Levered assets, such as real estate, tend to have prices that are correlated with interest rates. Lower rates usually translate into higher asset prices. We are living through this kind of environment right now. And so it is generally valuable to have a view on… Read More
All posts tagged “finance”
How to model a wealth tax
I just came across this post by Paul Graham called, “modeling a wealth tax.” It’s from last year, but it recently resurfaced. In it, he paints a scenario. Let’s say you’re a successful entrepreneur in your twenties (i.e. you make some money) and then you… Read More
What are you serving at your restaurant?
Warren Buffet’s annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders was just published for 2020. It can be downloaded here. I have made a habit out of reading his letter every year and his overall approach has been instrumental in shaping the way I think about investing.… Read More
The origins of carried interest
In the world of finance, carried interest is the share of the profits in an investment that a manager (of said investment) earns in excess of what they may have contributed to the partnership. For example, let’s say that a manager is putting in 10%… Read More
How to get rich (and why talking about money is okay)
I’ve written about this before on the blog, but one of my qualms about architecture school was that it was too often taboo to talk about business and money. Why? Talking about and understanding the realities of the world doesn’t have to mean that you’re… Read More
The case for speculative asset bubbles (and happy new year)
This is an interesting perspective. It is from Fred Wilson’s annual what-happened-this-past-year post: But here is the thing about speculative frenzies – they are generally directionally correct but off in their order of magnitude. And they finance the trend that they are directionally correct about.… Read More
Thinking exponentially and the rule of 72
I came across the above Twitter thread last night before bed and I thought it was great. It’s about the importance of thinking exponentially, as opposed to linearly, when it comes to finance and investing. In it, the author provides a quick rule of thumb… Read More
Non-consensus thinking
The venture capital industry likes to talk about the importance of investing in ideas that are and turn out to be both non-consensus and successful. The idea here is that if an idea or opportunity is already consensus, then there’s too much money flooding into… Read More
The future is unknowable
I am sure many of you are getting tired of the news. I know I am. But it turns out that when you’re in a global pandemic and you spend the entirety of your day looking at Zoom — while fidgeting your leg, I might… Read More
Landed is helping teachers buy homes
The average salary of a teacher in the United States was approximately $61,730 last year. This can make homeownership in high cost areas a challenge. Here is a chart from Curbed: Landed is trying to solve this problem by offering downpayment assistance to “essential professionals”… Read More