Monthly Archives: May 2024

Business Articles, Prolific Investors

Peter Thiel

When someone asks me what comes to mind when I think of Mr Peter Theil. I respond with, an American Business Leader, and a Bad Ass Investor, who is one hundred per cent an American Patriot. 

Peter Thiel is an American Attorney, Venture Capitalist, Political Activist, and Entrepreneur who has deep Libertarian Conservative Patriotic Values. 

In the overall look at Mr Thiel’s many life achievements, from graduating from Stanford, working as a Securities Attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell and deciding to leave Big Law after a short time. To invest and help build PayPal, and Facebook, growing and building a public company Palantir, with Dr. Alex Karp, Joe Lonsdale, and Stephen Cohen to Authoring; Zero to One, and establishing the Venture Capital Mega Fund Founders Fund in San Francisco, California. 

Peter’s backstory is incredible, and the Capitalistic Value and street credit speak for themselves. I have read many articles on Mr Theil. I have reached out for a short statement about his Venture Capital Investing and Use of Funds for Entrepreneurs. 

Political Action Through Funds

As an Investor, Mr. Theil’s Political Activism and Contributions, have been public and is a positive influence on the sometimes-struggling American Conservative Political Action. Since I am a Qualified Investment Adviser it’s only natural for me to write about the Political funds and contributions associated with American Patriot’s.

According to the political contributions website OpenSecrets Mr. Thiel has contributed around $50 million to state and federal political candidates and campaigns since 2000, and he was the 10th largest individual donor to either party in the 2022 midterm congressional elections, according to the non-profit OpenSecrets.

Mr. Stephen Moore, Richard Gilder, Thomas L Rhodes, and Harlan Crowe are the Founders of the Libertarian Conservative Club for Growth. The Club For Growth Action Fund is a Federal Super Pac and State Political Action Committee that helps fund Congressional Candidates, and State Candidates running for Federal and State Offices. The main policy theme behind Club for Growth is to help Congress push and pass Conservative Economic Policy Initiatives. 

It’s no secret and is a privilege that I have collaborated with the Club for Growth in Washington D.C. when I was serving in politics at all levels. I can honestly say the team at Club for Growth have become friends of mine.

If there is one thing you must watch today? It is the fantastic GOP National Convention Commencement Speech Mr. Thiel gave for Presidential Candidate Donald Trump in 2016.

Palantir

Time Magazine attempted to paint Mr. Thiel as dangerous because he is Politically Active, I however have an issue with this characterization. Here are the facts, any American Investor who is not dangerous in business and life as a professional leader, should not be in a position of Authority in Business and Investing. 

It’s ridiculous to think an American man who is as successful as Mr. Thiel wouldn’t be dangerous. That’s how we keep our dominance as Americans and keep America first. 

Dangerous business leaders like Mr. Thiel and others like Joe Lonsdale, and Dr. Alex Karp keep the Bad Actors and Foreign adversaries across the world in their place and away from threatening America’s Business Dominance.

Speaking of Dominance, I would like to introduce Palantir. According to Palantir’s Website, Palantir’s mission is to build software that empowers organizations to effectively integrate their data, decisions, and operations. This can be used offensively and defensively and makes Palantir dangerous for our adversaries. 

Time Magazine attempted to paint Mr. Thiel as Dangerous because he is Politically Active, I however have a issue with this characterization. Here is the Facts! Any American Investor who is not Dangerous in Business and Life as a Professional Leader? Should not be in a Position of Authority in Business and Investing. It’s ridiculous to think an American Man who is as Successful as Mr. Thiel wouldn’t be dangerous. That’s how we keep our Dominance as Americans and keep America First! Dangerous business leaders like Mr. Thiel and others like Joe Lonsdale, and Dr. Alex Karp keeps the Bad Actors and Foreign adversaries across the world in their place and away from threatening America’s Business Dominance.

I am certain we need American Public Companies that can help with America’s Foreign Policies and threats. It needs to be shared that Business Insider wrote a nasty hit piece about Mr. Thiel’s American Duty to assist the Government when needed as a Public Company Governing member. And let’s not forget to toss into the trash the Business Insiders’ mission to write smear stories of Conservative-leaning American Business Leaders like my friend and Hedge Fund Manager Bill Ackman and his lovely wife Neri.

Peter Theil is a Co-Founder of Palantir, according to the Wikipedia Page: Link Click.

Venture Capital – Founders Fund

In 2005 Thiel invested and started a Venture Capital Fund with Ken Howery, and Luke Nosek, and he currently invests in Startups and Tech Entrepreneurs who built companies like Facebook and Yelp, companies that made a huge impact from Silicon Valley to some of the most important Tech companies in the world. Currently, Mr. Theil’s partners at Founders Fund are Lauren Gross, Brian Singerman, Napolean Ta and a dozen more incredibly successful names that dominate and demonstrate professional excellence in the VC Landscape. Founders Fund currently operates an Investment Adviser to manage capital. 

If you missed my latest article “Why Venture Capitals are Turning to Investment Advisers” Read about it here. 

Investing

Peter Thiel continues to play a part and be a leader in the San Francisco Venture Capital and is often asked to attend church and other events by friend YC Partner Mr. Garry Tan, and others in Silicon Valley. 

Some of Mr Thiel’s latest investments can be traced to SpaceX, Palantir, Stripe, Anduril, AirBNB, NUBANK, Neural Link, Ramp, Affirm, OpenAi, Cognition, Figma, The Boring Company and many more recognizable names.

Conclusion on Mr. Theil’s Investing & Leadership

Mr. Peter Theil will continue to dominate and play major roles in Professional Investing, the Venture Capital Landscape, and the Political Activist space that influences policy within and outside the United States Economic System.

You would be correct in stating that Mr Thiel is an American name that instils instant respect in all four corners of the world from Israel to Australia and Taiwan. 

I would like to save the best for last, Mr. Theil was attending an AI Conference and I happened to be two chairs away and I met him. I reached out to Mr Theil with the phone number and email address I have in my contact list. I am waiting for a return email, but it seems likely and understandable he is very busy and I will need to catch him next time.

In conclusion, the next time you hear Mr. Peter Thiel’s name in the news or the media, I hope you refer to this man and business leader as an American Hero, Prolific Investor and Philanthropist who holds our country’s best interest at heart. That’s all I have for today on Mr. Thiel, thank you for reading.

I do welcome your thoughts on things to include that should be mentioned.

Thank you again. Godspeed

JS

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Business Articles, Investing, Investment Philosophy, Learn About Investing

Qualitative Growth Investment Philosophy

This post will share and demonstrate what is written and communicated inside of Phil Fischer Book which is the origin of Qualitative Growth. A investors greatest concern should be managing Risk. If you manage to understand your business and all it’s unique qualities while considering Risk? It’s likely you have stumbled upon the foundation of Qualitative an Growth Investing Principles.

Asking detailed hard questions. Example: When we buy or invest in any company or security? It is only natural to ask detailed educated pointed questions and do some due diligence before we make that investment. And if we add in the fact we are not seeking dividends? That is basically the foundation of Phillip Fisher’s Investment Philosophy Growth Investing. Let’s get into some examples of questions and details.

Charlie Munger may he rest in Peace long ago when Berkshire was growing. Convinced Warren Buffett to begin considering and partially adopting the Phil Fisher philosophy of investing to implement into the Berkshire’s strategy. If I remember correctly this video should help. Warren Buffett starts by sharing Phil Fisher’s Book is one of the best Books on Investing.

Who is Investor Phillip Fisher

Philip Arthur Fisher was an American stock investor best known as the author of Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, a guide to investing that has remained in print ever since it was first published in 1958. Mr. Fischer basically began using his insights as a Investment Philosophy. Example, assume If a stock is going to outperform the market longterm? In this case it does not matter what the current price is! Becuase the performance over time will outpace the price volatility and increase if you have done your due diligence and leg work correctly.

Mr. Fisher focused on Qualitative Fact finding and positive assumptions backed by verifying tangible information. The fact he did such heavy investigating is that his findings may lead to a Stocks growth and having the right information for his investment fundamentals over the longterm.

Put another way? Qualitative investing requires assumptions about the future that are made on the basis of quality. An analyst will make judgements on the prospects of the stock based on the qualitative attributes of the company.

Mr. Phil Fisher career began in 1928 when he dropped out of the newly created Stanford Graduate School of Business (later he would return to be one of only three people ever to teach the investment course) to work as a securities analyst with the Anglo-London Bank in San Francisco.

Growth & Qualitative Investing

Mr. Fisher wrote in his book detailing a basic checklist that helps investors sift and sort through Stocks and Investment Opportunities using Qualitative and a checklist of sophisticated questions that arrive at a “YES,NO or Maybe” conclusion. This strategy of investing gave birth to Growth and Qualitative Investing.

Asking Questions that helped Mr. Fisher?

  • Does the company have excellent management teams?
  • How is the Business’s Qualitative Fundamentals on the Balance Sheet rather than using ratios?
  • Stock Price is not evaluated. So if a Stock is Expensive currently Fischer’s reasoning looks towards the long term growth of the business which will outperform short term stock pricing models.
  • If a investment fails any of the questions on the Checklist after investing? Mr. Fischer makes it a point to move on selling the investment.
  • Understanding the Business and what makes the business work? Valuable question.
  • R&D Spending? If target company is outspending and outperforming competitors? This is a good indicator or qualitative fundamentals at work within the business.
  • What makes the Business grow? Very important to understand.
  • Does the Business have repear customers?
  • Business profit margins must be healthy.
  • Does the Executive Management have outstanding community relations?
  • Is the cost analysis and quality controls of the business products and services accounted for? Will this share information about operations?
  • Is the Companies Management Integrity Unquestionable?
  • Would you want your family to work in this business? And does the community value the Business’s presence?
  • Is there room for growth in the space and is the company’s management providing information about current industry forecasts?

These are all questions Mr. Fisher has shared in his Book written in 1958, which have withstood the test of time. And yes many of these questions have evolved with time into my own use. And in all fairness most of these assumptions or questions still very much apply and are used today by Institutional Investors and Professional Investors who manage Fund’s. You may recognize some of the fellow Buffet followers who use these methods of Investigating Investments. Professional Investors and Fund managers like Guy Spier, Christopher Tsai, Li Liu, Chuck Akre, Seth Klarman, Peter Lych, Bill Ackman and many more.

Conclusion

In Conclusion for today’s post on learning more about Growth or Qualitative Investing Philosophy, we must look at what works in the markets as legitimate Investment Philosophy and what doesn’t work. If you consider most individuals investment experience and ability to mitigate and consider investment RISK. Most retail investors who day trade do not have Advisors. This ends up making them lose money and treat the Stock and Credit Markets like a Casino. Their goal is always the same. They are hoping and praying that twenty dollar stock they just bought with their life savings will rise in the next week or few days. But this is absolutely not how the Professionals invest. Nothing about investing can be done from feelings or judging ones own intuition! It takes serious investigation and professional trained discipline.

Individuals who don’t use any Investment Philosophy will likely be humbled by the sudden unemotional Market Volatility. Magellan Fund Manager Peter Lynch loved volatility for this exact reason. He used volatility to invest as a Value Investor during times were Fearful. So in all fairness? I think it’s safe to say after reading the Book by Mr. Phil Fisher the more sophisticated detailed and creative questions we ask about a Investment opportunity? The better off we will likely be years down the road. Thanks for reading everyone Please do read Mr. Phil Fisher’s book. Uncommon Stocks and Uncommon Profits.

I appreciate you reading my Post. It was a blast preparing this for you. And to my fellow Professionals who do run Investment Funds and use Mr. Fisher’s Investment Philosophy? Please do drop me a line to correct anything I may have written or shown in this post that is incorrect. I am doing my best with what I have. Thank you. JS

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