Invest Like The Best
Episode 224 Investing in Paradigm Shifts
Invest Like The Best

Episode 224: Investing in Paradigm Shifts

Invest Like The Best

Episode 224

Investing in Paradigm Shifts

Andrew Sugrue is the co-founder and partner at Avenir Growth Capital. We cover the company attributes that Andrew looks for when investing, what separates Savage X Fenty and Latch as category defining businesses, and how he thinks about private vs public market investing.

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[00:03:31] - [First question] - His journey leading up to his current firm

[00:05:55] - Lessons learned from time spent with Julian Robertson

[00:07:54] - The chip on his shoulder that helped keep him driven

[00:08:40] - Transforming his early motivators into sustainable career-long fuel

[00:10:46] - The first things in mind when approaching a new business or person

[00:14:00] - Analysis of Savage Lingerie and learning about how that sector operates 

[00:20:27] - Amazon producing a one-hour special Savage infomercial 

[00:23:16] - Lessons learned from Savage that can be applied to other direct to consumer brands

[00:25:04] - Having a celebrity at the forefront of your brand

[00:26:41] - Levers and overview of apparel company income statements and how they can shape the way you grow and operate the business

[00:30:08] - Apparel companies always being tied to identity

[00:31:03] - Analysis of Latch and learning about the relationship between hardware and software

[00:33:40] - How Latch works and why you might need it

[00:38:56] - Other businesses that may benefit from understanding the events that drive demand and using it as an opportunity for customer acquisition

[00:40:12] - The concept of density of demand and the power behind it

[00:41:33] - Other areas of operations where density of demand could be applied 

[00:44:15] - Shared components that unite Avenir’s portfolio companies 

[00:46:18] - How he thinks about the world of private investment, having lived such a diverse career 

[00:50:26] - Developing relationships with founders in such a concentrated portfolio

[00:51:39] - Macro thoughts on the state of investing today

[00:53:03] - Defining and identifying characteristics of bad growth

[00:54:09] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Investing in Paradigm Shifts

Introduction

Patrick
My guest today is Andrew Sugrue, co-founder, and partner at Avenir Growth Capital. Avenir is a growth equity firm focused on backing category-defining businesses. In our conversation, we cover Andrew's investing career, what he learned from Julian Robertson, how counter positioning could drive unique distribution, and a difference between good and bad growth. We also spend time examining the business model of two of Andrew's portfolio companies, Savage X Fenty and Latch. There are so many great lessons for investors and operators to take away from Andrew. Please enjoy our conversation.

Andrew's Background

Patrick
So Andrew, you sit in a very interesting position given your career background and how you got to what you're doing now. Maybe you can begin by giving us that thumbnail sketch, the unique couple of pit stops you had before showing up at your current firm, describe your current firm, and then we're going to go into all details of your investment process.

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