Ep. 18 - Why Empire Building is Important

Atlassian's latest investor day showed growing ambition from this 20-year old cloud pioneer.A transcript with additional links can be found here: https://www.hellerhs.com/post/atlassian-growing-ambition— Increasing Returns is a podcast by Heller House. We apply the principles of value investing to the industries of the future.Learn more about Heller House https://www.hellerhs.comFollow Marcelo on Twitter https://twitter.com/MarceloPLimaSubscribe to our email list https://www.hellerhs.com/subscribe 

Software as a service (SaaS) companies are frequently misunderstood because they are investing for the long-term and don’t generate accounting profits today. It turns out SaaS shares an eery resemblance to Walmart when it was in hypergrowth mode.To find out why, listen on.A transcript of this episode is available at: https://www.hellerhs.com/post/why-saas-is-like-walmartInterview referenced in the episode:https://youtu.be/XXJpk14PQkA — Increasing Returns is a podcast by Heller House. We apply the principles of value investing to the industries of the future.Learn more about Heller House https://www.hellerhs.comFollow Marcelo on Twitter https://twitter.com/MarceloPLimaSubscribe to our email list https://www.hellerhs.com/subscribe 

How do modern business empires resemble the Mongolian Empire assembled by Genghis Khan and his descendants?And why is it important, as an investor, to identify these empires?For a transcript and images referenced in the show, please visit:https://www.hellerhs.com/post/why-empire-building-is-importantIncreasing Returns is a podcast by Heller House. We apply the principles of value investing to the industries of the future.Learn more about Heller House https://www.hellerhs.comFollow Marcelo on Twitter https://twitter.com/MarceloPLimaSubscribe to our email list https://www.hellerhs.com/subscribe 

“In the next three to five years, every brand will have a Roblox strategy.”Quite an interesting statement from Roblox's VP of Brand Partnerships, Christina Wootton!In this episode we explore the opportunity for Roblox to build an advertising business and dramatically increase its monetization.The images and video segments referenced in this episode are at:https://www.hellerhs.com/post/roblox-the-coming-ad-titanCheck out our Episode 10, Investing in the Metaverse, for a primer on Roblox.Increasing Returns is a podcast by Heller House. We apply the principles of value investing to the industries of the future.Learn more about Heller House https://www.hellerhs.comFollow Marcelo on Twitter https://twitter.com/MarceloPLimaSubscribe to our email list https://www.hellerhs.com/subscribe 

Almost a year after I asked the question, is the answer closer to a "yes"?What can the city do to ensure it succeeds? Listen in to find out.As always, a transcript is available at: https://www.hellerhs.com/post/could-miami-become-a-world-class-tech-hubIncreasing Returns is a podcast by Heller House. We apply the principles of value investing to the industries of the future.Learn more about Heller House https://www.hellerhs.comFollow Marcelo on Twitter https://twitter.com/MarceloPLimaSubscribe to our email list https://www.hellerhs.com/subscribe 

How do we think about investing at Heller House? This episode explores how we think about our companies, the markets they operate in, valuation, and much more. We discuss our values, alignment of interests, mission and goals.A transcript of this episode is available here: https://www.hellerhs.com/how-we-thinkIncreasing Returns is a podcast by Heller House. We apply the principles of value investing to the industries of the future.Learn more about Heller House https://www.hellerhs.comFollow Marcelo on Twitter https://twitter.com/MarceloPLimaSubscribe to our email list https://www.hellerhs.com/subscribe 

Klarna, Affirm, and AfterPay are taking an increasing share of ecommerce payments by offering buy now, pay later (BNPL) to consumers. We take a close look at Affirm, and how it's actually a really old idea whose time has finally come.A transcript is available on our site: https://www.hellerhs.com/post/the-bnpl-revolutionIncreasing Returns is a podcast by Heller House. We apply the principles of value investing to the industries of the future.Learn more about Heller House https://www.hellerhs.comFollow Marcelo on Twitter https://twitter.com/MarceloPLimaSubscribe to our email list https://www.hellerhs.com/subscribe 

Blake Scholl, the founder of Boom Supersonic, likes to say that there are only two places in the world where you can find a supersonic airliner: in a museum, and in Boom's headquarters. In this episode, we talk about this interesting company that is trying to finally bring back supersonic commercial flights.A transcript is available here: https://www.hellerhs.com/post/boom-supersonic-getting-there-in-half-the-timeIncreasing Returns is a podcast by Heller House. We apply the principles of value investing to the industries of the future.Learn more about Heller House https://www.hellerhs.comFollow Marcelo on Twitter https://twitter.com/MarceloPLimaSubscribe to our email list https://www.hellerhs.com/subscribe 

Today’s episode is called GEICOs of the 21st century. The big idea I was trying to communicate to my investors at the time was that I was evolving from pursuing investments in “cheap” securities, to instead pursuing investments similar to GEICO when Ben Graham invested in it in 1948. Using Graham as an example was important, since my investor base was more traditional, value investor-minded. It’s also kind of ironic, of course, since Graham made more money from a “growth” investment than anything else he did put together. I dislike the labels “growth” and “value” because I think it’s a false dichotomy. To me, “value” just means buying something for less than it’s worth. The growth moniker just means that I’m willing to believe in the company’s future growth, and that growth is what allows me to buy it today for less than what it’ll be worth in the future.The second reason why using Graham as an example is ironic is that Irving Kahn famously made a study of Graham’s returns and found out he would have underperformed the market if he hadn’t invested in Geico.When I first published this letter—it came out in August 2018—it made the rounds on twitter, and was even quoted in a book. I think today—three years later—not only does it hold up well, but the framework set forth here remains as relevant as ever, as we look towards the next technology adoption curves: the metaverse, the entire universe of crypto assets, enterprise software, and more. I hope you enjoy it.A transcript of this episode is available here:https://www.hellerhs.com/post/geicos-of-the-21st-centuryIncreasing Returns is a podcast by Heller House. We apply the principles of value investing to the industries of the future.Increasing Returns is a podcast by Heller House. We apply the principles of value investing to the industries of the future.Learn more about Heller House https://www.hellerhs.comFollow Marcelo on Twitter https://twitter.com/MarceloPLimaSubscribe to our email list https://www.hellerhs.com/subscribe 

Are things getting better, or worse? It feels the answer is "yes" — some things are getting better, and others clearly worse. In this episode, I argue that we should focus on the three most inflationary items in our country: housing, healthcare and education. And to deflate these, we need to BUILD — more housing, more healthcare disruptors, and more ways of educating.Here is the post with links and tweets referenced: https://www.hellerhs.com/post/how-should-we-measure-progressIncreasing Returns is a podcast by Heller House. We apply the principles of value investing to the industries of the future.Links:Heller HouseMarcelo P. Lima on TwitterSubscribe to our email list