Financial Research Newsletter & Podcast by Grant Williams

Ian Cassel, founder of MicroCapClub and author of Stock Picker, joins me for a fascinating conversation about investing, conviction and the advantages that can still exist for individuals willing to venture into the neglected corners of public markets. Ian’s journey began with a $20,000 family gift that he turned into $120,000 during the dot-com bubble before promptly losing 90% of it when the bubble burst—an experience which, rather than driving him away from markets, made him determined to understand what he’d got wrong. We talk about the chance investment in XM Satellite Radio that introduced him to the power of meeting management teams face-to-face, why micro-caps offer individual investors opportunities that simply aren’t available to large institutions, and the crucial difference between believing in an investment and developing genuine conviction through doing more work than everybody else. Ian also talks candidly about the things that have “chased” him throughout his life—from proving doubters wrong when he was younger to family, legacy and the growing awareness of the scarcity of time—and the lessons his mentor Skip taught him about concentration, communication and earning the attention of people from whom you want to learn. Along the way, we discuss Monster Beverage, XPEL, insider selling and some decidedly unconventional due diligence, as Ian explains why the greatest investment opportunities often look anything but obvious at the beginning—and why the beautiful long-term charts we admire afterwards conceal just how difficult those companies were to own while the story was actually unfolding.