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    Decoded with Ryan Pallotta

    On Prometheus Decoded inspirational investors and leaders share professional and personal stories about navigating the financial and business world—with lessons and best practices to help you drive transformational change in yourself.
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    Episodes (31)

    Mikey Taylor: How a superstar skateboarder became a re-estate mogul, fund manager and politician.

    Mikey Taylor: How a superstar skateboarder became a re-estate mogul, fund manager and politician.

    Mikey Taylor is a retired pro skateboarder, co Founder of Saint Archer Brewery, Co Founder & President of Commune Capital  and Thousand Oaks City Council Member.

    Send Mikey a message on the Prometheus app. 

    https://app.prometheusalts.com/profile/62b4b7353e7c21994ebeeedc

    Download Prometheus and learn more here.

    www.prometheusalts.com

     

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    Matt Bilinsky on how (and why) the media is broken and how becoming an "information bloodhound" can fix it

    Matt Bilinsky on how (and why) the media is broken and how becoming an "information bloodhound" can fix it

    Today Ryan Pallotta is talking with Matt Bilinsky. Matt’s a business attorney, host of the Prevailing Narrative podcast, and an outspoken observer of how media has changed over the past decade. 

    The self-described information bloodhound describes the dramatic shift in American values since the dawn of "great awokening," explains the media's central role in sowing division among people, and lays out their motives for doing so.

    Matt details the decline in the quality of the people charged with delivering news, their propensity for bias, and other consequences of the monoculture's demise. 

    Matt then explains how the narrative around the invasion of Ukraine, the Trump-Russia collusion, the BLM movement, the origins of COVID-19, and the efficacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccines have all been impacted by this shift.

    SPECIAL EP: Kyle Bass on China, Robert Mullin on energy, & Jordi Visser's thoughts on a recession. The experts debate it all.

    SPECIAL EP: Kyle Bass on China, Robert Mullin on energy, & Jordi Visser's thoughts on a recession. The experts debate it all.

    Brilliant investors Kyle Bass, Jordi Visser, and Robert Mullin discuss the markets in 2023, the fed, energy prices, China and more. Stream the live event now. 

    Kyle Bass is the Co-Founder and CEO of Conservation Equity Management, a private equity firm focused on environmental sustainability and conservation. He is also the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Hayman Capital Management, a hedge fund that generates returns through a combination of long and short positions based on macroeconomic trends and events. Kyle is widely recognized for his macroeconomic and global financial market investments, particularly his accurate prediction of the collapse of the US housing around the Global Financial Crisis. 

    Jordi Visser is the President and CIO at Weiss Multi-Strategy Advisers, overseeing portfolio managers and managing overall risk. Jordi is the mastermind behind the Weiss Alternative Multi-Strategy Fund (WEISX) and brings extensive experience in global macro investing. Before joining Weiss in 2005, Jordi was the founding Managing Partner of Anchor Point Asset Management, a global macro fund. He also has a background in trading various global equity derivative books as a former Managing Director at Morgan Stanley. 

    Robert Mullin is the Founding Partner and Portfolio Manager of Marathon Resource Advisors and brings over 25 years of expertise in natural resource investing to the table. Marathon manages RAEIF LP, a strategy that invests across the global natural resource public equity markets and aims for capital gains and sustainable inflation-protected income. With a proven track record in managing portfolios and generating returns, Robert has led Marathon to become a leading player in the space.

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    Steve Cohen’s top lieutenant on training good portfolio managers, reinventing the culture at SAC Capital (the real-life “Billions”) and how hedge funds can create more alpha in volatile markets w/ Perry Boyle

    Steve Cohen’s top lieutenant on training good portfolio managers, reinventing the culture at SAC Capital (the real-life “Billions”) and how hedge funds can create more alpha in volatile markets w/ Perry Boyle

    Today, I'm excited to talk with impact investor and investment industry veteran H. Perry Boyle. 

    Perry's had a long and storied career in the financial world, but the first thing I wanted to know about was his hiring of Prometheus Founder and CEO Michael Wang as a Senior Analyst at the legendary hedge fund SAC Capital. 

    Between 2004 and 2020, Perry held several positions at SAC and Point72. As SAC's Director of Research, Perry’s job was to change the culture, which he did—in part—by creating a curriculum for analysts and making portfolio managers stakeholders in their future success. 

    Steve Cohen's SAC Capital is the inspiration for the Showtime series “Billions." So I asked Perry to describe the evolution of the firm's culture and the impact of having a psychologist on staff to optimize traders' performance. 

    A little later, Perry tells me the "secret” of running a long/short portfolio and lays out his thoughts on the increasing scarcity of alpha. 

    Lastly, Perry talks about the journey that took him from Point72 to climbing his “second mountain” —becoming chairman of the BOMA Project, a poverty graduation program for women, youth, and displaced persons in East Africa.

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    Double-digit returns investing in wine and whiskey w/ Maxwell Nee

    Double-digit returns investing in wine and whiskey w/ Maxwell Nee

    Today Ryan Pallotta is talking with Maxwell Nee. Maxwell is Managing Partner at Oeno Group, an investment firm specializing in luxury assets like wine and whiskey. 

    Maxwell shares his insights on why more and more investors are turning to these potent alternative assets to diversify their portfolios and protect themselves from volatility. 

    He points out that wine and whiskey have less than a 1% correlation to the market and also reveals that the strategy employed by Oeno Group has never returned less than 11% annually.

    Maxwell then gives us a sneak peek into Oeno's upcoming launch of a wine and whiskey exchange, where investors will be able to trade these hard assets just like stocks.

    Lastly, Maxwell explains why he's so excited to introduce Prometheus users to an alternative asset class generating consistent returns.

    Harnessing the trend of fund managers creating content and the urgent need to reinvent the way people invest w/ Michael Wang

    Harnessing the trend of fund managers creating content and the urgent need to reinvent the way people invest w/ Michael Wang

    Today Ryan Pallotta is talking with a very special guest, Prometheus Founder and CEO Michael Wang. Mike's an award-winning hedge fund veteran. An alum of Steve Cohen's legendary SAC Capital, Wang contributed to Tourbillon Capital Partners' early success before winning accolades as Cypress Funds' portfolio manager and co-managing partner. 

    Mike created Prometheus around his strong belief that everyone should have access to information and investment opportunities that, historically, have only been accessible to a select few.  

    This amazing podcast covers a lot of ground. Mike begins by describing the nascent trend of fund managers creating content to grow their audience and raise capital at scale and how he created Prometheus to develop this phenomenon.    

    He talks about the limited credibility and utility of information shared on the subreddit WallStBets, and why people are waking up to the fact that investing success isn't nearly as easy as they may have initially thought. 

    Mike later explains why the financial conditions we've enjoyed in recent times won't be returning for some time and why exposure to alternatives will be the key to investors protecting and growing their wealth in the months and years ahead.

    Learning from the "Paypal Mafia." Building tech to fix the world. Reasons to be an American optimist, w/ Joe Lonsdale

    Learning from the "Paypal Mafia." Building tech to fix the world. Reasons to be an American optimist, w/ Joe Lonsdale

    Today Ryan Pallotta is talking with the Managing Partner of 8VC, Joe Lonsdale. Joe's a true iconoclast who builds mission-driven companies that use technology to solve inefficiencies and bridge what he calls conceptual gaps. Joe and 8VC led Prometheus' seed round fund-raise, inspired by our platform's mission to close such a gap.   

    His own podcast is called American Optimist, and the chat begins with Joe laying out what underpins his optimism as challenges appear to be mounting up. 

    Joe describes his upbringing and how various members of the "Paypal Mafia"—Peter Thiel, Keith Rabois, Elon Musk—shaped his worldview when he interned there. He then explains Thiel's role in the founding of data analytics software company Palantir Technologies.  

    Joe candidly describes his shock at the level of inefficiency and waste he's seen in many areas of government-run projects and why, if this mismanagement can be stopped, we could all be living better lives. 

    Joe and Ryan cover a lot of ground in this podcast. The running theme is possibility. Specifically, the world that is possible when new, innovative, disruptive thinking is paired with experience and expertise. 

    joelonsdale.com 

    americanoptimist.com 

    8vc.com 

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    How to set goals and smash through them with humility, hard work, passion, and playing to your strengths w/ Kirk Myers

    How to set goals and smash through them with humility, hard work, passion, and playing to your strengths w/ Kirk Myers

    Kirk Myers is a celebrity trainer and founder of the Dogpound—one of the most exclusive gyms and iconic fitness brands in the world today. 

    The chat gets underway with Kirk explaining the genesis of the Dogpound. 

    He describes how, while on track to become an elementary school teacher, he was hospitalized with congestive heart failure and decided to take control of the situation—studying nutrition and losing some 130lbs over the next two years.  

    After building a successful business in his native Kansas City, Kirk was hospitalized once again. This time lost everything. He then decided to start over in New York with a set of 10 goals that he quickly smashed—He even brought on Hugh Jackman as his first celebrity client. In fact, it was Jackman who ended up giving Kirk's reborn business its name. 

    The pair go on to discuss how Kirk built on this momentum, how he developed and grew the Dogpound brand, and where his passion, his team, and his star-studded roster of clients will take the Dogpound from here. 

    Throughout the chat, Kirk explains ideas that apply to all of our lives: playing to your strengths, building a great team, believing in what you're doing, taking control of your own destiny, and so much more.

    www.thedogpound.com/

    www.instagram.com/kirkmyersfitness/

    Dogpound culture PDF mentioned in pod: www.dropbox.com/s/7p9h7mbkdalvbhc/CULTURE%20BOOK%20%28%20PURPOSE%29.pdf?dl=1

    The end of legacy brands. How celebrities are the future of investing in new companies w/ Jackie Fast

    The end of legacy brands. How celebrities are the future of investing in new companies w/ Jackie Fast

    Jackie Fast is Founder and Managing Partner at Sandbox Studios. 

    Sandbox is a unique fund that invests exclusively in talent-led businesses at the seed stage. Jackie's also the author of Rule Breaker: Rebellious Leadership for the Future of Work. 

    In their chat, Jackie explains how she saw the opportunity to disrupt how celebrity-endorsed deals are put together and executed. 

    Jackie goes on to describe aligning the objectives of a brand and talent, the importance of creating a structure that makes them want to support the brand, and the value of setting up a contract set up in such a way that allows for the celebrity to draw consumers to the brand long-term. 

    Ryan and Jackie then touch upon the uptick in celebrities doing deals and the prospect of saturation in this area. 

    Lastly, Jackie gives us her take on what the space will look like in the years ahead.

    The biggest music industry legend you've (probably) never heard of shares his incredible story w/ Ron Sweeney.

    The biggest music industry legend you've (probably) never heard of shares his incredible story w/ Ron Sweeney.

    Ron Sweeney, entertainment attorney, manager, consultant, and former record executive. He may be the biggest music industry legend you've never heard of. 

    Named one of the top music lawyers by Billboard Magazine on multiple occasions, Ron has done major deals for artists like James Brown, Eazy-E, Sean "Puffy" Combs, and Lil Wayne. 

    As a senior executive with Sony, Ron controlled a $70 million A&R budget and was directly responsible for signing several platinum and gold-selling acts. 

    Ron is driven by his strong belief that creative people should own what they create. 

    In the wake of George Floyd's murder, Ron helped to bring about meaningful change in an industry that has exploited people of color since its beginning. 

    Viral marketing in 2022, the reign of the podcast, and the importance of experimentation w/ Jeremy Moser

    Viral marketing in 2022, the reign of the podcast, and the importance of experimentation w/ Jeremy Moser

    Jeremy Moser is the Co-Founder and CEO of uSERP, a company that helps brands grow through performance-driven SEO and digital PR.

    In this podcast, Jeremy describes how he helps companies like Monday.com and Robin Hood get in front of the people who are most likely to become customers.

    He explains how his firm has set itself apart by being revenue-focused, creating content designed to bring high-quality, high-intent leads over the line. 

    Jeremy then touches on why marketing a product or service via podcasts is a great way to build relationships with potential customers. 

    Pods mentioned:

    My First Million - https://www.mfmpod.com/

    The Game w/ Alex Hormozi - https://gymlaunch.libsyn.com/

    Noah Kagan Presents - https://okdork.com/podcast/

    From working at the world's most notorious hedge fund to founding collectibles trading platform MySlabs.com w/ Emilio Masci

    From working at the world's most notorious hedge fund to founding collectibles trading platform MySlabs.com w/ Emilio Masci

     Emilio Masci is the founder of collectibles trading platform MySlabs.com. 

    In our chat, Emilio gives us an overview of his long tenure at legendary hedge-fund SAC Capital and shares its impact on him. 

    He describes his love of collecting baseball cards and comic books and how he combined that passion with his experience in the investing world. 

    The result was MySlabs—a collectibles marketplace on which $35 million was transacted in only its second year of existence. 

    Lastly, we talk about the power of nostalgia and how collectibles are becoming an alternative asset class that more and more people want access to.  

    How I blurred the line between retailer and influencer and built a diamond empire in a male-dominated space w/ Nicole Wegman

    How I blurred the line between retailer and influencer and built a diamond empire in a male-dominated space w/ Nicole Wegman

    Nicole Wegman is the Founder and CEO of Ring Concierge, the leading luxury jeweler committed to designing for women by women.

    In our talk, Nicole tells us how her own experience of trying to find the perfect engagement ring led her to leave fashion and get into the jewelry space with Ring Concierge in 2013. 

    She describes the challenges she faced as a newcomer to the traditional, family-oriented, and male-dominated world of New York's diamond district and how she saw the opportunity to bring something fresh to the industry. 

    We discuss how Ring Concierge has blurred the lines between retailer and influencer and the role of social media in the company's success. Nicole then explains how that youthful and cheeky voice has continued to foster an engaged audience—pun very much intended. 

    Nicole also shares her experience of hiring the best talent as the company grows and the importance of mentorship.  

    Rising above the noise in the DTC space, helping the young hungry entrepreneur, and delivering self care at scale w/ Daniel Broukhim

    Rising above the noise in the DTC space, helping the young hungry entrepreneur, and  delivering self care at scale w/ Daniel Broukhim

    Daniel Broukhim is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of FabFitFun, an eCommerce and media company with over two million subscribers and a valuation of nearly a billion dollars. Daniel is also the Co-Founder of Green Meadow Ventures—a VC firm that​ invests in tech-enabled consumer and enterprise businesses.

    During our chat, Daniel describes how being part of an entrepreneurial family and community informed his worldview, what he learned about investing from interning at his cousin's hedge fund, and his decision to start a digital agency instead of practicing law.  

    He then talks us through how FabFitFun started life as a newsletter, was reborn as a subscription box then evolved into a personalized shopping platform built around helping people live their best lives. 

    Daniel also explains how his own health issues influence how he thinks about the platform and lays out a vision for the company's future.

    Arbitraging gold in 5th grade, investing in Facebook early, why traditional stocks can’t compete with crypto w/ Thane Ritchie

    Arbitraging gold in 5th grade, investing in Facebook early, why traditional stocks can’t compete with crypto w/ Thane Ritchie

    Thane Ritchie has over 30 years of experience in alternative investments, getting his start arbitraging gold at the tender age of 10. He is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Ritchie Capital Management, a privately held hedge fund sponsor. 

    Thane has worked with innovative companies in insurance, energy, media, and technology. Thane saw the opportunity in Facebook very early on, becoming one of its first investors. Between 1998 and 2004, Thane grew a signature fund of $30 million dollars to a peak of $4 billion. 

    During our chat, Thane describes how he was buying and selling commodities before he was old enough to have a paper route, explains why his stepfather—options guru Joe Ritchie—dissuaded him from studying economics in school, and talks about how building relationships with people who can see new paths forward has been key to his edge.  

    Thane then shares his thoughts about why traditional stocks can't compete with crypto and tells us about InfiniteWorld—a metaverse infrastructure platform that enables brands to create, monetize, and drive consumer engagement with digital content.

    How to build a brand around principles. How to create a cult-like following. Why we need to talk about the massive gender-based funding gap w/ Ellen Chen

    How to build a brand around principles. How to create a cult-like following. Why we need to talk about the massive gender-based funding gap w/ Ellen Chen

    Ellen Chen is the Co-Founder of Mendocino Farms—an LA-based fast-casual sandwich chain with an almost cult-like following. Ellen didn't come from a food and beverage background. Still, after meeting her future husband, restauranteur Mario Del Pero, she decided to step away from her impressive career as a consultant to learn about all aspects of the restaurant business. 

    At Skew, his teriyaki restaurant, she worked front-of-house, back-of-house, and even cleaned the bathrooms. At the same time, she became its principal investor. 

    After realizing Skew's scalability limitations, Ellen and Mario created Mendocino Farms. Built around the mantra "eat happy," they immediately implemented the principles passed along to them by their entrepreneurial families. That meant hard work, transparency, and taking excellent care of every stakeholder. 

    Mendocino Farms grew to several booming locations before TPG acquired the firm in 2017. Since stepping away from day-to-day operations in 2020, Ellen has worked to support female-led start-ups through mentorship and investing. 

    In our inspiring chat, Ellen talks about the decision to double down on Mendocino Farms' core product, the guerilla marketing tactics she employed in a pre-social media world, and how she sought to safeguard Mendocino Farms' culture through a time of explosive popularity and growth. Ellen also describes the challenges she faced as a woman in business, asserting that doors would have remained closed to her if not for her male partner.  

    She explains the importance of having conversations about the incredible disparity between male and female founders seeking investors and describes the practical steps she's taking to redress it.

    How to build a career that plays to your strengths, giving founders the help they really need, and the +/- impact of companies at scale w/ Sarah Kunst

    How to build a career that plays to your strengths, giving founders the help they really need, and the +/- impact of companies at scale w/ Sarah Kunst

    We're so excited to be talking with Sarah Kunst, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Cleo Capital. Cleo Capital is a multi-stage venture capital firm that focuses on leading investments in pre-seed companies.

    During a stimulating and inspiring 50 minutes, Sarah talks to us about her start in advertising, her uncanny knack for knowing what's next, and her long-held passion for the “people side” of business. 

    We learn that, despite calling herself a great bullshitter, Sarah is always ready to roll up her sleeves and take a decidedly no-bullshit approach to her work. She shares how she recognizes the importance of providing founders with practical help that they actually need, especially if that help isn't particularly glamourous. In one instance, this entailed babysitting for founders so that they could attend an important dinner with a potential investor.

    Sarah tells us how the best hedge against imposter syndrome is playing to your strengths and picking up ancillary skills as you need them. She also divulges the central question she asks looking at investment opportunities: "At scale, will this company be a net positive or negative for the world?" and explains how the answer brings her one step closer to purchasing a superyacht.

    How to reach your potential: from Wall Street to the NBA and back again w/ Ryan Renteria

    How to reach your potential: from Wall Street to the NBA and back again w/ Ryan Renteria

    We're excited to be talking with Ryan Renteria, Founder of Dominate Your Fate, a professional advisory firm working with high achievers.

    Ryan’s story is an inspiring one. Growing up in a low-income household in Sacramento, California, Ryan attended a high school with a 50% dropout rate.  After seeing the effects of constant financial anxiety on his family, he vowed to make the most of his strongest subject—math—and set a course for a career on Wall Street, becoming the first person from his high school to go to Stanford along the way.

    After working in equity research at Goldman Sachs he got into the hedge fund business. After successful stints at Balyasny Asset Management and Karsch Capital Management, Ryan took a hard left turn—in a quest for self-actualization—and started working with children’s charities. 

    Though he found the work incredibly meaningful, Ryan still missed the analytical and mathematical aspects of his former career in the hedge fund world. He decided to apply his talents to a new field entirely, becoming a basketball analytics advisor. For the best part of the next decade, he provided analytics-based recommendations that helped teams with draft picks, trades, opponent research, and game strategies. 

    Then, in 2021, Ryan decided to combine what he’d learned in the first and second stages of his career and coach high achievers in the business world. 

    During our uplifting talk, Ryan talks about the role of mental health in maximizing performance, the benefits of meditation and journaling to help with anxiety, and using gratitude to uplift yourself and others.

    Building on the Adidas family legacy: the impact of innovation on sports, gaining a competitive edge, and creating the future of sports tech w/ Alex Bente

    Building on the Adidas family legacy: the impact of innovation on sports, gaining a competitive edge, and creating the future of sports tech w/ Alex Bente

    Joining us today is Alex Bente. In 2018, Alex Co-Founded ADvantage, a global VC fund investing in companies innovating new technologies and disrupting many aspects of the sports space. 

    Innovating in sports runs in the family. Alex's great-grandfather was Adolf Dassler, the founder of the sportswear brand that bears a shortened version of his first and last name—Adidas. 

    Would Jesse Owns have won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics had he not worn the innovative canvas and rubber running spikes hand-made for him by Dassler? Would West Germany have beaten heavily-favored Hungary in the 1954 World Cup final had Dassler's patented screw-in metal cleats not been worn in the second half of a rain-soaked game? 

    Simply put, Dassler’s innovations gave athletes around the world, participating in a range of sports a considerable edge. 

    ADvantage is building upon Alex’s family legacy and investing in entrepreneurs committed to moving sports forward, whether that means giving athletes a competitive advantage, enhancing fans' experience, or redefining what it means to participate in sports altogether. 

    In our chat, Alex talks about what a family name can and can't do, describes his passion for getting more people involved in sports, and shares a vision of how technology will change sports beyond recognition in the decade to come.  

    How to discover your edge, the connection between financial success and happiness, and recalibrating in response to change w/ Jason Karp.

    How to discover your edge, the connection between financial success and happiness, and recalibrating in response to change w/ Jason Karp.

    Jason Karp discovered that running an investment fund was no longer his calling at the very peak of his success. His mistake, he tells us, was not retiring from the industry at that exact moment. But by the time Jason shut Tourbillon Capital down in 2018, his calling was becoming clear—he wanted to help people live healthier lives. 

    In the years before joining SAC Capital, managing the legendary firm's largest portfolio, Jason had been diagnosed with several autoimmune diseases. Rather than take medications to mitigate his symptoms, Jason rigorously investigated the effects of the food and products he consumed, gradually regaining his health. 

    While achieving incredible success at Carlson Capital and later Tourbillon, Jason was growing Hu, a company he co-founded with his wife Jessica and brother-in-law Jordan. The award-winning chocolate they created is vegan, paleo, soy-free, refined sugar-free, and laid the groundwork for the HumanCo—the health-focused entity Jason founded in 2019.

    Jason shares his origin story as an entrepreneurial kid and under-aged card counter in our inspiring sit-down. He also tells us how his investment background and authentic personal health journey give him a massive edge in his mission to make healthier living more accessible for more people.

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