The Accent Podcast

John Kleinheinz is the CEO of Kleinheinz Capital Partners, the investment advisor for the Global Undervalued Securities Fund, a global-macro-themed hedge fund that at its peak managed $4 billion. In the 1990s, he was a partner in an investment firm where he managed the Russia Value Fund, one of the earliest funds to invest in Russia, and formed at the inception of the Russian stock market following the voucher privatization program in 1994.

John is a Chairman of the Board of Overseers for The Hoover Institution and on the advisory board of SIEPR (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research).

John's adventures in 1990s Russia are the basis for Josh Haven's book The Siberia Job. After reading the book, I had to speak to John to dig deeper into the events described in it, and boy, did I enjoy it. We also discussed John's investment philosophy and where he sees value in today's markets.

This Episode is one of many on the Accent Wealth sub-channel on YouTube. If you enjoyed it, subscribe at www.Youtube.com/TheAccentPodcast

TIMESTAMPS

01:40 Privatization in 1990s Russia

05:20 Russian Gold Rush

11:10 Illusive auctions for Russian companies

13:45 The results of the Russian investments

18:20 Life in Russia and Co-existence with Mafia

24:15 Kleinheinz Capital's areas of interest

31:35 Investment process

36:15 Japanese market

40:10 Texas Central

44:00 The Hoover Institution

Paleontologist Jack Horner discovered the first dinosaur eggs in the Western Hemisphere, the first evidence of dinosaur colonial nesting, the first evidence of parental care among dinosaurs, and the first dinosaur embryos. Horner's research covers a wide range of topics about dinosaurs, including their behavior, physiology, ecology, and evolution. Due to struggles with the learning disability, dyslexia, Horner does not hold a formal college degree but was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of Montana in 1986. Also in 1986, he was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. He's a Presidential Fellow at Chapman University and is widely acknowledged to be the inspiration for the main character in the book and film Jurassic Park.

Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast

TIMESTAMPS

02:25 T-Rex with feathers

10:30 Most intelligent dinosaurs

13:30 Historical misconceptions about dinosaurs

17:30 Interest in Dinosaurs

20:35 Verity of Dinosaurs across the World

21:40 B-Rex and Dinosaur's Soft Tissue

31:45 Favorite Dinosaur – Maiasaura

45:50 "Undiscovering" dinosaurs

49:55 Dino-chicken: How to Build a Dinosaur

56:45 The Jurassic Park

01:02:35 Is Jurassic Park possible?

01:06:15 On Jack Horner's Books: Digging Dinosaurs, and Maia: A Dinosaur Grows Up

01:06:50 Life as a Dyslexic

In this episode, I interviewed Dr. Avi Loeb, the longest-serving chair of the Astronomy department at Harvard University, the best-selling author, and one of the most influential people in Space (according to Time Magazine). We discussed Alien life, Interstellar objects visiting the Earth (Oumuamua), the limitation of the multiverse, time travel, and A.I. astronauts. We also discussed Dr. Loeb's exploration projects, including Galileo Project and Starshot initiative that is working on a technology that would allow sending probes to Alpha Centauri and reach it within our lifetimes. Watch this episode with visual aid at www.YouTube.com/theaccentpodcast.

Dr. Loeb's books: Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth https://amzn.to/3mPCScc

Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life https://amzn.to/40A3Wts

My Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast

TIMESTAMPS

01:00 Are we alone in the Universe?

04:45 Oumuamua

10:40 Galileo Project

12:10 Mainstream pushback against the alien origin of Oumuamua

26:50 Fermi Paradox

32:45 Biggest challenge for human space travel

38:30 Multiverse and String Theory

45:00 Reconciling Skeptics and String Theoreticians

54:00 Starshot Project (Alpha Centauri)

01:01:50 Time Travel

01:03:25 Dreams

Jim Rogers is a legendary investor, philanthropist, and author. In 1973, Jim Rogers and George Soros founded one of the most successful hedge funds in history, the Quantum Fund. By 1980, Quantum Fund returned more than 40 times the initial investments (vs ~50% for S&P). Unlike Soros, who continued running the fund, Jim retired from the industry and went on to travel the world, the adventures that he covered in his books. He now lives in Singapore and continues investing his own wealth.

In this interview, we discussed the global economy, the Federal Reserve, Inflation, investing, and Jim's life and career.

My Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/theaccentpodcast

TIMESTAMPS

01:50 The state of the world economy

03:50 Do we need the Fed

06:10 Thoughts on the inflation

10:40 Investing in Commodities

14:15 Investing in stocks

16:35 Learning Chinese

18:55 What can prevent China from becoming the largest economy

19:40 Learning from Singapore

21:40 Jim Rogers

28:30 To the Wall Street

30:20 Starting Quantum Fund

33:00 Investment Biker

36:40 The Second World Trip

38:00 Botswana

39:50 Undervalued countries – Uzbekistan

41:20 Investing in Commodities

45:35 Gift to children

49:35 Blitz

51:20 North Korea

Frank Wilczek is a theoretical physicist, mathematician and Nobel Prize laureate. In this interview, we discussed his most famous research projects - Asymptotic Freedom (which won him Nobel), Axions, Anyons, and Time Crystals. He shares his take on whether or not we are in a Simulation, risks and benefits of Artificial Intelligence, and even shares the type of tattoo he would get.

TIMESTAMPS

01:00 Dumb Questions

02:20 Understanding the Black Holes is not useful

03:40 Choosing the subject of research

06:25 Biggest breakthrough in physics in his lifetime

08:00 Axions

15:20 The Big Bang

19:30 The most beautiful equation

21:15 Are we in a simulation?

23:25 Dangers of Artificial Technology

28:40 Childhood and Parents

31:55 Favorite Childhood memory and Hobbies

35:20 Choosing his profession

38:25 Asymptotic Freedom

46:00 Receiving Nobel Prize

51:35 Does every scientist strive for Nobel Prize?

53:25 Anyons

01:01:00 Time Crystals

01:02:40 Anyons, Time Crystals, or Axions

01:04:40 Family and Career

01:07:00 Blitz

Olivier Chastan is the founder and CEO of Iconoclast, a company acquiring and managing the intellectual property of iconic entertainment artists, creators, and brands. Over the past year or so, Iconoclast acquired the IP of Tony Bennett, The Band, The Murder, Inc. (Ja Rule, DMX, etc.), DJ Diplo, and many others. Olivier has more than 20 years of experience in the music industry, including a decade of running VP Records, one of the largest independent labels in the USA.

We spoke about the music industry's ecosystem, investments in music catalogs and their valuations, his adventures in the music industry, and many other nerdy music-related things.

Timestamps

01:35 Iconoclast

02:55 Music Business

10:15 Attorney's role

11:55 Artists' revenue streams

12:55 Who gets paid more artists or the writer

17:55 Covers are paid

18:55 Story behind Iconoclast

24:55 It's not about Maximizing cash flow

28:40 Valuations of music catalogs

32:10 Is the future technological change included in the price

36:55 Practice helps separate emotions from investment

42:55 The 1960s-70s were a unique era

47:25 Do Interest rates affect music catalogs' valuations?

50:15:20 Murder, Inc. acquisition

52:25 Irv Gotti is an extraordinary entrepreneur

59:25 Growing up in a village around Bordeaux

01:11:00 Photography

01:17:05 Move to the US and career change

01:23:00 Bass is underrated

01:27:00 VP Records and Greensleeves

01:32:00 What saved the music industry

01:38:30 Irving Azoff

01:46:30 Memorable career moments

01:50:10 Blitz

Marin Alsop is a chief conductor of ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. She is the first woman to lead a major US orchestra (Baltimore Symphony), and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. Marin is featured in the documentary The Conductor, which follows her journey from student to conductor, delving into women's struggles in music.

Timestamps

01:25 Styles of conducting

03:25 Beethoven, Metronome, and Tempo

05:30 Selecting a repertoire

08:15 Marin's Creative Process – analyzing a score

10:00 Hearing the Score

12:35 Lessons from parents

14:00 Girls don't become conductors

16:00 Biggest accomplishments

Watch more than 50 Episodes of The Accent Podcast on www.YouTube.com/TheAccentPodcast

Marina Toybina is a six times Emmy Award winning costume designer, who is behind the fascinated costumes of The Masked Signer show on Fox. She won awards for her work at The Masked Signer, Super Bowl Halftime Show (w/Katy Perry), 55th Annual Grammy Awards, SYTYCD, and X Factor.

Marina was born in Moscow, USSR, but when she was 11, her family immigrated to USA, settling in Phoenix, AZ. Her incredible journey from constant struggles to the pinnacle of the industry is one that is worth hearing!

TIME STAMPS

01:20 The Masked Singer and its costumes

07:00 Creating costumes

12:40 What it feels like to win an Emmy Award

16:30 Life after the Emmy's

17:55 USSR - beginning of the journey

23:35 Choosing a career as a fashion designer

25:00 Starting a Fashion Line – GLAZA

29:20 First celebrity client

31:35 Pivot to Costume Design

34:30 X-Factor and SO You Think You Can Dance TV shows

38:00 Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show with Katy Perry

44:55 Carrie Underwood, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Usher, and Ariana Grande

46:35 Stylist for Eminem and Dr. Dre video, and conversation with Dre.

48:20 Working with Celebrities

50:00 Why do people in the Entertainment industry fail?

52:40 Outside of your comfort zone

54:30 Ten years of nothing before holy shit

57:50 Determination vs Competition

01:01:10 Friends, family and future

01:06:10 Blitz

Watch more than 50 Episodes of The Accent Podcast on www.Youtube.com/TheAccentPodcast

Graham Weaver is founder and managing partner of Alpine Investors, a people-driven private equity firm that invests in software and services businesses. With over 20 years of experience in private equity, Graham founded Alpine based on the belief that exceptional people create exceptional businesses, a PeopleFirst philosophy that guides the firm's choices today. When he's not inspiring growth at Alpine, Graham teaches a top-rated strategic management course at Stanford's Graduate School of Business or posts on his blog - www.GrahamWeaver.com.

In this interview Graham takes us to a journey from his childhood in suburbs of Ohio, to his school athletic life, college, and career. He then walks us through early days of Alpine, which despite underperformance of its first fund, ultimately became one of the best performing firms in the industry.

Jeremiah Tower is likely the first Celebrity Chef in the US. A food lover from childhood, he had no formal culinary education before beginning his career as a chef at Chez Panisse, making the place famous for its authentic cuisine that is currently known as California or American style cuisine. Jeremiah later opened one of the most famous restaurants in the country in 1980s - The Stars, which became the major attraction for celebrities. Anthony Bourdain produced a fantastic documentary on Jeremiah - The Last Magnificent, which tells his story.

I sat down with Jeremiah to discuss details that weren't included in the documentary, and we covered everything from his early childhood to his latest experiments with the restaurant industry.