Let’s bring the great, small growth companies back to the public markets! The idea that you must have $1 B in revs is untrue. What you need is vision, ambition, and a growing business w a moat, path to profits, etc. Acquired Podcast w Ben Gilbert David Rosenthal

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Kudos to Vanguard for rejecting ISS and voting in support of Elon Musk at $TSLA. Passive investing does not mean blindly following ISS orthodoxy. 💪🚀

Open AI IPO? Plenty of revs. Public companies innovate just as well / more disciplined. More reg scrutiny - good for building trust / safety - key for AI. Gets rid of funky structure - more trust. Lets smaller, retail investors share in upside of AI - not just wealthy. 💪

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Market drops & Pod drops. AI bears w the upper hand. No time off for the Olympics! 🚀

In the Age of AI, the nature of work will change. But ideas like UBI are the wrong answer - they erode individual purpose, dignity, & our natl advantage. Invest America will do the opposite - an individually owned 401k like account for each of the 3.7 M children born annually -

Productivity is what drives prosperity. And it should be obvious to all that competition among free individuals is a far superior means for allocating the scarce labor & capital that drives this productivity vs. the heavy hand of government. 👊🚀

Since 2022, $META revenue up 40% yet # of employees down 19% despite massive new investments in AI. AI is not only extending and accelerating Meta revenue growth, it is also leading to big leverage on people / opex. #stayingfit 👊🚀

Long but solid update on the AI “air pocket” debate.

Epic run Rich Barton as Founder / CEO of Zillow (& Expedia Glassdoor) - one of the great founder & consumer minds in the biz - and huge congrats to Jeremy Wacksman on promo to CEO - Jeremy is key architect of the Z biz & responsible for much of success! 💪🚀

Thursday night pod drop - Bill Gurley steering this week’s ship. Listen at 1.5x for max signal / time. 🙏🏼🚀

It’s no mystery. The CA Dept of Insurance which sets auto rates for 12% of US drivers approved 25-30% rate hikes over last 2 yrs as many insurers left the state due to Prop 103. And bc CA is so big it influences rates across the country. Price setting does not fix inflation…

All these companies should have JVs with the pharma companies - vertically integrate - first we fatten you like cattle for slaughter with corn sugars and a bunch of grains - and then after you have Type 2 diabetes - we sell you insulin and drugs to get skinny. 🤮🤮

Growing up in tough times, optimism was a superpower. Perhaps a Darwinian survival response that caused me to believe the future would be better. I often find today’s cynicism to be a lazy, luxury belief - easier to critique & complain than the hard earned hopefulness you gain

What many don’t realize is the level of respect & friendship that “competitors” in this business have for one another. Investing is hard - but love of sport, excellence at your craft & sharing your insights to better yourself makes it more fun! 🙏🏼 Gavin Baker Patrick OShaughnessy