Hope you’re all enjoying the weekend! After a brief hiatus for July 4th, we’re back with some exciting content. As a reminder, the goal is to aggregate and curate high quality content in key overlapping areas (finance, blockchain, tech) - to help distill signals from the rising noise in the world. And as the community grows, the discussion and action to drive change will follow...

“Out of chaos comes order” - Friedrich Nietzsche (Blazing Saddles attribution)

Translation: Those in power tend to use crises to consolidate and strengthen power; however, there is opportunity to break the mold as we reach tipping points… sometimes you need to break the status quo system to move forward / progress

Finance

Hugh Hendry on the Need for Chaos, Radicalizing the Fed [Video]

Recap: Hugh is a famous macro investor that went MIA, but has recently resurfaced. This short video interview sounds insane, but his take on central banks is scarily accurate and he’s a renowned out-of-the-box thinker.

Comment: This 10-min video is worth a listen. Hugh is spot on regarding his point on the monetary system being at a tipping point. The current structure has lasted 50 years (since gold depeg in 1971), made creditors/asset owners very rich... but now there is a huge imbalance between labor and capital (part of underlying sentiment driving riots, etc.).

Blockchain

Out-Performing Bitcoin :: Pantera Blockchain Letter, June 2020 [Article]

Recap: Pantera Capital's 2Q20 investor letter - they are one of the key thought leaders in the broader blockchain ecosystem. Letter focuses primarily on how current excess liquidity (e.g. governments printing trillions of fiat) might impact crypto / ecosystem.

Comment: Dan Morehead founded Pantera (2013) as one of the first funds focused on crypto / blockchain. His views on the broader blockchain ecosystem (from cryptocurrencies, to companies building on blockchain tech) are certainly worth understanding. He highlights blockchain as the missing piece of the Internet (payments), and likens the importance to TCP/IP (underlying protocol for the Internet).

Technology

Ben Thompson – Platforms, Ecosystems, and Aggregators - [Invest Like the Best, EP.176] [Audio]

Recap: Ben Thompson (interviewee) walks through his aggregation theory, platforms, moats, and how the Internet has changed business. On company specifics, he walks through SPOT's podcasting strategy, NFLX's strategic iterations, and GOOG/FB's demand side dominance.

Comment: Thanks for the referral (@jlm278). We are fans of Ben Thompson and his newsletter, Stratechery, which we've followed for years. Ben's strategic framework is impressive, and we think it's critical to learn from / incorporate these concepts to better understand the world and improve your investment process.

CrowdCent Thoughts & Predictions

Revamped site, along with a new section + tracker coming soon

Share the post and grow the community!

Best,

Jason & Ryan

Website: CrowdCent

Twitter: @CrowdCent

Telegram: Link