Jason Zweig and Morgan Housel - Business vs. Investing - [Invest Like the Best, EP.50]

My guests this week are both veterans of the podcast, Jason Zweig and Morgan Housel. They are two of the best in the world at making the complicated simple, and in that spirit, I’ll keep this introduction short. Morgan shifted from public markets to the private markets a year ago when he joined the Collaborative Fund, so we begin with what he has learned about venture capital in his first year on the job.

 

For comprehensive show notes on this episode go to http://investorfieldguide.com/writers

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.

To get involved with Project Frontier, head to InvestorFieldGuide.com/frontier.

Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.

Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag

 

Books Referenced

The Devil's Financial Dictionary

Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

Life and Fate

 

Online References

A Rediscovered Masterpiece by Benjamin Graham

Rishi Ganti podcast

Small Companies Are Gone, But Should they Be Forgotten (Zweig Column)

 

Show Notes

1:43 – (First question) – Morgan on why he got disenchanted with the investment industry and shifted to venture capital

4:05 – Jason’s thoughts about investing in the private markets

            5:19 - A Rediscovered Masterpiece by Benjamin Graham

7:57 – Morgan’s thoughts on how private market investments differ from public market investments

10:24 – Exploring valuations of businesses and what they say about broader trends in the market

13:21 – How much does Jason think about individual companies when exploring the overall market trends

            18:41 – The Devil's Financial Dictionary

19:28 –What does it take to be a successful founder

23:40 – How does Jason look at activities that are work related vs just for pleasure

25:33 – If Jason had to start a business, what would he do

27:22 – What business would Morgan start

29:18 – Problems with the financial planning industry

30:56 -  The role of stress in personal and business development

            31:04 – Modern Monopolies: What It Takes to Dominate the 21st Century Economy

38:17 – Are there signs that let you know when to cut and run vs when to keep slogging along with something

            42:02 – Thinking, Fast and Slow

            44:03 – Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

44:20 – Principals to approach learning

50:10 – The idea of keeping your identity small in a world where social media encourages one-upmanship

53:56 – Last significant thing Morgan changed his mind about

55:23 – Why Morgan chooses passive investing with stocks, but as a VC, essentially is a stock picker in private markets

            1:00:44 – Rishi Ganti podcast

1:02:14 – What major thing did Jason change his mind about

            1:02:30 – Small Companies Are Gone, But Should they Be Forgotten (Zweig Column)

1:06:33 – What was the most interesting idea Jason and Morgan have been tackling and what data helped to spark that interest

            1:09:32 – Life and Fate