Henry Ellenbogen - Man Versus Machine - [Invest Like the Best, EP.452]

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Colossus

Technology, Business, Investing

4.7 • 2.5K Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2025

⏱️ 108 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

My guest today is Henry Ellenbogen, founder and Managing Partner of Durable Capital Partners. Henry built his reputation at T. Rowe Price, where he led the New Horizons Fund and turned it into one of the best-performing small-cap growth portfolios in the country. In 2019, he left to start Durable. His philosophy is grounded in a simple belief that great investing is about understanding people and change. Henry has spent his career studying the rare 1% of companies that drive nearly all long-term returns . Durable’s edge comes from being able to tell the difference between a company that is failing and one that is transforming. Henry often talks about “Act II” teams – founders who take the lessons from their first company and apply them to a new frontier. Durable itself is his Act II. In our latest Colossus profile, Managing Editor Dom Cooke traces Henry’s story and specifically how he became one of the most influential investors of the 21st century, having learned from founders like Jeff Bezos and John Malone in the early part of his career. I always hear the same thing from founders who’ve met Henry: “he understood my business faster than anyone”. The thing that sticks with me from our conversation and Dom’s profile is just how much he loves investing. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ramp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Ramp’s mission is to help companies manage their spend in a way that reduces expenses and frees up time for teams to work on more valuable projects. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ramp.com/invest to sign up for free and get a $250 welcome bonus. ----- This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ridgeline⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Ridgeline has built a complete, real-time, modern operating system for investment managers. It handles trading, portfolio management, compliance, customer reporting, and much more through an all-in-one real-time cloud platform. Head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ridgelineapps.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more about the platform. ----- This episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AlphaSense⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. AlphaSense has completely transformed the research process with cutting-edge AI technology and a vast collection of top-tier, reliable business content. Invest Like the Best listeners can get a free trial now at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Alpha-Sense.com/Invest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and experience firsthand how AlphaSense and Tegus help you make smarter decisions faster. ----- Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠). Show Notes: (00:00:00) Welcome to Invest Like The Best (00:04:00) Meet Henry Ellenbogen (00:05:29) Origin of Henry’s Investment Philosophy (00:08:12) Identifying the 1% of Great Companies (00:12:53) Patterns of Successful Compounders (00:20:34) Act Two Entrepreneurs and Teams (00:25:43) Building Durable Capital: Henry’s Act Two (00:30:11) Dollar Cost Averaging Up Strategy (00:35:02) Market Structure and Agency Problems (00:38:26) Impact of Quant Funds and Short-Term Capital (00:42:21) AI as Transformative Change (00:45:30) How Affirm Uses AI (00:48:23) Amazon’s Cost Curve Advantage (00:51:48) Leadership Through Change (00:56:54) Robotics and Physical Kaizen (01:01:29) Favorite Types of Competitive Advantages (01:05:25) Investment Memo Structure (01:09:21) 2022 CEO Tour on Market Transition (01:19:18) Hiring and Developing Talent (01:24:09) Making Colleagues Better (01:27:56) Being Intellectually Honest in Investing (01:29:11) Lessons from Success (01:33:04) Case for Going Public (01:36:32) Netflix Transition Example (01:41:29) Two Types of Greatness (01:45:42) The Kindest Thing

Transcript

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0:00.0	Here's an interesting question to think about. If your finance team suddenly had an extra week every month, what would you have them work on?
0:05.9	Most CFOs don't know because their finance teams are grinding it out on lost expense reports, invoice coding, and tracking down receipts until the last possible minute.
0:13.7	That's exactly the problem that Ramps set out to solve. Looking at the parts of finance, everyone quietly hates and asking why are humans doing any of this?
0:21.7	Turns out they don't need to. Ramp's AI handles 85% of expense reviews automatically with 99%
0:27.8	accuracy, which means your finance team stops being the department that processes stuff and starts
0:32.6	being the team that thinks about stuff. Here's the real shift. Companies using Ramp aren't just
0:37.1	saving time. They're reallocating it. While competitors spend two weeks closing their books, you're already planning next quarter. While they're cleaning up spreadsheets, you're thinking about new pricing strategy, new markets, and where the next dollar of ROI comes from. That difference compounds. Go to ramp.com slash invest to try ramp and see how much leverage your team gains when the
0:55.9	work you have to do stops getting in the way of the work that you want to do. To me, Ridgeline
0:59.6	isn't just a software provider. It's a true partner in innovation. They're redefining what's
1:03.6	possible in asset management technology, helping firms scale faster, operate smarter, and stay ahead
1:08.3	of the curve. I want to share a real-world example of how
1:10.8	they're making a difference. Let me introduce you to Brian. Brian, please introduce yourself and tell
1:17.1	us a bit about your role. My name is Brian Strang. I'm the technical operations lead,
1:22.1	and I work at Congress Asset Management. How would you describe your experience working with
1:26.0	Ridgeline? Ridgeline is a technology partner, not a software vendor, and the people really care.
1:30.3	I get sales, calls all the time, and I ignore them. Ridgeline sold me very quickly.
1:35.3	We went from $7 billion to $23 billion, and the goal is $50 billion.
1:39.3	Ridgeline was the clear frontrunner to help us scale.
1:42.3	In your view, what most distinguishes Ridgeline?
1:45.6	They reimagined how this industry should work.
1:48.1	It's obviously they were operating on another level.
1:52.2	It's worth reaching out to Ridgeline to see what the unlock can be for your firm.
	...

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