Principles

I invest and build to improve the lives of my family, my community, and the whole of humanity — in that order. To that end, I believe in the following.

Business principles (6)

1. Choose people firstPeople are not interchangeable. The best teams are built from the best individuals — they drive extraordinary results and deserve to be rewarded accordingly.
2. Cultivate an ownership cultureIn great organizations, everyone owns something. Delegate real responsibility to those closest to the work — top-down control doesn't just slow things down, it drives away the very people you most want to keep. Hire exceptional people, give them a domain, and trust them to lead it.
3. Foster trust through honesty & integrityTrust is the lubricant of a great company. More valuable than money — and far harder to rebuild once lost.
4. Value qualityIn a world of disposable, low-effort work, quality stands out. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well.
5. Produce net good value for othersDon't make the world worse with your efforts. There are always ways to invest and build that create genuine good — choose them.
6. Embrace beauty and simplicity of designBuild things that elevate the spirit and reduce the chaos. Great design isn't decoration — it's clarity made visible. When something is both beautiful and simple, it earns trust, invites use, and endures. Strive for that.

Investment principles (15)

1. Invest in businesses you believe inPrefer companies with honest management producing quality goods or services. Genuine conviction in the underlying business gives you the confidence to hold through economic and market turmoil.
2. Seek durable competitive advantagesGive preference to companies that provide an essential service or hold a significant moat over potential competition. Structural advantages compound. Businesses without them eventually get competed away.
3. Follow the fundamentalsInvest in companies with growing revenue and earnings. As long as growth continues, price will eventually catch up. Valuation multiple compression is temporary; durable earnings growth is not.
4. Price mattersBuy great companies at reasonable prices. You can overpay for a wonderful business and underperform — and a terrible business bought cheap usually stays cheap. It's okay to love the company, but never ignore the price you're paying. Price is always part of the equation.
5. Bet on AmericaThe United States is not perfect — but its capitalistic system is the most powerful wealth creation mechanism the world has ever seen. Compared to every alternative, it remains the best. Bet on its long-term prosperity. As an American, if that bet turns out to be wrong, some financial losses are the least of your concerns. If it's right — and history strongly suggests it will be — equity ownership is one of the best ways to participate.
6. Investing is a dial, not a switchDon't think in terms of all-in or all-out. Build positions gradually — dollar cost average into great companies, especially during downturns, as long as the fundamental thesis remains intact. When markets get euphoric, trim overpriced positions rather than hold through the inevitable correction. Managing exposure is a continuous process, not a binary decision.
7. Back up the truck on your best ideasYour highest-conviction opportunities will be rare. When you find one — a great business, at a reasonable price, that you understand deeply — size it accordingly. Diversification is protection against ignorance or miscalculation; it's less necessary when you truly know what you own.
8. Large price declines are opportunitiesKeep your eyes open for significant drawdowns. If they are not caused by a fundamental change in a company's long-term prospects, treat them as buying opportunities. Price and value diverge — that gap is where returns are made.
9. Trust yourselfYour judgment is the only one you have — so develop it. Do the work, do the research, hone your skills. Once you have the knowledge and experience, use them. Stay open to being wrong; constantly reevaluate. But if you've kept an open mind, done the research, and still believe your thesis — trust yourself.
10. Investing is not a competitionOthers will sometimes appear to be making more — usually during speculative bubbles that eventually burst. Focus on your own goals. The objective is financial security for you and your family, not beating someone else's return in a given quarter.
11. Use your emotions as a contrarian signalUse your emotions as an indicator. When fear sets in, keep a clear head — if the fundamentals are intact, fear is often an opportunity. When euphoria takes over, be cautious. Your emotions are data; let reason make the call.
12. The system runs on monetary growthThe money supply must keep expanding — that's the architecture. When markets break down, the response is predictable: rates drop, liquidity flows, and asset prices recover. It has happened every time. Cash loses purchasing power by design; assets get reflated. Downturns are temporary. Short positions have their place, but the structural bias belongs on the long assets side.
13. Missed opportunities are inevitable — don't chaseYou will miss some — don't second-guess yourself when you do. There will always be another opportunity. Chasing a move that has already played out is how you turn a missed gain into a real loss. That said, know the difference: a move that has run its course is not the same as a company whose fundamentals are still growing and whose upside remains intact. The first is chasing. The second may still be a perfectly valid entry.
14. There is more than one way to make money in marketsMy preferred approach is to buy and hold wonderful long-term compounders. But I'm also willing to make short to medium-term trades when I see something the market isn't properly valuing. Above all, know the game you're playing, and let reason drive the move, not emotion.
15. Keep a constant watch on the macroRates, liquidity, credit, and policy set the weather every position trades in — watch them continuously. The signs are often visible early, ahead of the market: COVID and the 2022 rate-hiking cycle both were. When the outlook genuinely shifts, adjust allocations to match it — in extreme cases, puts can help weather the storm. Over the long run the system trends up, but if you see the tornado coming, it's fine to step out of its path temporarily.