Invest Like the Best with Patrick O’Shaughnessy
Business:Investing
My guest today is Michael Simanovsky. Mike is the Managing Partner of Conversant Capital, a real estate investment firm he founded in early 2020. Conversant aims to be the most flexible capital provider in real estate, investing across public and private markets as well as equities and credit. The firm will also incubate platforms where they see an opportunity to take advantage of a compelling theme that lacks existing business models for investment. We cover the most undersupplied part of the market, why he’s building Conversant to be so flexible, and the surprising appeal of billboards. Please enjoy my conversation with Mike Simanovsky.
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For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.
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Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.
Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.
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Show Notes
(00:03:32) (First question) - Real estate investing through the lens of the capital cycle
(00:06:50) - The capital cycle in practice
(00:12:07) - Using evaluation of supply to determine where you are in a capital cycle
(00:13:16) - Why real estate drew Mike in
(00:15:35) - The quality of investors in real estate
(00:16:41) - What the US market needs most
(00:20:26) - The range of returns in real estate
(00:23:01) - Insights that stand out
(00:26:45) - Starting a new company vs. building a portfolio of assets
(00:28:46) - Key trade-offs and choices when building a firm
(00:31:10) - Where things go wrong
(00:33:59) - Best investment decision he ever made
(00:38:06) - Philosophy on CapEx
(00:39:52) - Misconceptions about real estate investing
(00:41:31) - Cold storage real estate
(00:43:13) - The most interesting corners of the real estate market
(00:46:13) - AI and its impact on the future
(00:48:30) - Common investor missteps
(00:50:51) - Three guests Mike would invite to a dinner party
(00:52:34) - The most impactful questions to ask a real estate investor
(00:53:17) - A defining moment of his career
(00:53:17) - The premise of the platform approach
(00:56:20) - Possible opportunities and an understanding of the current landscape
(01:03:38) - Lessons Mike learned from basketball coach John Wooden’s philosophies
(01:04:30) - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him
Dev Ittycheria - The Database Evolution - [Invest Like the Best, EP.373]
Nico Wittenborn - Finding the Adjacent Possible - [Invest Like the Best, EP.372]
Mitch Rales: The Art of Compounding - [Art of Investing, Forever Episode]
Marc Lasry - Making Bucks in Credit and Sports - [Invest Like the Best, EP.371]
Bill Gurley & Michael Mauboussin - Putting Theory into Practice - [Invest Like the Best, EP.370]
Tim Ferriss - Curating Curiosities - [Invest Like the Best, EP.369]
Ken Langone - The American Dream - [Invest Like the Best, EP.368]
Robin Dunbar - Optimizing Human Connection (Dunbar's Number) - [Invest Like the Best, EP.367]
Sean Feeney - Reinventing the Restaurant Business - [Invest Like the Best, EP.366]
Dave Fontenot - The Monastery of Code - [Invest Like the Best, EP.365]
Anne-Marie Peterson - The Capital System - [Invest Like the Best, EP.364]
Aravind Srinivas - Building An Answer Engine - [Invest Like the Best, EP.363]
Ali Hamed - Building an Investment Firm - [Invest Like the Best, EP.362]
Cyan Banister - Investing for a Higher Purpose - [Invest Like the Best, EP.361]
Danny Meyer - The Power of Hospitality - [Invest Like the Best, REPLAY]
Chuck Akre - The Three Legged Stool - [Invest Like the Best, REPLAY]
Alex Telford - Unlocking Innovation in Pharma - [Invest Like the Best, EP.360]
Madhavan Ramanujam - How to Price Products - [Invest Like the Best, REPLAY]
Daryl Morey - Systems Thinking in Sports - [Invest Like the Best, REPLAY]
Michael Ovitz - Knowledge Is Power - [Invest Like the Best, EP.359]
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