One hedge fund thinks that MicroFocus should be worth twice its current share price
In contrast, UK Construction Group Kier looks like a short
Interesting story about the founder of Panera Bread and shareholder short-termism
WIll Amazon go for Health Care next ?
Investments based on demographic trends are very difficult (funeral services edition)
Barry Ritholz is angry about Buy backs of the wrong kind
Interesting deep dive into the world of Lithium-Ion batteries
This is the follow-up on part 1 some days ago.. These were the listed VC vehicles,I presented as the base in part 1 (in brackets my short vote for the first 4)
I have added two US vehicles to this list:
A few thoughts on Permanent Capital vs. “classical” fund structure vs. “SPACs”
In the previous post, one commentator mentioned that he was “sceptical of permanent capital” vehicles. Personally I would not support this. Berkshire Hathaway for instance is a permanent investment vehicle with quite some success. However there are other vehicles like Greenlight Re or Bill Ackman’s Persing NV which clearly have done a lousy job for shareholders as we can see in this chart: (Greenlight in yellow, Pershing Square blue):
Venture Capital seen from a Capital Markets / Hedgefunds perspective
Another reminder that BBB corporate debt could become a problem at some point in the future
Very interesting thoughts on “the curse of low hanging fruits”
10 interesting book recommendations for the upcoming holidays
Why Starbucks has been able to create the most popular payment app in the US
A good overview of recent Spin-offs
Prof. Damodaran thinks that GE is undervalued and 5 lessons to be learned from the GE debacle
Great profile of Shane Parish (Farnam Street Blog)
Warren Buffett has been buying JP Morgan, Oracle and other Financials.
Great CNBC interview with John Malone (h/t valueinvestingworld)
MBOs seem to be an indicator that an industry might be undervalued
GlobalStockPicking looks at the Dental industry
A great overview on where innovation will happen next from Benedict Evans (A16Z):
One upfront remark: I do not recommend to invest in Venture Capital right now. The market is clearly overheated and the asset class is known to be very volatile although Warren Buffett’s Todd Combs seems to just have discovered Fintechs.
This post is ment as a “long-term perspective” view on the sector and not a buy recommendation in the current environment.
How to invest into Venture Capital as a Private Investor
Famous VC funds
Venture Capital, i.e. the industry funding (technology) start-ups is known that almost everything depends on relationships.
It is no secret that a few funds like Sequoia or Kleiner Perkins have produced outstanding returns but these funds are “invitation only”, there are little chances even for larger institutions to invest in them and for individuals without direct connections it is more or less impossible to get in.
A great look back 10 years ago when Porsche created the Volkswagen Short Squeeze
The 5 most influential (historic) blog posts on Software ever
Don’t rely on the high dividend yields of consumer staples stocks
Forager is seeing Inflation risks
Notes from the SF Sohn conference and the Capitalize for Kids conference
Why Chinese short-video start-up Bytedance is supposed to be worth 75 bn USD
Some deep thoughts on how to apply Machine Learning to equity investing
Very good write-up on UK Hospital supplier Tristel
A good presentation (from April 2018) on Tech company Box Inc
Neil Woodford’s fund has been cut down by half (search result, h/t Monevator)
Notes from the “Invest for Kids” Chicago conference and from the Great Investors Best Ideas Dallas Conference
The Fall 2018 issue of Graham & Doddsville is out
How will the Saudi issue effect Tech valuations in the Valley going forward ?
A good collection of Spin-Off links
A few (random) updates on stocks I own or looked at in the past:
DOM Security:
Already 3 weeks ago, they issued a document how and when the merger will be completed. If I understood everything correctly, the ratio will be 20 SFPI shares for one DOM Security share and completion is on or around 13. November 2018.
DOM currently trades at 53 EUR, SFPI at 2,61 EUR, so the relative price is pretty efficient. I plan to stay invested and over time increase the position from 3% currently (after selling 40% at the tender offer at 75 EUR) to a full position. I think it makes sense to stay with founder Mr. Morel for the future.
Interesting analysis of Customer acquisition cost (CAC) and life time value (LTV) of Netflix users
Recommended: UK stock blogger Maynard Paton (h/t Alan who linked to this in the comments)
Concentrating bets sometimes doesn’t work even for very smart investors: Eddie Lampert & Sears
The Crypto ICO market has cooled off significantly
Great post on moats in the digital age (Booking, Landstar)
The build-up of “almost-junk” debt is astonishing
System1 (or under its old name Braijuicer) is a good example for a stock where it didn’t pay off to hold if we look at the chart:
I had looked briefly at them when Ben from Wertart bought them in early 2016 but back then didn’t take the time understand what the company was all about. After the huge drop I decided to have a deeper lok at the company.
The business
value and opportunity 
