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Written by Codie Sanchez
What if I was to tell you the single biggest determinant of your success, is your skill at questioning?
It's not IQ, not education, not wealth, it's as Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am."
If I have learned one thing as a former journalist, turned pundit, turned public markets investor, turned "Gasp" cannabis private equity investor, it is that your life and your bank account are largely tied to your questions. Questions reveal if you my friend are a critical thinker... or an instant believer. Unfortunately in this world of ours replete with fake news, narrative, spin, information inundation and social stigma programing, the worst thing you can be is an instant believer.
So I decided to re-start my newsletter to help you "Think Like A Contrarian."
We will challenge the status quo to achieve what most believe is impossible.
ALL the best opportunity is found in the disconnect between our common narrative and the truth.
BELOW IS AN EXCERPT OF ONE OF THE NEWSLETTERS: If you like it subscribe. If you don't like it... that might be good too, means I'm probably saying something interesting.
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Humans,
We are funny. We're really just a group of forgetful, and perpetually anxious simians (aka hairless monkeys), who don't remember what we've been through. What's with the tangent Codie? Well, I'm running around Benzinga Cannabis Conference this week and then sprinting around NY on CNBC and Fox News talking about the markets and private sector investing, and I'm having a hard time not chuckling at our reactive and forgetful nature.
We truly think it is different every single time. When in fact, most events have an inkling of the past in them and come back into "style," one way or another. Per my cartoon above, even ashrams are in these days. So here are the biggest topics I think we could use a little context on this week.
The Weekly THINK:
READ - Economic Facts & Fallacies - Thomas Sowell may be my favorite modern economist by far. He debunks the economic myths systematically, digestibly and with minimal personal opinion. His best quote:
"Much of the social history of the Western world, over the past three decades, has been a history of replacing what worked with what sounded good."
LOOK AT THIS IMAGE... do you see anything that might rhyme? Massive valuation decrease in public equities, paired with consumer adoption increasing at exponential levels. Hmmm... we've never seen that before? I've never understood why humans love sales everywhere but the stock market or private company investing. Seems to me in a world of record highs (even after a pull back), there are still deals in the market. That's our bet at EEC.
CONTEXT - Coronavirus: Disclaimer: Turns out I'm not an immunologist or virologist, who knew most people discussing the virus's impact aren't either, ahh news today. So unlike them I'm going to spare you my "expert" opinion on how fast it will spread and the impact, but from a numbers perspective provide some context. I do not want to minimize a single humans pain or suffering, the lives lost are a tragedy.
However, we need to think about the widespread impact. The rate below is the % of people who die when they've contracted the illness. That's not great, but it's also not necessary crippling with, 1-2% as the current fatality rate. Then again remember the virus is new and it's in China, where healthcare and human rights are ahem, a bit lacking. To that extent, the fatality rate appears to be quite lower outside China. It also differs drastically by age.
Which means, yes the flu is virulent, it's dangerous, but unlikely to cause the apocalypse. Other facts, the rate of new cases appears to have stabilized, a few vaccines are in the works, and "according to the World Health Organization, in the United States alone for the 2019-2020 season, there have been at least 15 million flu illnesses, 140,000 hospitalizations and 8,200 deaths." Which dwarfs the current outbreak. I like the take by Brian Wesbury on the subject. Will it spread to the US, CDC says yes, news confirms it. Will it be an apocalypse, they say probably not. Would I buy a mask and hand sanitizer, seems reasonable. Will I sell all my assets, no. Then again, I'm not a doctor, just a human with an eye for numbers instead of narrative.
CONTRARY TO POPULAR OPINION - Has anyone ever said, “I wish I had more meetings, conference calls and it would be lovely if I could receive just a few more emails a day?” I certainly haven’t found one. As a VC we have this problem on steroids. My company, Entourage Effect Capital, has invested in 64 companies, so if we invest in less than 1% of all deals we see, that could mean meeting with 6400+ companies. And you thought your weekly team meeting is bad, right? So, I said, no more. I went down a rabbit hole, and after reading 26 articles on time blocking, calendar management, email inbox management and not letting other people dictate your entire life… this is what I found out and am implementing.
ACCREDITED INVESTORS - we are going to working on a potential syndicate for investors who want to invest alongside EEC in some of the co-investments democratized for more people to break into cannabis. To apply email: ir@eecpartners.com. We have one deal live now.
Question everything, as Sowell said, "It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance."
Happy Questioning,
Codie Sanchez
Cannacurious? Want to get into the game... here's our contrarians guide
IG: @codiesanchez
EEC: www.entourageeffectcapital.com
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This article is presented for informational purposes only, is an opinion, and is not intended to recommend any investment, and is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase an interest in any current or future investment vehicle managed or sponsored by Entourage Effect Capital, LLC or its affiliates. Any such solicitation of an offer to purchase an interest will be made by a definitive private placement memorandum or other offering document.