How I Invest with David Weisburd

How I Invest with David Weisburd

By: David Weisburd

Language: en

Categories: Business, Investing

How I Invest with David Weisburd is a podcast that interviews the world's leading institutional investors. Previous guests include The Ford Foundation, Northwestern University Endowment, CalPERS, Stepstone, and other top limited partners.

Episodes

E262: The 50-30-20 Portfolio: How Institutions Are Rebuilding 60/40
Dec 15, 2025

How do you build portfolios that survive liquidity crises, inflation shocks, and the most volatile market regimes in modern history? In this episode, I talk with Alfred Lee, Deputy Chief Investment Officer at Q Wealth Partners and one of Canada’s most experienced multi-asset portfolio architects. Alfred previously managed over $75 billion across equities, fixed income, commodities, factor strategies, and thematic ETFs at BMO—while also spending a year at the Bank of Canada running part of its quantitative easing program during the pandemic. He shares what he learned from overseeing $25B in fixed income and $50B in equities, how ETFs tran...

Duration: 00:44:39
E261: How Sovereign Wealth Funds Create Alpha w/Peter Madsen
Dec 12, 2025

What does it take to build a sovereign wealth fund from scratch—and still outperform in some of the hardest markets in decades? In this episode, I talk with Peter Madsen, Chief Investment Officer of the Utah School & Institutional Trust Funds Office (SITFO), one of the most quietly sophisticated sovereign wealth funds in the United States. Peter shares how he went from running hedge fund portfolios in London to becoming the first investment hire tasked with modernizing Utah’s endowment. We break down SITFO’s philosophy on mean reversion, factor-based investing, public vs. private markets, active vs. passive strategy, and how a...

Duration: 00:33:16
E260: How Founders Access Liquidity in Pre-IPO Companies
Dec 11, 2025

How do you turn distressed opportunities into structural alpha—again and again—in an asset class most investors still misunderstand? In this episode, I’m joined by Philip Benjamin, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Colzen Capital, about how he built a differentiated pre-exit liquidity strategy that serves founders, executives, and investors simultaneously. Philip shares how his fourth-generation real estate background and the 2008 financial crisis shaped his investing worldview, how he applies a distressed-real-estate mindset to late-stage ventures, and why Colzen’s structured equity financing model creates downside protection, aligned incentives, and access to elite companies long before IPO. We also discuss...

Duration: 00:41:57
E259: The Institutional Way to Invest in Crypto w/Rennick Palley
Dec 10, 2025

What does it take to build four top-decile crypto funds in one of the most volatile asset classes on earth? In this episode, I talk with Rennick Palley, Founder of Stratos, about how he approaches crypto investing with a disciplined, mathematically grounded framework. We break down how Stratos constructs top-performing venture and liquid portfolios, why crypto is shifting from momentum-driven trends to fundamentals, how to size positions without blowing up, and why Bitcoin and gold are behaving the way they are in today’s macro environment. Rennick also shares his philosophy on decisiveness, conviction, and avoiding the costly mistakes investors ma...

Duration: 01:00:14
E258: Ryan Serhant: Why Leaders Who Don’t Evolve Get Left Behind
Dec 09, 2025

How do you build a $10B real estate empire by turning yourself into a media company—and why is vulnerability the ultimate competitive advantage? In this episode, I talk with Ryan Serhant, founder and CEO of SERHANT., one of the most influential real estate brokerages in the world and a pioneer at the intersection of real estate, media, entertainment, and technology. Ryan breaks down the turning points that shaped his career—from selling a $13M townhouse through YouTube a decade ago, to betting everything on social media before anyone believed in it, to building a fast-growing real estate ecosystem powered by c...

Duration: 00:37:50
E257: What I Learned Advising the World’s Top CIOs at Goldman Sachs
Dec 08, 2025

Why do the world’s best CIOs make investment decisions based on gut — not spreadsheets? In this episode, I’m joined by Julia Rees Toader, CFA, Founding Partner at PrinCap and former Global Head of Portfolio Strategy at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Julia spent a decade advising sovereign wealth funds, pensions, private banks, and ultra-wealthy families on portfolio construction, risk management, and asset allocation. She shares the biggest lessons she learned from working with the world’s top CIOs — from why diversification rarely drives behavior, to where the smartest allocators take idiosyncratic risk, to how emotions secretly influence the most sophistica...

Duration: 00:46:28
E256: What Fintech Will Look Like in 5 Years - Steve McLaughlin (FT Partners)
Dec 05, 2025

What does it take to build the most dominant FinTech investment bank in the world—starting from a $99 incorporation and a used laptop? In this episode, I speak with Steve McLaughlin, Founder, CEO, and Managing Partner of FT Partners, widely regarded as the leading investment bank in FinTech. Steve has personally closed hundreds of the biggest M&A, capital raise, and IPO advisory transactions in the industry—while pioneering a completely different approach to value creation in investment banking. We cover everything from the humble beginnings of FT Partners, to Steve’s philosophy of “never die,” to his groundbreaking thesis on AI, tok...

Duration: 00:37:40
E255: How to Hire the Top 0.1%
Dec 04, 2025

What does it take to recruit the top 0.1% of engineers in the world — and why has talent become the ultimate constraint in AI? In this episode, I’m joined by Chris Vasquez, Founder & CEO of Quantum Talent, one of the most in-demand technical recruiting firms in the AI ecosystem. We discuss why elite engineering talent has become the core bottleneck in AI, how companies can actually attract S-tier builders, what founders get wrong about hiring, and why talent density—not headcount—is the strongest predictor of outcomes in today’s startup environment.

Highlights:

Why AI founders are “at war” — and r...

Duration: 00:35:05
E254: How to Build a 100-Year Venture Firm
Dec 03, 2025

How do you balance power-law outcomes with real risk management while building a durable venture franchise? In this episode, I speak with Mark Peter Davis (MPD) — Managing Partner of Interplay, entrepreneur, author, podcaster, and one of New York’s most active early-stage investors. We discuss how Mark’s philosophy of investing has evolved over 20 years in venture, why VC psychology is so different from other asset classes, and how he manages for both outliers and consistency across vintages. Mark breaks down secondaries, constructing high-access portfolios, founder relationships, narrative risk, the role of operational support, and why grit compounds just like intere...

Duration: 00:42:49
E253: How Great CIOs Think w/Bill Brown
Dec 02, 2025

How do the best family offices consistently spot power-law opportunities and avoid the trap of “fake busy” work? In this episode, I’m joined with William (Bill) Brown, CIO of the Terrace Tower Group, about the lessons he learned working for billionaire Leonard Stern, how he helped evolve a legacy real-estate portfolio into a globally diversified family office, and what pattern recognition looks like across trades like the Big Short, crypto, and private credit. We discuss how Bill thinks about decision-making, mental models, productivity, and the mindset required to survive long enough to capture asymmetric upside.

Highlights:

Lessons from w...

Duration: 00:47:00
E252: Inside the Mind of a 29-Year-Old Billion-Dollar Fund Manager
Dec 01, 2025

How do you scale from a $10M first fund to managing over $1.5B — all in one of the most capacity-constrained asset classes on earth? In this episode, I talk with Eva Shang, Co-founder and General Founder of Legalist, about dropping out of Harvard, getting into Y Combinator, pivoting from legal analytics to litigation finance, and raising their first $10M fund long before they had any track record. We discuss why Legalist chose the fund model over the venture-backed originator model, how they deployed their algorithm to find late-stage cases at scale, why litigation finance is capacity constrained, and how Legalist ex...

Duration: 00:26:40
E251: Why 95% of Funds Don’t Pass LP Diligence w/Alex Edelson
Nov 28, 2025

What does it actually take for an emerging manager to convince a top LP to invest? In this episode, I’m joined by Alex Edelson, Founder of Slipstream, and one of the most respected LPs backing elite seed funds today. Alex pulls back the curtain on how LPs use AI, what “real talk” references look like, how he evaluates GPs, and why only a tiny percentage of funds ever make it through his screening. We also dive into portfolio construction, picking and winning founders, why deep tech requires more shots on goal, and how Alex builds long-term trust with the world’...

Duration: 00:35:45
E250: The GP Fundraising Playbook: From First Meeting to Final Close
Nov 26, 2025

What does it really take to raise a venture fund—and why does fundraising never get easier, even at Fund 5 or Fund 6? In this episode, I talk with Yasmine Lacaillade, Founder of Sinefine and one of the most respected capital formation leaders in venture. Yasmine shares her journey from TPG Axon in London to joining Drive Capital at Fund I—years before it became consensus. We discuss why fundraising is always difficult, how LP sentiment shifts every 2–3 years, and why top fundraisers treat the process like enterprise sales rather than relationship maintenance. Yasmine breaks down her market mapping framework, why the to...

Duration: 00:51:12
E249: How LPs Unlock Liquidity Without Selling
Nov 25, 2025

How do LPs unlock liquidity from private-fund positions without selling at a discount? In this episode, I talk with Alex Simpson, Co-founder of Liquid LP, a platform that provides NAV loans backed by LP and GP interests in private funds. Alex explains how NAV loans work, how lenders underwrite illiquid portfolios, and when borrowing may be preferable to selling in the secondary market. We also discuss how different types of investors—high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and institutions—use these loans for personal liquidity, capital calls, tax needs, portfolio rebalancing, or simply as a liquidity backstop. We also cover underwriting, LTV rang...

Duration: 00:35:04
E248: The Institutionalization of GP Stakes: What Comes Next
Nov 24, 2025

What makes a GP interest valuable — and how do you evaluate a manager beyond the fund they’re raising today? In this episode, I talk with Mark Wade, CAIA, Partner at CAZ Investments, about how his team assesses GP interests, private-market managers, partnership structures, and long-term durability. We discuss why GP transactions have evolved, why some firms seek outside capital, and the practical differences between investing as a GP versus an LP. We also touch on evaluating leadership succession, LP base diversification, liquidity considerations, and why sports franchises continue to attract investor interest.

Highlights:

How GP interest transactions have...

Duration: 00:27:17
E247: Why Wall Street Is Wrong About AI w/ Dan Ives
Nov 21, 2025

Is traditional valuation dead for the biggest winners of the AI era? Or have investors simply been looking in the wrong place? In this episode, I talk with Dan Ives, Managing Director and Global Head of Technology Research at Wedbush Securities, and one of Wall Street’s most followed tech analysts. Dan has covered the software and technology sector for 25 years, becoming known for his bold, high-conviction calls on Tesla, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Palantir long before they became consensus. We break down why Dan calls Tesla the world’s leading “physical AI” company, why he thinks AI is the largest tech tra...

Duration: 00:50:30
E246: Private Equity in 2025: Fees, Rates, and the Law of Large Numbers
Nov 20, 2025

Is private equity still worth it — or has the industry scaled its way into mediocre returns? In this episode, I talk with Nolan Bean, CFA, CAIA, Chief Investment Officer and Head of Portfolio Management at FEG Investment Advisors, an independent, employee-owned firm advising on $90+ billion in assets for endowments, foundations, healthcare systems, and mission-driven institutions. We dig into the state of OCIOs, interval funds, private equity, and why Nolan believes the lower middle-market still offers the clearest path to real alpha. Nolan also breaks down the coming wave of 401(k) access to private markets, why large-cap buyout is structurally challenged, an...

Duration: 00:59:05
E245: From $0 to Billions in a Regulated Market
Nov 18, 2025

How do you build a multibillion-dollar company from scratch, walk away at the peak, and reinvent your life around purpose, generosity, and impact? In this episode, I talk with Pete Kadens, one of America’s most respected first-generation wealth creators and one of the leading philanthropists focused on closing education and opportunity gaps across the U.S. Today. Pete and I dive into how he built Green Thumb Industries (GTI) into a multibillion-dollar cannabis company, the unsexy strategies that made it work, and why choosing overlooked markets and consumers unlocked massive profit. We cover the power of ownership cultures, transparency, di...

Duration: 00:51:35
E244: Structural Alpha vs. Storytelling w/Alan McKnight
Nov 17, 2025

What separates elite CIOs from everyone else? In this solo-style deep-dive conversation, I sit down with Alan McKnight, Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer at Regions Asset Management, to unpack how one of the industry's most respected allocators makes decisions across public and private markets. Alan oversees investment strategy, risk management, and portfolio construction across the firm's full platform — and brings decades of experience from leadership roles at Truist, SunTrust, Equitable, and Morgan Stanley. We get into the realities of managing capital across different client types, how CIOs should think about illiquidity versus opportunity, where structural alpha truly comes fr...

Duration: 00:57:52
E243: The Gift Hidden Inside The Biggest Crisis
Nov 16, 2025

What happens when you’re forced to face your biggest fear? In this solo episode, David Weisburd shares a deeply personal reflection on how moments of crisis can become the crucible that forges strength, resilience, and clarity. Drawing inspiration from Lloyd Blankfein’s reflections on the 2008 financial crisis, David explores why confronting your greatest fears—rather than avoiding them—can transform you into a more powerful, anti-fragile version of yourself. From Joe Rogan’s public reckoning to founders who rebuilt stronger after near-death moments, this episode unpacks the paradox of hardship: how the moments that almost break you often become the founda...

Duration: 00:03:01
E242: How an 18-Year-Old Harvard Dropout Raised $47M
Nov 14, 2025

Can a 23-year-old Harvard dropout build the next billion-dollar company? In this episode, I talk with Steven Wang, founder and CEO of dub, a U.S. copy-trading platform that lets you automatically mirror the portfolios of real investors and traders. We get into why he thinks most retail investors won’t get good at stock picking, why the future is about picking people, not tickers, and how dub is trying to turn social-media-driven, mimetic trading into better financial outcomes. We also cover the retail trading boom, meme stocks, the “retail army,” what dub’s top creators actually do to generate alpha, a...

Duration: 00:41:58
E241: How Spirits Became a $1 Trillion Alternative Asset Class
Nov 13, 2025

How do you turn whiskey barrels into an institutional asset class? In this episode, I sit down with Giuseppe Infusino, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner at InvestBev Group, to explore how a real asset like aged whiskey is quietly becoming one of the most uncorrelated and profitable investments in alternative markets. From his early years at RVK advising multi-billion-dollar allocators to managing institutional portfolios in a niche category few understand, Giuseppe shares how InvestBev has built an entirely new asset class from the ground up. We discuss the economics of whiskey aging, how barrel pricing creates asymmetric returns, and...

Duration: 00:33:46
E240: The Edge: Risk, Discipline, and Judgment in Venture
Nov 11, 2025

What separates great investors from generational ones—and how do you actually find the next Elon Musk? In this episode, I sit down with Mike Annunziata, Founder & Managing Partner of Also Capital, a solo GP fund backing the world’s most ambitious hard tech founders. Before launching Also Capital, Mike spent years at the Cornell University Endowment, helping allocate over $1 billion across venture and private equity managers—giving him a front-row seat to what “world-class” really looks like. We talk about how LPs identify the next top-decile fund managers, why the best founders are like amateur pilots, and how to find the t...

Duration: 00:52:42
E239: FemHealth Ventures: Sara Crown Star on Redefining Success Beyond the Family Business
Nov 10, 2025

How do you turn purpose, legacy, and innovation into a single investing philosophy? In this episode, I speak with Sara Crown Star, Venture Partner at FemHealth Ventures and President of SCS Innovations. Sara shares how her experience growing up in one of America’s most prominent families shaped her values as an investor and why she believes the next trillion-dollar opportunity lies in women’s health. We discuss the evolution of FemHealth Ventures’ investment thesis, the creation of the “FemHealth Framework,” and how it’s redefining what women’s health means across drugs, devices, diagnostics, and AI-driven solutions. Sara also shares persona...

Duration: 00:28:40
E238: Acting Fast and Slow
Nov 09, 2025

Why are we wired to chase quick wins instead of lasting breakthroughs—and how can investors reprogram that bias? In this third solo episode, David Weisburd unpacks the neuroscience of decision-making and how understanding dopamine can dramatically change the way you operate as an investor, founder, or builder. Drawing on insights from his conversation with Dave Fontenot of HF0, David explains why long-term rewards (“slow dopamine”) create compounding advantages while short-term hits (“fast dopamine”) destroy focus. He shares tactical strategies for building “monk mode” systems that protect deep work, how to avoid the illusion of productivity, and why the most valuable ideas...

Duration: 00:07:09
E237: The $150 Trillion Revolution in Private Markets
Nov 07, 2025

How do you democratize access to private markets and what happens when everyone can invest like a VC? In this episode, I sit down with Kendrick Nguyen, Co-Founder and CEO of Republic, the global platform that’s opened up private investing to over 3 million people across 150 countries, facilitating more than $2.6+ billion in transactions. We unpack how tokenization, fractionalization, and regulatory innovation are reshaping private markets. Kendrick explains how Republic is bridging the gap between institutions and retail investors, what tokenized SpaceX and OpenAI shares mean for the future of liquidity, and why the next evolution of finance is about participation—not...

Duration: 00:59:49
E236: How the Top 0.1% Founders Build AI Companies
Nov 05, 2025

Can founders 10x their progress in 12 weeks? In this episode, I speak with Dave Fontenot, Founder of HF0, a groundbreaking startup residency that’s redefining how AI companies are built. HF0’s model—part hacker house, part monastic focus—is based on the idea that startups grow fastest when founders eliminate every distraction and operate in uninterrupted flow. Dave explains how the residency model is helping founders make “two years of progress in 12 weeks,” why the most dangerous distraction is the second most important thing in your business, and how recursive subtraction leads to breakthrough realizations. We discuss what true flow looks l...

Duration: 00:46:24
E235: The First Thing LPs Notice That GPs Never Think About
Nov 03, 2025

How do you train the next generation of allocators—and what separates elite investment offices from the rest? In this episode, I speak with Alex Ambroz, Founder and CEO of the Allocator Training Institute, whose mission is to professionalize allocator education. Alex has spent his career building and leading investment teams across Morgan Creek, J.P. Morgan, Cleveland Clinic, Aberdeen, and now as the founder of Allocator Training Institute. We dive into the evolution of the endowment model, how allocators detect hidden risk, the difference between true alpha and disguised beta, and why collaboration—not competition—is the secret to better...

Duration: 00:53:51
E234: Three Rules Every Great Investor Lives and Dies By
Nov 01, 2025

What separates the good investors from the great ones? In this 2nd solo episode, David Weisburd shares the three rules that every world-class investor follows—rules that have nothing to do with IQ, luck, or access, and everything to do with how they think, use time, and define their game. Drawing on hundreds of private conversations with elite fund managers, David breaks down why consistency is overrated, how to buy back your time, and why clarity about your “game” might be the biggest competitive edge of all. If you’re an investor, founder, or builder looking to sharpen your mental model, t...

Duration: 00:02:53
E233: Why Stablecoins Could Rewrite Global Finance — Faster Than Anyone Thinks
Oct 31, 2025

What happens when an investor treats crypto like software infrastructure, not speculation? In this episode, I sit down with Avichal Garg, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Electric Capital, to unpack the evolution of crypto investing—from speculative hype cycles to infrastructure that powers the next era of the internet. Avichal explains how Electric Capital measures developer activity across blockchain ecosystems, why he believes the next trillion-dollar opportunities are being built quietly by open-source engineers, and how software-based incentives will transform everything from finance to governance. We discuss the reality of investing through crypto winters, the rise of modular blockchains, the le...

Duration: 01:03:30
E232: The CIO of Hunter Point Explains the New Era of GP Stakes Investing
Oct 29, 2025

How do you build trust in an industry that’s built on auctions and price maximization? In this episode, I speak with Melvin Hibberd, Chief Investment Officer of Hunter Point Capital, about how the firm is redefining GP stakes investing through proprietary partnerships, structural creativity, and long-term alignment. Melvin takes us inside the evolution of GP stakes—from his pioneering work at Blackstone Strategic Partners to launching Hunter Point—and shares how he avoids auction dynamics that distort relationships, what truly drives alignment between investors and GPs, and why patience, not speed, builds lasting value. We cover everything from bespoke deal s...

Duration: 00:50:30
E231: Lloyd Blankfein: Keynote at AlphaSummit
Oct 27, 2025

David Weisburd had a chance to witness live the conversation between Jack Kokko, Founder & CEO of AlphaSense, and Lloyd Blankfein, former Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, during AlphaSummit 2025 in New York City. In this wide-ranging discussion, Jack draws out Lloyd’s reflections on his early years in Brooklyn, his path to leading Goldman Sachs, and the lessons learned from steering the firm through periods of volatility and transformation. Together they explore how leadership, risk, and technology continue to shape Wall Street—and what it takes to stay adaptable in an ever-changing world.

Highlights:

How Lloyd’s early life i...

Duration: 00:36:22
E230: What Great VCs Actually Do for Founders
Oct 24, 2025

How do you invest when it’s “too early for data”—but just right for conviction? In this episode, I speak with Vivek Ladsariya, Managing Director at Pioneer Square Labs (PSL), about what it really takes to back founders before traction, before funding rounds, and sometimes even before incorporation. Vivek shares how he partners with founders as a thought partner instead of a coach, why iteration trumps ideas, and how efficiency and automation have rewritten what it means to earn a Series A today. From early-stage pattern recognition to AI-driven productivity and new definitions of founder resilience, this conversation is a master...

Duration: 00:57:28
E229: Inside Industry Ventures: The $8 Billion Firm Backing 650 Venture Funds
Oct 22, 2025

How does an $8B venture platform turn a 650-fund network into a repeatable co-investing edge? In this episode, Jonathan Roosevelt, Managing Director at Industry Ventures, explains how the firm evolved from a pioneer in venture secondaries into a platform combining secondaries, co-investments (directs), fund-of-funds, and tech buyout—with AUM “a little over $8B” and 25+ years in market. We break down why Series A/B/C co-investing requires a different lens than seed, how believability guides which GPs get a “stamp” for later-stage deals, and why customer calls are ground truth when underwriting mid-stage businesses. Jonathan also shares how asymmetric information and inflec...

Duration: 00:40:59
E228: Balaji Srinivasan: “The Dollar Is Already Dead” and What Comes Next
Oct 20, 2025

What if the U.S. dollar’s dominance has already ended—and we’re just living through the lag? In this episode, I sit down with Balaji Srinivasan, one of the most original thinkers in technology and finance, to unpack his boldest prediction yet: the death of the dollar and the rise of a digital, decentralized global economy. Balaji explains how inflation, weaponized finance, and technological sovereignty are accelerating a massive shift away from traditional monetary systems—and why crypto, AI, and network states could define the next reserve paradigm. We go deep into why he believes the internet will replace...

Duration: 02:50:48
E227: The Future of Venture: Ryan Hoover on Productizing VC
Oct 17, 2025

What happens when one of tech’s best community builders turns his playbook on venture capital itself? Ryan Hoover — the founder of Product Hunt and Investor at Weekend Fund — joins me to unpack how he’s reinventing early-stage investing. From building one of the internet’s biggest startup communities to managing a fund with 360+ LPs, Ryan shares the hard-won lessons on productizing VC, scaling systems as an introvert, and finding founders who hold true “earned secrets.” We dive into his journey from launching Product Hunt to building Weekend Fund’s third vehicle, how he thinks about portfolio construction, why weird ideas often win...

Duration: 00:44:27
E226: How Franklin Templeton Built a $1.6 Trillion Business Through Partnerships
Oct 15, 2025

Why are Institutional Investors betting big on Private Markets? Franklin Templeton oversees more than $1.6 trillion in assets, with over $260 billion dedicated to private markets. But what’s driving this massive shift — and how are the world’s largest allocators navigating liquidity, valuations, and the next era of private credit? In this episode, I speak with John Ivanac, Head of U.S. Institutional Alternatives at Franklin Templeton, to uncover how the firm is positioning itself for the next decade of alternative investments. We explore the evolution of private markets post-GFC, the consolidation wave among asset owners, and why liquidity, governance, and strate...

Duration: 00:51:43
E225: Inside the $324B Playbook: How Hightower Is Reshaping Wealth Management
Oct 13, 2025

Can a $324.3 billion wealth manager reinvent how high-net-worth investors access private markets? In this episode, I speak with Robert Picard, Head of Alternative Investments at Hightower Advisors, who is leading one of the industry’s most ambitious expansions into private markets. We discuss how Hightower is bringing institutional-grade research, access, and due diligence to individual investors, what the NEPC acquisition means for its alternatives platform, and how technology and AI are reshaping the way portfolios are built. Robert also shares lessons from more than 35 years of building multi-billion-dollar alternative platforms atThe Carlyle Group/Rock Creek, Optima Fund Management, RBC Capital Ma...

Duration: 00:52:20
E224: Ex-CIO of Northern Trust: The Next Decade Belongs to Bonds, Not Stocks
Oct 10, 2025

If “fixed income is broken,” what are investors actually missing—and how should they rebuild the 40% to protect and compound through drawdowns? In this episode, I speak with Thomas E. Swaney II, former Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income at Northern Trust Asset Management, who oversaw more than $600 billion across global fixed income. Thomas explains why traditional bond allocations fail when it matters most, how to separate duration from credit risk, and how to use notional leverage to target true diversification without sacrificing liquidity. We explore the structural flaws in 60/40, how to design a fixed income portfolio that actually offset...

Duration: 00:55:44
E223: The Art of Capital Allocation at $86 Billion Scale
Oct 08, 2025

What are the real playbooks behind managing an $86B alternative asset platform—and where do the next decade’s returns actually come from? In this episode, I sit down with Payton Brooks, Managing Director on Future Standard’s Primary Investments team, to unpack the operating system behind a multi-strategy LP: how a combined platform serves both institutions and the wealth channel, why mid-market private equity still offers the best shot at alpha, and how evergreen structures can reduce cash drag while preserving optionality. We cover sourcing (spinouts, emerging managers), what great GPs do in downturns, the co-invest / secondaries / credit toolkit, and th...

Duration: 00:57:36
E222: Why 90% of Managers Fail Before Fund 3
Oct 06, 2025

Why do ~90% of first-time managers fail before Fund II/III—and what separates durable fund builders from good investors? In this episode, I unpack that question with Conrad Shang, Founder & Managing Partner at Ensemble VC. We examine why being a great investor is necessary but not sufficient to be a great fund manager, how to build for durability across cycles, and the partnership practices that earn long-term LP trust. Conrad shares lessons from UTIMCO, Norwest, and Bain Capital Ventures; why sometimes the hardest move is sitting out frothy markets; and how Ensemble uses a team-first lens and internal data products to...

Duration: 01:08:34
E221: From Citadel to Family Office CIO: Sid Malhotra’s Investment Lessons
Oct 03, 2025

What really happens inside the hidden world of family offices—and why do they invest so differently from institutions? In this episode, I explore that question with Sid Malhotra, Chief Investment Officer at Kactus Capital, a single family office. Sid reveals how family offices align incentives between principals and investment teams, the advantages of having true “skin in the game,” and why their long-term, absolute-return mindset stands apart from pensions, endowments, and foundations. We also discuss the unique strategic role family offices play—from backing zero-to-one opportunities to leveraging deep sector expertise and networks—and how Sid’s career path, from Citadel...

Duration: 00:38:19
E220: Why Family Offices Quietly 5x’d Their Alt Allocations
Oct 01, 2025

Why is up to “$150 trillion” poised to migrate from public to private markets—and what will unlock that shift for RIAs and family offices? In this episode, I examine that question with David Sawyer, CEO & Co-Founder of Unlimited.ai. We unpack the real blockers to alternatives adoption—operational, reporting, diligence, and liquidity complexity—and how AI can turn PDFs and siloed portals into queryable, decision-ready data for LPs. We talk RIA psychology, the GP/LP information asymmetry, and why solving “complexity” is the catalyst for the public-to-private transition cited by industry leaders (including the oft-quoted $150T prediction).

Highlights:

Four kinds of...

Duration: 00:25:19
E219: How Emerging Managers Can Beat Multi-Stage Firms
Sep 29, 2025

How do you underwrite pre-seed founders when the only durable asset is the human—before there’s product-market fit? In this episode, I go deep with Mike Ma, Managing Partner at Sidecut Ventures, on his 30-day “work-alongside” diligence, why he optimizes for action-oriented self-awareness, and how to calibrate coachability—especially in go-to-market—without overfitting to investor bias. We unpack earned secrets, impact theses in education, climate, healthcare, and economic mobility, solo-GP advantages, alignment pitfalls from 2021-era rounds, and the mindset habits he wishes he’d had earlier: “write at a fourth-grade level” and “document your screw-ups.”

Highlights:

The 30-day “grind with them”...

Duration: 00:37:34
E218: How the Rothschilds, Rockefellers, and Fords Built Enduring Legacies
Sep 26, 2025

How can families preserve wealth and well-being across five or more generations? In this episode, I dive deep into a conversation with James E. “Jay” Hughes, Jr., legendary family wealth advisor and author of five influential books including Family Wealth. Jay shares stories from advising families for over 50 years—why flourishing, not just financial returns, is the real measure of wealth; how families like the Rothschilds and Fords illustrate both triumph and tragedy; and why choosing trustees wisely may be the single most important decision for multi-generational continuity. We explore governance, purpose, philanthropy, Aristotle’s philosophy of flourishing societies, and Jay’s ow...

Duration: 00:27:49
E217: How to Manage $15B: Insights from Sacramento County's Pension Fund
Sep 24, 2025

How should a public pension build an active equity and absolute-return program—without diluting alpha or chasing the “hot” manager? In this episode, I go deep with Brian Miller, Senior Investment Officer at the Sacramento County Employees’ Retirement System (SCERS), on constructing a $6B public-equity book inside a ~$15B plan, sizing managers, and using absolute-return strategies as true diversifiers. Brian reflects on 16 years at Tukman Grossman Capital Management (value, long-term compounding, and staying consistent), the realities of “LP capture” across cycles, and why tracking error isn’t the right risk lens. We unpack manager due diligence (including on-site visits), active vs. passive tr...

Duration: 00:51:25
E216: How the $100 Billion Continuation Vehicle Trend Is Changing Private Equity
Sep 22, 2025

How can continuation vehicles and independent sponsors unlock structural alpha in private equity when traditional buyouts are struggling with low DPI? In this episode, I go deep with Paul Cohn, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Agility Equity Partners, on why continuation vehicles (CVs) and independent sponsor deals are reshaping the buyout landscape. Paul explains how CVs let GPs hold their best companies longer while still providing LP liquidity, why the lower middle market offers outsized return potential, and what makes independent sponsors a fast-growing segment of private equity. We cover alignment dynamics, incentives, real-world deal structures, the findings from the...

Duration: 00:45:55
E215: The Pursuit of Uncorrelated Returns in Venture Capital w/Dan Kimerling
Sep 19, 2025

Can venture capital be reinvented to deliver alpha without relying on “heroic assumptions”? In this episode, I go deep with Daniel Kimerling, Founder and Managing Partner of Deciens Capital, on his mission to build a different kind of venture fund—one focused on highly concentrated, long-duration bets in financial services. Dan explains why Deciens is unapologetically “get rich or die trying,” how his team avoids the venture hamster wheel of markups and momentum rounds, and why he believes the next generation of financial institutions (not just fintech apps) will be the true power-law winners. We cover his philosophy on portfolio constructi...

Duration: 01:01:54
E214: Inside Look into a $14B Multi-Family Office
Sep 17, 2025

How can ultra-high-net-worth families invest like endowments—without becoming forced sellers when markets turn? In this episode, I go deep with Greg Brown, Co-CEO of Caprock, on how a modern multi-family office serves UHNW families. Greg explains why Caprock acts as CFO first and CIO second, forecasting liquidity across complex balance sheets before allocating to private markets. We cover the thresholds for when privates make sense, how to structure portfolios for resilience, the role (and limits) of interval funds, and how Caprock uses pooled scale to negotiate economics and secure access to top deals. We also explore tax-alpha strategies like QS...

Duration: 00:46:21
E213: How Fordham Invests Its $1B Endowment
Sep 15, 2025

How do you run a $1B endowment with a lean five-person team — while balancing liquidity, access, and high-conviction relationships? In this episode, I speak with Geeta Kapadia, CFA, Chief Investment Officer at Fordham University, about how she manages a concentrated portfolio of 30–40 manager relationships, the lessons she’s learned resetting the portfolio for liquidity, and why she favors passive equities with selective active bets in emerging markets and developed ex-US. We also dive into the shortcomings of interval funds, when to say yes to continuation vehicles, and how Fordham leverages the Gabelli alumni network and a student venture fund to extend...

Duration: 00:56:11
E212: Unlocking $175M: Raising Venture & Private Equity Capital with SBICs
Sep 12, 2025

How do you use the SBIC program to access long-dated, low-cost leverage—without blowing up risk? In this episode, I speak with Eric Rosiak, CEO & CIO of Amplify Community Investment Partners, about the mechanics of SBICs, the new accrual debenture license for venture and growth, what top LPs look for, and how policy changes could expand the opportunity set. We dig into eligibility tests, realistic fund sizes, diligence standards (they’re no joke), and why some large platforms now run SBIC sleeves alongside billion-dollar flagships.

Highlights:

How SBIC leverage works — ~$175M, interest-only over 10 years, priced roughly ~1% over the long-d...

Duration: 00:31:02
E211: Disrupting The $100 Trillion Bond Market
Sep 10, 2025

What would the bond market look like if it were built today? In this episode, I speak with Dylan Parker, CEO & Co-Founder of Moment, the operating system for fixed income that unifies trading, portfolio construction, and risk/compliance—and automates the workflows wealth platforms run every day. We dig into how fixed income finally went electronic, why half of bond trading still happens by phone or chat, and how Moment can build customized ladders in seconds instead of hours. We also unpack the (surprisingly big) after-tax edge in munis, and Dylan’s lessons from building automated credit trading at Citadel befo...

Duration: 00:29:43
E210: How Startups Can Avoid Being Disrupted by OpenAI w/Eric Olson
Sep 08, 2025

What does it take to build an AI-native search engine for science? In this episode, I spoke with Eric Olson, Co-founder & CEO of Consensus, the platform making peer-reviewed research accessible through AI. We covered the company’s journey from Series A to millions of users, the realities of competing with tech giants, and what truly creates defensibility for AI startups. Eric shared his perspective on the “AI talent wars,” building products at hyperspeed, and what truly creates a moat for AI applications. If you allocate to or invest in AI, you’ll want to hear Eric’s frameworks for product strategy...

Duration: 00:26:59
E209: $70B AUM: How Cresset Delivers Alpha at Scale
Sep 05, 2025

In this episode, I speak with Avy Stein, Founder & Chairman of Cresset—a multi-family office known for its private markets access and co-investing model. We cover Avy’s path from Kirkland & Ellis lawyer to private-equity dealmaker, the Willis-Stein spinout from Continental Bank, why multi-strategy platforms scaled so quickly, how co-invest rights really add alpha (and where adverse selection bites), and the rise of private credit in the middle and lower-middle market. We also get into culture building at scale, how Cresset thinks about alignment with GPs, and Avy’s best career advice from four decades in law, PE, operating, and wealth...

Duration: 00:49:59
E209: $70B AUM: How Cresset Delivers Alpha at Scale
Sep 05, 2025

In this episode, I speak with Avy Stein, Founder & Co-Chairman of Cresset—a multi-family office known for its private markets access and co-investing model. We cover Avy’s path from Kirkland & Ellis lawyer to private-equity dealmaker, the Willis-Stein spinout from Continental Bank, why multi-strategy platforms scaled so quickly, how co-invest rights really add alpha (and where adverse selection bites), and the rise of private credit in the middle and lower-middle market. We also get into culture building at scale, how Cresset thinks about alignment with GPs, and Avy’s best career advice from four decades in law, PE, operating, and wealth...

Duration: 00:50:25
E208: CIO Frank Mihail on Running an $8 Billion Portfolio with 3 People
Sep 03, 2025

In this episode of How I Invest, I speak with Frank Mihail, CIO of the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands, which manages an $8B sovereign wealth endowment built to fund public schools. Frank shares how his three-person team runs a highly concentrated portfolio with 75% in alternatives, why they prefer evergreen fund structures for liquidity, and how they think about portable alpha, co-investments, and core-satellite strategies. We also discuss the trust’s broader mission: having already distributed $2B to North Dakota schools, with the long-term goal of covering the entire cost of public education.

Highlights:

The origins and pu...

Duration: 00:42:16
E207: Can AI Replace Your VC Analyst?
Sep 01, 2025

What happens when AI lets five people build what used to take fifty? Can you scale to eight figures in revenue without ever touching a “Series A treadmill”? In this episode, I talk with Henry Shi, co-founder of Super.com and creator of the Lean AI Leaderboard, about seedstrapping (raising once, then reaching escape velocity), outcome-based pricing, and a new, non-dilutive way to finance lean, profitable startups. We also get into how Henry “vibe-coded” an AI VC tool over a weekend, why survival rates should improve in the lean-AI era, and what founder traits show up again and again among these ul...

Duration: 00:34:17
E206: Inside Miami’s Billionaire Boom: The Real Reason Behind the Migration
Aug 29, 2025

I had the chance to talk with Francis X. Suarez, the 43rd Mayor of Miami, about how his "open-for-business" leadership transformed the city into a global tech and finance hub. We unpack Miami’s “quantum opportunity,” the practical growing pains—housing, schools, transit—and the civic strategy behind international diplomacy and major sports deals. We also explore his run as President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and his reflections on leadership, resilience, and embracing failure.

Highlights:

How Miami built an ecosystem so attractive that "companies managing trillions wanted to be here" The “quantum opportunity” from migration trends after N...

Duration: 00:38:10
E205: How to Invest like a Billionaire w/Founder of IEQ Capital
Aug 27, 2025

Alan Zafran, Founder & Managing Partner at IEQ Capital, joins to unpack how ultra-high-net-worth families and institutions think about risk, cash runways, GP selection, illiquidity, secondaries, LPAC governance, and portfolio strategy amid rising rates and sovereign debt.

-- Highlights:

The strategic value of a 3–12 month cash runway for risk capacity When concentrated allocations (e.g., private credit within IRA) can be intentionally diversified within a larger portfolio Why illiquidity premium in private credit demands careful underwriting in a softening market Using secondaries to access discounted, high-quality exposure when liquidity is in demand Why being opportunistic via marginal reallocations trumps si...

Duration: 00:52:42
E204: Going All In: The Risks and Rewards of Concentrated Investing
Aug 25, 2025

In this episode I speak with Rafael Costa, who co-founded Across Capital to back category-leading software companies across the U.S. and Latin America. We dive deep on the Brazil tech flywheel — from why the central bank and Pix have accelerated fintech innovation, to the infrastructure winners like QI Tech that are becoming foundational rails for payments, banking and credit. Rafael walks me through Across Capital’s concentrated, high-conviction approach (a ten-company portfolio, deliberate sizing, then backing winners over time), how they underwrite downside protection in growth equity, and what AI actually changes for regulated industries. Along the way he shar...

Duration: 00:28:23
E203: How Elite Endowments Invest w/John Felix
Aug 22, 2025

This episode features John Felix, General Partner & Head of Research at Pattern Ventures, a specialist fund-of-funds focused on backing small venture managers in the $5–50M range. We talk about the endowment principles that shaped John’s investing mindset, how to separate true specialists from résumé-driven narratives, why access and selection are two very different games, and the traps LPs face in co-investments. John also shares lessons on reserves strategy, portfolio construction, and what allocators consistently overlook when evaluating emerging managers.

-- Highlights:

Why endowments that concentrate in their best ideas tend to outperform—and how that mindset...

Duration: 00:48:52
E202: The Startup Lobbying Playbook w/Bradley Tusk
Aug 20, 2025

I had the chance to speak with Bradley Tusk, the legendary political strategist turned venture capitalist. He started in politics—running Michael Bloomberg’s mayoral campaign and serving as Deputy Governor of Illinois—before becoming the fixer behind startups like Uber, FanDuel, Lemonade, and Coinbase. Now, he runs Tusk Holdings, where he invests in—and fights for—startups navigating regulation. We talked about his unique investing playbook, how to outmaneuver entrenched interests, what founders misunderstand about politics, and why he’s betting $20 million of his own money on mobile voting.

I had the chance to speak with Bradley Tusk, the legendar...

Duration: 00:43:47
E201: Top 10 Things LPs Look for in a General Partner w/Matt Curtolo
Aug 18, 2025

What does it take to be a truly great limited partner? In this episode, I spoke with Matt Curtolo, a veteran LP who’s worked with some of the most sophisticated institutional investors in the world—Hamilton Lane, MetLife, and Hirtle Callaghan. Today, Matt advises both LPs and emerging GPs, offering a rare perspective from both sides of the table. We dug deep into what separates elite LPs from the pack, how institutional incentives shape decision-making, the paradox of humility and self-promotion among GPs, and why the best partnerships are built on trust, EQ, and long-term thinking. If you're raising a fu...

Duration: 01:07:53
E200: 21 Harsh Truths Nobody Will Ever Tell You - Alex Hormozi
Aug 15, 2025

In this episode of How I Invest, I’m joined by Alex Hormozi — entrepreneur, investor, and founder of Acquisition.com — to unpack the mindset and methods that have fueled his success across multiple industries. We dive deep into why entrepreneurship is more a “game of the heart” than the mind, the power of compounding skills, the dangers of “ignorance debt,” and how to strategically decide whether to build skills yourself or bring in outside talent. Alex shares candid stories from his career — from building gyms to scaling software companies — and offers sharp insights on persistence, focus, and eliminating distractions to win long-term. We...

Duration: 02:20:54
E199: How Rahul Moodgal Raised $99 Billion by Playing the Long Game
Aug 13, 2025

Most people pitch performance. Rahul Moodgal built a career on pitching relationships. In this episode, I go deep with Rahul Moodgal—Head of Investor Relations at Parvus Asset Management and one of the most trusted capital raisers in the hedge fund world. Over his career, Rahul has raised $99 billion across platforms like TCI and Parvus, building decades-long relationships with LPs, endowments, and mission-driven institutions around the globe. We explore how Rahul flips traditional fundraising on its head: opening with the negatives, focusing on long-term alignment, and avoiding the sales-y traps that doom many GPs. If you're a manager trying to un...

Duration: 01:09:45
E198: How Family Offices Construct Portfolios in 2025 w/Scott Welch
Aug 11, 2025

In this episode of How I Invest, I speak with Scott Welch, Chief Investment Officer and Partner at Certuity, a multi‑family office managing over $4 billion in assets. Scott joined Certuity’s Board of Managers in 2020, and now leads the investment strategy and participates actively in risk management across all facets of the firm's investments, including portfolio architecture, asset allocation, investment due diligence, and manager selection We talk about what’s keeping him up at night in public markets, his views on the Fed and interest rate policy, and how Certuity builds globally diversified portfolios that balance risk factor, asset class...

Duration: 00:57:07
E197: Why Most Family Offices Fail—7 Lessons from Harvard Professor
Aug 08, 2025

Christina Wing is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School, where she teaches the “Family Enterprise” course—a foundational class for the rising generation of family office leaders. She’s also the founder of Wingspan Legacy Partners, where she advises ultra-high-net-worth families on governance, talent, and legacy. In this episode, I sat down with Christina to unpack why most family offices are structurally flawed—and what to do about it. Christina shares insights from advising dozens of families and training hundreds of HBS students from Gen 1, Gen 2, and beyond. We explore the real reason most family offices fail, how to build a hi...

Duration: 00:49:01
E196: Professor Steve Kaplan: Do Privates Really Outperform the S&P 500?
Aug 06, 2025

Why do Harvard and Yale seem to be exiting private equity? What does the most rigorous data actually say about buyout and venture performance? And how should serious LPs think about real estate, hedge funds, and co-investments? In this episode, I’m joined with Steven Neil Kaplan—Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, co-creator of the Kaplan-Schoar PME metric, and one of the most widely cited academics in private equity and venture capital. Steve breaks down decades of private market performance data, busts myths around IRRs and overmarking, and gives a rare, hone...

Duration: 00:51:26
E195: 7 Lessons on Family Office Investing w/Stephan Roche
Aug 04, 2025

What does it take to manage the wealth of America’s most iconic families? In this episode, I spoke with Stephan Roche, Partner at BanyanGlobal, and former senior executive for the Gates and Walton families. Stephan has had a front-row seat to how some of the world’s most sophisticated family offices think about investing, governance, and multigenerational legacy. At Banyan, he now advises enterprising families on ownership strategy and purpose. We explore the frameworks ultra-wealthy families use to structure portfolios, co-invest alongside GPs, and prepare future generations for stewardship—not just of capital, but of mission and values. Whether you’re...

Duration: 01:00:21
E194: From Broke & Sleeping on the Floor to a $1 Billion Exit w/Tom Bilyeu
Aug 01, 2025

Tom Bilyeu went from sleeping on the floor to co-founding and selling a billion-dollar company, Quest Nutrition. Today, he's the force behind Impact Theory, a media studio with a bold mission: pull people out of the Matrix at scale. In this episode, Tom reveals the frameworks that helped him transform from a self-proclaimed “emotionally fragile” dreamer to a high-agency entrepreneur and truth-seeking machine. We cover everything from skill stacking and the physics of progress to first-principles thinking, radical candor in leadership, and how he’s building a real-world version of Ready Player One. If you're obsessed with performance, truth, and high a...

Duration: 00:55:14
E193: GLP-1s, AI & the End of Sick Care: The Next $10B Health Tech Giant
Jul 30, 2025

What if your healthcare wasn't about just treating sickness, but maximizing your potential? In today's episode on How I Invest, I spoke with Dr. Cameron Sepah, founder and CEO of Maximus, a performance medicine company pioneering a new paradigm in healthcare. Cameron previously helped build Omada Health, now a billion-dollar public company, and coined the term “digital therapeutics.” Now he's productized his unique medical expertise into a next-gen men's health platform. We talked about the evolution of performance medicine, why testosterone and GLP-1s are changing how Americans manage their health, and how AI is reshaping clinical decision-making. We also dug...

Duration: 00:43:43
E192: Lessons from a Top Pension Turnaround w/Anurag Chandra
Jul 28, 2025

In this episode, I spoke with Anurag Chandra, Chief Investment Officer of a single-family office and longtime trustee and former Investment Committee Chair of the San Jose Federated City Employees’ Retirement System (FSERS). Over the past decade, Anurag has helped transform FSERS from one of the worst-performing pension plans in the U.S. into a top-decile performer. He’s also an experienced operator, venture capitalist, and accidental allocator—with hard-won insight into everything from re-risking public portfolios to model delivery and tax-loss harvesting. In our conversation, Anurag shared how EQ, team dynamics, and governance structure often outperform raw IQ in invest...

Duration: 00:37:21
E191: Randal Quarles: From Fed Vice Chair to Private Equity Trailblazer
Jul 25, 2025

Randal Quarles has been at the helm of some of the most influential institutions in finance and government. From his tenure as Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve and Under Secretary of the Treasury, to his leadership role at The Carlyle Group, Randal brings a rare blend of private market acumen and public sector insight. Today, he's the Chairman and Co-Founder of The Cynosure Group—an investment firm anchored by the Eccles family and built to solve the very structural misalignments that plague private equity for families and foundations. In this conversation, we explore the evolution of private equity, the mi...

Duration: 00:53:04
E190: $600 Billion Parametric CIO: Thomas Lee on Markets, Debt & Trust
Jul 23, 2025

In this episode of How I Invest, I spoke with Thomas Lee, Co-President and CIO of Parametric, a $600 billion asset manager within Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Tom walks us through how Parametric helps high-net-worth individuals access institutional-quality investment strategies, why customization is the future of asset management, and how their technology powers nearly a quarter million highly personalized accounts. We talk about inflation myths, the credibility of the Fed, and whether the U.S. will eventually inflate its way out of debt. Tom also shares how Parametric brings tax-efficient investing and direct indexing to portfolios as small as $25,000, explains why "...

Duration: 00:52:46
E189: Inside the Goldman Sachs Prop Desk: Lessons from a Top Trader w/Nancy Davis
Jul 21, 2025

Nancy Davis spent nearly a decade on Goldman Sachs’ legendary prop desk before founding Quadratic Capital, the firm behind the popular iVol ETF. In this episode, we dive deep into her options-based approach to investing, why she believes most investors manage risk backward, and how her firm is positioning for a potential return of stagflation. We also talk about her early days at Goldman, the psychological traps investors fall into, and why she thinks humility and coachability are underrated superpowers in finance. If you’ve ever wanted to understand volatility, inflation protection, or how to think like a derivatives trader—this e...

Duration: 00:19:44
E188: The CAZ Way: Alignment, Access & Asymmetric Upside
Jul 18, 2025

Mark Wade leads strategy and investments at CAZ Investments, a Houston-based firm managing approximately $10 billion in assets. In this episode, we unpack the evolution of the alternatives landscape, the rise of evergreen funds, and what it means to lead with alignment—starting with $700 million of insider capital invested alongside clients. Mark gives a candid look at how CAZ sources differentiated deals, manages risk through the “CAZ Case” downside model, and builds trust by investing alongside 7,000+ LPs. We also dig into how the firm leverages NAV-based leverage, the growing appetite for alternatives from RIAs, and why humility is essential when allocating capita...

Duration: 01:20:16
E187: Why Holding Companies Beat Private Equity w/Matt Foran
Jul 16, 2025

What if Berkshire Hathaway were built today, with the best of technology and long-term thinking baked into its DNA? That’s the question Matt Foran and his team at StoicLane are answering—by doing it. In this episode, I speak with Matt Foran, co-founder of StoicLane, a holding company quietly building one of the most interesting portfolios in private markets. With over 70 acquisitions across four major verticals—accounting, PEO, appraisal and mortgage services, and vacation rentals—StoicLane now manages $300M in TTM revenue and expects $60M in EBITDA this year. But it’s not just the numbers. StoicLane stands out for its pe...

Duration: 00:42:30
E186: Where’s the Alpha Opportunity in VC in 2025? w/Abe Finkelstein
Jul 14, 2025

What’s the playbook for building a resilient, multi-billion‑dollar venture firm that weathers every market cycle? In this episode, Abe Finkelstein, Co‑Managing Partner at Vintage Investment Partners, shares how they underwrite managers, navigate funds‑of‑funds and secondaries, and spot next‑gen innovation—all while maintaining LP confidence across turbulent times.

Highlights:

How Abe began his career in equity research and transitioned into institutional analysis The origin story of Vintage Investment Partners and how it grew to manage over $3B Why Vintage operates across fund-of-funds, secondaries, and direct growth investing How he evaluates managers and pricing across public...

Duration: 00:49:02
E185: Why Institutional Investors Invest into C-Class Real Estate w/Amy Rubinstein
Jul 11, 2025

I spoke with Amy Rubenstein, CEO of Clear Investment Group, about how she built a thriving real estate platform by focusing on one of the most overlooked areas of the market: distressed C-class multifamily housing. Amy didn’t come from institutional real estate — she taught herself everything from Excel to underwriting by reverse-engineering models, and built a company that now serves both high-net-worth and institutional LPs. Today, her firm consistently delivers 30%+ IRRs by stabilizing mismanaged assets and restoring them to market performance. We talk about her journey from buying a single six-unit property to leading a vertically integrated investment platform, her...

Duration: 00:35:39
E184: How Casper Hit $100M in Year One: The Untold Startup Playbook
Jul 09, 2025

Philip Krim is best known as the co-founder and former CEO of Casper, one of the fastest-growing direct-to-consumer (DTC) startups in history. Under his leadership, Casper hit $100M in revenue in its first year, went public in early 2020, and was later taken private. Today, Philip is building again—this time through Montauk Climate, a platform innovating in what he calls the “electron economy.” We talked about lessons from hypergrowth, managing through crisis, organizational design, and the future of climate investing.

Highlights:

How Casper hit $100M revenue in its first year Building a brand consumers want to talk about What i...

Duration: 01:02:38
E183: How to Raise Institutional Capital w/iConnections CEO Ron Biscardi
Jul 07, 2025

Ron Biscardi is the Co‑Founder & CEO of iConnections, a fintech platform reshaping global capital introduction. With 25+ years in the alternative investment space, Ron has facilitated 36,000+ LP/GP meetings since launching iConnections in April 2020. He previously co-founded a boutique seeding firm, deploying over $600M in capital via 20+ deals. From a philanthropic start—with Funds4Food raising $1.9M in 2020 targeting pandemic relief—to anchoring flagship “Global Alts Miami” events, Ron discusses the strategy of building trust, technology, and community in capital formation.

Highlights:

From charity event to $50M+ platform in five years How 17 crypto managers booked 800+ LP meetings The one thing to...

Duration: 01:03:29
E182: Lessons from 17 Years at Menlo Ventures and Accel w/Tyler Sosin
Jul 02, 2025

In this episode, I speak with Tyler Sosin, founder of Villain Capital, a new fund focused on investing in vertical software businesses. Having grown up in the venture business for 17 years with storied firms Menlo Ventures and Accel Partners, Tyler brings a unique - and perhaps contrarian - perspective to venture investing. With Villain, Tyler's ambition is to help vertical focused founders efficiently scale their start-ups into dominant franchises that can compound their growth and relative market share over decades. The name of the firm, Villain, was inspired by a quote by Harvey Dent, a character in the Batman film...

Duration: 00:51:47
E181: Why Portfolio Construction Beats Manager Selection w/$7 Billion CIO
Jun 30, 2025

In this episode, I speak with T.C. Wilson, Chief Investment Officer of The Doctors Company (TDC Group), the nation's largest physician-owned medical malpractice insurer with $7 billion in assets under management. T.C. shares how he built an internal investment office, how insurance investing differs from endowment and foundation models, and why he treats surplus like an endowment portfolio. We dive into his framework for portfolio construction, his views on innovation in asset management, the underrated value of evergreen structures, and the specific ways GPs can tailor their approach to win over insurance LPs. T.C. also shares why he’s...

Duration: 00:50:34
E180: How J.P. Morgan Asset Management Picks Winners in VC & Private Equity
Jun 27, 2025

What does it take to allocate billions in private markets—and what sets a top-tier LP apart? In this episode, I speak with Patrick Miller, Executive Director and Portfolio Manager of J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Private Equity Group, where he plays a central role in their alternatives platform, investing across venture capital and private equity. Patrick shares how a single energizing meeting with a Florida-based venture capitalist sparked his interest in the asset class and how his team has since built a differentiated barbell strategy combining legacy tier-one firms and new emerging managers. We dive into what LPs can...

Duration: 00:22:48
E179: How UCLA's Endowment Wins in Private Equity w/Deputy CIO Michael Marvelli
Jun 25, 2025

Michael Marvelli leads the private markets strategy at the UCLA Investment Company, managing a portfolio that spans private equity, real estate, and real assets. But his route to institutional investing wasn’t linear. Before UCLA, he spent time at Prudential and The Irvine Company in real estate and mortgage finance, and even helped launch a venture-backed startup as COO and CFO. That operating experience gives him a unique lens when evaluating managers today. In this episode, we talk about how UCLA builds conviction in lower-middle-market GPs, how they manage dry powder and fund pacing, and what it was like spinning ou...

Duration: 01:04:41
E178: Elon Musk of Biotech: How David Berry Built 7 Unicorns
Jun 23, 2025

David Berry is one of the most prolific healthcare entrepreneurs of our time. In this episode, we discuss his transition from scientist to founder to investor, what it takes to scale transformational health companies, and how his firm Averin is helping usher in the next wave of AI-enabled healthcare. We also talk about his early experience launching a satellite at 14, how he's co-founded over 30 companies—including seven unicorns—and why patents, perseverance, and purpose are the trifecta behind lasting innovation.

Highlights:

“The Elon Musk of Biotech?” Why Sorov called David that—and how David approaches world-changing problems From 0 to 7 Unico...

Duration: 00:44:14
E177:How a Small Endowment Invests like Harvard w/Rip Reeves
Jun 20, 2025

In this episode, I speak with Rip Reeves, CEO of Institutional Investor and former CIO of AEGIS Insurance Services. Rip brings over four decades of experience across investment management, insurance, and endowments. We discuss his unconventional path from Salomon Brothers to leading one of the most iconic platforms in the investment world, his views on the OCIO model, portfolio construction, the “art” of manager selection, and why he believes building authentic relationships matters more than ever in this industry. We also cover his deep ties to LSU, how he uses qualitative signals (like waiting room conversations) in manager evaluations, and the...

Duration: 00:46:33
E176: Beyond Harvard: The Financial Crisis Endowments are Facing
Jun 18, 2025

John Trammell has been on the front lines of institutional investing for decades. He’s managed capital for some of the largest families and organizations in the world—from family offices to the Episcopal Church—and in this episode, he explains the seismic shifts happening in the world of endowment and foundation investing. We talk about secondaries, collateralized fund obligations (CFOs), the future of Bitcoin in institutional portfolios, and why concentration—not diversification—created most of the great fortunes. This is one of the deepest conversations I’ve had on how the smartest long-term investors are thinking today.

Highlights:

Why top...

Duration: 00:58:00
E175: Elon Musk: 10 Billion Humanoid Robots by 2040? w/NEA Partner Aaron Jacobson
Jun 16, 2025

Aaron Jacobson is one of the most insightful thinkers at the intersection of AI, robotics, and cybersecurity—and in this conversation, he separates signal from noise. We explore the future of humanoids, the shifting threat landscape in cybersecurity, and why the next wave of industry-defining companies will be built on infrastructure, not just foundation models. Aaron Jacobson is a Partner at NEA, where he invests in AI, cybersecurity, and cloud infrastructure. He’s backed companies like Databricks, Horizon3.ai and Veza, and previously worked in tech M&A at Qatalyst Partners. In this episode, we dive into what’s real vs. hy...

Duration: 00:27:09
E174: The State of Venture Capital in 2025: Insights from a $1.8B AUM Chairman and Co-Founder
Jun 13, 2025

In this episode of How I Invest, I speak with Arjun Sethi—Chairman and co-founder of Tribe Capital, Co-CEO of Kraken, and one of the sharpest thinkers in venture capital and crypto today. Arjun breaks down how he approaches investing in “N-of-1” companies, what most VCs get wrong about data, and why the traditional funding stages like “pre-seed” and “Series A” are being rewritten in real time. We also go deep into Arjun’s frameworks for scaling world-class companies, the evolution of crypto in a changing political landscape, and the big bets he’s making at the frontier—including humanoid robotics. Whether yo...

Duration: 00:34:01
E173: Billionaire Michael Loeb on Risk, Innovation, and Never Giving Up
Jun 11, 2025

What happens when you get fired from one of the most prestigious media companies in the world at age 36? For Michael Loeb, it meant inventing a new category in subscription services, launching one of the earliest venture studios, and incubating Priceline—one of the internet’s first great successes. In this episode, I speak with Michael Loeb, founder of Loeb.nyc, about how getting fired from Time Inc. led to the $800M sale of Synapse back to Time, his early partnership with Jay Walker to incubate Priceline, and what makes a great entrepreneur. We also dive into how Loeb.nyc work...

Duration: 00:57:38
E172: How Cannabis Beverages are Disrupting the Alcohol Industry w/Sasha Pieterse
Jun 09, 2025

Sasha Pieterse might be best known for her acting career — but behind the scenes, she’s been building a beverage empire. In this episode, we dive deep into how Sasha's personal health journey led her to launch Hippie Water, a hemp-derived THC beverage brand that’s now in 140+ stores across 9 states. We talk about what it takes to transition from Hollywood to the CPG world, why Gen Z is drinking less alcohol, and how Sasha is redefining what it means to be a “celebrity founder.” This conversation goes beyond cannabis — it’s about leadership, authenticity, and building brands with staying power.

High...

Duration: 00:43:09
E171: SBIC Funds: How to Raise $175 Million for Private Equity & Credit Funds
Jun 06, 2025

This episode is a masterclass on one of the most powerful — and under-the-radar — capital structures in private markets: Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs). I’m joined by Brett Palmer, President of the Small Business Investor Alliance, and David Demeter, who helps manage Davidson College’s endowment. We dive deep into the SBIC program — a unique public-private partnership that lets private equity and credit funds access 2:1 fixed-rate, non-recourse leverage from the U.S. government. The result? LPs can access equity-like returns for credit-like risk, and fund managers gain scale without sacrificing strategy. Most people haven’t heard of it. That’s exactly why we...

Duration: 00:34:38
E170: How an AI Agent Is Outperforming VCs w/Andrew D’Souza
Jun 04, 2025

What if your venture partner could talk to a thousand founders a day — and actually listen? In this episode, I speak with Andrew D’Souza, the Founder/CEO (aka Creator) of Boardy and previously the founder and CEO of Clearco (formerly ClearBank). Andrew is building something entirely new: Boardy, an AI super-connector that lives across voice, chat, and email — and introduces people to each other. He describes Boardy as a principal, not an agent — a character with its own goals, who is building goodwill and helping founders, fund managers, LPs, and executives find each other in real time. And here’s the wild...

Duration: 00:46:46
E169: How to Build an Enduring Private Equity Franchise w/Alex Robinson
Jun 02, 2025

Alex Robinson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Juniper Square, a company transforming the private markets through technology and service. In this episode, we go deep into how he and his co-founders saw the opportunity to modernize fund administration, why the private markets are decades behind the public markets, and how Juniper Square is building for the future with AI agents. We also discuss how the best GPs scale trust with LPs, why the retail channel still hasn’t arrived in full force, and the challenges of building a system of record in a fragmented industry.

Highlights:

How a...

Duration: 01:09:24
E168: How I Coach The Top 0.1% CEO's in Silicon Valley w/Alexis John d'Amecourt
May 30, 2025

Alexis John d'Amecourt is the coach behind some of the most iconic CEOs in tech today—including the founders of Substack, Eigenlayer, and Booksy. In this episode of How I Invest, I sat down with Alexis to explore what really makes great CEOs tick—and what causes them to fall apart. We talked about how founders can build trust, navigate emotional turbulence, lead organizations as they scale, and get unstuck when things feel overwhelming. Alexis also opened up about his own story—from being raised by his grandmother in D.C. after a turbulent childhood to becoming a three-time founder turned...

Duration: 01:09:36
E167: The Hardest Questions Limited Partners Ask GPs w/Stepstone’s Hunter Somerville
May 27, 2025

Hunter Somerville helps allocate billions of dollars across venture capital at StepStone—and he’s one of the most thoughtful LPs I’ve ever met. In this episode of How I Invest, Hunter gives us a rare look into how top institutional investors evaluate funds, pick managers, and underwrite spinouts before they even happen. We go deep on what separates the best emerging managers from the rest, how LPs think about performance before DPI, and why some GPs win repeatedly while others fade. Hunter also shares his own personal playbook—from how he manages his time to the biggest lessons he’s lea...

Duration: 00:58:15
E166: $20 Billion CIO:  Why Small Cap Stocks Have Underperformed  (and why that’s unlikely to change) w/Brad Conger
May 23, 2025

Brad Conger has a rare view into the evolving dynamics of institutional portfolios—and how allocators can adapt. As Chief Investment Officer of Hirtle Callaghan, a $20B OCIO, Brad is responsible for investment decisions across public and private markets, and he's developed a highly nuanced view of what's working, what's broken, and where alpha really comes from. In this episode, we cover the structural decline of the small-cap index, how private markets have siphoned off the highest-quality growth companies, and why illiquidity can actually be a feature—not a bug. Brad also shares how he builds conviction in contrarian positions, what...

Duration: 00:58:47
E165: Hollywood Lessons on Risk, Reward, and Relationships with Alexander Ludwig
May 20, 2025

Alexander Ludwig is best known for his breakout roles in The Hunger Games and Vikings, but behind the scenes, he’s a multi-hyphenate: a passionate actor, a devoted entrepreneur, and the co-founder of Their Jewelry—a sustainable, recycled gold and silver brand he runs with his wife. In this episode, Alexander opens up about the brutal realities of Hollywood, the myth of overnight success, and how ego and humility have shaped his 20-year career. We also dive deep into how he's channeling his platform and resources to build a purpose-driven business that could help tackle the e-waste crisis. This conversation cove...

Duration: 01:05:41
E164: How I Built a Billion Dollar Company by Failing Fast w/Howard Lerman
May 16, 2025

Howard Lerman has founded six companies and taken one public—he's a relentless builder with an obsession for speed, innovation, and execution. Currently the Founder and CEO of Roam, Howard is reimagining what the modern workplace looks like by building the “Office of the Future,” where AI agents work alongside humans to accelerate output. In this episode, Howard joined me in How I Invest Podcast to share the frameworks and mental models behind how he leads teams, scales product-market fit, recruits S-tier engineers, and instills an almost maniacal level of urgency and creativity across the organization. We talk about what it mea...

Duration: 00:33:18