Clay Finck chats with fan favorite Ian Cassel about a wide array of topics, including the role of mentors in his development as an investor, the three characteristics of a business that lead to “Lightning in a Bottle”, and unconventional methods he uses to understand a business better than nearly all other investors.

Ian is a full-time microcap investor and CIO of Intelligent Fanatics Capital Management. He is the founder of MicroCapClub.com and co-founder of the IntelligentFanatics.com. 

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

00:00 - Intro.

06:40 - The role networks and mentors have played in Ian’s development as an investor.

10:47 - How Ian recommends going about finding and developing a relationship with a mentor.

13:50 - How the microcap landscape has changed over the past 20 years.

18:09 - What countries Ian is finding his best microcap ideas.

19:33 - The three characteristics of a business that lead to “Lightning in a Bottle.”

37:47 - Unconventional ways that Ian analyzes and better understand a business.

48:15 - On-the-ground due diligence methods that Ian uses.

56:51 - How Ian performs maintenance due diligence after purchasing a stock.

59:29 - Why you shouldn’t “coffee can” microcaps.

64:03 - How Ian finds companies that are positioned to grow during any market environment.

68:00 - Why Ian prefers to be in the first wave of discovery in microcap land.

72:40 - How investors can source new investment ideas.

77:00 - The investment filter Ian has recently used to discover ideas before other microcap investors.

81:16 - What Ian’s daily journaling practice looks like.

Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences.

BOOKS AND RESOURCES

• Check out our newly released TIP Mastermind Community.
• Ian’s Beginner’s Guide to Researching Microcaps.
• Ian’s community, MicrocapClub.
• Ian’s book, Intelligent Fanatics.
• Check out of our review of Mastering the Market Cycle,  or watch the video here.
• Follow Ian on Twitter.
• Follow Clay on Twitter.

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P.S The Investor’s Podcast Network is excited to launch a subreddit devoted to our fans in discussing financial markets, stock picks, questions for our hosts, and much more! Join our subreddit r/TheInvestorsPodcast today!

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