Jay Vasantharajah

NOTE: this was a past issue of my weekly newsletter, Timeless Gems. Join my free mailing list so you don’t miss out on future issues. Today’s gem is this podcast episode featuring Seth Klarman called Timeless Value Investing. Considering I’m a connoisseur of all things timeless and all things value investing, this podcast […]

NOTE: this was a past issue of my weekly newsletter, Timeless Gems. Join my free mailing list so you don’t miss out on future issues. Today’s gem is this chart which shows the 10 largest companies in 1989, and 8 of them being Japanese. I always think about this chart as a […]

NOTE: this was a past issue of my weekly newsletter, Timeless Gems. Join my free mailing list so you don’t miss out on future issues. I know I have a lot of younger followers who are looking to start their first business. And I always get asked about what type of business […]

NOTE: this was a past issue of my weekly newsletter, Timeless Gems. Join my free mailing list so you don’t miss out on future issues. Today’s gem is a chart depicting General Electric’s (GE) epic value destruction and some discussion around the rise and fall of the company. Let’s dive in, but […]

NOTE: this was a past issue of my weekly newsletter, Timeless Gems. Join my free mailing list so you don’t miss out on future issues. For today’s gem, I’m featuring a guest post from another newsletter I think you’ll love. Below is one of my favorite issues of GirdleyWorld, written by entrepreneur […]

NOTE: this was a past issue of my weekly newsletter, Timeless Gems. Join my free mailing list so you don’t miss out on future issues. Today’s gem is a book excerpt from George Soros’ Alchemy of Finance, written in the late 1980s discussing venture capital’s boom and bust. This could’ve been written […]

NOTE: this was a past issue of my weekly newsletter, Timeless Gems. Join my free mailing list so you don’t miss out on future issues. Today’s gem is a table that compares the commonalities among the 8 “Outsider” CEOs, and some discussion around one of the commonalities that stood out to me. […]

NOTE: this was a past issue of my weekly newsletter, Timeless Gems. Join my free mailing list so you don’t miss out on future issues. I recently read the book, Capital Returns. It’s a collection of letters from Marathon Asset Management from 2002 to 2015. I thought it was a fantastic read and […]

NOTE: this was a past issue of my weekly newsletter, Timeless Gems. Join my free mailing list so you don’t miss out on future issues. A hill I am willing to die on: distribution is far more important than product. A business that has better access to customers will beat out the business […]

This week’s gem is a tweet that summarizes two types of investors, bettors vs builders. …but first, a quick note from our sponsor: It’s 2023, Why Haven’t You Built An Audience Yet? If you’re a founder, having an audience is a competitive advantage. It’s a proprietary distribution channel to source: […]

Today’s gem is this interview exerpt from Magnus Söderlind, CEO of Bergman & Beving (a Swedish serial acquirer): Customer (and or supplier) concentration is a common deal killer for us. I’ve talked about this many times, but most recently in my Porters 5 Forces issue (see bargaining power of customers & suppliers). […]

First, I want to thank all of you who came to SMB Social in Toronto last night. I’m blown away by the attendance (~120 people showed up). Big shoutout to Nunzio for putting this together! I’m grateful to have had a chance to connect with many of you, and for the folks that I […]

Today’s gem is this anecdote from Sam Zell (rest in peace) on assessing an opportunity: More research & analysis doesn’t result in better investment performance. But oftentimes (and dangerously so), it results in more confidence, and at the very least, wasted time. Talented investors can quickly determine what are the […]

Today’s gem is this excerpt taken from Berkshire Hathaway’s last shareholder letter: After 58 years, Warren Buffett concludes that it was really only 12 good decisions that led to $BRK becoming the $700bn+ behemoth it is today. That’s roughly 1 good decision every 5 years. It’s both daunting and liberating […]

Today’s gem is a framework to assess a business’s competitiveness called the Porter’s Five Forces Analysis. If you went to business school, you’ve seen this before and it might seem cliche…but I honestly believe it’s an effective way to quickly (and objectively) assess a business. In fact, at Atlasview, we incorporate […]

Today’s gem is an anecdote from Joel Greenblatt on how Warren Buffett approaches portfolio concentration: What I find interesting is the wide-ranging definitions of “concentrated portfolio”. Some investors might consider 25 stocks to be concentrated. Others would say only 5 stocks or less should be considered concentrated. It’s really arbitrary, […]

Today’s gem is a snippet from James Clear’s newsletter on lucky opportunities: I have a saying that’s relevant to this: in order to be at the right place at the right time, you need to be in a lot of places all the time. I’ve had many lucky opportunities throughout […]

This week’s gem is an article about Thomson Newspapers. It’s a fascinating read, and a mandatory one for anyone invested in a compounder company, such as Constellation Software. Thomson Newspapers is what the end state looks like. Let’s dive in… but first, a quick note from our sponsor: It’s 2023, Why […]

This week I was at the Enduring Ventures shareholder summit in Miami. I want to thank both Sieva and Xavier (give them both a follow!) for putting on a great event. And also for inviting me to do a fireside chat on my favourite compounders and lessons we can learn from them. I figured […]

NOTE: this was a past issue of my weekly newsletter, Timeless Gems. Join my free mailing list so you don’t miss out on future issues. Sponsored by Atlasview Equity B2B Business? Looking For A Capital Partner? Whether you’re looking to sell & retire, or need capital to help you execute M&A, Atlasview […]