aminTorres @aminTorres: James, do you have an investment thesis?
ANSWER:
Yes, very much so. For both public and private companies.
Strong CEO who has built and done it before
Good co-investors that I know have done their research (this way I can be lazy about my own research)
Strong demographic trends (see my above answer on bubbles)
Good valuation versus competitors and versus historical valuations (Most of my current investments were made in 2009)
Product built, revenues positive. This way I know that the business is real and not just an idea in a garage still.
Note, this checklist would’ve kept me out of Facebook and google because it would’ve failed #1. But that’s ok. Those are only one out of a million. I can’t hope to get those. But an investment doesn’t have to return a billion percent to be good. I’m happy to just be clocking in good ones.
Another note: Of the 13 or 14 companies I’m invested in I’ve broken my discipline twice. One was a solid zero and the other will probably be a breakeven. The rest are doing very well.