How to Be Jason Bourne: Multiple Passports, Swiss Banking, and Crossing Borders

How to Be Jason Bourne: Multiple Passports, Swiss Banking, and Crossing Borders

Is it possible to become invisible without breaking the law? (Photo: gravitywave) LOS ANGELES, MID-JUNE 2008 Sitting on a plush couch in the neon-infused nightclub, I asked again: “What’s it about?” Neil Strauss glanced around and looked nervous, which I found strange. After all, we’d known each other for close to two years now. In …

Rethinking Investing – Part 3 – Spotting Mistakes in Jon Stewart vs. Jim Cramer

The Daily Show: Jim Cramer Interview – Hulu. Having trouble? Try installing AnchorFree, and if that fails, get a taste with this clip. The unanimous conclusion after stockmarket pundit Jim Cramer appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last week was: Jim got his ass kicked. Be that as it may, were the facts …

Rethinking Investing – Part 2

Rethinking Investing – Part 2

Successful “investing” requires some uncommon questions. (Photo: Me at Burning Man ’08) “If the market felt fidgety, if people were scared or desperate, he [senior Salomon Brothers bond trader] herded them like sheep into a corner, then made them pay for their uncertainty.” –Liar’s Poker, Chapter: A Brotherhood of Hoods Connecticut, 2003 There were 4-6 …

Rethinking Investing: Common-Sense Rules for Uncommon Times

Rethinking Investing: Common-Sense Rules for Uncommon Times

I first saw this video at the May 2nd, 2008 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting. Prophetic and not to be missed. I’ve learned quite a few things in the last 18 months of exploring—and experimenting with—the world of investing. This post is my first attempt to share the findings. The lessons have come from not just …

Investment Series Preview: The "Good Bye and F__k You" Letter

Investment Series Preview: The "Good Bye and F__k You" Letter

Is this a hedge fund manager? (photo: dannyhammontree) I’m in the process of preparing a series of posts on the investment lessons I’ve learned in the last 18 months. To preface the series with some humor (and insight), I thought one particular farewell letter would be appropriate. The author is hedge fund manager Andrew Lahde, …

Lifestyle Investing: "Compound Time" Like Compound Interest?

Lifestyle Investing: "Compound Time" Like Compound Interest?

Berkshire Hathaway vs. Nasdaq (orange), 1984-2004 I met David Hassell in Omaha at the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting, and he asked me an interesting question: Do you think that the value of time can compound like interest? Three glasses of wine into a post-event party with Cirque du Soleil performers, I didn’t have a …

Is Venture Capitalism Dead? Not Yet. Advice from Kleiner Perkins, Hummer Winblad, Shasta Ventures, and Clearstone Venture Partners

Is Venture Capitalism Dead? Not Yet. Advice from Kleiner Perkins, Hummer Winblad, Shasta Ventures, and Clearstone Venture Partners

The legendary John Doerr of venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins. (Photo: Thomas Hawk) Total read time: 12-15 minutes. The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) has mentored some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world, including 7 of the Forbes Midas Touch members. In fact, I volunteered for TiE when I first moved to Silicon Valley in …