Sam Hinkie, Boyd Varty, Charlie Songhurst - Trail Magic - [Invest Like the Best, EP.323]

Today’s episode is a little different. Rather than share a new conversation, I have put together a few of my favourites from the past six and a half years of doing this show. I often listen back to these for inspiration, energy, and their timeless ideas on life and investing. Each of these is a significantly shortened version of the original episode. The first conversation you’ll hear is with Sam Hinkie, the second discussion is with Boyd Varty, and the last conversation you’ll hear is with Charlie Songhurst. Sam, Boyd, and Charlie are all exceptional in their own way and I hope you enjoy these condensed versions of our conversations.

Sam Hinkie - Find Your People
Boyd Varty - The Art of Tracking
Charlie Songhurst - Lessons from Investing in 483 Companies

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

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Show Notes
(00:04:40) - (Sam Hinkie)
(00:05:55) - The most amazing thing he’s seen from someone he has worked with
(00:09:51) - His interest in finding “digital breadcrumbs” on his pursuit of knowing a person
(00:13:18) - The impactful story of meeting the assistant GM of the Houston Rockets
(00:17:22) - Strategies he has developed to avoid transactional people
(00:19:22) - How he shapes his career and optimizes from an investment perspective
(00:24:06) - The strangest things he has come across in early-stage investing
(00:29:47) - (Boyd Varty)
(00:33:04) - His early experiences with tracking wildlife and how it applies to investing
(00:44:46) - What can be learned about life goals and paths from the experience of tracking
(00:47:59) - The influence of culture on decision-making and goal-setting
(00:50:39) - His concept of “the ordering of chaos on behalf of others”
(00:54:41) - The importance of moving towards the unknown to start approaching goals
(00:57:15) - His most memorable tracking experience
(01:12:40) - (Charlie Songhurst)
(01:15:10) - His diverse career highlights
(01:16:29) - His analysis of why startups succeed or fail
(01:21:21) - What founders can learn to enable and maintain productivity in their company
(01:25:21) - Nature versus nurture as it applies to adept founders, and the controversial “alien founder” concept
(01:30:10) - The importance of good recruiting from an early stage
(01:33:32) - How founders can make their companies attractive to prospective talent
(01:35:53) - Why he is interested in investing in highly boring and highly complex ideas