Transcript
Introduction
Patrick
I really underestimated the impact that this podcast would have on my life. I owe a huge thank you to everyone listening, especially to those who have shared the ones they've enjoyed most with their friends. I haven't done a single thing to "market" this show. It has been a hundred percent organic word of mouth growth. So the large audience size is thanks to you all. I deeply appreciate it. But I appreciate even more, however, is that the show's success has pushed me to be more thoughtful about what admittedly remains an informal process of searching for the most interesting people I can find that will share lessons they've learned with me and with you. Were it not for the podcast, I would never have met most of the people you hear each week. Some of those guests have become dear friends, including the two in this week's episode, Ted Seides, and Brent Beshore. Ted and I flew out to St. Louis to spend a day with Brent. While we are all passionate about investing, we've had very different careers. Ted in alternatives, hedge funds, and fund to funds, Brent in lower middle-market private equity, and my own in quantitative equities. What we share is a passion for investing in general and a deep interest in where the asset management business and profession is going. This conversation starts like most episodes, somewhat structured exploration of the investing business, but moves to be a bit more fun and informal as we work our way through a bottle or two of wine. In the latter half, we talk about how to dissect an industry, common features of good businesses within a given industry, books we'd like to write, books we wish existed, and things we've learned in our careers. We spent a long time talking about Ted's famous bet with Warren Buffet, but I've removed most of that and saved the conversation for another time. You'll hear us reference it here and there, mostly giving Ted help, but rest assured we will the entire thing in more detail at a later date. I could spend all my free time having conversations like this one and die happy. Thank you again for listening and sharing because you're doing so has allowed me to find people like Brent, Ted, and many others, and lead to friendships that have quickly become an important part of my life. For show notes, visit investorfieldguide.com/brentandted.