🗣️ Investor Talk #30: Thijs van der Spil

Founder - Hppn

Welcome to Investor Talk — 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 — such as “What is your investment strategy?”, “What are your highest conviction stocks?”, and “What’s the biggest investment mistake you’ve made?”

In this edition, we have the pleasure of interviewing:

Name: Thijs van der Spil @thijsvanderspil
Age: 45
Residence/Country: The Netherlands
Invests since: 2022

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
I've been helping businesses in the real estate and facilities management sector use data and technologies (both current and new) more effectively for the past two decades.

I have worked for various consultancies and started an innovation startup with my last employer. The startup did well, won awards, and I was invited to become a partner, which was something I had always wanted and had saved money for. However, I realized that the startup would never truly be mine, and that the work would only get harder and crazier, leaving me with even less time for myself to do other things I wanted, like spending time with loved ones and being a parent. So, I quit, set up my own consultancy, and decided to invest the money I had saved for becoming a partner. This sparked my interest in investing.

What started as a hobby has since gotten completely out of hand, as I love researching companies and absorbing everything there is to know about investing.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆?
My investment strategy is a work in progress, but I basically look for good tech companies that will make money from AI, and I buy them when they're not too expensive. Then I try to manage the risk because these stocks are volatile. So I buy and sell when the market gives me an opportunity. Of course, sometimes I get it right and sometimes I don't, and I look like a fool.

I’m currently experimenting with having a few momentum (contrarian) plays in my portfolio to satisfy my trading needs so that the other stocks in my portfolio get to do the compounding that I bought them for.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼?
I currently hold 18 tech stocks in my portfolio of which 4 are momentum (contrarian) plays.

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻?
I focus on the tech sector, specifically AI. I think it offers the best opportunity for me right now as it’s something I encounter every day in my work.

I currently focus on AI hardware, including semiconductors, equipment, and networking, and I am preparing my portfolio for edge AI and user adoption. This includes both hardware and software. I believe it will create more monopolies since AI uses data to improve products, creating infinite feedback loops. Better products attract more users, more users generate more data, and more data makes the products even better, and so on. In this way, companies that have an initial advantage have a strong moat, making it really hard for other companies to compete with them. I also think Chinese AI companies should not be underestimated in this context.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀?
$ASML - ASML
$NVDA - Nvidia
$BESI - BE Semiconductor

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻?
$SMCI - Supermicro

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲?
My biggest mistake is that I started investing quite late, missing out on a lot of compounding growth, habits, emotions, and learning that come with investing. That's why our 9-month-old (who has kept me up every night this past week) already has a portfolio of tech stocks. I hope he'll share my passion for investing.

I’ve also made many mistakes since I started investing. Most of them come down to being swayed by appealing narratives but not so solid numbers, or even revenue for that matter. It's unfortunate that I lost money on that, but it also helped me to refine and improve my own strategy for investing.

𝗠𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀
Favorite book: Any book by @walterisaacson but if I had to pick one it would be "The Innovators" because it makes the case for innovation so well.

Favorite podcast: Jong Beleggen de Podcast by @pimverlaan and @mm_brand since they cover so many topics relevant to investing. The episodes on quality investing are a must-listen!

Favorite quote: "If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die." - Warren Buffett

Favorite FinX account: The Future Investors @ftr_investors for the investment ideas, talks, stock battles and the attention they pay to making their content look good.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂?
On my profile on X @thijsvanderspil, I share insights about my portfolio, the reasoning behind my stock choices, and most of my transactions.

Disclaimer:
The information and opinions provided in this article are for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any financial product, security, or asset. The Future Investors does not provide personalized investment advice and is not a licensed financial advisor. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions and consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions. Please consult the general disclaimer for more details.