giofranchi

I find that it is extremely difficult to value platform cos which have reached huge scale and are still growing their networks very rapidly. I also think they are among the highest quality cos today, and are led by some of the smartest businessmen. Therefore, I hold a basket of them that I have put together at much lower prices. They have outperformed for many years, and it is very likely that they will slow down, at least in the short term. Cheers, Gio

I have started reading “WTF - What’s The Future And Why It’s Up To Us” by Tim O’Reilly. Here you can find some interesting excerpts: Cheers, Gio

I have started reading “Machine Platform Crowd” by Andrew McAfee & Erik Brynjolfsson. Here you can find some interesting excerpts: Cheers, Gio

I have read “The Inner Game of Tennis - The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance” by W. Timothy Gallwey. Here you may find some interesting excerpts: Cheers, Gio

From the article recently posted: SoftBank is only one position in a diversified portfolio for me. And it is a bet on the sharing economy and the IoT. If both will become huge, SoftBank should benefit. Otherwise, I don’t expect much. Cheers, Gio

The equity of my company was up +16.85% in 2017. 10% from retained earnings + 6.85% from investments. The EUR ended the year up +13.5% against the USD, therefore my investments have performed roughly in line with the general market. This of course is irrelevant and I must acknowledge another year of poor performance. In 2018 I expect the operations of my company to perform in line with 2017, while I don’t know what to expect from my investments. The market is clearly overheated, a correction of 20% or more is plausible, I don’t short, I don’t hold investments that are uncorrelated with the general market... If I had to guess, 2018 is very much shaping like another year of disappointment. Cheers, Gio

I am reading it too and enjoying it so far. Here you can find some excerpts I have found to be of interest: Cheers, Gio

I have read “Anything You Want - 40 Lessons for a new kind of Entrepreneur” by Derek Sivers. Here you can find some interesting excerpts: Cheers, Gio

Ok, sorry... I was only referring to the sheer number of people in the FB network. Not its strength nor its quality. In fact, strength and quality are features usually developed by a network after its breakpoint (after it stops growing). FB is still growing circa 10 new active users per second. Cheers, Gio

Ahah!! No no... I have taken the picture only of the part I highlighted.? Cheers, Gio

Though I have a larger investment in GOOGL than FB, I am not sure which moat will be longer lasting. Networks are the strongest things on earth, and FB is the most amazing network created by men so far. Here is what Jeff Stibel had to say about this topic in his book “Breakpoint” (see attachment): “The important point is this: social networks after the breakpoint are highly successful both in the short term and the long term.” Cheers, Gio

Well, of course you must have a strategy for that to happen on a social platform like FB (or any other social platform). To simply “pay for advertising” is not enough. For instance, we try to keep engaged those who like our FB page posting interesting articles and sharing our blog over there on a daily basis. Posts that are meaningful to our audience and free make them check out our FB page more frequently. If you share something valuable for free, chances increase they will come back willing to pay for more. Cheers, Gio

I surely do. Not as good as with Google, I agree. (Far from it!) But definitely better than with any other advertising channel. My experience of course is limited to the higher education (civil and infrastructural engineering) field. Cheers, Gio

Thank you for posting this! Cheers, Gio

I have started reading “This Will Make You Smarter” by John Brockman. Here you can find some interesting excerpts: Cheers, Gio

Thank you, Liberty! It should make for an interesting read. Cheers, Gio

I have started reading “Behave - The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst” by Robert Sapolsky. Here you can find some interesting excerpts: Cheers, Gio

Yes, well... Of course I might be wrong, but I still don't like Cattolica and the fact Buffett invested 0,04% of BRK's equity in that company doesn't strike me as a very reliable vote of confidence... But the market seems to think differently and has received the news with much enthusiasm! Good for Cattolica's shareholders, and I wish them the best of luck. Cheers, Gio

I have started reading "The Industries of the Future" by Alec Ross. Here you can find the most interesting excerpts imo: Cheers, Gio

I have started reading "Data Strategy" by Bernard Marr. Here you can find the most interesting excerpts imo: Cheers, Gio

I've started reading "The Science of Fear" by Dan Gardner. Here you can find the most interesting excerpts imo: Cheers, Gio

I have started reading "Modern Monopolies" by Alex Moazed & Nicholas L. Johnson. Here you can find the most interesting excerpt imo: Cheers, Gio

I have started reading "The Driver in the Driverless Car" by Vivek Wadhwa and Alex Salkever. Here you can find the most interesting excerpts imo: Cheers, Gio

I've sold TVR and bought V. Just wanted to decrease my portfolio's exposure to the insurance sector. For what I can see V will benefit from secular tailwinds at least for the next few years. The exact opposite is true for insurance as interest rates slowly rise. And V in the payment industry seems to be the lead dog. Longer term Munger of course is right, and technology developments make it very difficult to know who will win in the payment industry. Cheers, Gio

Thank you, I'll surely check it out! Cheers, Gio