Invest Like The Best
Episode 79 The Berkshire of Software
Invest Like The Best

Episode 79: The Berkshire of Software

The Berkshire of Software

Savneet Singh is a partner at CoVenture and the co-founder of Tera Holdings. We cover Savneet’s entrepreneurial and investing journey, the FinTech space, and his thoughts on venture capital investing.

This podcast is sponsored by:

The CFA Institute. The CFA Institute is the global association of investment professionals whose mission is to lead the investment profession by promoting the highest standards of ethics, education, and professional excellence for the ultimate benefit of society. CFA Institute serves a global community of investment professionals working to build an investment industry where investors' interests come first, financial markets function at their best, and economies grow. The Chartered Financial Analyst credential is the most respected and recognized investment management designation in the world. The views expressed in this podcast do not necessarily represent the views of the CFA Institute.

[00:02:30] – (First Question) – How Savneet started thinking about Spanish real estate.

[00:04:29] – Why Airbnb could be the most impactful and interesting of the companies like this

[00:05:25] – Savneet’s early entrepreneurial ventures

[00:06:42] – His big investing influences

[00:07:40] – What did Savneet learn in his two years on the sell-side of Wall Street

[00:08:50] – How the financial crisis impacted Savneet

[00:10:11] – The entrepreneurial journey and GBI

[00:11:40] – Savneet’s observations on the FinTech space and investing in it

[00:14:59] – How we can use FinTech to get into an actual new business

[00:16:22] – His thoughts on venture capital style investing

[00:20:46] – What Savneet took from his tennis career

[00:22:13] – The impactful things that his parents did for him

[00:23:23] – How Savneet thinks about justice in his life

[00:24:39] – Most memorable trip Savneet took

[00:25:50] – Why you have to take action

[00:26:19] – Why value investing struck a chord with Savneet

[00:27:22] – How culture plays an important role in the compounding companies he would invest in

[00:28:14] – Defining the proper long-term mindset when starting a company

[00:29:44] – Back to the culture of successful compounding companies

[00:31:21] – Knowing what he knows now, what does he think about Berkshire today

[00:33:22] – The strategy behind Terra and how it came together

[00:35:00] – His checklist for deciding to invest in a firm

[00:37:31] – How do they think about the defensibility of the companies they invest in

[00:39:58] – The importance of cyclicality in the customer base of companies they invest in

[00:41:38] – Why does Savneet think this is the space he wants to remain in for the long-term

[00:44:39] – How they are thinking about pricing a company they invest in

[00:47:03] – Lessons learned in sales and marketing that he can and will bring to the software world

[00:52:05] – What Savneet has learned from Constellation

[00:54:39] – What does Savneet’s funnel for bringing in new companies look like

[00:56:31] – What helps to drive a lot of conversion for them

[00:59:08] – What lessons has Savneet learned about taxes in their company structure

[01:00:32] – How does Terra think about diversification

[01:02:13] – How they think about capital sourcing

[01:05:08] – His balanced view on crypto as an asset class

[01:09:45] – Savneet shares the Sikh philosophy with Patrick

[01:11:43] – What Sikh traditions does Savneet take part in and what is their significance to him

[01:16:42] – Any other areas that people are underestimating

[01:17:22] – Kindest thing anyone has done for Savneet

The Berkshire of Software

Introduction

Patrick
My guest this week is another in a recent series of people that makes me want to work harder, learn more and do more for others. His name is Savneet Singh and he has already accomplished a remarkable amount in the worlds of business and investing. He's preferred to keep a bit of a low profile but I'm hoping for everyone's sake to change that a little bit. See the show notes for where you can read him and follow him. Savneet has invested in unique things like Spanish real estate, famous startups like Uber, cryptocurrencies before they were cool and even websites. He founded and built a FinTech company.

Now, he is both a partner at the wide-ranging investment firm CoVenture with my previous guests, Ali Hamed and the co-founder of Tera Holdings, which is trying to become the Berkshire Hathaway of software companies. To say this conversation is wide-ranging is an understatement. What's neat is that my favorite parts aren't even on investing, but are instead on principles for living. Savneet is one of the best people I've met on this journey. I've had several other conversations with him with shockingly low overlap with the one you were about to hear, a testament to his active and curious mind. I hope you enjoy learning from him as much as I have.

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