Thread by @trengriffin

This podcast with John Malone is self-recommending. He describes Bill Gates arriving for a meeting with a pizza and a beer 6-pack telling him to "Forget hardware since there's nothing in hardware that can't be emulated in software." Malone: "Damn, I should have listened to him."

If you don't at least bookmark this John Malone interview you are a damn fool. If you pay attention you can hear someone with a circle of competence mindset. For example, generating value as an operator who understands cash flow and leverage isn't the same skill as stock picking.

John Malone: "Every business comes down to the quality of the management. It is not important that I know the business, but it is important that they know the business. I can help them with finance, but they need to have the vision, the drive and the team building skills."

4/ John Malone: "If you can transform these media businesses into a direct to consumer model where you have pricing power and full information about your relationship with the consumer, you don't have to calculate a terminal value. It gains a level of perpetuity as a business."

5/ John Malone: "A wholesale or indirect media business doesn't have this same level of perpetuity. The multiples that a direct to consumer media business will command are much higher."

6/ I've said before I believe John Malone created the SaaS business model by borrowing it from real estate. The same effect on terminal value exists in SaaS that Malone takes about in the "direct to consumer" media business.

P.s, start the podcast at the six minute mark.

7/ Malone talks in the podcast about this SPAC:

"Demand for the $500M IPO in January of Liberty Media Acquisition Corp, a SPAC backed by Formula One owner Liberty Media Corp, exceeded the size of the offering by 20 times." reuters.com/article/busine…

He likes adjacent businesses.

8/ John Malone: “A covered call is the way I take risk in the equity market. I’m not a stock picker. Growing businesses by putting pieces together is what I’m comfortable with. My approach to building a business is incrementalism. What business is adjoining me?' ~ Minute 29

9/ Malone: "I think in terms of mathematical models. My wife says: 'Your whole life is solving the travelling salesman problem.' You try to come up with models that simplify and make it easier to make decisions. You are always trying to force a decision to a conclusion." ~ 12.45

10/ Malone: "Precision is for accountants. Good enough is OK for engineers. My whole career is an endless series of lessons. You try to take a holistic view. Problem solving is optimizing businesses. The objective is maximizing shareholder wealth in a reasonable time frame."

11/ Malone: "I learned from Moses Shapiro that in any analysis always ask the question 'if not.' Always challenge your assumptions. Always look at the potential downside. Where am I at if my assumptions are wrong? Would I have enough juice left to come back if I make a mistake?"

12/ My Neighbor's Dog: "Are you listening to that John Malone podcast a second time?"

Me: "Only twice so far."

My Neighbor's Dog: "What's the best Malone material?"

Me: "This talk by Malone is the best.

Or this interview:"

13/ Bill Gates: “John Malone is straightforward in terms of talking about technology and strategy. He and I are damn similar. He worked at Bell Labs and understands both business and technology.” Playboy, July, 1994 thecorememory.com/The_Bill_Gates…

14/ "It’s not about earnings, it’s about wealth creation and levered cash-flow growth. [We] don’t care about earnings. I'd go to shareholder meetings and someone would ask about earnings. I’d say, ‘You’re in the wrong meeting.’ That’s the wrong metric.'" 25iq.com/2014/11/02/a-d…