The data:
Stock / # of bags / purchase year:
$AMZN / 15+ / 2010
$FB / 15+ / 2012
$GOOG / 15+ / 2009
$MELI / 15+ / 2011
$CMG / 20+ / 2012
$NFLX / 60+ / 2010
$TSLA / 60+ / 2012
1: Founder-led
$AMZN - Bezos
$CMG - Ells
$FB- Zuck
$GOOG - Page
$MELI- Galperin
$NFLX - Hastings
$TSLA - Musk
Founders tend to be:
+Detail oriented
+Innovative
+Mission driven
+Think long-term
+Have skin/soul in the game
Look for founders!
2: Consumer-facing
All of these companies attract millions/billions of consumers
This eliminates customer concentration risk and enables long-term brand building
3: High sales growth
All of these companies were growing revenue 20%+ BEFORE I bought them
Sales growth is the engine that drives profit growth
Profit growth is the engine that drives stock appreciation
Find companies that can grow sales 20%+ for decades
4: Word of mouth advertising
The best advertising is no advertising
Invest in companies that make products/services that are so good that their customers do all the marketing
5: Category Mindshare
▪️Name an electric car company
▪️Name a search engine
▪️Name a streaming service
The odds are good that you said Tesla, Google, Netflix
Find companies that grab all of the mindshare in an important, emerging market
6: Pricing Power
▪️If $AMZN raised prices, would you notice?
▪️If $CMG raised prices, would you notice?
▪️If $NFLX raised prices, would you cancel?
Find companies that create so much value that they can raise prices and not lose customers
7: Optionality
$AMZN Bookseller ➡️ AWS / Everything Store
$MELI eBay of Latin America ➡️ PayPal of LatAm
$NFLX DVD-by-mail ➡️ Streaming
$TSLA Sports cars ➡️ Energy Storage
Look for companies with innovation & experimentation built into their DNA
8: Massive opportunity
▪️Facebook wants to connect the world
▪️Netflix wants to entertain the world
▪️Tesla wants the world to switch to sustainable transport
All of these opportunities are measured in the hundreds of billions (if not trillions)
9: Widening Moat
All of these companies widened their moat over time
Moat sources:
▪️Network Effect
▪️Switching Costs
▪️Low-cost production
▪️Brand
Look for companies that are building a lasting competitive advantage
10: Distinctive cultures
▪️ $NFLX 125-slide culture presentation
▪️ $TSLA attracts people who believe deeply in Tesla’s mission
▪️ $AMZN culture celebrates experimentation
Great cultures attract great employees
Find cultures that stand out!
Important:
To earn multi-bagger returns I had to hold through:
▪️50%+ declines
▪️Short-seller reports
▪️Public Relations fiascos
If my behavior was wrong, I wouldn’t have earned multi-baggers
This is why I always:
Interestingly, aside from $MELI, none of these stocks were “hidden”
I had heard of:
▪️Amazon
▪️Chipotle
▪️Facebook
▪️Google
▪️Netflix
▪️Tesla
YEARS before I became a shareholder
Sometimes, great investments are obvious
What company checks all of these boxes today?
One idea: Peloton $PTON
(All the details can be found in my most recent YouTube video)
https://t.co/wFMwTR292X
Want to screen for these traits?
All of them are covered in my investing checklist
You can download a free copy of it here:
https://t.co/HI5T9wZgbw
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Summary:
1: Founder-led
2: Consumer-facing
3: High sales growth
4: Word of mouth
5: Mindshare
6: Pricing Power
7: Optionality
8: Huge TAM
9: Widening Moat
10: Distinctive cultures