Chris Brigham

# of drones intercepted by french law enforcement during the paris olympic games so far: 53

Top Economist Warns Students "Dont Study Economics" (with Lex Fridman)

Do higher rates cause inflation? I wrote about this question, and the different things people mean when they say something like this, for today's newsletter

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed blows up at a representative of the Palestinian Authority. Calls them “useless” and “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves.” No one has more contempt for Palestinian leaders than Arabs who have actually made good decisions for their people.

Who do you believe most of your neighbors would vote for? Trump 43% (+12) Biden 31% I&I/TIPP, 1,675 RV, 5/29-31

• He is an absolute animal with how many companies he sees. The big lesson he has learned is "showing up" for as many meetings as possible. • In 1999, he went to a conference, and the last meeting of the day was with $MTD, and the story was fantastic (he invested and did quite well). Simply, he showed up for the meeting when few others did. • Another lesson - "Gemba" - get to where work is done. He went to see the SpaceX launch earlier this year and came away with a better understanding of the business/industry. • He runs a large fund but humbly admits the team at FMR is fantastic & supports him. Lots of team members help him see everything in terms of opportunities. • When Will was an analyst, the team was in three Saturdays/month because Peter Lynch was in the office. • His largest position is $META. The company has 3.6B DAUs between all platforms. Mark is only 40 years old and is still innovating and growing - a great manager, especially with how the business rebounded in 2023. • Stocks follow earnings per share, another lesson he has learned. Unprofitable companies don't perform well! • Buffett's lesson to Will: You have to think long-term and bet big. After meeting with Buffett, Will cut names from 800 to 350 (concentrated more). • Mistakes are a part of the game. You must learn from your mistakes and move on. • $MSFT is a big holding. AI is like Software on steroids. It will make everyone more efficient and effective, and we are all going to have co-pilots. • $LLY is another big holding. He has had GLP1s on the radar for a while. The issue with $LLY is the stock is up a ton, but earnings have yet to inflect. But you look for innovation and $LLY is doing a great job here. • When Will met Sam Walton and early WMT employees, they used to say we have "MBWAs" - which means management by walking around. Will has embraced this approach and tries to walk around and catch up with people frequently. • Will is like a pinball when walking around the 14th floor in Boston, meeting with tons of companies and people during the course of his day. • Questions he likes to ask management: Tell me what has happened in the last 3 years? What are you doing about AI? What do you think about the geopolitical situation? Who is your best competitor? • Will (like many others) still doesn't fully appreciate what AI will bring us. Similar to when we got smartphones, did anyone envision a stranger picking us up in cars? • Most valuable lesson learned from working with all the greats over the years: Will wishes he could embrace more of the Buffett/Munger buy and hold approach.