NVIDI-wha?

Jun 18, 2023

Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there. I just spent a week in New York, meeting with new clients and old friends, falling in love with the city all over again. Still, it’s nice to be back home, spending time with family and making last-minute newsletter edits…

WHAT’S NEW

On May 24th, NVIDIA’s price chart went vertical after the company reported analyst-humbling revenue and record-breaking forecasts. Over the following weeks, as it became clear the chipmaker would be the pick-and-shovel supplier of the oncoming AI gold rush, its stock price kept rising. And now the company sports a shiny, new four-comma valuation.

The news caused a tidal wave of frantic Googling amongst the amateur investor class, since nobody on this side of the accredited tracks1 could speak intelligently about NVIDIA. Are they a tech company? Hardware or software? What’s a GPU again? Everyone but analysts and gamers would’ve guessed that Jensen Huang was a third-rate electronics brand, not a leather-clad billionaire.

But ignorance can be a good thing in investing, a peculiar field where you don’t have to be a pro to achieve outsized returns. In fact, knowledge and alpha can have a negative correlation (the green lumber fallacy is real). Usually, all it takes is diligence (consistent saving over time) coupled with a healthy dose of discipline (not panic selling) and a sprinkling of diversification (index funds) to be a stock market millionaire.

If you missed NVIDIA’s 300% jump, pouring over 10-K’s and reading the WSJ cover-to-cover probably wouldn’t have helped. And since the graveyards are full of middling swordsmen, it may be best just to stay out of the arena altogether.

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MONEY READS

👉🏼 31 Lessons I’ve Learned About Money by Ryan Holiday

“I left a good job. I bit off more than I could chew many times. Why could I take those risks? Because I had been responsible.”

👉🏼 The Bet by Josh Brown

“The thing many of the first-generation robo-advisor firms got backwards was the value proposition… They thought the value was in the portfolio management, fund selection and the user interface. That stuff is important… but it’s not the big thing. The big thing was always and will always be the relationship.”

👉🏼 Creating a Monster by Marc Rubinstein

“The mid to late 1990s environment … is no more. But the conditions that characterise it – lax regulation, misaligned incentives, narrow thinking – are timeless.”

RECOMMENDATIONS

🎭 BROADWAY SHOW: MJ the Musical

I saw this — only my second-ever Broadway show — last week and it absolutely blew my mind. The whole cast is super talented, especially guy who plays Michael.2 It was half concert, half play, and totally worth 2.5 hours. Can’t wait to take my mom.

💻 ARTICLE: I Am Generation X by Jared Dillian

I discovered Jared just a few months ago. He’s a prolific writer with his own style: raw, vulnerable, and brash. In this piece, he dissects the fraught parent-child relationships of his generation in classic Dillian style.

🎧 PODCAST: Athens and the Birth of Democracy | The Rest is History

A fascinating look into the place, time, and political setting that led to the founding of a very peculiar governmental system; how the 2,500-year-old version differs from our own; and — most interestingly — how it actually helped serve the interests of the ruling elite.

THE JUKEBOX

These guys have achieved worldwide acclaim by putting a twist on a 400-year old instrument. Sounds boring, but it’s amazing.

MY LIFE

In honor of my 14th Father’s Day, here are 14 tips for #girldads:

From day one, take photos of her. And videos. As many as possible. If you have to, get a phone with a better camera and more memory.
Teach her practical skills like how to wash a car, how to use Excel, how to negotiate, etc. Algebra and spelling are important, but these skills are critical.
As soon as she can write, buy her a daily journal. It takes years to finish, but will become your most prized possession.
Make sure she talks to you about boys and crushes, even if it makes you squirm. You want her to feel comfortable coming to you one day when there’s real relationship issues.
Write her a letter for each birthday. Recap the highlights of the last year and what you’re excited for in the next. It’s also a great opportunity to impart a lesson or share some feelings.
Try to reward good behavior at the same rate that you punish bad behavior. Incentives matter, and she’ll intuitively recognize when the balance is off.
Unless you are Winston Churchill or something, being her dad is your most important job. Treat it like your career and get better every day. Study, learn, practice.
Shower her with compliments and praise. There are no diminishing returns to saying “I love you.”
Instill in her the love of books.3 Read to her every night at bedtime and make regular trips to the library or bookstore.
Have impromptu one-on-one adventures. Go to the museum. Take a bike ride. Bring her to the office. Or just go grocery shopping. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just leave the rest of the family at home.
Learn to be a great listener. When she gets emotional, ask her if she has anything she wants to say. Let her speak the whole time; just nod your head and ask questions.
Get her into sports. Ideally team sports.
No matter how much she gets on your nerves, don’t yell and scream. If/when you do, apologize and explain that your outburst was not OK.
At some point in middle school, she will stop letting you come anywhere near her. No more hugging, no more snuggling, no more tickling. Still, don’t ever stop trying.