Transcript
Introduction
Patrick
My guest this week is Ian Cassel, a microcap investor who is always on the lookout for tiny companies which are run by men and women who are what he calls "intelligent fanatics." We discuss what Ian looks for in managers, why investors may want to consider microcap stocks as a category, and the advantages of a frugal approach to life. For show notes on this episode, visit investorfieldguide.com/ian. And now, please enjoy my conversation with Ian Cassel.
Intelligent Fanatics
Patrick
Well Ian, thank you very much for doing this with me today. We're going to cover some interesting uncharted waters for the podcast, specifically the public microcap investing space. Which will be a lot of fun because obviously, it's a part of the market that is probably not even a part of most people's portfolios. The collective market cap of all microcaps is like one mega-cap stock, so it's often the case that these companies are undercovered. But I want to start with this idea that you have, also the title of the book that you wrote, called "Intelligent Fanatics." And maybe a fun way to do it since I just finished the book would be to read a quote from early in the book from one of these intelligent fanatics. His name was John Patterson, who some will be familiar with. I had heard the name but I didn't know the story, and it's really well told in the book. He ran the National Cash Register Company, and this is from 1888, so this is a well-season quote. He said, "The business that is satisfied with itself, with its product, with its sales, which looks upon itself as having accomplished its purpose, is dead. The actual burial may be postponed, but it is dead because it is not going forward. To my mind, nothing can ever be good enough. I am always dissatisfied. I preach dissatisfaction. I can always see where something might be better, and therefore, our business is never at rest, and I never want it to be. The throbbing heart of a business is the intense desire to do better. When that desire ceases, the heart stops beating." So pretty clear mission statement or character type from John Patterson. Building off that, you could tell us how you came to this idea, what it is, and how you came to this idea of an intelligent fanatic.