007 - Alex (Ticker Symbol: YOU)
Hi there, and welcome to another edition of Intake, the newsletter that brings you the most trusted media and information sources of your favorite founders, experts, and creators.
Intake wants to feature a wide variety of professional backgrounds and fields of expertise. Let me know which topics interest you the most below!
Now, let’s get into this week’s feature: Alex, from Ticker Symbol: YOU.
-Zach (@ZachMRosen)
Alex (Ticker Symbol: YOU)
Alex is the host of the popular YouTube channel, Ticker Symbol: YOU. Launched just under three years ago, he has amassed 262,000 subscribers and uploaded nearly 250 videos. In them, he delves into AI and advanced technologies, and subsequently shares his investing theses on companies within those domains. His detailed breakdowns, combined with unique insights from his eight year tenure as a rocket scientist at MIT, make him a go-to resource for many in the technology and investing space.
Follow Alex:
X (Twitter) → @TickerSymbolYOU
Youtube → Ticker Symbol: YOU
Alex’s Intake 👇
Podcasts / YouTube Channels:
- All-In Podcast
- Ciovacco Capital
- Gamers Nexus
- Two Minute Papers
- Lex Fridman Podcast
Blogs / Newsletters:
- Warren Buffett’s Annual Letters to Shareholders
- Chamath Palihapitiya’s “What I read this week”
Websites:
- news.mit.edu
- seekingalpha.com
- theverge.com
- techcrunch.com
- medium.com
- arxiv.com
- ieee.org
Favorite Books:
- One Up on Wall Street - by Peter Lynch
- The Metaverse - by Matthew Ball
- The Signal and the Noise - by Nate Silver
- Thinking, Fast and Slow - by Daniel Kahneman
Q/A
Of all the creators and media sources you’ve listed above, which two do you depend on, trust, and frequent the most? Why?
”All-In Podcast: brilliant and diverse opinions on current events, tech, and capital markets from expert capital allocatorsIEEE & arXiv: best places to see academic papers on AI, computing, and other research areas without any bias/filtering from media coverage”
What market do you think is going to perform the best over the next 10 years? Do you have any favorite stocks in that market segment? Why?
”AI-enabled SaaS → huge uplift in knowledge worker productivity (which is already highly profitable)AI-enabled semiconductors → huge demand for AI training in data centers and inference capabilities in edge devices (smart phones, cars, VR goggles, etc.)”
How do you determine whether a particular source or content creator is reliable and trustworthy?
”Look at how their opinions change over time. Are the changes based on popular opinion (untrustworthy) or based on new data (probably trustworthy)? Are they always hopping on the latest trends (fickle, untrustworthy) or do they have deep commentary in a couple specific areas that they’ve built their brand around (probably trustworthy). Do they provide context/data behind their opinions (probably trustworthy) or do they just tell you their way is right and you should buy their product/service (untrustworthy shill).”
How do you approach evaluating a company before investing in it?
”1) Start with a market analysis → are they solving problems for a growing, stagnant, or dying market?
- If the market is growing, are they AT LEAST keeping their market share?
- If the market is stagnant, are they AT LEAST growing their market share?
- If the market is dying, skip the company
2) From there, understand their solutions and their competitors
- Qualitative: Do people LOVE their stuff? What are their differentiators? - Quantitative: Revenues per major offering, margins, free cash flow
3) From there, understand the historic price action and statistics
- What are their multiples vs. their industry (e.g. P/E, P/FCF, etc.)
4) [Optional but useful] Try to assess their intangibles. Do they have proprietary data, models, algorithms, etc. that you think will turn into real value down the road? Data is the new oil, after all.”
Could you share some insights or tips for beginners who are interested in investing?
”1) Invest in what you know (e.g. Apple, Google, etc.). Then expand what you know over time.2) “Diversification is protection against ignorance” - Warren Buffett
3) P/E is a pretty crappy metric. Learn about other ratios ASAP or else you’ll miss some pretty big winners.
4) Money is a means, not an end. Don’t forget to spend some of your gains on yourself. There’s nothing worse than having money and doing nothing with it.”
Thanks for tuning in to another edition of Intake! If you enjoyed this edition, please consider subscribing and sharing it with a friend.
See you next Friday!
-Zach (@ZachMRosen)
Want to read another investing focused Intake? Check out this past one featuring Alexandra Merz, aka, @teslaboomermama 👇.
