Modest Proposal – Better, Cheaper, Faster: Why Companies that Reduce Friction Win - [Invest Like the Best, EP.193]

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

Colossus

Investing, Business, Technology

4.8 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 29 September 2020

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Before getting to this week’s guest, an announcement: starting Thursday we will be introducing a new series of interviews. Be sure to check this same podcast feed in two days to learn more.

My guest this week goes by the pseudonym Modest Proposal. He’s both a close friend, and one of the most respected thinkers on financial twitter. I field more inbound questions about him than just about anyone, and you’ll see why in this episode. We discuss many of the biggest themes in today’s stock market, from consumer to technology to marketplace and local home services. As always, Modest brings specific insight and general frameworks to the discussion. I talk to him as often as I can because I learn something new every time, and this discussion was no exception. Please enjoy my conversation with Modest Proposal.

This episode of Invest Like The Best is sponsored by Canalyst. Canalyst is the leading destination for public company data and analysis.

If you’re a professional equity investor and haven’t talked to Canalyst recently, you should give them a shout. Learn more and try Canalyst for yourself at canalyst.com/Patrick.

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.

Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag

Show Notes

(2:37) – (First question) – How investing is about underwriting the future

(5:42) – Essential tools to underwrite the future

(7:59) – Michael Mauboussin base rate book

(9:02) – Increasing returns to scale as the most important tool

(11:36) – Example of silly investments

(14:00) – Ideas of consumer signal and non-linear beahvior

(16:30) – Why he was blown away by ibuyer.com

(19:08) – How businesses are targeting facilitating transactions

(23:11) – Ecommerce and digital penetration in business

(25:42) – Gavin Baker podcast episode

(26:00) – Modest proposal last podcast appearance

(27:56) – His thoughts on the extinction of so many businesses as a result of the pandemic

(32:26) – Chart tracking Product to service against homogeneous to heterogenous

(33:41) – The Perfect Store

(33:49) – eBoys

(43:51) – Other features of business that fascinate him

(46:29) – Ideas that pique his interest right now

(51:20) – Case study: IAC/InterActiveCorp

(59:36) – Barry Diller’s superpowers

(1:01:17) – Why he’s spent so much time exploring IAC/InterActiveCorp

(1:02:56) – Related companies to explore

Learn More

For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.

Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of Invest Like The Best is sponsored by Cannellist. Cannellist is the leading destination
0:04.8	for public company data and analysis. I had heard of Cannellist over the past few years and
0:09.2	became more interested after meeting the founder and CEO last year to pick his brain about SaaS
0:13.9	businesses. Founded by a former Bicide analyst who encountered friction in sourcing, building,
0:18.5	and updating models, Cannellist is now used by over 300 institutions, including the largest
0:23.7	money managers in North America and by a number of the guests on this show. With detailed
0:28.5	company specific models, on virtually every investable public equity, Cannellist clients are
0:33.1	able to react more quickly. If you've been scrambling to keep up with the deluge of IPOs these days,
0:38.3	Cannellist has models on Snowflake, Unity, GoodRx, and everything in between. Their pre-IPO models
0:44.0	are built as soon as the S1 hits and include all segments, KPIs, and non-GAP figures. If you're a
0:50.0	professional equity investor and haven't talked to Cannellist recently, you should give them a
0:54.0	shout. Learn more and try Cannellist for yourself at cannellist.com-forward-slash-patrick. That's
0:59.8	C-A-N-A-L-Y-S-T.com-slash-patrick.
1:07.5	Hello and welcome everyone. I'm Patrick O'Shanasi and this is Invest Like The Best. This show is an
1:12.6	open-ended exploration of markets, ideas, methods, stories, and of strategies that will help you
1:18.0	better invest both your time and your money. You can learn more and stay up to date and investor
1:22.8	field guide.com. Patrick O'Shanasi is the CEO of O'Shanasi Asset Management. All opinions expressed
1:32.9	by Patrick and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of O'Shanasi
1:38.2	Asset Management. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a
1:43.6	basis for investment decisions. Clients of O'Shanasi Asset Management may maintain positions and the
1:48.6	securities discussed in this podcast. Before getting to this week's guest and announcement,
1:55.2	starting Thursday we will be introducing a new series of interviews. Be sure to check out this
	...

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