Graham Weaver, founder of Alpine Investors and Stanford GSB lecturer, describes his daily morning journaling method for focusing subconscious effort.
Insight
Weaver: Alpha comes from world-class management, not industry perfection
“So the thing that we probably believe to be true that not that many people agree with us on is that the management team is really where we think all the alpha comes from. You can't get the industry wrong. Cause if you hire the best management team in the world…”
Disclosure
Weaver: Across 600 backed businesses, he's never seen one succeed quickly
“We've invested in 600 founder, 600 businesses, the vast, let's say 550 of those are founder, founder started businesses where we're the first money. I've never in one of those examples seen anyone who did thing something quickly. They've all been very, very lo…”
Insight
Weaver: Clearing obstacles for children is the worst parenting approach
“When you get kids in school, Marin, you know, you see parents, they try to clear all obstacles away from their kids. It's the worst thing you could do.”
Insight
Weaver: Assuming guaranteed future success and working backwards produces better career choices
“If you start with a, this idea, hey, five years out, 10 years out, I know I'm gonna be successful and work backwards from that, you're gonna come up with a better answer.”
Disclosure
Weaver: Teaching CEO tactics at Stanford produced zero actual entrepreneurs
“I was teaching the X's and O's of being a CEO, basically hiring, firing, having hard conversations, managing a board, fundraising, selling, All the things you would imagine that a young CEO would need to know. After about four years, I started to realize that …”
Disclosure
Weaver: Alpine lost money on Fund I, taking 14 years to stabilize
“We lost money on our first fund. You know, we started doing well. We got hit by a recession. You know, we started digging out whatever, but long story short, I was 14 years into running my firm until I could say like with confidence, we were gonna even stay in…”