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Cash Rules, Playing the Long Game, the Economic Impact of AI, and Sleeping like a Baby

Social Leverage Letter | Issue #82

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This article from Social Leverage portfolio company Secfi (Fund III) discusses the ongoing banking crisis and covers the purchase of Credit Suisse by UBS. Learn how banks make money through lending and how rising interest rates have caused stress in the banking system. Discover how the phenomenon of a "run on the bank" can lead to a crisis. The solution to restoring confidence in the system is thorough government intervention, which is happening in various forms around the world.

There are numerous benefits that come along with long-term thinking, a strategy adopted by successful entrepreneurs such as Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Warren Buffet. Long-term thinking gives an "arbitrage" advantage, helps make better decisions, and leverages the power of compounding. The article also highlights the hazards of short-term thinking and recommends following the 5-Hour Rule to make long-term thinking a habit.

Selective attention, or the ability to focus on what matters and ignore distractions, is a key factor in expertise. For example, Peyton Manning's ability to quickly assess a defense and make snap decisions based on years of experience. And it highlights the importance of consistent practice and measurement in developing expertise, rather than relying on quick fixes or hacks.

LISTENING

II. Avi Goldfarb - The Economic Impact of AI

Avi Goldfarb - The Economic Impact of AI - [Invest Like the Best, EP.321]

Listen to this episode from Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy on Spotify. My guest today is Avi Goldfarb. Avi is a Professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, the Rotman Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare, as well as the co-author of two bestselling books on AI and its economic impact. His most recent book, Power and Prediction, is probably the best piece of content I have read in explaining how AI may reshape business models, systems, and products. We recorded this before GPT-4’s release last week which, if anything, makes Avi’s ideas on AI’s impact all the more poignant. Please enjoy my conversation with Avi Goldfarb. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @patrick_oshag | @JoinColossus Show Notes (00:03:15) - [First question] - His initial reaction to chat GPT when it first launched (00:07:08) - Prediction Machines; The impact price has on how much something is used by humans (00:11:07) - The shift from steam powered factories to electric ones and the transition between the two in regards to systems and application solutions; Power and Prediction (00:17:06) - Midpoints between a point solution and a systems solution and applications that are being built in the middle of them (00:19:10) - What application, system, and point solutions feel like today in the world of AI (00:27:03) - The transition from a world governed by rules to one by decisions (00:30:58) - How the power of prediction moves us from a binary to a decimal framework (00:34:48) - Ways power disruption will occur as we navigate the emerging AI frontier (00:44:33) - Other functions like personalization that entrepreneurs should think about putting into their products and features (00:47:18) - How we should be thinking about the generation of information and data (00:51:32) - A future where technology either desimates or empowers specific industries (00:54:16) - What he’s most excited and worried about given the emerging frontier of AI (00:55:41) - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him

Axos Bank CEO Greg Garrabrants Explains the Recent Banking Crisis (EP.246)

Listen to this episode from Panic with Friends - Howard Lindzon on Spotify. The past week and a half was pretty tough – everyone on Twitter went from Ukraine war expert to Bank run expert after the Silicon Valley Bank debacle. There were even rumors of bank CEOs flying in to visit old man Warren Buffet in Omaha over the weekend before last. I’m no expert, and I honestly have know idea how all this plays out in the very short term, so I had my friend and longtime Regional Bank CEO Greg Garrabrants of Axos Bank ($18.4 billion in assets) come on ‘Panic’ to talk about it all. Who better to talk about it than a CEO who survived without taking TARP money way back in the ole ‘great financial crisis’? We all just learned a big lesson. You saw what fear looked like, and the potential for panic to spread because of politics. Hopefully this episode helps calm some people. We’re not recommending anything, only that you understand your banking products. It is your money – you have to understand how sweep works, how FDIC insurance works, and you need to understand the balance sheet of your bank. Guest - Gregory Garrabrants, President & CEO at Axos Bank & Axos Financial howardlindzon.com, axosbank.com Twitter: @howardlindzon, @AxosBank, @PanicwFriends, @knutjensen linkedin.com/in/gregorygarrabrants #fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance Show Notes: • Introduction. (00:42) • Welcome Greg (03:27) • What the FED should monitor (05:01) • Insured/Uninsured deposits (06:16) • Extraordinary growth of SVB (08:05) • SVBs fatal decision (08:30 • Focus on the wrong risk (13:07) • SVBs ecosystem (16:04) • Several early warnings (23:59) • Flashback to 2007 (27:20) • Opportunity in Fintech (30:22) • Thoughts on crypto (32:06) • Countercyclical business (35:31) • Where is the industry going? (39:52) • Opportunity in Wealthtech (44:15) • Best time to buy a house? (49:43) • Closing thoughts. (50:44)

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Affiliate Disclosure: Social Leverage Group, LLC ("SLG"), Social Leverage Capital Fund I, LP ("SLC"), Social Leverage Capital Fund II, LP ("SLCII"), Social Leverage Capital Fund III, LP ("SLCIII") and Social Leverage Capital Fund IV, LP ("SLCIV") are all distinct entities from Social Leverage, LLC ("SL"). Social Leverage is not a registered investment advisor. SLC, SLCII, SLCIII, SLCIV, SLG and SL have used the logo and branding of Social Leverage with the permission of Social Leverage Group, LLC.