My guest today Michael Mayer, is the founder and CEO of Bottomless, a company that automatically replenishes your coffee supply where I am both an excited investor and customer. Today’s conversation is about tactical lessons Michael has learned while building the business. We talk about identifying an addressable problem, how to avoid solving for bottlenecks that don’t yet exist, and how to iterate through problems before scaling. As yet another example of a self-taught entrepreneur, it’s inspiring to hear Michael’s mindset for problem-solving. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Michael Mayer.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. -----   This episode is brought to by Dell Technologies. Upgrade your business during Dell Technologies’ Black Friday in July event. Get savings up to 50% off AND take your office with you with Windows 10 Pro. To learn more, call a Dell Technologies Advisor at 877-ASK-DELL or check out the deals at https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/deals.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Vanta has built software that makes it easier to get and maintain your SOC 2, HIPAA, or ISO 27001 reports at a fraction of the typical cost. Founder’s Field Guide listeners can redeem a $1k off coupon at vanta.com/patrick.    -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:45] - [First question] - How he got into this space in the first place and found the problem Bottomless would eventually solve [00:08:43] - What he would do better the second time if he had to find a problem and narrow his focus all over again [00:09:49] - The most notable lessons learned about data legibility beyond the scale [00:10:15] - Seeing like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed [00:13:01] - Overview of building the first Bottomless hardware prototype  [00:14:29] - First steps of physically assembling the first scale and learning fabrication [00:17:40] - Roughly how long it would take to build scales in the beginning [00:18:30] - How long the company was bootstrapped  [00:20:41] - Making the pivot to seeking out investor support [00:29:03] - The often overlooked role of social capital as a startup founder [00:31:00] - Importance of following niches and passions [00:32:15] - His philosophy in successfully scaling the production side of the company [00:34:45] - Lessons learned from bottlenecks and their utility in founder growth [00:36:52] - The problem of supplier legibility and improving it [00:40:14] - Understanding USPS predictability as a product input [00:43:03] - Always problems to solve and the fractal nature of them [00:46:13] - Challenges of hiring staff in the tech space [00:50:15] - Lessons learned about personal bottlenecks and the need to evolve alongside your company [00:52:21] - Monitoring your informational inputs and their role in shaping your mindset [00:55:58] - Closing thoughts on the business boss battles founders face [00:57:38] - Why society writ large should perceive starting a company as status-enhancing [00:59:44] - What bottlenecks for Bottomless may present themselves in a year from now  

My guest today is Silicon Valley icon, Marc Andreessen. Before co-founding the legendary venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, Marc was an early pioneer of the internet. At age 22, he built Mosaic, the first widely adopted web browser and the technology that underpinned Netscape Communications. Marc was an early proponent of cloud computing, social networks, and the software business model. In each case, Marc seemed to be well ahead of the crowd. During our conversation, we explore how software is making the world better, how slow sectors like education, healthcare, and housing are eating the economy, and Marc’s vision of the future for A16Z. Please enjoy my conversation with Marc Andreessen.   Before we transition to the episode, I wanted to highlight our newest series, Business Breakdowns. Each week we do a deep dive into an individual business to understand what makes it great. Find more information on joincolossus.com or search for and sign up to the Business Breakdowns feed on your preferred podcast player.                                           For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------ This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Paxos. Paxos offers your customers crypto buying, selling, transferring, and more with easy to integrate APIs. Whether you’re a small fintech or a large financial institution, Paxos takes care of everything in the backend – from licensing and compliance to custody and exchange. You can start offering crypto to your customers within months. To learn more, visit paxos.com/patrick.   ------   Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:04:10] - [First question] The ways in which software is eating the world [00:06:25] - The power of transitioning from atoms to bits and its impacts [00:09:57] - Potential downsides and credible concerns as we shift into an automated world  [00:16:00] - Major impediments of productive growth over the coming decades   [00:23:12] - Real change versus false change due to COVID-19 writ large  [00:30:06] - Thoughts on the rising cost of post-secondary education in light of the internet [00:37:03] - Why doesn’t Google have their own university and if they might in the future [00:41:30] - Whether or not an entrepreneurial focus on generally slower sectors may produce excess returns [00:44:17] - Thoughts on hardware, its unit economics, and its role in shaping society [00:47:52] - How to think about investing in immensely complicated, large-scale projects [00:54:10] - What they’re building at A16Z, a new crypto fund, and where their sights are set [01:03:09] - East coast investing styles and things we can borrow from them [01:06:01] - Potential plans to step into the public equity space  [01:11:09] - Defining why it’s time to build and the imperative it sets [01:15:13] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

My guest today is Will Ahmed, founder of fitness wearable company WHOOP. What started as a business plan in 2011 has evolved into the 24/7 health-tracking device you’ll often see on athletes across professional sports. During our conversation, Will and I discuss how his own backstory ties into the founding of WHOOP, the key design decisions they made in the ultra-competitive wearables market, and how the company grew slowly before inflecting in recent years. Will shares awesome details on health tracking and what it might look like in the future as a preventative tool rather than simply a tracking tool. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Will Ahmed.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. -----   This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for e-commerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience.   See why Klaviyo is trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad, to help them grow their business. For a free trial, check out klaviyo.com/founders.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep's new Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at your perfect temperature. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. To embrace the future of sleep and get $150 off your new mattress, go to eightsleep.com/patrick or use code "Patrick."   -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:45] - [First question] - The founding story of WHOOP [00:05:45] - Narrowing in on the problem to focus on solving  [00:08:58] - Overview of analyzing and quantifying recovery, strain, and sleep [00:15:52] - Downsizing the problem set to deliver an affordable solution [00:18:48] - What he’s learned about hardware product road mapping [00:21:43] - How many people wear their WHOOP all-day [00:22:05] - Early lessons from taking their wearable tech product to market [00:26:25] - Ways in which they landed their first high-profile athletic brand ambassadors [00:27:55] - Interesting methods that proved successful in their marketing tactics [00:32:06] - Observations of making the switch to a subscription service [00:34:00] - Why big apparel companies failed where WHOOP didn’t [00:35:20] - Changes in behavior from users who learn about their habits using WHOOP [00:40:18] - His philosophy on business partnerships and how he developed it [00:44:56] - How he ended up with a paddle from the Navy Seals [00:47:13] - Ways WHOOP stays ahead and upcoming trends in the wearable tech space [00:50:13] - Data beyond HRV that will become more accessible and affordable to track  [00:51:09] - The extent that data and software relative to hardware are a key part of WHOOP [00:53:06] - Lessons learned about effective leadership on a personal level [00:56:13] - Notable differences in his leadership style from then compared to now [00:57:34] - Thoughts about business defensibility in such a competitive space [00:59:44] - Reasons behind why WHOOP products don’t have a screen [01:02:13] - Valuable lessons for other entrepreneurs when studying WHOOP’s story [01:05:03] - Systems in place that allow for their speed and pace of growth [01:06:31] - What makes a day of work fun for him [01:08:39] - Why we shouldn’t measure our steps [01:10:01] - What is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

My guest today is Howard Marks, co-founder of Oaktree Capital, a leading investment manager, and one of the world’s largest distressed debt investors. In our conversation, we discuss takeaways from the market selloff and rapid recovery in 2020, the importance of assessing both quantitative and qualitative factors in markets, and the benefits Howard has realized from a career of writing. I hope you enjoy this great conversation with Howard Marks.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------ This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.   ------   This episode is brought to you by Paxos. Paxos offers your customers crypto buying, selling, transferring, and more with easy to integrate APIs. Whether you’re a small fintech or a large financial institution, Paxos takes care of everything in the backend – from licensing and compliance to custody and exchange. You can start offering crypto to your customers within months. To learn more, visit paxos.com/patrick.   ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:40] - [First question] - Ideas he has that he feels will stand the test of time [00:04:39] - Defining the difference between risk and uncertainty and a frame of mind to have around uncertainty as an investor [00:05:31] - Equity and debt investing as the businesses of what could go right or wrong [00:07:01] - How exciting equity up runs can lead to analytical blindspots [00:09:10] - Ways in which the last 18 months stacked up against his market experience [00:11:57] - Ways we can change our model of the world going forward to avoid a crisis [00:15:04] - Why psychology is important to consider over data during market extremes [00:17:46] - Reflections and lessons from discussing the concept of value with his son [00:27:33] - Spirited disagreements he and his son continue to have about markets [00:31:46] - What he’s learned about writing well and the utility of doing so [00:40:39] - Lessons that are better experienced in investing than reading about them [00:43:35] - Daring to be great and the willingness to be wrong, alone or different [00:50:24] - Embracing mystery and the joys it can bring [00:53:28] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

My guest today is Christina Cacioppo, founder of Vanta, a security and compliance software business founded in 2017. In our conversation, Christina brings to life the idea of “finding a problem that exists and fixing it.” We dive into the experiences that led her to launch Vanta, the strategy she took to build, price, and distribute the product, and we touch on her lessons from running a growing organization. I always admire the drive that founders have when they set off to build something -- Christina fits that mold, and you will hear about how she embarked on a self-taught journey early in her career. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Christina. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes[00:02:44] - [First question] - How she first found her interest in business[00:04:09] - Early days exploring business for the first time[00:07:09] - Lessons learned from USV that have been applied to Vanta[00:07:42] - The next stage of her learning journey after USV[00:09:20] - Making a massive pivot in life and teaching herself to code[00:10:53] - The four-year road that lead to building Vanta[00:12:39] - First encounters with the software security problem space[00:15:21] - Origins of SOC 2, what it means, and what it does[00:17:11] - What software security means writ large[00:19:32] - Who demands a SOC 2 and why[00:20:57] - How Vanta improved a broken process and productized it[00:23:33] - What V1 of Vanta looked like[00:26:30] - Understanding the value of using spreadsheets first[00:27:48] - From static to streaming and finding product-market fit[00:29:22] - Monitoring whether or not a company is SOC 2 compliant in real-time[00:32:19] - Auditors that still exist in the compliance space today[00:33:39] - The pace of onboarding new clients onto the Vanta software [00:34:53] - Figuring out a price point for the service Vanta offers[00:37:06] - Developing the business model and scaling it[00:39:18] - Lessons learned and innovations created about effective sales organization[00:41:52] - Hardest hills to climb in building Vanta[00:43:17] - Building competitive advantage into the framework of the business[00:46:07] - Overview of the frontier of software security[00:47:43] - General thoughts on competitive advantage as a whole[00:49:43] - Quality control of decision making in Vanta[00:50:40] - Downstream effects of structural and organizational business design[00:52:30] - Hard lessons learned going from being academic to pragmatic[00:53:36] - What the future could look like for Vanta based on its current trajectory[00:54:26] - What her information diet consists of lately [00:55:27] - Areas she’s interested in currently but learning more than being proficient [00:56:59] - Ways in which she’s become a better leader[00:57:46] - Unique factors about what makes Vanta tick[00:58:45] - Negative advice to would-be founders out there[01:00:22] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for her[01:02:44] - Major insights learned from living in Rwanda, Thailand, and Uganda 

My guest today is John Harris, Managing Partner of Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb, where the flagship Sequoia Fund has an incredible 50-year track record running a highly concentrated portfolio of equities. In our conversation, we cover John’s approach to finding businesses that can be owned for the long-term, what goes into their diligence process, and the importance of resilience for investors. I think many of the stock pickers will enjoy many of the points on good management, good businesses, and using imagination. I hope you enjoy my conversation with John.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------ This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.   ------ This episode is brought to you by Paxos. Paxos offers your customers crypto buying, selling, transferring, and more with easy to integrate APIs. Whether you’re a small fintech or a large financial institution, Paxos takes care of everything in the backend – from licensing and compliance to custody and exchange. You can start offering crypto to your customers within months. To learn more, visit paxos.com/patrick.   ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:48] - [First question] - How markets undervalue long-duration growth of companies [00:07:21] - Why should one even do DCFs at all [00:10:01] - Defining homework when studying a business and what getting better as you do your homework tends to look like [00:12:24] - How the market still underestimates how the quality of a company reduces risk [00:15:09] - Reinvestment opportunity and risk and why they’re important for long term returns [00:17:14] - Lessons learned owning Google stock options for over a decade [00:22:02] - Skill versus luck when it comes to investing psychology [00:24:32] - Perspectives on big market cap companies in a portfolio when success often comes from smaller-cap non-linear growth  [00:26:47] - Features of the current market landscape that he finds interesting [00:31:24] - What buying behavior looks like in the demand side of the business equation [00:34:10] - Discovering a company that served the customer and was a delight to discover [00:37:58] - Analysing getting one's hands dirty to get a competitive advantage in serving the customer [00:39:24] - The hardest episode of his investing career and what he learned from it [00:43:03] - Reasons why a company succeeded after doing a deep dive but not buying in [00:43:54] - One of the CEOs he finds most remarkable [00:47:20] - Examples of businesses where scale isn’t the driver of competitive advantage [00:49:50] - A company they owned that did well but didn’t have the strongest company culture [00:50:56] - His view on the investment industry today writ large [00:52:16] - Ways investors could expand their imagination when analyzing businesses [00:53:07] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

My guests today are Florian Hagenbuch and Mate Pencz, co-founders of Loft. Based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Loft is a digital platform designed to bring Latin American real estate into the e-commerce age. The 3-year-old startup scaled to over $150mm in annualized revenue in 2020 and is on track for multiples higher this year. We dive into the market opportunity in Brazilian real estate and how that differs from the US market, the value proposition for iBuying across the US and Latin America ecosystems, and touch on the potential for Loft to expand from real estate into adjacent services such as mortgages. Florian and Mate are second-time founders and have some great lessons shared throughout the episode. Please enjoy my conversation with Florian and Mate.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for e-commerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience.   See why Klaviyo is trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad, to help them grow their business. For a free trial, check out klaviyo.com/founders. ----- This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep's new Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at your perfect temperature. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. To embrace the future of sleep and get $150 off your new mattress, go to eightsleep.com/patrick or use code "Patrick." -----   Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:52] - [First question] - Why Latin America currently presents such a unique opportunity for modern technology companies [00:04:38] - What the market looked like when they started Loft [00:07:20] - How they approached gathering data that wasn’t available or accessible in order to develop the company infrastructure [00:09:39] - How the process of buying a home used to be in São Paulo versus today [00:12:19] - What Loft’s hard work unlocks for consumers and home buyers [00:14:06] - What iBuying feels like writ large and more specifically in real estate [00:18:07] - Analysis of an iBuying real estate transaction from start to finish [00:20:09] - The role machine learning plays in property valuation and building that feature   [00:22:50] - Defining their business model and being a fulfillment center aggregator  [00:24:47] - Notable characteristics of the iBuying market in the United States  [00:27:00] - How they think about the competitive advantage extensions of Loft  [00:29:53] - Exciting opportunities for the FinTech broadly in Latin America  [00:32:47] - Deciding on what it is they want to tackle next as they grow the company  [00:34:13] - Thinking about the value proposition to customers and how they market it  [00:35:50] - Lessons learned about building businesses early on that were applied to Loft [00:40:12] - What led them to finding their early product-market fit  [00:42:48] - Calibrating and defining their ambitions for Loft out of the gate  [00:45:05] - Important and interesting trends in the business world today writ large  [00:48:43] - Further lessons and key challenges around building and scaling Loft  [00:52:24] - The kindest things that anyone has ever done for them

My guest is Gabe Leydon, who is the co-founder and former CEO of MZ, also known as Machine Zone, the company behind huge games such as Mobile Strike and Game of War. Gabe has spent the last 20 years designing video games and is one of the most original thinkers I have talked to in a long time. In our conversation, we cover why great design can be a bad sign that we’d run out of ways to innovate, the most important lessons from human psychology for building games and products, and why products which are busted or breaking but still booming can be great investment opportunities. This conversation rewired my brain on many levels, so I’m excited for you to listen. Take the red pill with us, and please enjoy my conversation with Gabe Leydon.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ------ This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more. ------ This episode is brought to you by Paxos. Paxos offers your customers crypto buying, selling, transferring, and more with easy to integrate APIs. Whether you’re a small fintech or a large financial institution, Paxos takes care of everything in the backend – from licensing and compliance to custody and exchange. You can start offering crypto to your customers within months. To learn more, visit paxos.com/patrick. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:59] - [First question] - Thoughts on the importance of design and the role it plays in capitalism writ large [00:07:26] - Huxley’s vision of the future versus Orwell’s - Amusing Ourselves to Death [00:10:49] - A question about game design in interviews that no one can answer well [00:18:27] - What about his early experiences that allowed him to be good at answering that question when others could not [00:26:35] - Another example to further explain the nature of meta software design mechanics [00:29:44] - Characteristics of what drives players to spend money in games [00:34:46] - Defining heroic spending and the group dynamics of spending gamification [00:38:18] - Skill set required to design an economy and what makes it so difficult [00:41:27] - Cosmetic purchases as a revenue stream in North American video games [00:43:56] - What he’s learned about human psychology through his design work [00:45:48] - How the technological infrastructure developed in building video games overlap in performance marketing [00:48:44] - His experience with the RT platform and some of the technologies he’s built [00:55:49] - Celebrity NFTs and a shift to becoming virtual manufacturers in the future [00:59:58] - What businesses can do now to prepare for and adapt to NFTs [01:01:03] - Why we need AI more than think we might [01:04:32] - What he plans to do with his skillset if the world becomes increasingly gamified [01:05:40] - Companies with poor design may be indicative of an attractive acquisition [01:08:11] - How differing cultural perspectives on video game design permeate into NFTs [01:08:46] - Defining the Chinese item box approach to in-game player rewards [01:11:24] - The kindest thing that anyone has ever done for him

My guest today is Assaf Wand, CEO, and co-founder of Hippo, a homeowner insurance startup founded in 2015. In March 2021, Hippo announced a SPAC merger, valuing the business at over $5bn. In our discussion, we cover how Hippo approached innovation in the highly regulated insurance industry, unique strategies for building brand trust, and how direct relationships with homeowners has opened up Hippo's business model to a wide range of opportunities. I was excited to speak with Assaf, given his experience as a serial entrepreneur, and he did not disappoint. Please enjoy my conversation with Assaf Wand.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Klaviyo is the ultimate marketing platform for e-commerce. With targeted segmentation, email automation, SMS marketing, and more, Klaviyo helps you create your ideal customer experience.   See why Klaviyo is trusted by more than 50,000 brands, like Living Proof, Solo Stove, and Nomad, to help them grow their business. For a free trial, check out klaviyo.com/founders. ----- This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Eight Sleep's new Pod Pro Cover is the easiest and fastest way to sleep at your perfect temperature. Simply add the Pod Pro Cover to your current mattress and start sleeping as cool as 55°F or as hot as 110°F. To embrace the future of sleep and get $150 off your new mattress, go to eightsleep.com/patrick or use code "Patrick." ----- Founder's Field Guide is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Founder's Field Guide, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:02:44] - [First question] - His philosophy on business [00:04:04] - His first experience in entrepreneurship [00:05:03] - Lawyers vs entrepreneurs [00:07:03] - Major lessons taking risk in entrepreneurship [00:11:14] - Importance of speed in business [00:15:02] - Increasing urgency into the business as a leader [00:18:59] - What the insurance sector was like at the start of Hippo [00:24:49] - Steps he took to bootstrap trust [00:27:03] - Convincing partners [00:29:04] - Building the products and distribution [00:32:49] - Thoughts on innovators dilemma [00:35:00] - Flaws within the insurance industry [00:34:57] - Vision for the firm  [00:37:44] - Importance of culture in company building [00:41:19] - Storytelling as an essential piece of company building [00:41:50] - Building and managing a roadmap [00:43:19] - What does it mean to respect the customer [00:46:11] - Defensibility of the insurance industry [00:49:34] - Rewards of the trench warfare of entrepreneurship [00:53:33] - The feeling of getting wealthy  [00:55:29] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him

My guest today is Dennis Lynch, Head of Counterpoint Global, where he oversees over $100bn in AUM and boasts one of the strongest track records of any public investor. In our conversation, we cover Dennis's unique approach to building a research team, how misclassification of companies often creates the highest upside opportunities, and how Dennis has adapted his investment process over the past 20 years. I think Dennis defines what it means to be intellectually honest, and you will hear that in his answers throughout our discussion. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Dennis Lynch.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   (for me-  )   ------ This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus has built the most extensive primary information platform available for investors.   With Tegus, you can learn everything you’d want to know about a company in an on-demand digital platform. Investors share their expert calls, allowing others to instantly access more than 10,000 calls on Affirm, Teladoc, Roblox, or almost any company of interest. All you have to do is log in. Visit tegus.co/patrick to learn more.   ------ This episode is brought to you by MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo), the endowment office of MIT. MITIMCo seeks to find people who are focused on achieving exceptional long-term investment returns, partner with these firms early, and stick around for the very long term.   MITIMCo is also searching for an exceptional new teammate to join their internal investment team. Visit mitimco.org to learn more – click “Join” to learn more about the Global Investor Role on MITIMCo’s team or and click “Emerging Managers” to learn more about their emerging manager activities. ------ Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, Inc. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.    Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus   Show Notes [00:03:47] - [First question] - How he would teach potential students to be investors [00:04:26] - The Money Game [00:04:40] - Moneyball [00:05:59] - Pros and cons of volatility when investing [00:08:55] - Emotional response to volatility [00:12:44] - Training to have a better temperament [00:14:20] - What is his investing game [00:15:17] - The Ethical Algorithm [00:16:44] - How time horizon impacts their investment strategy [00:20:53] - Assessing a company’s earnings power [00:26:12] - Shifting business models vs. evolving within a business model [00:32:32] - Understanding how to invest in disruptive businesses [00:35:26] - Why he’s skeptical on Growth and Value investing strategies [00:38:42] - Expectations Investing [00:38:55] - How his view of assessing businesses has changed [00:43:56] - Defining unit economics [00:45:41] - Taking on uncertainty risk in the portfolio  [00:50:38] - The business that taught him the most; Amazon [00:53:32] - Dealing with massive amounts of change [00:56:01] - The Big Short [00:59:46] - Interest in psychedelic research [01:01:02] - What has changed the most in investing from when he started [01:04:19] - Kindest thing anyone has done for him