Welcome to Investor Talk โ where we interview successful investors to uncover their journeys, strategies, and the lessons they've learned. Get inspired by real stories and gain valuable insights to sharpen your own investment approach.
Every interview follows the same set of sharp, insightful questions โ such as โWhat is your investment strategy?โ, โWhat are your highest conviction stocks?โ, and โWhatโs the biggest investment mistake youโve made?โ
In this edition, we have the pleasure of interviewing:
Name: Eric Flaningam @AITechInvesting
Age: 23
Residence: United States
Invests since: 2014
๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
Investing was my first passion. I started in 2014 and have studied constantly for the last decade. By the time I graduated high school, I was consulting most of my teachers on personal finance and investing. In college, I got deeply into writing algorithms to automate the value investing process. I decided to start publishing my research online earlier this year.
My career outside of investing has been finding the balance between business and technology. I studied engineering at Purdue with a focus on computer science. I interned as a software engineer before accepting a job in project/account management at Microsoft.
I work with a few of Microsoftโs large software customers deploying Microsoftโs tech. Essentially, I live in the cloud & enterprise software space every day. My investing research allows me to provide strategic insights to my customers. In turn, my customers provide me insights into broader trends in tech.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐?
My roots are in value investing, attempting to follow a path like Warren Buffettโs. A few years ago, I came to a realization that I needed to apply Buffettโs teachings differently, using my technical background, to gain an edge on the market. A few principles:
1. The boat youโre in matters much more than how hard youโre rowing.
2. Invest in great businesses for decades not quarters.
3. Never underestimate competition.
I believe that tech businesses have some of the most favorable business dynamics in the world: high margins, worldwide reach, consumer & enterprise exposure. The major concern is navigating โhypeโ and competition.
My goal is to find tech businesses that will be around and growing in a decade.
My favorite businesses are semi-monopolistic companies with great leaders in growing markets.
I simply try to find businesses that fit that description and then be very patient about when to buy.
๐๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐น๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ผ?
Iโm concentrated in 6 stocks. At the end of 2022, I saw an exceptional risk-reward opportunity in big tech and concentrated my portfolio in the following stocks: $MSFT $AMZN $GOOGL $AAPL $TSM $ABNB
The top of my watchlist includes $NOW $UBER $ASML
๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ป?
Primarily tech. Itโs where my expertise lies. If I saw an opportunity outside of tech that was too good to pass up, Iโd invest there.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ?
$AMZN - Amazon is my highest conviction stock. They have an exceptional moat and numerous profitability levers to pull.
๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ป?
$AMZN - Amazon. My first cost basis was $41.58 in 2016.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ด๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ?
I bought into a small pharma company called Optinose $OPTN when I was in high school based on advice from two so-called experts. Iโm currently down 96% on my position.
It was the best investment Iโve ever made because of how much Iโve learned from it. It instilled a risk aversion in me, reminded me of the importance of balancing humility & conviction in investing, and taught me to deeply research companies before investing.
๐ ๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐
Favorite book: The Snowball - Alice Schroeder
Favorite podcast: Founders by David Senra @FoundersPodcast
Favorite quote: "When it rains gold, put out the bucket and not the thimble" - Warren Buffett
Favorite FinX account:
- Simple Investing @simpleinvest01
- Giuliano Mana @Giuliano_Mana
- Stock Opine @Stock_Opine
๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐?
You can find me on substack: https://aitechinvesting.com
Disclaimer:
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