Hi, I’m Guy Spier

Welcome to my personal online home.

I manage the Aquamarine Fund. We have $350 million in assets and around 150 investors – a group including friends and family and others who have decided to join me in this journey.

I am the author “The Education of a Value Investor”.

More broadly, I am on a quest for wealth, wisdom and enlightenment.

I host an annual investment gathering called VALUEx in Klosters, Switzerland.

I also write, host a podcast, speak occasionally and host an email list.

Getting in touch:

If you:

  • are interested in investing with me, you will have to fill out this form before we can talk to you.
  • want to attend VALUEx, you need to be connected with and known to current members of the community.
  • want to talk about investments or have investment ideas: I’m certainly interested. A good idea can come from anywhere, and I appreciate your thinking of me. I request that you write the idea up so I can read it first. The write-up does not have to be long or extensive. But it needs to be in writing – something that I can read and evaluate.
  • want to be mentored or discuss job and career matters: I love helping hard-working, smart people, and you may write to me. But there is a limit on my bandwidth. There are only so many inbound messages that my staff and I can respond to. I hope you will understand. And: whatever your reason for getting in touch, please first read this piece by Patrick McKenzie. I am most likely to respond if you demonstrate that you can express some worthwhile and interesting thoughts clearly and concisely – in writing. One way to start is to take a look at the books I have been reading (or the ones on my to-read list) and write a review or thought piece on one of them.

The best way to send me a message is via Linkedin or Twitter. You can find my email in Linktree.

 

My now(s)

Podcast, YouTube Channel, Email Newsletter.

I’ve enjoyed starting a podcast. I have also started a YouTube channel.

My goal with the podcast is not so much to create a show as it is to use the medium as a way of learning in public.

You can listen to it here:

I maintain a semi-annual email newsletter that covers my current thoughts as well as other content – much of which is original, not seen anywhere else. As of checking in January 2024, it has more than 25,000 subscribers. You can subscribe here:

If you would like to write an original piece or white paper to include in the newsletter, let me know.

 

Investing and Investment Research

I want to learn more about the following industries/areas:

  • Luxury Goods
  • Credit Ratings
  • Elevators
  • Stock Exchanges
  • Aircraft and Aero Engines
  • Payment Networks

If you think you can teach me something, send me a message. I check LinkedIn and Twitter regularly. So do my staff.

People I’ve been learning from
(in addition to investors I like to learn from)
William Green is the amazing author of Richer, Wiser Happier – and who started a podcast with Preston and Stig. William collaborated with me on my book and also edits my annual letters to investors.
James Currier is my guru on Network Effects
Anne Laure Le Cunff is my guru on the use of Roam Research, and on Digital Gardens.

Syed Balkhi is my all-around guru an all things WordPress, blogs, internet and more.

Robert Leitz

Sam Altman

 

Scuttlebutt

I’m exploring how to use new social media to do better investment research – especially when it comes to scuttlebutt. And so I’m experimenting with the following tools.

  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Instagram
  • Email
  • Expert Networks
  • Podcasts

Knowledge Management

Much of the above spills into the area of Personal Knowledge Management and I’ve become a big fan of

I have started using Roam Research as a regular companion. I also use Evernote and have many Moleskine ruled notebooks that are filled with “fleeting notes”. i have also started using Zotero,and Glasp.

Books

I published a list of useful books in the bibliography of my own book. But that was some years ago. I’m impressed with people like Derek Sivers and Pat Collison who keep visitors updated on what books they have been reading.

In the past, I used to order pretty much every book that I came across that was interesting – and so I have a pretty large anti-library. But reading Soenke Ahrens and others switched me on to the danger of the collector’s trap – in which one simply collects containers of knowledge but does not process them. Today I try to do it slightly differently – I’ll first make notes on the book and why it might make sense to read it. Then I might order it later.  It’s all part of my goal of becoming a little more directed in my reading.

Once a book makes it into my library, I may just handle it once,  or I might pick it up and browse or skip through it, And I might give it a thorough read and then hold it back before re-reading. In my view, my library is a bit like a cocktail party: not everyone merits a long and deep friendship.

Rather than try to create some sort of list of books I have read, My plan here is simply to post perhaps with comments, some of the books that have been reading and could form the subject of a conversation. So the list below is not complete or in order. It’s just a conversation starter.

I also check out a lot of books on Kindle – which is reflected in my GoodReads account – which you can see here:

  • Die Red Bull Story: Der unglaubliche Erfolg des Dietrich Mateschitz by Wolfgang Fürweger
  • What I Learned about Investing from Darwin by Pulak Prasad
  • The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas are Killing Common Sense by Gad Saad.
  • People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn
  • The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage and Fear in the Cyber Age by David E. Sanger
  • Power: Why Some People Have It – and Others Don’t by Jeffrey Pfeffer
  • Who by Fire by Matti Friedman
  • Lie Machines by Philip N. Howard
  • The Dying Animal by Philip Roth
  • Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller
  • Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann
  • Le Rouge et le Noir by Stendahl
  • How the World Works by Vaclav Smil
  • A Concise Introduction to Pure Mathematics (4th edition) by Martin Liebeck
  • The $12 Million Stuffed Shark: The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art by Don Thompson
  • The Curious Economics of Luxury Fashion by Don Thompson
  • Who is Michael Ovitz? by Michael Ovitz
  • Freezing Order by Bill Browder
  • Nothing is True and Everything is Possible by Peter Pomerantsev
  • The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides
  • The Shortest History of Germany by James Hawes
  • Why Mahler? How One Man and Ten Symphonies Changed the World by Norman Lebrecht
  • David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
  • Capitalism and the Jews by Jerry Z Muller
  • Richer, Wiser, Happier by William Green
  • The Stuff of Thought by Steven Pinker
  • Tribe of Mentors by Tim Ferris
  • Swiss Made by James Breiding
  • 12 Rules for Life – Jordan Peterson
  • Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex among Apes by Franz de Waal
  • 100 Baggers by Chris Meyer
  • Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master’s insights into China, the United States and the World
  • Just Hierarchy: Why Social Hierarchies matter in China and the Rest of the World by Bell and Wang
  • Pandemic 1918: The Story of the Deadliest Influenza in History by Catharine Arnold
  • 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy by Hamilton Helmer
  • Essays by George Orwell
  • No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer

A good way to connect with me would be to write to me about any of the books that I’ve read or am reading: It shows what’s on my mind. Much of my physical collection of books is catalogued on LibraryThing. You can find me on LibraryThing here.

I also read a lot on the Kindle: You can see the books that I’m reading on Kindle in my GoodReads account – which you can access here:

Leisure and Family

When I’m not working or reading, I love spending time with my family and doing sport. In the summer, that’s mainly cycling, swimming, running, rowing and tennis. In the winter, I like to do various kinds of skiing and other snow and ice-related sports – with a little bit of squash and indoor rowing. You can follow me on Strava here

I like playing chess – but play badly – my rating has been hovering just below 1,000. You can find me on Chess.com here.

If we are not already connected, probably the best way to be in touch is via Twitter: @gspier is my handle – or check my Linktree.