My Worst Investment Ever Podcast
Business:Investing
BIO: Dr. Vikram Mansharamani is a global trend-watcher who shows people how to anticipate the future, manage risk, and spot opportunities.
STORY: Vikram invested in a small commercial condo that he hoped to rent to Ph.D. students, but they weren’t interested. He had to sell it after a few years of no income. He took a 50% loss.
LEARNING: Liquidity is not a constant. If the timing of your thesis is off, then you’re wrong. The market can stay irrational longer than you can remain liquid.
“As long as you have liquidity available, or the option to redeploy or invest more, then you’re going to be fine because, over time, investments work out. It’s just getting caught at the wrong time and the wrong illiquid investment that could really hurt you.”Vikram Mansharamani
Guest profile
Dr Vikram Mansharamani is a global trend-watcher who shows people how to anticipate the future, manage risk, and spot opportunities. He is the author of THINK FOR YOURSELF: Restoring Common Sense in an Age of Experts and Artificial Intelligence and BOOMBUSTOLOGY: Spotting Financial Bubbles Before They Burst.
He is a frequent commentator on issues driving disruption in the global business environment.
Vikram’s ideas and writings have also appeared in Bloomberg, Fortune, Forbes, The New York Times, and many other publications.
LinkedIn twice listed him as their #1 Top Voice for Money, Finance and Global Economics and Worth and profiled him as one of the 100 most powerful people in global finance.
Millions of readers have enjoyed his unique multi-lens approach to connecting seemingly irrelevant dots.
Worst investment everIn 2008, Vikram invested in a small commercial condo in Southern Maine. He had done a lot of analysis on the investment, and his thesis was that this was an increasingly valuable asset.
At the time, Vikram was working on his Ph.D. and figured he would rent the space to other students. He was sure demand would be excessive. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as Vikram had planned. Vikram was stuck with an illiquid asset that brought no income. Yet, he was paying condo fees and other recurring expenses. Vikram lost faith in the condo and sold it in 2015 at a 50% loss. What was worse than the loss is that the property is now worth about 5x what he paid. So, Vikram’s thesis was correct. If only he’d believed and stuck with it.
Lessons learnedMaintain optionality when you’re younger. You may think you have the greatest investment, and it’s illiquid, but you get stuck in it. And if things go down, you lose the option value of buying something else at a lower price.
Vikram’s recommendationsIf you want to get up to speed on Vikram’s current views and the complete archive of all his writings, check out his substack.
No.1 goal for the next 12 monthsVikram’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to write another book, particularly about the lessons of being a generalist in a land of specialists.
Parting words“At the end of the day, the world is filled with specialists, and there could be a lot of value in being a generalist. So look broad, as much as you take the time to look deep.”Vikram Mansharamani
[spp-transcript]
Connect with Vikram Mansharamani
Luke Gromen – Start Small, Then Grow as You Learn
Jason Brown – You Never Go Broke Taking a Profit
ISMS 35: Larry Swedroe – Great Companies Are Not Always High-Return Investments
Chris Vermeulen – Find What You’re Passionate About
Kenny Rose – Don’t Invest in Anything You’re Not Fully Educated In
ISMS 34: Larry Swedroe – Consider All Hidden Costs Before You Invest
Chong Ser Jing – Pay Attention to What Drives Business Results
James M. Dahle – Don’t Buy More Insurance Than You Need
Harley Bassman – Sizing Is More Important Than Entry Level
Mike Philbrick – Just Because You’re Winning Doesn’t Mean You’re Smart
Sam Burns – Understand What You’re Really Betting On
Jay Pelosky – You Can Be Right but at the Wrong Time
Reuben Mattinson – Have Solid Proof That Trading Is Happening and It’s Regulated
Jerry Parker – Understand Your Investing Capabilities and Limitations
ISMS 33: Fed Success! High LT Rates & Recession Coming
William Cohan – Get the Numbers Right Before You Invest
Neil Johnson – Take the Profit When You Can
Jeremy Deal – Use Differentiated Insight to Evaluate an Investment
William Bernstein – Never Invest Based on the Headlines
ISMS 32: 5 Signs of Impending Recession
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Commercial Edge: Unleash the Power of People
The emPOWERed Half Hour
U.S Property Podcast
Aligned Money Show
Dubai Property Podcast
The Ramsey Show
The Clark Howard Podcast