My guest today is Lucas Miller, it’s his second time on the show; please look up his earlier episode. I highly recommend it. We met over a year ago in Zurich, where I shared with a small group of investors what I learned about my life, investing process, and work in general during the unusual pandemic years. We bonded right away since Lucas told me that my lessons rhyme with what he is studying and researching as a cognitive neuroscientist and human performance researcher at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, where he is the youngest faculty member.

“It takes a lot of ambition to maximize your wealth over 100 years” - Luca Dellanna

I was introduced to Luca’s work by Guy Spier in our conversation a year and a half ago. I got see Luca in person a few times since, and we recorded by now three episodes of Talking Billions. Given the kind of long-term, patient, disciplined investing that I practice, Luca’s thoughts on long-term games and reproducible success resonate with me and have had a big impact on me. Luca expanded my vocabulary to explain something that I and my clients intuitively understand.

My guest today is Pieter Slegers. He is the writer behind the widely popular newsletter Compounding Quality. He lives in Belgium, and used to work for a Belgian Asset Manager. His hobbies are running (he ran his first marathon last year), lifting weights and reading books. Pieter is a co-author with Luc Kroeze of a recently published book The Art of Quality Investing: How to Invest in the Best Companies in the World. It’s Pieter’s second appearance on the show, I highly recommend looking up his earlier episode.

My guest today is John Rotonti — in my mind, John is a very diligent, thoughtful, deliberate stock analyst with a great gift for teaching others the necessary skills to analyze and evaluate businesses. He is kind, generous, and always so much fun to talk to. We recorded our first episode together about a year ago; scroll down to find it. It’s a truly wonderful conversation and an opportunity to get to know my guest. Today is John’s second appearance on the show, and we’ll go deeper with a stock picking masterclass delivered by someone I admire and respect.

Morgan is a singer-songwriter, an author, and the co-founder of Trailhead Planners, a financial planning and wealth management firm serving clients nationally. Morgan lives with his family in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Today, we talk about money. Morgan emphasizes though that becoming a millionaire should not be the ultimate goal; instead, money should be a means to a more meaningful end.

My guest today is Brian Portnoy, CFA, PhD — the Founder of Shaping Wealth.

Brian is one of the world’s leading experts on the psychology of money. He has written multiple bestselling books, including The Geometry of Wealth, and has 20+ years of experience as an investor and educator in the hedge fund and mutual fund industries. He is a CFA Charterholder and earned a PhD at the University of Chicago.

My guest today is Adam Seessel. He is an author and professional investor with experience as an investigative reporter — which comes in handy in investing. He graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College and began his professional career as a newspaper reporter in North Carolina.

In 1995, Seessel took his research skills to Wall Street. He worked for Sanford C. Bernstein, Baron Capital, and Davis Selected Advisers before starting his own firm, Gravity Capital Management, which manages money for high-net-worth individuals and institutions.

Jeff is such a terrific guy. He has that voice and storytelling gift that keeps you hooked for hours because every minute, you feel like he is letting you in on the biggest secret, and he really is. I had to have him here on TB, and he kindly said yes. He is a fellow investor, VALUEx’er, forensic accountant, and good friend.

Jeff Gilbert, CPA is an Executive Director of Investigations where he specializes in forensic auditing. Drawing upon personal experience and using real-life case studies, he teaches at the Asper School of Business and with the Chartered Professional Accountants program. Jeff also mentors entrepreneurs and provides strategic advice to assist them in achieving their goals. He manages his own investment portfolio with a mix of public companies and private investments. A strong believer in lifelong learning, he is an avid reader and has numerous interests, including value investing and understanding various philosophies, strategies, and mental models.

My guest today is Elizabeth Campbell Pagé. In the last 10 years, her leadership courses have reached 60,000 students. She is an entrepreneur, manager, and global executive in international organizations, including The World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and The Royal Society. Elizabeth teaches cross-sectoral teams in person and online.

She was also the founder, publisher, and editor of a global, peer-reviewed journal of economic and environmental sciences, Ecodecision, featuring Francophone and Commonwealth articles and distributed to over 100 countries.

Jeremy Deal is the founder of JDP Capital Management. JDP is a private partnership that makes investments in public stocks where the quality and durability of future earnings power is not reflected in the price. The fund's goal is to buy and hold a handful of businesses that can survive and thrive over long periods of time.

Today, my guest shares his unique investing journey. Although he is a professional investor, he had never worked at an investment firm before launching his own private partnership. Jeremy tells me about the importance of independent thinking and the right environment to work in. We talk about the benefits of being an outsider. Stay tuned until the end, when my guest shares an anecdote and a lesson about investing as an emotional game and explains what it takes to develop and keep your conviction behind investment ideas. Last but not least, we discuss the value of having a community, a network of like-minded yet very different individuals in your professional life.

Guido Alfani is a Professor of Economic History at Bocconi University, Milan (Italy). He is also an Affiliated Scholar at the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality (New York) and a Research Fellow of the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR, London). In the last fifteen years, Guido has focused his research on economic inequality in the long run of history and on the history of major pandemics (often combining the two topics). His most recent book, published by Princeton University Press, is dedicated to the rich, the very rich, and the super-rich, and it is entitled As Gods among Men. A History of the Rich in the West.

My guest today is Ken Honda, the best-selling author of a beautiful book — Happy Money

At just 29 years old, Ken made an unexpected decision: he stepped away from a successful career in consulting and accounting to immerse himself in the joys of fatherhood fully. But it wasn't long before a chance encounter in the park ignited a spark within him.

My guest today is the author of “Hidden Genius,” The Secret Ways of Thinking that Power the World’s Most Successful People, Polina Marinova Pompliano. She is the founder of The Profile, a media organization that studies successful people and companies.

Previously, she spent five years at FORTUNE where she covered technology and venture capital.

As the author and editor of Term Sheet, FORTUNE’s industry-leading dealmaking newsletter, Polina interviewed the industry’s most influential dealmakers, including Melinda Gates, Steve Schwarzman, Richard Branson, and more.

Devin Martin is the founder of the executive life coaching company LifeStyle Integrity. His purpose is to bring wisdom to power. His passion is helping leaders make life-altering decisions.

Because of his core belief that the fate of both humanity and the planet hinges on the decisions that our leaders make, he has since dedicated his career to raising the consciousness of those whose decisions have the biggest impact. His work is rooted in the belief that capitalism, done well, can be a force for good in the world. As an executive life coach, he is able to support leaders through both personal and professional development.

Gautam Baid, CFA is the Managing Partner of Stellar Wealth Partners India Fund. He invests in listed Indian equities with a long-term, fundamental, and value-oriented approach.

Gautam is the author of the international best-seller on value investing, The Joys of Compounding. In 2018 and 2019, he was profiled in Morningstar’s Learn from the Masters series. This is Gautam’s second appearance on Talking Billions.

Today’s guests — Eddie Palmgren and Niklas Sävås are passionate about learning and investing. They are the hosts of Investing by the Books podcast and work at Redeye, an investment bank in Stockholm, Sweden. It’s a wide-ranging rich discussion from inheritance to immortality and everything in between.

Today, they both share with me not only their childhood stories but also family histories that shed light on their curiosity about money and investing. You know how interested I am in family fortunes, and my guests have stories to tell.

My guest today is Dan Haylett (the host of the #1 Retirement Podcast in the UK). Dan’s ‘pull back the duvet every morning’ purpose is to help his clients spend their time and money on what’s truly important.

His passion for understanding and learning about the emotional, behavioral, and financial challenges of life after work makes him a true specialist in helping clients have the freedom and confidence to take advantage of their ‘window of spending opportunity’ and live their best lives.

Thomas Chua writes, hosts a podcast, and runs a stock research service. He is the founder of SteadyCompounding, where he writes about lessons from super investors, stock analysis, and market insights.

Compounding is a fascinating concept—so simple yet so hard to embrace. I recently spoke about it with Pieter Slegers from Compound Quality and Gautam Baid, the author of The Joys of Compounding. Both have been guests on Talking Billions.

My guest today is Pieter Slegers, the founder of the world-famous and hugely successful Compounding Quality Newsletter. Pieter and I missed each at the last year’s Berkshire meeting, but connected soon after. It was Gautam Baid (the author of Joys of Compounding) who in Omaha told me I should chat with Pieter. We had a few wonderful calls since then and met in person at Guy Spier’s VALUEx in Klosters soon after this recording.

Money is a difficult topic, so when I meet someone who can make it easier, I can’t wait to have them on the show. Rachael is a Certified Financial Planner and owner and founder of Camp Wealth, a financial planning firm for high-earners and entrepreneurs. She graduated from Indiana University Kelley School of Business with a degree in Finance, and spent her entire career in financial services. She created Camp Wealth when she realized financial advisors weren’t providing the service that Solopreneurs and High-earners really need.