8
Nov
2015
An investment in knowledge
I was at after work drinks a month or so ago, and one of my work colleagues invited his daughter and wife along, who had been in the area. I guessed that his wife might be more interesting to talk to than my work colleagues, so asked a few conversational questions. She had worked at... Read More
23
Sep
2015
So, what’s it like to manage 30 billion dollars? You don’t feel like a lucky chicken?
Last week I went to a talk by David Harding of Winton Capital Management. He is an impressive speaker, as someone who is the “H” in AHL, a $16bn hedge fund. Even more impressively, he sold AHL in the 1990s, and started a new fund Winton managing $2m in 1997, growing to over $30bn today.... Read More
9
Aug
2015
Missing dumbbells and the future of space travel
I have been listening to the complete Sherlock Holmes collection, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Listening to the stories consecutively, it is possible to see just how formulaic the detective stories really are – but what a successful formula it is! The Sherlock Holmes stories all have a similar structure. They start with a mystery... Read More
17
Jun
2015
Chasing wrong ideas
“It doesn’t matter if…I’m chasing old ideas. It doesn’t matter if…Maybe…We are, We are” – London Grammar “I want you to notice, when I’m not around.” – Radiohead Recently I have got interested in investing with a high probability of failure. Why would I be interested in this? Not to avoid high failure industries – but... Read More