Infinite Loops

Our recurring guest (who rarely recurs these days), Alex Danco, comes back for his sixth appearance on Infinite Loops! Important Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alex_Danco Website: https://alexdanco.com/ Newsletter: https://danco.substack.com/ Show Notes: Our planned, but unplanned conversations Pink Floyd were philosophers From Heraclitus, to Lao Tzu, to Gita, to Deutsch Where does decision making come from? Projection 101 Can you versus can't you read people's mind Jim throwing big fancy words like "Phylogenetic inertia" Corn: The apex predator Self-serving nature of memetic theory The Mirror Philosophy What is a "creator"? Communication theory by Gregory Bateson The Founding Murderer Consequences of eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge "The most entertaining outcome is the most likely." Hot media vs. Cool media The Wire, and dumb Stringer The state of accreditation Balancing mystery with transparency Knowing pop culture as a status symbol And MUCH more! Books Mentioned: The Science of Storytelling; by Will Storr The Status Game; by Will Storr Happy; by Derren Brown The Selfish Gene; by Richard Dawkins Steps to an Ecology of Mind; by Gregory Bateson War and Peace; by Leo Tolstoy

Johnathan Bi started out getting trained in Mathematics, and then eventually went on to study Philosophy and Computer Science at Columbia. He hosts a lecture series on René Girard's Mimetic Theory and is also a founding member of Lonsdale Investment Technology. Important Links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnathanBi Lecture series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qu6vBebwwg Website: https://johnathanbi.com/ Lonsdale Investment Technology: https://www.longterm.com/ Show Notes: Becoming pessimistic with age Humiliation always comes back to bite you How Jonathan got introduced to Buddhism and Girard Why Jonathan left academia The driving human emotion Has modernity ignored the "spirit"? Girard's apocalyptic predictions Wild, wild west of capitalism The mystery with the discovery of the skull What does eugenics say about science? Science becoming dictatorial Buddhism figuring out the inner telescope Physical vs. metaphysical desires Mimesis in asset valuation Price to magic ratio Nietzsche's will of power Is delusion bad? Can internet lead to greater violence? "The Buddhist Solution" Girard—A rescuer of spirit And MUCH more! Books Mentioned: The Status Game; by Will Storr The Struggle for Recognition; by Axel Honneth Sapiens; by Yuval Noah Harari The Science of Storytelling; by Will Storr The Origin of Species; Charles Darwin Untimely Meditations; by Friedrich Nietzsche

Dan McMurtrie is the Portfolio Manager at Tyro Partners, an asset management firm for institutions and HNWIs; and the General Partner at Anchorless Bangladesh, an early stage venture fund focused on Bangladeshi startups. Links: Dan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuperMugatu Tyro Partners: https://www.tyropartners.com/ Anchorless Bangladesh: https://www.anchorless.vc/ Coolworks: Jobs in Great Places: https://www.coolworks.com/ Show Notes: Are we in the schadenfreude part of the market cycle? Going back to the fundamentals Solving the agency problem Taking concentrated beta risk Having clarity around your goals The behavioral risk in investing Do not get married to your investment thesis It's always you vs. you Investing is about understanding other people's mistakes Societal costs of stablecoins being unstable Compatibility of social media and representative democracy Issues with the current US Govt. administration Number one existential risk for US currently Risks of information overload Improving education about commerce Dopamine manipulators Leadership vs. Stakeholder management America vs China for policy changes US legal immigration system And MUCH more!

George Mack, a creator and marketing expert who founded the Multiply agency, shares insights on the intersection of mental models, marketing, and technology. He discusses the rise of TikTok and its impact on communication and learning. Mack highlights the importance of specific knowledge in tech and challenges traditional education models. He also dives into the balance of luck in decision-making and the significance of embracing individuality. Additionally, he emphasizes the evolving landscape of social media marketing and the necessity for modern mental frameworks in entrepreneurship.

Ian Cassel is the founder of MicroCapClub, a community where hundreds of investors have discussions on US and Canadian microcap companies. They also help you become better investors with educational content covering investing strategies, intelligent fanatic CEOs, great investors, and more. Ian is also Founder and CIO at Intelligent Fanatics Capital Management, whose goal is to own the smallest, most illiquid, least institutionally owned, misunderstood businesses that are run by intelligent fanatics. Ian's Twitter: https://twitter.com/iancassel MicroCapClub: https://microcapclub.com/ Intelligent Fanatics Capital Management: https://if.capital/ Show Notes: Microcaps are boons for quants How Ian fell in love with microcaps Managing other people's money Advantages and risks of microcap investing Profitability, scarcity, and great stories The top-down and bottom-up investment framework Not being limited by minimum market caps Being a hands-on investor Turnovers in microcap portfolios PE taking over microcap firms Increasing the flywheel of serendipity Preparing to be effortless Not getting into arguments with people with made up minds Being honest about your investment approach The "mute" button hack Identifying bad management Importance of base rates Educating about microcaps Optimism beats pessimism Do macroeconomic factors really matter? What is chasing you? Books Mentioned: The Psychology of Money, by Morgan Housel The Tao Jones Averages, by Bennett Goodspeed

After working at McKinsey and getting an MBA from MIT, Paul Millerd was succeeding well on a path that "made sense". However, things started changing when he had a health crisis, which ended up with him embarking on a pathless path. Since 2017, he's been tinkering with multiple side-hustles, writing newsletters, creating podcasts, traveling, and helping others join the pathless path. Paul's Twitter: https://twitter.com/p_millerd Paul's newsletter: https://boundless.substack.com/ 'The Pathless Path' book: https://think-boundless.com/the-pathless-path/ Show Notes: Having fun paying bills Jumping off your fitness landscape The first few years of being self-employed Connecting with the subconscious self Internet as an off-ramp How to stir up curiosity Lessons from DJing The social construct of retirement Internet economy requires showing up daily Design for liking your life Tinkering Embracing laziness Luxury of doing what you want The shift from cynicism to optimism Societal progress over the last decades What's next for Paul? Books Mentioned: The Pathless Path; by Paul Millerd The Body Keeps The Score; by Bessel van der Kolk

Dave Chilton is a Canadian author, investor, and a venture capitalist who has appeared on television in the Canadian version of Dragons' Den. In 1989, he released his book "The Wealthy Barber" which went on to sell an astonishing two million copies in Canada. You can follow Dave on Twitter at https://twitter.com/wealthy_barber and buy his book at https://www.amazon.com/THE-WEALTHY-BARBER/dp/B000SAI072 Show Notes: How Dave met Jim Signs of curiosity "The Wealthy Barber" TV show Twitter as a global intelligence network Capital Camp and Rethinking Private Equity Getting good at taking criticism Dave's approach to writing "The Wealthy Barber" The decline in business travel Starting new businesses at 60 Helping out authors with book publishing "The Chilton Method" web-series Power laws in podcasting Inviting Jim's kids to Infinite Loops How to react if your passport gets pickpocketed Living in the moment Building a healthy relationship with your kids The natural love for trivia Collecting art Anecdotal info in the world of big data Still using a Blackberry Books Mentioned: The Wealthy Barber; by Dave Chilton What Works on Wall Street; by Jim O'Shaughnessy Invest Like the Best; by Jim O'Shaughnessy Psychology of Money; by Morgan Housel The Immortality Key; by Brian Muraresku

Meb Faber is co-founder and the Chief Investment Officer of Cambria Investment Management, author of multiple books, and host of "The Meb Faber Show" podcast. You can follow Meb on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MebFaber and know more about him and his work at https://mebfaber.com/ Show Notes: Replicating the Yale endowment Why investors won't follow advice Importance of writing down your investment plan The challenges of buy and hold Learning from your losses Out of favor strategies A dividend strategy without dividends The branding issue with buybacks Harsh book reviews Investing in international markets Are we in an expensive downtrend? Stated vs. Actual preference Not betting on merely sentiment Robinhood with an educational spin

Trung T. Phan is a creator in the tech, business, and media space. His Twitter threads are full of knowledge and humor, and he also co-hosts the "Not Investment Advice" podcast. Follow Trung on Twitter at https://twitter.com/TrungTPhan and subscribe to his newsletter at https://trungtphan.com/subscribe/ Show Notes: Trung's Vietnamese origins Humor in your talent stack Asymmetric returns of creating content online The power of memes Getting a CFA Going back to writing movie scripts Succeeding in the creator economy How to acquire people's attention Creating content on LinkedIn and Facebook The importance of traveling Donald Trump's popularity in SE Asia History is not black or white Steve Jobs with the Picasso How a Microsoft guy catalyzed the iPad Musk's space meeting with Bezos Not letting complacency set in Putting historical dates into perspective Structuring speech to persuade Jim not dissing Plato Making Ted Lasso likable in 157 seconds And MORE! Books Mentioned: The Status Game; by Will Storr The Beginning of Infinity; by David Deutsch Virus of the Mind; by Richard Brodie The Republic; Plato

Jimmy Soni is an author whose work focuses on people who create and build interesting things—whether theories, carousels, or companies. His books include "The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley", "A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age", and more! You can follow Jimmy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jimmyasoni and go through his work on https://jimmysoni.com/ Show Notes: The joy of curiosity How memes spread The Great Reshuffle How internet changed the publishing industry Parallels between early days of PayPal and Bitcoin Money as an information system Appreciating the micro-level decisions Three new things about Elon The Elon Effect How the PayPal founders brought the best out of people The unknown names who were critical to PayPal Claude Shannon's financial decisions Wealth is a byproduct of the devotion to the craft Books Mentioned: The Founders; by Jimmy Soni A Mind at Play; by Jimmy Soni Virus of the Mind; by Richard Brodie The Sovereign Individual; by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg What Works on Wall Street; Jim O'Shaughnessy