your best.” Roger Dooley   Andrew’s books How to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock Market My Worst Investment Ever 9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Andrew’s online programs Valuation Master Class Women Building Wealth The Build Your Wealth Membership Group Become a Great Presenter and Increase Your Influence Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Connect with Roger Dooley LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Instagram Podcast Website   Connect with Andrew Stotz astotz.com LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube My Worst Investment Ever Podcast

Peter Sainsbury is an investor in resource stocks and is also a commodity futures trader. In an attempt to help others, he wrote two books aimed at investors - Commodities: 50 Things You Really Need To Know and Crude Forecasts: Predictions, Pundits & Profits In The Commodity Casino. At Materials Risk, he writes about what he observes in the world of markets, economics, and investing.   “I thought I was clever, but in many ways, I was making it much more complicated than it than it needed to be.” Peter Sainsbury   Worst investment ever Making a contrarian investment is exciting Peter always had an interest in gold and after his previous success, in early 2014, he bought shares in a mining company. He was very excited to have potentially found something that was being underappreciated by the broader market. During that time, he thought it would be interesting to make a contrarian investment. He took a position that went against the trend of the market, hopeful of gaining a comfortable leveraged exposure to gold and providing limited downside as well. Going for the kill With that play in mind, Peter was searching around different ways to apply it. While reading through various articles, one company kept on coming up and was making a buzz in social media. After making enough research of this company – looking at how it performed in the past years and the different gold price environments in the past, Peter decided to make a contrarian investment. Getting out of a position is harder than getting in However, the excitement didn’t last long because one problem after another started to pile up. First of all, the gold price kept on falling. Second, the company was based in a country where a change in political regime meant that the attitude towards mining became increasingly negative. In effect, the share price of the company was down around about 70%. Even with all these issues, it still took Peter quite a while to realize that he just made his worst investment ever. He admitted that getting out of a bad position and moving on was really hard. Lesson learned Do not put all your eggs in one basket Investing without diversification is like throwing money away. Diversification is beneficial as it reduces the risk and probably will bring you greater results. Avoid being pushed into action by the noise in the marketplace Learn how to be more critical of the articles and influences you get from social media and just financial media in general. Do your own research. Finding a simple way is the clever thing to do In the financial world, investors tend to make it complicated. However, keeping it simple may sometimes be a greater strategy. Andrew’s takeaways Always keep in mind liquidity because it is a major risk Don’t forget that sometimes, something may be liquid, and then when you need to sell it, it is not as liquid as it was in the past. Do not resist diversification Diversification is a better position than concentration. It is the simplest way to preserve and build wealth. When you feel like there is something wrong, get out immediately Knowing when there is something wrong and getting out of that bad position will save you from heartaches in the future. Actionable advice Make your own decisions, and don’t be swayed by what you read or see on financial TV. Do your own research and do it well. Make sure that what you're investing in is aligned to what you expect to see happen. Lastly, Peter suggests trying the tool he’s been using which is to keep a decision-making journal to track the actual process over time and keeps you aware when you deviate from the process. No. 1 goal for the next 12 months Peter hopes to finish writing his new book, which will help one to be a critical media consumer and understanding those narratives that affect one’s decision making. Parting words   “It's never too late to try new things. Mistakes are inevitable but make them relatively small ones and learn from that and move on.” Peter Sainsbury   Andrew’s books How to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock Market My Worst Investment Ever 9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Andrew’s online programs Valuation Master Class Women Building Wealth The Build Your Wealth Membership Group Become a Great Presenter and Increase Your Influence Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Connect with Peter Sainsbury LinkedIn Twitter Youtube Website   Connect with Andrew Stotz astotz.com LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube My Worst Investment Ever Podcast

For over 30 years, Dante Vitoria has been running his firm the Vitoria Group, which has broad experience working with companies of various sizes to fulfill its client's financial needs. The client base is extremely diverse, ranging from international money centers, domestic banks, insurance companies, and financial firms. The group provides a vast array of financial services specifically tailored to enable clients to meet their goals, the assistance direction and access to professional banking and other facilities.   “Know when to get in, but more importantly know when you're going to get out.” Dante Vitoria   Worst investment ever Getting into Wall Street After college, the dad to one of Dante’s friends asked him to come work for him at a small but very successful investment banking firm. Though he’d never thought about getting into finance he said yes. Experiencing his first stock investment About a month and a half into his first job a doctor in Florida named Stanley Chase came up with this idea where he’d take your blood test and pronounce you AIDS-free then give you a credit card to show your AIDS-free status. A lot of brokers were interested in the idea and even tried it out. They figured they could take the doctor’s idea public. The whole firm was behind the stock. Every broker from the rookie, to the 75-year-old retired guy who'd come every day and have a cup of coffee, was buying the stock. It was the greatest stock since IBM. Getting into everyone’s favorite stock Dante, not wanting to be left behind, took all the savings he had, about $50,000 and bought the stock which was selling below $12 a share. After about a month and a half, the stock was selling at double what Dante had bought it for. Playing sheep with his investment After he had doubled his money, Dante went to a stockbroker with a ticket to sell. The trader looked at him and said, “What's wrong with you? It doesn't get any better than this. Don't do this. Let's keep it. If anything happens I will tell you to get out.” Dante listened to the trader and kept his stock. A week later the stock was trading at $31. He still doesn’t sell it. Well, the trader had not yet called to advise time to sell, so he still held onto the stock. Here comes the FBI One Monday morning, Dante stepped off his office elevator and was met by a huge guy wearing a brown polyester suit with slicked black hair. The guy asked him if he was Vitoria to which he answered in the affirmative. The guy said he was the FBI and told him to go have breakfast they had no interest in him. Confused, Dante showed him the breakfast he was carrying and said he was good. The FBI told him to leave immediately and come back after lunch. So off he went. The office building was now full of cops, plainclothes detectives and the FBI. When he came back later, the firm had four people in it. Two secretaries, the chairman, and Dante. And just like that, he becomes the vice-chairman of a brokerage firm The chairman informed him that he was now the second most senior person in the firm. This automatically made him the vice-chairman of the firm, at 22 years. The stock goes bust Before he could get excited about being a vice-chairman, he remembered his investment portfolio. He asked the chairman about it and all he could tell him was to forget it. The stock he’d bought for $50,000 was now worth about 50 cents. This was certainly by far the worst investment Dante has ever made. Lessons learned Not every stock is good for you Just because a stock is great for your friend doesn't mean it's great for you. The reverse is also true. A stock might just be horrible for someone else but great for you. So do your homework and take the time to find out how good a stock is for your portfolio. Andrew’s takeaways Don’t bet on one stock Always be wary of betting on just one stock because you increase your chances of losing your money. Diversify your portfolio for better risk management. Check the legitimacy of your investment company Be careful in the financial world to stay away from criminal behavior or else you’ll get into trouble. Make sure you do a background check on the investment company you intend to use to make sure it is legit. Don’t hold onto your stock for too long If you’re not sure whether to sell a stock or not you can always sell half or even 25% of it as you continue to watch the stock exchange market. Just don’t hold onto the whole thing for too long. Actionable advice Have a clear entry point and an exit point. Never chase an investment and don't run too long with that investment. No. 1 goal for the next 12 months Dante’s goal for 2020 is to have a better year than he had this year. His goal is simply to do a little better every year. Parting words   “Do your homework and stay strong. Always have an exit strategy because it’s easy to get in but sometimes it's hard to get out you know.” Dante Vitoria   Andrew’s books How to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock Market My Worst Investment Ever 9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Andrew’s online programs Valuation Master Class Women Building Wealth The Build Your Wealth Membership Group Become a Great Presenter and Increase Your Influence Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Connect with Dante Vitoria Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Blog Website Connect with Andrew Stotz astotz.com LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube My Worst Investment Ever Podcast

Sarah Larbi specializes in helping take the mystery out of homeownership for Canadians who thought real estate investing was out of reach. She has earned their trust and respect by having the drive and focus to embark, build and grow a seven-figure, 10 property investment portfolio by her early 30’s. Sarah’s goal is to inspire and train other fellow Canadian’s to realize their property-owning dreams by sharing her 7-step investing process through her online training programs. Her results-oriented approach has been featured in The Toronto Star, 1010 News Talk Radio, and Canadian Real Estate Wealth Magazine as well as numerous online media. She is an invited speaker at the Canadian Real Estate Wealth Investor Forum and is often a guest on numerous North American finance-focused podcasts. Sarah is the co-host of two podcasts related to the Canadian real estate market.   “In this real estate game, it is about time in the market, not timing the market. So just do your research, jump in and keep learning along the way.” Sarah Larbi   Worst investment ever Desire to be wealthy Sarah had a great desire to be wealthy and she wanted to find out how she could retire at 40 while still enjoying financial freedom. So she did some research and real estate investing kept coming back over and over and over. While she came across other ways of creating wealth, she was drawn to real estate. She managed to convince her boyfriend to join her and buy real estate property. She took a second job and cashed in some of her vacation money to be able to have enough downpayment to buy the cheapest house that they could afford. Mistake no.1: Renting to family At the time Sarah and her boyfriend were looking to buy their first rental property her sister needed a place to live closer to her daughter's school. So they decided to look for property in that area with plans to rent out the house to her sister. They didn’t do any kind of research they simply asked the sister what kind of house she wanted and could afford. That’s the only information they worked with to buy their first rental property. They didn’t research the location or make any price and property comparisons. Mistake no.2: Not using a local realtor Sarah used the realtor that was originally helping them in a town about an hour away to find their rental property. They kept going back and forth because the realtor didn't know the market and neither did they. Mistake no.3: Borrowing from the bank instead of a mortgage broker Once they got a property they went to their bank for financing. The bank wanted 35% downpayment forcing her to look for a mortgage broker but at this point, she’d wasted a lot of time trying to negotiate with the bank. Making the math work Luckily, Sarah happened to listen to several real estate investing podcasts and she learned that she needed to figure out how to at least break even or make some cash flow from her real estate property. She worked out that she needed to collect $800 in rent per month to break even. What she didn’t know, because she had done zero market research, was that the actual market rent was about $1100. While they didn’t lose any money from buying the property, it remains her worst investment because they didn’t make the money that they should have been making had they looked and seen the comparables of what the rent go for in the first place. Lessons learned Use local agents Sarah has learned to only use realtors that are local in areas she’s looking to invest in because the local realtors know where the best deals are. They’re also likely to have a team of electricians, plumbers, paralegals, etc. so that you don't have to go and source from scratch. Don’t be too analytical Be careful that you don't spend all your time doing research. Do your research but make sure that you're not sitting on your butt five years from now, still doing research. Do enough research, feel comfortable, get the right help, get your right team and then just go ahead and do it and trust that you've done enough research. There are lots of people complaining that they should have done something 10 years ago, but they’ve just been reading and analyzing nonstop but never dared to do anything. Andrew’s takeaways Don’t jump in blindly Don't just jump into real estate investing, take a little time to research so that you can do it will all the facts at hand. This makes risk management easier. Ask for help You don’t know what’s out there when you’re dealing with an investment property. But the truth is that there's a lot of help available and a lot of people are willing to help as long as you ask for their help to avoid making your next mistake. Actionable advice Join and attend a networking group that's real estate investing specific and build your circle. Have people that are doing what you want to do. And those that are talking to you and saying, “You're crazy, don't do it”, those are not the people you want to be around. Don't listen to them. Go and network with people that you want to be like, people you want to learn from and create that that circle around you of those like-minded people. No. 1 goal for the next 12 months Sarah’s number one goal is to reduce her job hours, either to part-time or to not too many because she’s not working to make money anymore. She’s at the stage where she can start taking some of her time back. Parting words   “Learn and take action. Reach out to people that are doing it around you. There are ups and downs, just pick yourself back up and keep going.” Sarah Larbi   Andrew’s books How to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock Market My Worst Investment Ever 9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Andrew’s online programs Valuation Master Class Women Building Wealth The Build Your Wealth Membership Group Become a Great Presenter and Increase Your Influence Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Connect with Sarah Larbi Twitter Facebook Instagram YouTube Blog Website Connect with Andrew Stotz astotz.com LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube My Worst Investment Ever Podcast

Jack Thomas is the founder and CEO of BASE, which was voted as Asia's Gym of the Year 2018 at the Fitness Best Awards. With eight years of experience in Asia's fitness industry, he runs a multiple seven-figure fitness business in Bangkok with a team of over 30 coaches. Jack also hosts the Fitness Business Asia Podcast, a weekly show with a mission to raise the standards of Asia's fitness industry. He regularly speaks at leading fitness industry events in Asia such as the FIT Summit, Asia Fitness Convention, and ExPro Fitness Convention.   “If you do the right things during the recruitment process and probation period, by the end of that, you should really know if they're the right fit for your company or not.” Jack Thomas   Worst investment ever The difficulty of launching a business Jack admitted that the first six months after they opened in August 2016 was the toughest. Although he had experience in running a business, launching one was different. He said that not focusing properly in sales and marketing was his biggest regret. Instead of consulting marketing agencies, they decided to do it internally. With little knowledge in sales and marketing, he interviewed someone who he thought was the right person for the job. Bringing in the wrong people One moment he was launching a business, the next thing Jack knew, he hit rock bottom. Yes, he had clients coming in and did some free trial runs but they were never converted to fully-paying clients. The manager he hired whose job was to introduce packages that catered to their clients’ needs was letting these clients walk out the door without offering them products of the gym. It was not until they were pretty low on funds that Jack discovered how wrong that person was for the job. Lessons learned Tidy up your recruitment process Every time something goes right or something goes wrong, look back, and analyze what went right and what went wrong. Incorporate the things you have learned when updating your recruitment process to make things better later. Get people who are excited with sales If they are allergic to sales and they do not want to do it, it's going to be hard to turn that person around. Don't tell your employees that the products will sell itself When your employees stop selling and expect your products to do all the work, sales don’t happen. Andrew’s takeaways Entrepreneurs are risk managers A lot of people call entrepreneurs risk-takers, but truthfully, they're risk managers. It is important to manage risks so carefully especially if you have a very limited amount of resources. The beginning stage is not the right time to take risks When you're in the beginning stage or the vulnerable stage of your business, it's not the time to take risks on your staff. You've got to get someone experienced in that line of business. The role of intuition Always listen to your intuition and don't be afraid to raise its voice and follow it. Actionable advice Nail your recruitment process and use the probation period well. No. 1 goal for the next 12 months Jack is now focusing on building new technology called Baseline that will help people record their fitness results as they go through a group fitness class. In the next couple of months, he is looking forward to launching Baseline in Singapore. Parting words   “The bigger the loss, the bigger the lesson.” Jack Thomas   Andrew’s books How to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock Market My Worst Investment Ever 9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Andrew’s online programs Valuation Master Class Women Building Wealth The Build Your Wealth Membership Group Become a Great Presenter and Increase Your Influence Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Connect with Jack Thomas LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Instagram Podcast Website   Connect with Andrew Stotz astotz.com LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube My Worst Investment Ever Podcast

Michael Lebowitz brings more than 25 years of financial markets and risk management experience as a portfolio manager at RIA Advisors. Throughout his career, Michael has been involved in trading portfolio construction and risk management, involving some of the largest and most active portfolios in the world. In addition to broad institutional experience, he has also built a successful independent investment advisory, which allowed him to further extend his experience into the realm of investment management for individuals and family offices. Michael's background and experience are the product of a diverse career path that affords him a unique investment and economic perspective, grounded in logic and common sense. He blends his vast trading and investment experience with economic viewpoints that deliver pragmatic and actionable thought leadership to clients.   “You just got to say no. It's okay to say no, and even if whatever you're going to buy goes up a lot, that's fine. Just think about tomorrow, stop thinking about the past.” Michael Lebowitz   Worst investment ever Lose a client or invest in a tech company Back in 2012, when Michael and his partner started their management firm, one of their biggest clients approached them to invest in a computer chips company. And because this client was putting in a huge amount of money to their firm, they could not say no to him. Although the pitch was decent because it promised them great potential and even greater results, Michael admitted that he and his partner did not have any idea what they just had gotten themselves into. However, they were pretty convinced that if they didn’t put a decent amount of money into this tech company, they might lose their client. All is not well in the end Michael and his partner thought the payout would be in two or three years. As it turns out, they invested in 2012, it’s now 2019, and they still haven’t gotten any returns from that investment. Not to mention the problems piling up with the development of the chips and constantly raising more money and diluting Michael. To make matters worse, that particular client left his firm a year and a half later for other reasons. Lessons learned Stay in your lane, do what you know best Even if the promise is great and the returns are said to be unbelievable. Getting into something that you don't know will never bring you good results. It’s ok to say no to an opportunity Not all opportunities are to be taken. Some are traps. And to avoid them, one has to learn the art of saying no. Andrew’s takeaways Startup investing is so much about burning money You're either going to lose all the money you have invested, or they're going to come back to you and ask for more money. If you do not have that money to put into it, then you're going to be diluted. It’s difficult to exit with startup investing It's not impossible, and sometimes it works. But the reality is that illiquidity can crush you for years, in the hopes that someday, you'll get some liquidity and be able to exit. Always have a risk management strategy If you want to invest in a startup, don't invest in one invest in ten. This allows you to not get so intensely dependent on one investment. Actionable advice If you don’t know what you are doing and you are about to give a large sum of money, follow your intuition and stand up for yourself to avoid losses. No. 1 goal for the next 12 months Michael believes that the Fed is the driver of markets, and he wants to survive another year of the Fed dictating to some degree, the terms of the market. Parting words   “Just be ready and be aware of what can happen so that you have the parachute to land safely. Because you want to be the one buying when stocks go on sale. You want to sell at their highs.” Michael Lebowitz   Andrew’s books How to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock Market My Worst Investment Ever 9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Andrew’s online programs Valuation Master Class Women Building Wealth The Build Your Wealth Membership Group Become a Great Presenter and Increase Your Influence Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Connect with Michael Lebowitz LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Website Connect with Andrew Stotz astotz.com LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube My Worst Investment Ever Podcast

Joel Comm is a New York Times bestselling author, blockchain enthusiast, professional keynote speaker, social media marketing strategist, live video expert, technologist, brand influencer, futurist, and eternal 12-year-old. With over two decades of experience harnessing the power of the web, publishing, social media and mobile applications to expand reach and engage in active relationship marketing, Joel is a sought-after public speaker who leaves his audiences inspired, entertained, and armed with strategic tools to create highly effective new media campaigns. Travis Wright is a top marketing technologist, author, keynote speaker, blockchain advisor, tech journalist, and podcast host. He is the former global digital and social strategist at Symantec (Sa man tic) for the Norton brand. Wright is the co-founder & CMO of CCP Digital, a Kansas City & SF-based digital ad & content agency. Wright is the author of Wiley & Sons, Digital Sense, The Common Sense Approach to Social Business Strategy, Marketing Technologies, Customer Experience and Emerging Technologies, which was published in January 2017. These two gentlemen are the hosts of the podcast Crypto Curious and Crypto Serious.   “The current paper currency model is going to go away. A big shift is going to happen. The paper money system is going to crumble.”  Travis Wright   Worst investment ever – Joel’s story of loss The big idea 2009 was a good year for Joel. He had a staff of about 38 people running several successful projects. The money was flowing, the business was good. So together with his team, Joel came up with one of the first pieces of technology that would bring email marketing type of delivery to mobile. Think of Constant Contact and AWeber, where you can send bulk emails to people that have subscribed to your list. They came up with technology that would allow you to do that to mobile phones. Blood, sweat, and money Joel put a lot into this project spending somewhere in the low six figures of his money. They did everything they could to promote the system. They showed up at trade shows and demonstrated it, but people didn't respond. He tried to raise venture capital to grow it but didn't get the response that he wanted. He even tried looking for partnerships, but no one was interested. Meanwhile, every month, he was pouring more money into it because once you set up shortcodes with the mobile services, you have to pay monthly to maintain them. Otherwise, you lose them. Hitting a wall Joel realized soon enough that what seemed like an opportunity and a cool idea had hit a wall. He then tried to sell the software that he had invested a lot of money into to somebody who could pick it up and run with it. But that too didn’t happen. So now he was left with a failed project, emotionally bruised, and six figures less. But he still held onto the system. Letting go The failure to successfully launch his system was hanging on him and crushing him. One day in 2013, he saw the bill for what it cost him to keep this thing running and was faced with the challenge of what to do. Does he keep paying for this, hoping he could salvage it and get something out of it and turn it around? Or does he pull the plug and flush the whole thing down the drain? Joel pulled the plug and thought that he would feel these waves of crushing defeat because he had made the worst investment of his life, and that loss had cost him a lot. But he experienced something different. When he pulled the plug, he felt this release like the burden was just instantly lifted. Now he could focus his attention and energy on things that he was far more passionate about. Letting go allowed him to put this failure in the past. Lessons learned Don’t do it just for the money If you're not passionate about something and planning to go all-in, then don’t do it. Money should not be your only motivator. Life is just so much more than how much money we make. It’s also about the people in our lives and the experiences we have and share. Andrew’s takeaways Don’t fall for the sunk cost fallacy Don’t let the sunk cost fallacy make you stay in a bad investment. Once we've invested a lot of money in something, we can be emotionally invested in it. But just because we invested money in it doesn't mean that it was the right thing and that we should hold on to it forever. Let it go You can instantly stop failing by letting go of that investment that is not bringing you any more value. Actionable advice Don’t focus on just the one investment that you have. Look around for other opportunities that might be there. In other words, don’t be laser-focused on your investment just because you need it to work. Be open to other opportunities and possibilities. No. 1 goal for the next 12 months Joel wants to stay open in 2020, live every day, and let the year surprise him. Worst investment ever – Travis’ story of loss Wetting his feet into digital currency In July of 2010, Travis read an article on Slashdot, a big tech publication that talked about this new Bitcoin 0.3 version that had just come into the digital currency space. What fascinated him was that he could find the new Bitcoin on his computer. So he decided to check it out. He mined a block of 50 Bitcoin. Then he went to a website where they were giving away Bitcoin every day and got five Bitcoins, so now he had 55 Bitcoins. Too much for his computer Mining the Bitcoins was causing too much stress on his computer. Eventually, his computer got fried. Fortunately, he was able to log in and get all his important files except his Bitcoin. So he ended up throwing the computer. So now there's a computer somewhere in a dumpster with 55 Bitcoin on it. Lack of knowledge is what cost him At the time, Travis didn’t know anything about cryptocurrency trading. He didn't have anybody who he could talk to about this new fad. Someone who had blockchain and understood Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. He’d jump right into the new fad without doing any research. Had he done his homework first, he’d have known about buying Satoshis and putting them in a crypto wallet instead of on his computer. $1.1 million in the trash In January of 2018, the 55 Bitcoins, that were now in a dumpster somewhere, were worth a whopping $1.1 million! Yep, Travis had literally thrown $1.1 million into the trash bin. His ignorance had cost him $1.1 million. Lessons learned Keep your private keys to yourself When investing in crypto, make sure to store your crypto, not on your computer, but a hard crypto wallet without an internet connection. Keep all that stuff secure and private. That way, nobody can steal your stuff, and you have easy access to them. The market will get crazy When the markets are high, and the crypto prices are really good, sell some of your Bitcoins, take a little bit of the profits off the top and spend it on other investments because the market will sometimes dip. So don't just watch all your investments plummet down to near zero when the markets dip, make money during high markets. Andrew’s takeaways You’ve got to take it to the end Great investments have to work to the end. It's a little bit like playing basketball and you're good at dribbling and you're in the back of the court. But if you can't take it to the hoop to get the point, then all that work is useless. Actionable advice Don't be afraid to use your crypto once in a while. Don't just hold it as an investment. Remember to do your research and your due diligence into it and start to understand the best cryptocurrency, what is blockchain, and why blockchain works. No. 1 goal for the next 12 months Travis is working on a fun platform right now to help podcasters launch, manage, schedule, and organize their podcasts more effectively. Parting words   “We're all human, flawed and fallible.” Joel Comm   Andrew’s books How to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock Market My Worst Investment Ever 9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Andrew’s online programs Valuation Master Class Women Building Wealth The Build Your Wealth Membership Group Become a Great Presenter and Increase Your Influence Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Connect with Bad Crypto Podcast Twitter Facebook Instagram Website Connect with Joel Comm Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Connect with Travis Wright Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Connect with Andrew Stotz astotz.com LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube My Worst Investment Ever Podcast

Niels Kaastrup-Larsen is the managing director of DUNN Capital (Europe) and heads up the business development in Europe and Asia. Niels has been in the managed futures business since 1990. Holding management positions at several leading commodity trader advisors and has helped investors place more than $2 billion in trend following strategies. Niels is the founder and host of the world's leading podcast within quant-based investment strategies, Top Traders Unplugged as well as the host of CME Group Managed Futures Podcast.   “I certainly had to realize that to overcome emotions in the investment world and be rational and critical and to preserve those kinds of thinking. Then becoming a quant or a rules-based investor was the way to go to automate things. So you’ll know exactly what you want to do and have a plan.” Niels Kaastrup-Larsen   Worst investment ever Doing what he was trained to do When Niels started as a young trader, his job was partly to provide liquidity to the clients of the bank he was working for. He would inherently be speculating during the day or even during the week by holding positions in bonds that his bank was making markets in. And so, the mantra that many people know as buying low and selling high was really what he was trained to do, but on a discretionary basis. The fear of the unknown When there were big changes, Niels found out very quickly how difficult it was to figure out where the low was because the low may be very different in reality to what he thought. So, because of not knowing what he did not know, he certainly had quite a few very painful days during that time. The power of momentum What he did not know at the time when he was just a young trader was the power of momentum and how important it is to follow the overall trend in the market, not trying to go against the market trend. Lesson learned Do not listen to your gut feeling Our gut feeling is more of a warning system to keep us safe. But cannot be used as a guide or measure for making financial decisions. Do not be guided by your emotions These emotions would sometimes lead us doing the opposite of what we should. We end up becoming more risk-seeking towards the end of a bull market and be very conservative just before the bear market is coming to an end. So we end up being guided by emotions, which are complete disasters when it comes to making financial decisions. Actionable advice Be open-minded and trust the evidence. Do proper research. Niels has advised watching some Ray Dalio videos. No. 1 goal for the next 12 months Niels’s focus will be continued education, helping investors build safer and better performing portfolios through his work at DUNN Capital and his podcast, Top Traders Unplugged. Parting words   “We should all remain students of life and keep expanding our knowledge.” Niels Kaastrup-Larsen   Andrew’s books How to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock Market My Worst Investment Ever 9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Andrew’s online programs Valuation Master Class Women Building Wealth The Build Your Wealth Membership Group Become a Great Presenter and Increase Your Influence Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Connect with Niels Kaastrup-Larsen LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Podcast Website Connect with Andrew Stotz astotz.com LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube My Worst Investment Ever Podcast

Angela Zeigerbacher has always been interested in the personal finance realm, from hoarding cash in her sock drawer as a kid to paying off her student loan debt in one year after college. After countless conversations with friends, she realized not everyone had the same level of personal finance education, which prompted her to launch the Money in the Bank podcast, a personal finance podcast for the average Joe or Jane. On top of this, Angela has taught personal finance to teenagers in high school as well as hosted “lunch and learn” at several companies. She recently started a food channel on YouTube, Foogality, where she cooks and bakes frugal type of meals.   “Things can always break when you buy a house. So going in without a maintenance fund is a really bad idea.” Angela Zeigerbacher   Worst investment ever Young, debt-free and proud Angela finished paying off her student loan in just a year after college. She was on top of the world. At 22 and having paid off her student loan debt that fast, she felt she was doing a lot of things right. So what's next? Interestingly, nobody talks about what you should do once you pay off your debt, especially to young people. So after working so hard to pay off her debt, she didn’t know what to do now that she was debt-free. All her friends advised her to treat herself, go on nice vacations, and buy things she wanted. Angela had never really been a spendthrift. So she didn't take the advice completely to heart, but she started thinking about it. Desire to live the American dream Everyone kept telling her to buy a house, so she figured the American dream sounded good. It would be nice to have a house and have a boyfriend, two cars in the garage, and a white picket fence. Her American dream started with a new car. She didn’t put much thought behind it. She just went to the dealership and picked a car that she thought was good for her; a brand new Ford Escape for $35,000. Let’s buy a home Next on her American dream list was a house. After buying the car, her lease came up for renewal. At the time, she was living with her boyfriend and they decided that renting was just throwing away money, especially now that the lease was going to increase by $250 a month. So they decided that buying a house was the right thing to do. Again no thought was given to this decision as she was just too excited to get something she wanted and could afford. Oh, damn the closing costs! Even though they went for a house, they could easily pay for, one huge factor, prompted by the hasty decision making, was ignored. They never factored in the closing costs which was about 3% of the buying price. Now they were draining their emergency funds and savings accounts scraping this money together to fulfill their dream of buying a home. Now we hate the house The couple bought a house that they could afford, but they didn't spend enough time looking and ended up just quick buying the first house they saw. After living there for just a year, they hated it. There was no insulation in the bedroom, so it was freezing in the winter. Their bills were super high. They went from paying about $50 a month in an apartment for heating and cooling to about $200 a month. Don’t forget the taxes Another thing that they forgot to factor in was property taxes, and they can be quite expensive. They were paying about $350 a month in property taxes, as well as a Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) of about $100 per month as well. In hindsight, even though Angela thought renting was throwing all this money out the window, they could have rented a two-bedroom, which would have been more than enough for their needs at the time, for probably about $875 a month. Poor investment choice Buying a house ended up being Angela’s worst investment ever. Even though she made about $19,000 worth of principal, it still cost her in total $30,000 because closing costs on both ends were high. She also had to sell her car as she had moved closer to work. Cumulatively, her American dream cost her about $50,000. Lessons learned Ignore what society thinks Never listen to what others or society think that your life should look like. Having that car and having that house makes you look very successful when you're 22 years old. But ultimately, from an investment perspective, that isn’t what’s best for you. You are better off using that money to invest in other things that have a return on investment. Buying a house is not necessarily a good investment When it comes to buying rental property versus buying a home, one is an investment, and one is not. Most first time homebuyers tend to think that buying a home is an investment but it's not. Some people have had major luck with the buy and hold model on their homes, but that is like winning the lottery. Think of your house as a home, your place to live in. A house has no liquidity like a savings account. That's why you accept a lower return on a savings account as your money is very liquid, you can get your hands on it if you need to, but you can't with home equity. Andrew’s takeaways Always do your research Before you put the down payment on a house, do your research. Find a comparable house that's for sale, and try to compare the two. By doing so, you force yourself to ask all the questions necessary to make the right decision. Your parents know all about buying a house, hear them out Listen to your parents when it comes to buying a house. They’re likely to know all the expenses and all the trouble that comes with the purchase. Keeping up with the Joneses You don’t need to chase the American dream just because everyone else is doing so. Don’t follow other people’s dreams. Just because others are doing something, it doesn’t mean they are making the right decisions. Be brave, be willing to stand on your own. Actionable advice Don’t rush big financial decisions. Take your time, think about it, do your research, do your homework, and make sure you’re excited about what you’re doing. Ask for more opinions from people around you. No. 1 goal for the next 12 months Angela’s goal for the next 12 months is to focus on her YouTube channel and pick up some more editing skills, so her videos get better. She also wants to work on releasing a frugally minded cookbook and the next year. Parting words   “Don’t let sunk cost fallacy keep you in a bad situation. It was hard to sell my car after so much depreciation but it was far much better than holding onto a mistake.” Angela Zeigerbacher   Andrew’s books How to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock Market My Worst Investment Ever 9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Andrew’s online programs Valuation Master Class Women Building Wealth The Build Your Wealth Membership Group Become a Great Presenter and Increase Your Influence Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Connect with Angela Zeigerbacher Facebook YouTube Website Connect with Andrew Stotz astotz.com LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube My Worst Investment Ever Podcast

Tobias Carlisle is the founder of The Acquirer’s Multiple. He's also the founder of the Acquirers Funds. He is best known as the author of the number one new release in Amazon, Business and Finance, The Acquirer’s Multiple: How the Billionaire Contrarians of Deep Value Beat the Market. He has also authored several Amazon best-sellers - Deep Value: Why Activist Investors and Other Contrarians Battle for Control of Losing Corporations, Quantitative Value: A Practitioner’s Guide to Automating Intelligent Investment and Eliminating Behavioral Errors, and Concentrated Investing: Strategies of the World's Greatest Concentrated Value Investors. Tobias has extensive experience in investment management, business valuation of public companies, corporate governance, and corporate law. Before founding the forerunner to acquirers fund in 2010, Tobias was an analyst at an activist hedge fund, general counsel of a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, and a corporate advisory lawyer. As a lawyer specializing in mergers and acquisitions, he has advised on transactions across a variety of industries in the United States, the UK, China, Australia, Singapore, Bermuda, Papa New Guinea, New Zealand, and Guam. He is a graduate of the University of Queensland in Australia with degrees in Law and Business. Currently, Tobias is a portfolio manager of the Acquirers Fund, which is an ETF listed on the New York Stock Exchange.   “You can have a good thesis, but you have to be very careful about the cash flow.” Tobias Carlisle   Worst investment ever Started out investing in asset-heavy business When the BP oil spill happened, many oil and gas companies got in a lot of trouble. One of which was the Seahawk Drilling. As soon as the drilling stops, they didn’t get a lot of cash flow but they were very asset-heavy. So, when they were trading at around $0.10, Tobias took the offer to invest in those jackup rigs as he was promised that there has never been an opportunity like that. To capitalize and become one of the big drillers in the area through these undervalued assets was exactly what Tobias was looking for. You can have a good thesis but be very careful about the cash flow Tobias learned that when companies are losing money, that’s the time to buy, and when they are making a lot of money, it’s the best opportunity to sell. However, he missed the important factor and that was cash flow. The issue with Seahawk drilling was they ran out of cash, so they kept on selling these undervalued jackup rigs. They ended up in bankruptcy because they were taken advantage of instead of the other way around. Tobias was down 80% or 90% on his investment. Lessons learned Look at the company in its totality When you are buying, you think like an acquirer, think like a buyout firm and think like an activist. When you do that, you are not only buying the equity, the market capitalization, but you think about the debt and other debt-like security. Valuation will help you beat the market One of the hardest decisions is deciding whether to exit or add to a position when a stock goes down. A big part of becoming comfortable with the position is doing the valuation. Andrew’s takeaways Assets are valuable, but cash is king There's a lot of people that are asset rich and cash poor. And the problem with that is that when you can't meet your bills, because the cash flow is not there, the consequences are massive. When you buy something, you’re buying everything It is important when you’re buying that you look at it from an acquirer’s perspective, which means you think about the debt, and you think about that preferred shares. Actionable advice The most important thing is not so much stock selection but portfolio management. This means, provided that you don't put too much into any given position; you can't lose everything. So, you only need to be sufficiently diversified. No. 1 goal for the next 12 months Tobias wants the ETF he runs in The Acquirers Fund to outperform the market. Parting words   “I am very familiar with losers because I have them all the time; you shouldn't be worried about them. It's a good way to learn.” Tobias Carlisle   Andrew’s books How to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock Market My Worst Investment Ever 9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Andrew’s online programs Valuation Master Class Women Building Wealth The Build Your Wealth Membership Group Become a Great Presenter and Increase Your Influence Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points Connect with Tobias Carlisle LinkedIn Twitter Facebook YouTube Website Connect with Andrew Stotz astotz.com LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube My Worst Investment Ever Podcast