Stuart Miller

Yeah, I think it was downstream of an understanding I felt that Stuart and I had of the goal is to make money. And not lose too much. And it sounds so simple, but it's actually, of course, because of principal agent dynamics, like super complicated. And I didn't feel like I had comparative advantage in picking stocks or doing any number of other styles of investment.

Yeah, I think it was downstream of an understanding I felt that Stuart and I had of the goal is to make money. And not lose too much. And it sounds so simple, but it's actually, of course, because of principal agent dynamics, like super complicated. And I didn't feel like I had comparative advantage in picking stocks or doing any number of other styles of investment.

And so for me, that was my comparative advantage. I think now that Adam is running the platform, he has a different comparative advantage and it'll morph over time.

And so for me, that was my comparative advantage. I think now that Adam is running the platform, he has a different comparative advantage and it'll morph over time.

On the seeding, I feel like the process is, can we set the table in a way on terms that the market will agree with, but it's unclear whether the manager would have gotten those terms without us. So that could be lock up a capital, that could be fee, that could be something else. I always tried to hold myself to the standard of I would invest in this manager even if I didn't have seed economics.

On the seeding, I feel like the process is, can we set the table in a way on terms that the market will agree with, but it's unclear whether the manager would have gotten those terms without us. So that could be lock up a capital, that could be fee, that could be something else. I always tried to hold myself to the standard of I would invest in this manager even if I didn't have seed economics.

I would just do it smaller. I would just take less risk and I wouldn't wear any reputational risk. I feel like that's one key distinction between just looking for seed deals, but holding yourself to the same bar of like, I just size it smaller and I wouldn't shape it. And so that kept us, I think, out of a fair amount of trouble.

I would just do it smaller. I would just take less risk and I wouldn't wear any reputational risk. I feel like that's one key distinction between just looking for seed deals, but holding yourself to the same bar of like, I just size it smaller and I wouldn't shape it. And so that kept us, I think, out of a fair amount of trouble.

Yeah. So Dan Sondheim was leaving Viking. I interviewed over the years all these people that worked for Dan. And they were always in such awe of him as a portfolio manager. And I felt like it was them at the expert or professional level relating to him as a master is how I interpreted it at the time. I remember one guy saying Dan would be planning how to get in and get out of a stock business.

Yeah. So Dan Sondheim was leaving Viking. I interviewed over the years all these people that worked for Dan. And they were always in such awe of him as a portfolio manager. And I felt like it was them at the expert or professional level relating to him as a master is how I interpreted it at the time. I remember one guy saying Dan would be planning how to get in and get out of a stock business.

six months in advance of buying it. He was planning out the whole arc of, he was very focused on liquidity. And it was this mix of fundamentals and understanding market structure. We had a number of friends in common. And when he left, I feel like there's often within a hedge fund container, there's this dynamic where the founder of the hedge fund is pricing the up-and-comers each year.

six months in advance of buying it. He was planning out the whole arc of, he was very focused on liquidity. And it was this mix of fundamentals and understanding market structure. We had a number of friends in common. And when he left, I feel like there's often within a hedge fund container, there's this dynamic where the founder of the hedge fund is pricing the up-and-comers each year.

And it partly is expressed in terms of how much carry are they going to have the subsequent year. And there've been a number of cases where I'm kind of tracking, did the founder of the thing hit the bid correctly this year or not? And if they didn't,

And it partly is expressed in terms of how much carry are they going to have the subsequent year. And there've been a number of cases where I'm kind of tracking, did the founder of the thing hit the bid correctly this year or not? And if they didn't,

And so there was this moment where Dan was ready to go do his own thing. He had enough of his own money. And I aspired to earn the right to a dialogue with him and help him in his hiring. Because we were in touch with so many analysts at any one time, I felt like I was able to calibrate on his taste in analysts and who would be at the right seniority and then help him with that hiring process.

And so there was this moment where Dan was ready to go do his own thing. He had enough of his own money. And I aspired to earn the right to a dialogue with him and help him in his hiring. Because we were in touch with so many analysts at any one time, I felt like I was able to calibrate on his taste in analysts and who would be at the right seniority and then help him with that hiring process.

And I think, forget of his initial, I don't know, I'm going to say I could get these numbers wrong. Of his initial 12, maybe four of them were from Patrick and me. And I got to know him very well during that process and saw how he had this very optimal grip. Like he has no defensiveness whatsoever.

And I think, forget of his initial, I don't know, I'm going to say I could get these numbers wrong. Of his initial 12, maybe four of them were from Patrick and me. And I got to know him very well during that process and saw how he had this very optimal grip. Like he has no defensiveness whatsoever.

If you tell him a new piece of information about him or a process or a person, there's like no ego in it. He'll just drop it with no hesitation. So there were a couple of cases where I gave him feedback on things and the way he took the view, I was like, oh my God, he was such a quiet ego. So focused on being commercial first and ego second. So we ended up being a day one investor in there.

If you tell him a new piece of information about him or a process or a person, there's like no ego in it. He'll just drop it with no hesitation. So there were a couple of cases where I gave him feedback on things and the way he took the view, I was like, oh my God, he was such a quiet ego. So focused on being commercial first and ego second. So we ended up being a day one investor in there.