Private EquityHow I Invest
American Securities co-founder and CEO Michael Fisch joins host David Weisburd to discuss the evolution of private equity from sub-billion-dollar leveraged buyouts into a multi-trillion-dollar industry. Fisch details hi…
- In 1983, the entire institutional private equity market was smaller than $1 billion, split among fewer than ten firms. Read →
- American Securities maintains an 80%-plus CEO retention rate across its 30-year history, keeping the incumbent executive from acquisition through exit. Read →
- American Securities grew assets under management from $71.4 million in 1994 to $23 billion without straying from U.S. industrial and industrial-service assets. Read →
Private EquityHow I Invest
Macro strategist Michael Green discusses how the structural rise of passive investing and systematic capital flows have fundamentally distorted market efficiency, equity valuations, and traditional factor models. He exp…
- Electronic market makers like Citadel and Jane Street have abandoned price discovery to monetize predictable order flows from retail and passive vehicles. Read →
- Passive index inclusion rules create a reflexive feedback loop: driving a stock price higher increases its probability of index entry, which triggers mandated buying from systemat… Read →
- The traditional efficient market hypothesis assumes one dollar of capital inflow creates roughly one cent of market value across public equities. Read →
Private EquityHow I Invest
Peter Hecht, Managing Director at AQR Capital Management, explains how systematic quantitative investing relies on disciplined diversification across thousands of small edges rather than concentrated bets. He breaks dow…
- Alpha does not exist in a vacuum; it is strictly an artifact of the chosen equilibrium risk model, a concept Eugene Fama drilled into his University of Chicago PhD students on day… Read →
- Converting unstructured broker reports and earnings text into numerical word embeddings is standard practice, but mapping those vectors to asset returns remains the proprietary ba… Read →
- Active long-only management restricts alpha search to narrow benchmark universes, capping risk-adjusted upside. Read →
Private EquityHow I Invest
Byron Ling, Partner at Twelve Below, shares insights from participating in roughly 30,000 founder meetings over the past decade. He and host David Weisburd discuss identifying elite founder traits beyond pedigree, apply…
- Byron Ling has evaluated founders across roughly 30,000 meetings over the past decade. Read →
- Byron Ling evaluated approximately 30,000 founder meetings across a decade at Twelve Below and previous funds, concluding that elite pedigrees, university degrees, and corporate r… Read →
- Byron Ling evaluated roughly 30,000 founder meetings across a decade, concluding that pedigree matters far less than an earned right to market insight. Read →
Private EquityHow I Invest
Former University of Notre Dame Chief Investment Officer Scott Malpass reflects on his 32-year career growing the university's endowment from $400 million to over $20 billion. He discusses the core traits of elite fund…
- Scott Malpass spent 32 years steering the University of Notre Dame endowment from $400 million to more than $20 billion, relying on long-tenured relationships with managers like S… Read →
- Scott Malpass ran the University of Notre Dame endowment for 32 years, scaling its asset base from $400 million to more than $20 billion. Read →
- Scott Malpass expanded the University of Notre Dame endowment from $400 million in 1988 to over $20 billion across 32 years as chief investment officer. Read →
Private EquityHow I Invest
Bryon Hargis, co-founder of Castelion, joins David Weisburd to discuss revitalizing America's defense manufacturing capacity through mass-producible hypersonic weapons. Hargis shares operational lessons learned at Space…
- Castelion faced nearly 100 venture capital rejections in 2022 because software-focused investors viewed defense hardware as uninvestable. Read →
- Castelion co-founder Bryon Hargis splits operating bets into reversible errors and company-ending failures, applying rapid iteration only to decisions with low downside. Read →
- Bryon Hargis founded Castelion to build mass-producible hypersonic weapons after facing nearly 100 venture capital rejections before breaking ground on a dedicated manufacturing p… Read →
Private EquityHow I Invest
Stuart Waugh, Managing Partner of Northleaf Capital Partners, joins David Weisburd to discuss how the AI boom is creating an unprecedented bottleneck in power and physical infrastructure. Waugh explains Northleaf's thes…
- Retail Business Development Companies (BDCs) face headlines about redemption pressure and shifting sentiment, but Waugh notes BDCs represent only a small fraction of the wider pri… Read →
- Secondaries have shifted from distressed fire-sale venues to standard portfolio management tools for institutional CIOs rebalancing liquid allocations. Read →
- Northleaf Capital Partners grew from a five-person team spinning out of TD Bank in 2009 to a multi-asset manager overseeing $31 billion across private equity, private credit, and… Read →
Private EquityHow I Invest
In this episode, investor Alec delves into his investment philosophy, distinguishing between pricing risk and uncertainty to gain an edge in markets. He shares insights into building an adaptive organizational culture a…
- Alec Weber, an investor and founder of Magnetar Capital, argues that the Adaptability Quotient (AQ) has surpassed IQ and EQ as the most critical trait for navigating a rapidly cha… Read →
- Investor Alec distinguishes between 'risk,' where probabilities are known, and 'uncertainty,' where no existing model applies, arguing that true market edge lies in resolving the… Read →
- Alec, a Magnetar Capital investor, frames personal mistrust, like his son's avoidance of sharing about accelerated Spanish, as a systemic failure in the relationship, not a person… Read →
Private EquityHow I Invest
Benjamin Black, founder of Akkadian Ventures and Powerlaw Corp. (Nasdaq: PWRL), joins David Weisburd to discuss the structural breakdown of traditional 10-year venture capital funds and the rise of secondary markets. Bl…
- Private tech companies now routinely stay private for 15 to 20 years, making the traditional 10-year venture fund structure obsolete. Read →
- Late-stage tech companies now stay private for decades with backing from sovereign wealth and mega-funds, locking out 90% of retail investors from top venture returns. Read →
- Traditional 10-year fund lifecycles force managers to spend peak deployment years fundraising rather than managing positions. Read →
Private EquityHow I Invest
This episode explores the rapid surge in venture capital interest in defense technology. David George, founder of Marq, discusses the geopolitical, economic, and technological factors driving this trend, alongside the u…
- David George, founder of Marq, argues that ethical investing in defense technology demands a nuanced view, moving beyond simplistic product classifications to focus on intent and… Read →
- Venture capital interest in defense tech has skyrocketed from "single-digit billions" in 2019-2020 to "well over $100 billion a year" today, signaling a rapid re-rating of the sec… Read →
- Defense tech VC firm Marq operates a unique Fellowship Program, immersing active-duty military and government civilians in venture capital for two months. Read →
Private EquityHow I Invest
This episode features David Weisburd and Ares investor Joel, who explore Ares' investment approach to data centers and the underlying credit-like structures. They discuss the critical role of reputation and shared purpo…
- Ares investor Joel argues that in private, illiquid credit markets, sustained deal flow and better risk profiles stem from a firm's consistent reputation for delivering on commitm… Read →
- Ares investor Joel urges young finance professionals to prioritize building 'intellectual property value' (IP value) over immediate salary bumps or job titles, citing decisions fo… Read →
- Ares investor Joel argues that authentic leadership, particularly owning mistakes, is non-negotiable for building trust in high-stakes investing, directly countering the often-pol… Read →
Private EquityHow I Invest
David Weisburd interviews Nikhil about Footwork, a venture capital firm uniquely built from the ground up to be AI-native. They discuss how AI agents automate core VC functions like deal sourcing and portfolio managemen…
- Footwork, an AI-native venture firm, mandates weekly internal discussions where every team member shares how they're using AI, ensuring a collective "learning mode" to raise firm-… Read →
- Nikhil, co-founder of Footwork, built a public presence with his newsletter 'The Next Big Thing', illustrating a strategic shift for VCs. Read →
- Nikhil identifies an enduring competitive advantage for venture firms: brand, calling it the "last remaining moat" for many businesses, including VC. It directly attracts talent a… Read →
Private EquityHow I Invest
Andre, an investment professional at Earlybird, discusses his journey into venture capital and how his machine learning background influenced the firm's approach. He details Earlybird's shift to an AI-native platform, f…
- Andre, an investment professional at Earlybird, spearheaded a firm-wide shift to an AI-native platform aimed at automating repetitive "monkey work" in venture capital. Read →
- The venture capital world is moving past the generic idea of a "great founder," instead demanding specific attributes tuned to a company’s position in the tech stack. Read →
- In a post-AI landscape, public data is commoditized. The new alpha in venture capital comes from proprietary, internal data like meeting transcripts and investment memos. Read →
Private EquityHow I Invest
Aram Verdian, partner at Accolade Partners, discusses his thesis that venture capital is becoming a winner-take-all market, with less than 1% of firms consistently generating top returns. He explores the reasons for thi…
- Accolade Partners' core portfolio construction principle demands that a single company outcome be capable of returning multiples of the fund, even after dilution. Read →
- Seed-stage venture capital has become a winner-take-all environment, with Accolade Partners' Aram Verdian noting that less than 1% of firms consistently deliver top returns due to… Read →
- Accolade Partners, led by Aram Verdian, aims to be the "first call" LP by embedding itself deeply with venture fund managers from their inception, assisting with operational setup… Read →
Private EquityHow I Invest
This episode features Scott Abu Khair, CIO of Pinkus Capital Management, who discusses the complexities of calculating after-tax returns and how traditional investment models fail taxable investors. He outlines Pinkus C…
- Pinkus Capital Management, under CIO Scott Abu Khair, rejects arbitrary strategic asset allocation targets common in the endowment model, instead simplifying asset classes to "gro… Read →
- Scott Abu Khair, CIO of Pinkus Capital Management, frames the ability to strategically say 'no' as a core competitive advantage, stemming from an unwavering commitment to long-ter… Read →
Private EquityHow I Invest
Lucas Swisser, co-head of growth investing at CO2, discusses where value will accrue in the AI stack, between foundational models and application layers. He challenges the fear of widespread job loss due to AI, arguing…
- Lucas Swisser and David Weisburd reveal why top AI talent chooses mission over money, making specific culture the ultimate leverage for founders to build companies that last. Read →
- Counterintuitive data from CO2's analysis shows companies above $10 billion in market cap are statistically more likely to deliver 10x returns than those below. The odds increase… Read →
- The fear of massive job loss from AI is a common misconception, often rooted in a zero-sum view of the economy. Read →
Private EquityHow I Invest
In this unique episode, David Weisburd takes the guest seat to discuss his core belief that relationships, brand, and access compound more effectively than financial capital. He shares insights from over 400 investor in…
- After interviewing over 400 investors, David Weisburd pinpoints "seeing what excellence looks like" as the number one predictor for someone succeeding in their craft. Read →
- David Weisburd directly challenges Albert Einstein's famous claim, arguing that the true 'eighth wonder of the world' isn't financial compound interest, but the compounding of bra… Read →
- Venture capital isn't an 'asset class,' it's an 'access class.' Your ability to get into top deals matters more than just having capital ready to deploy. Read →