It’s a blog.

It’s educational.

It’s hopefully entertaining.

It’s not investment advice.

How to think about investing.

On Your Mark
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

On Your Mark

How fast do you have to run to run a business? What do track stars have to do with running a business? How to find opportunity in the race to boost safety and profits in warehouses and shipping.

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What to Expect When You’re Expecting
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

What to Expect When You’re Expecting

What do investors expect when they make a new investment? What does share price tell us about their expectations? How to use low expectations to find attractive investment opportunities.

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Good Cop, Bad Cop
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

Good Cop, Bad Cop

Does the Good Cop/Bad Cop routine work in markets? What happens when there’s just one cop? How to evaluate companies that run both good businesses and bad ones.

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Surprise Party
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

Surprise Party

Do investors like going to surprise parties? How come markets don’t appreciate big surprises? How to evaluate Planet Labs’ surprise party… where barely anyone showed up.

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The Checkout Line
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

The Checkout Line

Why do they sell candy bars at the hardware store? If you’ve hooked the customer, what else can you sell them? How to think about eBay’s push into collector and enthusiast markets.

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Mopping Up
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

Mopping Up

Is there a return on cleanliness? How clean does an investment need to be to make it worthwhile? How to find opportunities in the cleaning business.

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Monet Stuff
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

Monet Stuff

How was Monet as an investor? Do his artistic innovations add anything to a financial toolkit? How to frame an investment facing the innovator’s dilemma.

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Make the Case
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

Make the Case

Does the economy fit into a box? What shape of economy fits into a company’s prospects anyway? How to find opportunities where the economy isn’t the most important thing for an investment.

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Paint by Numbers
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

Paint by Numbers

Can you create a masterpiece painting by numbers? What does painting have to do with investing? How to find investment opportunities when numbers paint a bad picture.

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Would You Rather
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

Would You Rather

When should you invest in an ice cream machine? What if you get someone else to pay for it? How to evaluate a company’s expansion plans.

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A Pound of Feathers
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

A Pound of Feathers

How many feathers does it take to get a pound? How do weights and measures mix up investors? How to evaluate the different ways a company earns money.

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The Accountant 2
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

The Accountant 2

Was 2016’s The Accountant the best accounting/action film crossover? Was it the only one? Do blockbusters have anything helpful to say about how to look at companies? How to find useful investing tools for questions that aren’t obvious.

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Mechanical Turk
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

Mechanical Turk

What do luxury bags have to show us about financial companies? How many people does it take to run a financial service company? How to stich an investment from a business built on people.

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Don’t Panic
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

Don’t Panic

What would aliens say about financial markets? Can investors learn from absurd science fiction? How to keep your head and your money.

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Elf Poaching
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

Elf Poaching

Do fantasy creatures make good investments…or movie characters? What do Will Ferrell and James Caan have to teach us about investing? How to think about managements’ role in an investment.

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Growing Places
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

Growing Places

Who invests better: Sequoia or Oaktree?. What kind of trees should investors look for anyway? How to follow branches to find investment opportunities.

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A Rock and A Hard Place
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

A Rock and A Hard Place

What happens if you don’t invest? What happens when you play it safe? How to look at the risk of not investing.

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2-bit Tournament
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

2-bit Tournament

Should investors play soccer or get into jousting? Which one makes a better investment? How to find opportunities when a game changes.

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Waffles
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

Waffles

Do waffles make a good investment? What happens when another company’s decisions can make or break your business? How to iron out investment opportunities from indecision.

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Extinction
Matthew Hennessy Matthew Hennessy

Extinction

What does paleontology say about digging for investments? How long does it take businesses to go extinct, anyway? How to find opportunities parsing dying companies from thriving ones.

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