Top Podcasts of the Week

Below is our “Top Podcast” list with our curator, Colby Donovan!

Today we have episodes around the potential for psychedelics and why we’re in the middle of a biotech boom, the founder of Electronic Arts on how the gaming industry has evolved over the years, and Steve Mandel with a look back on his investing career.

Investing

  • Real Vision: Finance, Business & The Global Economy: Christian Angermayer: Investing in the Therapeutic Potential for Psychedelics. Angermayer is the founder of Apeiron Investments and is heavily focused on the potential benefits for psychedelics to address mental health issues, as evidenced by the two companies he founded in the space, Atai Life Sciences and COMPASS Pathways, both of which recently went public. He shares his journey of going from not drinking alcohol to trying psychedelics and focusing on investing in and around them (he attributes his decision to buy Bitcoin on a mushroom trip). He explains why he’s so bullish on the space and his belief that psychedelics may allow us to stop treating depressive symptoms and address the root cause. [July 21, 2021–67 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link

  • Joe Lonsdale: American Optimist: Dr. Rick Klausner on the Biotech Revolution | Season 1 Ep 1. Dr. Rick Klausner is the former director of the U.S. National Cancer Institute and co-founder of Juno Therapeutics. He now thinks we are in a golden era for biotech thanks to tailwinds from COVID, CRISPR, gene editing, and more. He also explains why he believes we may be able to see the end of cancer in the near future. Finally, he focuses on the idea that aging isn’t inevitable, but instead is a disease that we can slow and prevent (read Lifespan: Why We Age―and Why We Don’t Have To if that’s of interest to you). [June 29, 2021–31 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link

  • Invest Like the Best with Patrick O’Shaughnessy: Steve Mandel — Investing Behind Change. In the episode, Steve walks through his analysis of Walmart over his career and the lessons he learned from the company and its founder, Sam Walton. They move onto how the business has changed since the start of his career, why shorting stocks is so hard (with a great story about Books A Million at 23:30), and his framework for analyzing a business. He also shares what he thinks about structuring and building an asset management firm that can survive decades and what areas of the market he sees experiencing major change (payments and companies’ abilities to build communities around their products). [July 20, 2021–70 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link

“When we look at AMC and GameStop and all this going on now, we’ve seen this before.”

  • Flirting with Models: Roxton McNeal — Liability-Driven Investing. McNeal is the Head of Multi Asset Investment Strategy & Allocation at the UPS Investment Trust. The episode begins with his time working for a CTA, where he learned to become comfortable with losing more trades than not but making 10–1 return on the winners, and then his time spent at GM working in asset/liability management. Then they talk about his current role at UPS and cover a wide range of topics, including the role of glide paths, when the right time is to be more tactical, the benefits of private equity as a volatility dampener due to reporting requirements (not performance), and his broad thoughts on tail risk hedging. [July 12, 2021–61 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker

“You need risk, especially if you’re underfunded.”

  • We Study Billionaires: TIP363: The Game of Investing w/ Bing Gordon. Gordon is the co-founder of Electronic Arts (EA) and is now a partner at VC firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. In this episode, he shares the story of building EA (which he originally did because he wanted to create a virtual Disneyland) and how he’s seen the gaming industry evolve since then. He also shares the story of what led him to come up with the idea for Amazon Prime, which led him to join Amazon’s board. Finally, he talks about his role at Kleiner Perkins now and offers advice on how to best work with founders. [July 22, 2021–64 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link

“The founders who turn into great CEOs at scale all tend to be learning machines.”

The Meb Faber Show

  • The Meb Faber Show: #330 — Guillermo Cornejo, Riders Share — Riders Share Is Like An AirBnB, But For Renting Motorcycles. Guillermo Cornejo is the founder and CEO of Riders Share, the first & largest motorcycle peer-to-peer rentals platform in the United States. Guillermo walks through what it’s been like to build out the marketplace and get both supply and demand. Throughout the entire conversation, he focuses on the importance of risk management, whether it’s through insurance, verifying renters have motorcycle licenses, or avoiding the theft of the bikes. Towards the end of the episode, he covers his vision for the future of the company, including possible expansion to Europe. [July 19, 2021–45 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link

  • The Meb Faber Show: #331 — Phil Nadel, Forefront Venture Partners — The Best Companies Are Founded By Folks Who Personally Feel The Pain Point. Phil Nadel is the co-founder of Forefront Venture Partners, one of the largest and most successful syndicates on AngelList. Meb and Phil begin by covering some of the companies they’ve invested in together. After learning about Phil’s role on Gimlet’s podcast “The Pitch,” he explains why he chose to launch a rolling fund and the benefits a rolling fund can provide to both founders and investors. [July 21, 2021–56 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link

  • The Meb Faber Show: #332 — Mebisode — Journey to 100X. In this episode, you’ll hear Meb talk about his journey investing in over 250 private companies since 2014. He explains why he chose to do so and his framework around sizing, timing, and diversification. Finally, he shares his advice on how to craft a plan if you want to get started yourself. To read the piece in this episode, click here. [July 23, 2021–54 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link

The Rest

“I’m going to get fired because we don’t win enough games one day. They’re not going to fire us because we don’t run the right culture.”

  • Finding Mastery: Dawn Staley on Discipline and Mental Fortitude. Hall of Famer Dawn Staley is the national championship winning head coach of the South Carolina women’s basketball team. The episode is centered around her leadership style and how her upbringing shaped who she is today as a coach. She shares why the mental part is what makes the best players stand out and how she tries to develop that in her players, why greatness and success starts with a strong culture, and her approach to interviewing for the Portland TrailBlazers job recently. [July 21, 2021–86 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link

“I think I’m masterful when it comes to knowing certain things on the floor, but that doesn’t make me a great coach. What makes me a great coach is I know how to meet people where they are to take them where they need to go.”

  • SmartLess: “LeBron James.” This is a fun conversation with Lebron James on his approach to philanthropy, building a business team, and parenting while in the spotlight. He also discusses his acting career and role in Space Jam, and starting a supplement company with Arnold Schwarzenegger. [July 12, 2021–57 minutes] iTunes Podcast | Spotify | Google | Breaker | Website Link

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

Mike Green (Chief Strategist, Simplify Asset Management):

Christian Angermayer (Founder, Apeiron Investments):

David George (GP, Andreessen Horowitz):

Good investing,Meb Fabertheideafarm.com