Announcements and Gratitudes

* First Meeting Private Podcasts
Drop me an email if you’re interested in learning more. For a sample of the output, check out the First Meeting interview with FM First China. Uptake has been great so far – mostly with $2B-$25B firms that have geographic or time constraints.

* Feedback on the podcast
One avid listener and blogger at The Waiter’s Pad, Mike Dariano, is helping me get a better grasp on reasons behind the success of the show. If you can spare a few minutes to speak to him, please drop him an email at mikedariano@gmail.com.

* Funds 4 Food
Many of the world’s top allocators have pledged time to meet managers in the month of June at Funds 4 Food, a virtual capital introduction event with proceeds going to charities supporting food insecurity. Allocators and Managers can sign up, with all registration proceeds going to support food insecurity. The industry is rallying together to give back.

* Daylian Cain’s online training program
The feedback I received from the show with Daylian this month has been extraordinary. He is creating an online training program called ‘Negotiating In Difficult Times’ that will release next month and kindly offered a 20% discount to listeners of the show as a thank you. Use the coupon code ALLOCATORS.

Reading (Ordered by reading time: tweets first, books last, and blog posts and articles in between) 

1. “Unprecedented”.  The novel coronavirus has allowed corporate executives to repeat the world “unprecedented” frequently in shareholder communication.

2. Data on the economic impact of the pandemic. This New York Times article describes the startling change in US consumer behavior. Brent Beshore and Permanent Equity compiled a treasure trove of economic data.

3. “Biblical Wave Of Bankruptcies Is About To Flood The US.”  Pseudonym columnist Tyler Durden from Zero Hedge offers data on what may soon come to pass. Hertz’s filing this week could be the tip of the iceberg.

4. The Three Sides of Risk. Morgan Housel shares a tragic and beautifully written personal story about risk. His first book, The Psychology of Money, is now available for pre-sale.

5. Is Ronan Farrow Too Good to be True. Spectacular piece of reporting by Ben Smith. Brings up the thought provoking questions of whether all the details matter in the pursuit of truth and what the consequences might be if getting facts wrong leads to a false narrative.

Listening

Capital Allocators
Episode 136:  Daniel Adamson – Innovation from Asset Giants at Capital Constellation. Daniel discusses a partnership among asset owner giants to back new private equity firms.

Episode 137:  Laurence Siegel – Current Myths and Long-Term Optimism. Larry, a thoughtful strategist, discusses his recent paper of Ten Myths of Investing and his new book Fewer, Richer, Greener.

Episode 138:  Daylian Cain – Master Class in Negotiations. Yale professor talks about an actionable model in negotiations.

First Meeting Episode 19:  Brett Jefferson – Capturing Inefficiencies in Structured Credit at Hildene Capital Management. Brett dives into the arcane world of structure credit.

Best of the Rest

Tobi Lutke on Invest Like the Best.  Tobi is the founder and CEO of Shopify and one of the great, five-tool player business leaders.

Have a good one,
Ted