The Meb Faber Show - Better Investing

In episode 244 we welcome our guest, long time trader and trend follower, Tom Basso. In today’s episode, we’re talking trend following and trading.We start with some of Tom’s early trades, cutting his teeth on corn futures, and, as a disciplined trend follower, going through hell before a silver futures trade was in the books for a nice gain. We discuss power laws and outliers, and his finding that it sometimes came down to a handful of trades that made the difference between profit and breaking even, or even losing money for the year.We cover the critical concept of position sizing, and why it has been a cornerstone of Tom’s trading systems over the years. We get into the mental side of investing, and as we wind down, Tom lets us in on the virtues of trading multiple, symbiotic strategies.All this and more in episode 244 with Tom Basso. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 243 we welcome our guest, Doug Ludlow, CEO of MainStreet. In today’s episode, we’re talking about saving meaningful money.We kick off the conversation with MainStreet’s launch of an incentive campaign that would pay people $10,000 to leave the Bay Area. As a result, they received an influx of local and state governments reaching out to inform them of their own incentive programs.This caused MainStreet to shift the product vision to serve the small business and startup community as a government relations and finance team, making it easy to gain access to the same tools and incentive programs being used by sophisticated corporate finance groups. Better yet, the average company is saving around $50,000 per year!We dive into the user experience of integrating MainStreet into HR platforms, and even get into some of the tax credits out there, some of the qualifications to access them, and the success-based business model the team has implemented.All this and more in episode 243 with Doug Ludlow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 242 we welcome our guest, Ham Serunjogi, co-founder and CEO of Chipper Cash. In today’s episode, we’re talking cross border peer-to-peer money transfer.We walk through the reality of limited access to easy and seamless money interaction available to many people outside of the US and other more developed regions of the world. We chat path the road Chipper Cash has taken to develop an easy-to-use P2P money transfer platform in Africa, which has the highest cost of sending money in the world.We even get into the thinking behind launching the product, resisting the urge to go 0-100 right out of the gate, and taking time to process high-value feedback in order to continue to develop and improve the offering.All this and more in episode 242 with Ham Serunjogi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 241 we welcome our guest, Doug Ramsey, Chief Investment Officer of The Leuthold Group. In today’s episode, we’re talking markets.We jump right in with a walk through of Leuthold’s sober 10-year market forecast. We talk about valuation spreads between growth and value, and Leuthold’s thinking about how to be positioned based on takeaways from their research.We get into thoughts on the US dollar, commodities, the opportunity in foreign markets, and the fallout in earnings power from the recent downturn.All this and more in episode 241 with Doug Ramsey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 240 we welcome our guest, Stefan Batory, co-founder and CEO of Booksy. In today’s episode, we’re talking about helping folks in the hair and beauty industry get organized and get their time back when it comes to scheduling customers.We discuss the headaches and time-sink these professionals experience when it comes to scheduling; the majority of them are still using some type of manual or non-digitalized solution when it comes to scheduling. We cover launching and growing the business, the fragmented nature of the industry, and the massive opportunity for Booksy as they address the market, which represents hundreds of billions of dollars in services globally.As we wind down, we even touch on some memorable moments of gratitude the Booksy team has received from customers that have achieved a better and healthier work/life balance.All this and more in episode 240 with Stefan Batory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 239 we welcome our guest, Chris Fernandez, co-founder and CEO of EnsoData. In today’s episode, we’re talking all things sleep.We walk through the origin story of EnsoData, from the founders’ initial idea followed by 12 pivots to arrive at their flagship product, EnsoSleep. We talk about analyzing sleep data, solving hard data analysis problems with AI, and boostrapping enough data into the EnsoData ecosystem to build and validate the product.We get into the long-term vision for the company, and even the potential for transferability of their algorithms and AI into other areas outside of sleep.All this and more in episode 239 with Chris Fernandez. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 238 we welcome our guest, Mark Straub, co-founder and CEO of Smile Identity. In today’s episode, we’re talking user authentication and biometric checks.We kick off the episode with some observations from Mark about the evolution of startup fundraising as he’s traveled the world. We get into some of the efforts that have been in place by organizations in emerging economies to prevent fraud, and some of the issues that have resulted as a byproduct.We discuss the backstory of Smile Identity and the current use case for Smile Identity’s technology. We dive into the nuts and bolts of challenges faced by face recognition technology, and the thought and work involved to implement and train algorithms for biometric checks.All this and more in episode 238 with Mark Straub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 237 we welcome our guest, Ryan McQuaid, co-founder and CEO of PlushCare. In today’s episode, we’re getting into a hot topic in this pandemic environment, telehealth.We start by hearing the origin story behind PlushCare as Ryan shares his personal experience of receiving fully digital support and medical care from a friend who was a Stanford physician, identifying that 1% of Americans can afford the price-tag of a concierge doctor, and pursuing the opportunity to democratize the model, making it widely available to all. We walk through the experience PlushCare provides patients and physicians, and the emphasis on investing a lot on the physician side of the business.We cover the experience of navigating COVID as a telehealth provider, and the need to increase physician capacity 4X! We get into the state of the industry, and our Ryan’s thoughts about this being the future of patient-physician relationships, and the vision for the company going forward.All this and more in episode 237 with Ryan McQuaid Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 236 we welcome our guest, Stuart Landesberg, founder and CEO of Grove Collaborative. In today’s episode, we’re talking about building a mission-driven business around delivering sustainable home essentials.We discuss launching Grove on two long term trends, conventional vs. natural products, and the transition from offline to online models. We walk through the highs and lows of operating a company with little capital early-on, and the deep insights our guest gleaned from taking the time to perform simple user tests. We talk about the freedom an online-platform offers when it comes to innovation, and Grove’s goal of becoming plastic free by 2025.We cover why Grove pursued status as a B-corp, and the opinion that a truly mission-driven business can have a sustainable competitive advantage. As we wind down we talk about the challenges Grove has navigated during COVID, and the jump they had on taking precautions in the early days of the pandemic.All this and more in episode 236 with Stuart Landesberg. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In episode 235 we welcome our guest, Ajay Prakash, co-founder and CEO of Rinse.In today’s episode, we’re talking about building and scaling laundry and dry cleaning. We talk about the origin story behind Rinse and narrowing in on friction in the consumer experience and applying technology to old-school industries.We discuss testing the offering on friends, and building a platform that leverages current industry infrastructure. We then get into future growth plans, the importance of expanding deeper into current markets, and other considerations they’re making to grow and expand the business.All this and more in episode 235 with Ajay Prakash. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices