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Interview with Josh Tarasoff (Greenlea Lane Capital Partners)


Liberty

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The other one is that when there’s a new way of doing something where if you do it that way instead of the old way, it’s a win-win for every party involved and no one loses, then that’s certain to happen too. I think pet medical insurance is an example of that, where if the pet owners can’t afford to pay $5,000 to save the pet’s life, then paying $40 a month premium in order to be able to save the pet’s life benefits the pet, the pet owner, and the veterinarian who gets to do the highest-level procedure to make more money. It’s truly a win-win. Even in cloud computing, there’re losers, who are the incumbents. And there are losers in online retail, who are the incumbents. There’s literally no loser in pet medical insurance.

 

No. Just no. Paying $40 per month is not a win for pet owner. Sorry. Maybe it is for people who throw money at pets as if they are family members, but it's not for a regular person. Sorry, if kitty gets cancer, it's not getting $5K procedure and it's not getting pet insurance. It is going to eternal hunting grounds where mice run slowly and bowl is always full of organic kibble.

 

Not to say that he and FFH won't make tons of money on pet insurance. Cause there's tons of people who think that Fido is a family member and all that.

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I think that there’s almost literally a direct conflict between salable as an investor and being good as an investor.

 

I'm not sure it's so black and white.

 

However, what I discovered while looking for other people to manage my money: it is very hard to accept others' investment choices that contradict your own worldview when you are yourself an investor. E.g. you think that SHLD is a donut; how can you give money to someone who invests into SHLD? Maybe this is extreme example, but there are similar issues. On the other hand if someone makes the same investment choices as you do, then what's the point paying them fees to do what you can do yourself? ;)

 

I guess it is possible to find someone to trust implicitly without analyzing their positions and processes (or maybe they don't tell you their positions and processes... then you trust even more implicitly ... haha  ;) ). It is quite hard though.

 

BTW, it is easier to trust/not-get-flustered when someone invests outside your area of competence. I guess that goes back to trusting implicitly.  8)

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His thoughts about recency bias are worth listening to.

 

you are always most excited about your most recent idea, which is a huge bias, by the way. It causes a lot of portfolio turnover. One of the biggest factors in how excited and enthusiastic you are about an idea is just how recent this idea is. That doesn’t correlate with how good an idea is. There’s no logical reason for it to be the case.

 

QFT.

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The other one is that when there’s a new way of doing something where if you do it that way instead of the old way, it’s a win-win for every party involved and no one loses, then that’s certain to happen too. I think pet medical insurance is an example of that, where if the pet owners can’t afford to pay $5,000 to save the pet’s life, then paying $40 a month premium in order to be able to save the pet’s life benefits the pet, the pet owner, and the veterinarian who gets to do the highest-level procedure to make more money. It’s truly a win-win. Even in cloud computing, there’re losers, who are the incumbents. And there are losers in online retail, who are the incumbents. There’s literally no loser in pet medical insurance.

 

No. Just no. Paying $40 per month is not a win for pet owner. Sorry. Maybe it is for people who throw money at pets as if they are family members, but it's not for a regular person. Sorry, if kitty gets cancer, it's not getting $5K procedure and it's not getting pet insurance. It is going to eternal hunting grounds where mice run slowly and bowl is always full of organic kibble.

 

Not to say that he and FFH won't make tons of money on pet insurance. Cause there's tons of people who think that Fido is a family member and all that.

 

It's a personal choice. There's no right or wrong answer, it's subjective. If you love your pet, insuring against it potentially dying because you don't have thousands on hand might make all the sense in the world and be a small price indeed compared to the alternative. Doesn't matter if you wouldn't do it if many others would, just like it doesn't matter if I wouldn't spend money on a luxury car or a fancy business suit if many others will. Maybe you love an artist and will spend hundreds to see them live but I think they're worthless and wouldn't pay a dime. We're both correct from our perspective. And I write this as a non-pet owner who can still see how many people feel deep attachment to their pets and want to take good care of their health.

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Yeah Josh is a really smart guy.  I think he still owns Amazon, MKL, and Trupanion.  As for the pet insurance comment, I don't own a pet but I do know a lot of people that treat their pets like family members.  People seem to have a very strong attachment to their pets.  It's not for me but I can see the value in pet insurance for people.  I don't own Trupanion stock but the founder has some really good annual share letters.  I could see why that investment could work out.

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The other one is that when there’s a new way of doing something where if you do it that way instead of the old way, it’s a win-win for every party involved and no one loses, then that’s certain to happen too. I think pet medical insurance is an example of that, where if the pet owners can’t afford to pay $5,000 to save the pet’s life, then paying $40 a month premium in order to be able to save the pet’s life benefits the pet, the pet owner, and the veterinarian who gets to do the highest-level procedure to make more money. It’s truly a win-win. Even in cloud computing, there’re losers, who are the incumbents. And there are losers in online retail, who are the incumbents. There’s literally no loser in pet medical insurance.

 

No. Just no. Paying $40 per month is not a win for pet owner. Sorry. Maybe it is for people who throw money at pets as if they are family members, but it's not for a regular person. Sorry, if kitty gets cancer, it's not getting $5K procedure and it's not getting pet insurance. It is going to eternal hunting grounds where mice run slowly and bowl is always full of organic kibble.

 

Not to say that he and FFH won't make tons of money on pet insurance. Cause there's tons of people who think that Fido is a family member and all that.

 

It's a personal choice. There's no right or wrong answer, it's subjective. If you love your pet, insuring against it potentially dying because you don't have thousands on hand might make all the sense in the world and be a small price indeed compared to the alternative. Doesn't matter if you wouldn't do it if many others would, just like it doesn't matter if I wouldn't spend money on a luxury car or a fancy business suit if many others will. Maybe you love an artist and will spend hundreds to see them live but I think they're worthless and wouldn't pay a dime. We're both correct from our perspective. And I write this as a non-pet owner who can still see how many people feel deep attachment to their pets and want to take good care of their health.

 

I literally spent like $3k getting rid of my cat's cancer a few months ago, and did it without a second thought. Animals mean a lot to me; they have always been there through feast and famine, and I will do what is in my power to make sure they have the treatment they need to live a happy life.

 

He was growing cysts and some of them were cancerous and had to be removed.

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The other one is that when there’s a new way of doing something where if you do it that way instead of the old way, it’s a win-win for every party involved and no one loses, then that’s certain to happen too. I think pet medical insurance is an example of that, where if the pet owners can’t afford to pay $5,000 to save the pet’s life, then paying $40 a month premium in order to be able to save the pet’s life benefits the pet, the pet owner, and the veterinarian who gets to do the highest-level procedure to make more money. It’s truly a win-win. Even in cloud computing, there’re losers, who are the incumbents. And there are losers in online retail, who are the incumbents. There’s literally no loser in pet medical insurance.

 

No. Just no. Paying $40 per month is not a win for pet owner. Sorry. Maybe it is for people who throw money at pets as if they are family members, but it's not for a regular person. Sorry, if kitty gets cancer, it's not getting $5K procedure and it's not getting pet insurance. It is going to eternal hunting grounds where mice run slowly and bowl is always full of organic kibble.

 

Not to say that he and FFH won't make tons of money on pet insurance. Cause there's tons of people who think that Fido is a family member and all that.

 

It's a personal choice. There's no right or wrong answer, it's subjective. If you love your pet, insuring against it potentially dying because you don't have thousands on hand might make all the sense in the world and be a small price indeed compared to the alternative. Doesn't matter if you wouldn't do it if many others would, just like it doesn't matter if I wouldn't spend money on a luxury car or a fancy business suit if many others will. Maybe you love an artist and will spend hundreds to see them live but I think they're worthless and wouldn't pay a dime. We're both correct from our perspective. And I write this as a non-pet owner who can still see how many people feel deep attachment to their pets and want to take good care of their health.

 

I literally spent like $3k getting rid of my cat's cancer a few months ago, and did it without a second thought. Animals mean a lot to me; they have always been there through feast and famine, and I will do what is in my power to make sure they have the treatment they need to live a happy life.

 

He was growing cysts and some of them were cancerous and had to be removed.

 

That 3K could have saved more than 10 cats who instead were killed because shelters don't have space.

 

Yeah, attachments matter.

 

And ethics is a harsh mistress ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem )

 

Meow.

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The other one is that when there’s a new way of doing something where if you do it that way instead of the old way, it’s a win-win for every party involved and no one loses, then that’s certain to happen too. I think pet medical insurance is an example of that, where if the pet owners can’t afford to pay $5,000 to save the pet’s life, then paying $40 a month premium in order to be able to save the pet’s life benefits the pet, the pet owner, and the veterinarian who gets to do the highest-level procedure to make more money. It’s truly a win-win. Even in cloud computing, there’re losers, who are the incumbents. And there are losers in online retail, who are the incumbents. There’s literally no loser in pet medical insurance.

 

No. Just no. Paying $40 per month is not a win for pet owner. Sorry. Maybe it is for people who throw money at pets as if they are family members, but it's not for a regular person. Sorry, if kitty gets cancer, it's not getting $5K procedure and it's not getting pet insurance. It is going to eternal hunting grounds where mice run slowly and bowl is always full of organic kibble.

 

Not to say that he and FFH won't make tons of money on pet insurance. Cause there's tons of people who think that Fido is a family member and all that.

 

It's a personal choice. There's no right or wrong answer, it's subjective. If you love your pet, insuring against it potentially dying because you don't have thousands on hand might make all the sense in the world and be a small price indeed compared to the alternative. Doesn't matter if you wouldn't do it if many others would, just like it doesn't matter if I wouldn't spend money on a luxury car or a fancy business suit if many others will. Maybe you love an artist and will spend hundreds to see them live but I think they're worthless and wouldn't pay a dime. We're both correct from our perspective. And I write this as a non-pet owner who can still see how many people feel deep attachment to their pets and want to take good care of their health.

 

I literally spent like $3k getting rid of my cat's cancer a few months ago, and did it without a second thought. Animals mean a lot to me; they have always been there through feast and famine, and I will do what is in my power to make sure they have the treatment they need to live a happy life.

 

He was growing cysts and some of them were cancerous and had to be removed.

 

That 3K could have saved more than 10 cats who instead were killed because shelters don't have space.

 

Yeah, attachments matter.

 

And ethics is a harsh mistress ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem )

 

Meow.

 

You are almost a good troll, Jurgis. :)

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The other one is that when there’s a new way of doing something where if you do it that way instead of the old way, it’s a win-win for every party involved and no one loses, then that’s certain to happen too. I think pet medical insurance is an example of that, where if the pet owners can’t afford to pay $5,000 to save the pet’s life, then paying $40 a month premium in order to be able to save the pet’s life benefits the pet, the pet owner, and the veterinarian who gets to do the highest-level procedure to make more money. It’s truly a win-win. Even in cloud computing, there’re losers, who are the incumbents. And there are losers in online retail, who are the incumbents. There’s literally no loser in pet medical insurance.

 

No. Just no. Paying $40 per month is not a win for pet owner. Sorry. Maybe it is for people who throw money at pets as if they are family members, but it's not for a regular person. Sorry, if kitty gets cancer, it's not getting $5K procedure and it's not getting pet insurance. It is going to eternal hunting grounds where mice run slowly and bowl is always full of organic kibble.

 

Not to say that he and FFH won't make tons of money on pet insurance. Cause there's tons of people who think that Fido is a family member and all that.

 

It's a personal choice. There's no right or wrong answer, it's subjective. If you love your pet, insuring against it potentially dying because you don't have thousands on hand might make all the sense in the world and be a small price indeed compared to the alternative. Doesn't matter if you wouldn't do it if many others would, just like it doesn't matter if I wouldn't spend money on a luxury car or a fancy business suit if many others will. Maybe you love an artist and will spend hundreds to see them live but I think they're worthless and wouldn't pay a dime. We're both correct from our perspective. And I write this as a non-pet owner who can still see how many people feel deep attachment to their pets and want to take good care of their health.

 

I literally spent like $3k getting rid of my cat's cancer a few months ago, and did it without a second thought. Animals mean a lot to me; they have always been there through feast and famine, and I will do what is in my power to make sure they have the treatment they need to live a happy life.

 

He was growing cysts and some of them were cancerous and had to be removed.

 

That 3K could have saved more than 10 cats who instead were killed because shelters don't have space.

 

Yeah, attachments matter.

 

And ethics is a harsh mistress ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem )

 

Meow.

 

How many cats have you saved lately?

 

1 - 0 for Scott

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My main Q for TRUP is that, as an insurance company, its growth is bottlenecked by the reserves they need. I've heard the company described as a subscription company -- which seems dangerous when you don't consider that those subscriptions... eventually have cash outflows.

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You are almost a good troll, Jurgis. :)

 

Thank you.  8)

 

To answer the other poster, I don't know the number and I don't know individually the cats I saved. If you need the info, you'll have to call the organizations I donate to.

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