Podcast Background

Podcasts have been an interesting and entertaining form of content to consume. I remember the release of Serial in 2014, followed by a wave of highly listened-to podcasts from 2015 to 2017. In the finance world, Invest Like The Best launched on October 11, 2016, with Patrick O’Shaughnessy interviewing Jeff Gramm. Since then, the show has published probably 500+ episodes now (some reposts), and I’ve enjoyed many of them for both learning and entertainment.

My Podcast Listening

I’ve listened to a wide range of podcasts, more actively since 2017 and especially since 2020. One standout episode was the interview with Jeremy Giffon, released in July 2023. I first heard it a few weeks after it came out, really enjoyed it, re-listened, and kept thinking about it.

There were two reasons it stood out:

1. I resonated with his conclusions.
2. It all made sense to me — even if I haven’t fully lived his experiences, I understood what he was saying. His phrasing helped crystallize ideas in a eloquent manner.

You should go listen to it here, but if you insist, some notes on it below:

Giffon Takeaways and Observations

• Some of the best returns come from the greatest improvement in quality of thinking per second spent
• Be aware of selection vs. treatment effects
• Find businesses with operating leverage and pricing power — even better if there’s a moat
• Do weird things with fast speed of execution — Diameter Capital as an example
• Get paid to give advice
• The perfect investment is one you just “get” — you understand the situation, incentives, and why you’re getting paid
• Ask simple questions: Why this business? How do you make money? How did you get here?
• Be wary of clubs that will have you as a member
• Know your edge
• Wasteful behavior gets arbitraged away
• Find your own lake, do weird things, and execute quickly