The Intentional Investor #46: Ritavan

In this episode of Intentional Investor, Matt Zeigler sits down with Ritavan to explore how a life shaped by loss, curiosity, and self-directed learning produced a distinctive way of thinking about mastery, ambition, and purpose. From a remarkable family history to an unconventional educational path, the conversation traces how early experiences with adversity, mentorship, and intellectual independence compound over time into a durable framework for growth.

In this episode of Intentional Investor, Matt Zeigler sits down with Tony Greer for a wide-ranging conversation about markets, risk, identity, and the experiences that shape how we operate under pressure. From growing up on Long Island in a tight-knit Italian family to trading precious metals at global banks, Tony shares the formative moments that defined his relationship with money, risk, competition, and resilience. The discussion moves fluidly between personal history and professional lessons, revealing how early adversity, intense trading environments, and deep relationships influence decision-making both in markets and in life.

In this special year-end episode of Intentional Investor, Matt Zeigler and Ben Hunt reflect on the stories, turning points, and formative moments that shaped the most memorable conversations of 2025. Rather than market calls or forecasts, this episode focuses on identity, risk, mentorship, reinvention, and the experiences that quietly redirect a life. Through a countdown of the top ten clips from the year, the conversation explores how careers are really built, how values are formed, and why the most important lessons often come from unexpected places.

Greg Larkin joins The Intentional Investor to explore the wild arc of his life: from feral 1980s–90s New York City, to punk rock basements, to microfinance in Scotland, to predicting the subprime crisis, to becoming a leading voice on innovation, courage, and community-building. This episode blends personal history with market insight, crisis leadership, creativity, and what it means to build a meaningful life and career.

Dave Nadig joins us for a wide-ranging conversation on intentional investing, creativity, career detours, near-death experiences, and building a meaningful life. From growing up as a “no-lock kid,” to working on live TV in Los Angeles, to the early days of ETFs, to a traumatic climbing accident that changed his worldview, Dave shares a remarkable story filled with lessons about ambition, humility, family, and purpose.

Pablos Holman is a legendary hacker, inventor, and investor whose career spans from rural Alaska to Blue Origin and beyond. In this episode of The Intentional Investor, Matt Zeigler explores how curiosity, creativity, and relentless experimentation shaped Pablos’s journey — from hacking onstage and pioneering early web development to building inventions that shoot mosquitoes with lasers and investing in deep-tech founders today. It’s a masterclass in innovation, persistence, and the mindset of people who make the impossible real.

Adam Butler joins The Intentional Investor with Matt Zeigler for an honest, funny, and deeply reflective conversation that traces the origins of one of investing’s most thoughtful minds. From a Dungeons & Dragons-playing kid in Newfoundland to the CIO of Resolve Asset Management, Adam’s story is about curiosity, overconfidence, failure, reinvention, and finding purpose through markets. Along the way, he shares the lessons that shaped his worldview — and the mistakes that built his philosophy on risk, humility, and growth.

Tyrone Ross joins The Intentional Investor with Matt Zeigler for a conversation that goes far beyond markets — a story of grit, purpose, pain, and love. From growing up in the projects of New Jersey to becoming an elite athlete and mission-driven financial leader, Tyrone shares how the people who filled the gaps in his life helped shape his identity and purpose. This episode explores how embracing pain, service, and faith can transform setbacks into gifts, and how personal history informs a life of intentional investing and impact.

In this episode of Intentional Investor, Matt Ziegler sits down with Danielle Strachman, co-founder and general partner of 1517 Fund, former director at the Thiel Fellowship, and lifelong supporter of unconventional paths. Danielle shares her journey from a New England upbringing and music-filled childhood to starting a charter school during the financial crisis, building 1517 to back “dropouts, renegades, and sci-fi kids,” and embracing her role as a “professional fairy godmother.” Her story is one of resilience, creativity, and building communities that make a difference.

Matt Zeigler sits down with Eric Pachman to explore how purpose, curiosity, and friendship powered an unlikely path from chemical engineering and ExxonMobil to Wall Street, data storytelling, and exposing hidden costs in healthcare. Eric shares the decisions and inflection points that shaped his life—becoming a parent during Harvard Business School, burning out and rebuilding energy as an introvert, and learning to make complex ideas useful—while offering practical frameworks for better decisions, communication, and impact.