Talking Billions with Bogumil Baranowski

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Daniel Kertesz is a Zurich-based second-generation family entrepreneur, integrated family advisor, and author of Family Mind: Overcoming the Three-Generation Myth, who draws on his lived experience selling his family's multi-decade business to help wealthy families build resilient, values-driven legacies that outlast any single company.
3:00 — Daniel traces his origins: father fled Hungary in 1956, mother fled Romania; both built a company in Switzerland. "I'm officially the first born, but actually not. The company was first."
5:00 — On inherited trauma and silence: father survived the Holocaust, never spoke of it. "These stories were kind of heavy on our shoulder without us knowing."
9:44 — The sale of the family business: "I was not happy. I was just relieved." His mother's first question days after signing: "Are you happy now?" The emotional toll on the whole family — parents, siblings, spouse — came later.
13:38 — Packing up his office after 20+ years, leaving keys on the table as COVID began. "I didn't think that it would be the last time I would be there."
18:00 — Introducing family mind: European families put the business at the center; the shift is to put the family at the center. "The family has a longer lifespan than the company."
22:50 — Debunking the "shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves" myth: it's not fate, it's a focus problem. When you center the company, the myth often holds. When you center the family, there's a different path.
36:33 — The "gray rhinos": death, divorce, and silence are the biggest risks to family wealth — far more destructive than market risk — yet almost no one addresses them.
44:48 — "The biggest entrepreneurial lie is that I did everything for you." First, you do it for yourself. Acknowledging that gets you closer to the real questions.
1:02:03 — On what separates families that thrive: courage. "No advisor can give them that courage. It's their courage." And: "Don't wait until you're 80."
1:06:11 — Closing definition of success: "Look around the table. Look at all these people here. This is your life."
Podcast Program – Disclosure Statement
Blue Infinitas Capital, LLC is a registered investment adviser and the opinions expressed by the Firm’s employees and podcast guests on this show are their own and do not reflect the opinions of Blue Infinitas Capital, LLC. All statements and opinions expressed are based upon information considered reliable although it should not be relied upon as such. Any statements or opinions are subject to change without notice.
Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed.

Jack Schwager is the legendary author of the Market Wizards series and one of the most influential figures in trading literature, whose decades of interviewing elite traders have made him the definitive chronicler of exceptional market performance; George Coyle is a hedge fund manager and deep-dive trading historian whose years of original research into the patterns of great traders catalyzed their co-authored Market Wizards: The Next Generation.
Episode Sponsor: Fiscal AI is a modern data terminal that gives investors instant access to twenty years of financials, earnings transcripts, and extensive segment and KPI data—use my link for a two-week free trial plus 15% off: https://fiscal.ai/talkingbillions/3:00 — Bogumil shares personal origin story: as a Polish grad student in Paris, Jack's books gave him the courage to manage money. Jack jokes: "Not the first one."
5:15 — George on his obsession: years of writing deep-dive papers on Soros, Marcus, Druckenmiller — getting inside feedback that he "hit the nail on the head."
7:30 — Jack's biggest surprise from the first Market Wizards: how many enormously successful traders had multiple initial failures before breakthrough.
9:10 — George on the youngest cohort: small-cap shorting is "the last rock you'd flip over" — yet that's precisely why these traders found edge where no one looked.
11:00 — Jack on edge decay: trend following was transformative in the 60s–80s but got crowded; today, all edges evolve, and no edge is permanent.
14:20 — Advantage of starting young: smaller capital means smaller losses. Simon Russo (pseudonym) and Frohlich both had failures early — with little money — then scaled correctly.
30:33 — Jack: "A good trade is not necessarily a winning trade. A bad trade is not necessarily a losing trade." The process defines quality, not the outcome.
33:00 — Position sizing as the great differentiator: Gudecker sizes A+ trades 5–10x larger; Marcus did the same. Ed Thorpe proved even a losing game can win with proper sizing.
39:04 — Are trading skills learnable? Jack: Yes — Kulamaji went from $5,000 to $100M learning from others, but molded it entirely into his own methodology.
42:09 — George's five questions for aspiring Market Wizards: clear goals, process that matches temperament, overcoming detrimental traits, belief in self, persisting despite failure.
50:40 — Jack dismantles volatility as risk proxy: the drunk under the lamppost analogy — measuring what's easy vs. what's true.
57:49 — AI debate: Jack argues markets are a complex adaptive system — unlike physics, the rules change constantly, which keeps the door open for human traders.
1:03:52 — Jack's closing: readers of any Wizards book will get at least one or two things meaningfully beneficial if they're open-minded. This book adds a rare theme — wizards who stopped to ask: Is this what I really want to do with my life?
Podcast Program – Disclosure Statement
Blue Infinitas Capital, LLC is a registered investment adviser and the opinions expressed by the Firm’s employees and podcast guests on this show are their own and do not reflect the opinions of Blue Infinitas Capital, LLC. All statements and opinions expressed are based upon information considered reliable although it should not be relied upon as such. Any statements or opinions are subject to change without notice.
Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed.

In this episode of The 100 Year Thinkers, Robert Hagstrom explains why modern portfolio theory pulled investors away from business analysis and toward portfolio math.
We discuss Markowitz, beta, efficient markets, Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, business-driven investing, owner earnings, benchmarks, and why thinking like a business owner changes how investors understand risk.
The Warren Buffett Portfolio, 25th Anniversary Edition
https://amzn.to/4uz8sZ3
Topics covered:
Why Hagstrom thinks modern portfolio theory changed investing’s objective

The difference between volatility, variance and real investment risk

How Benjamin Graham and John Burr Williams framed risk around intrinsic value

Why beta became the dominant shorthand for risk

How the 1973-74 bear market helped institutionalize modern portfolio theory

Why Berkshire preserved the business owner’s lens

The “cathedral and casino” distinction between owning businesses and trading stocks

Owner earnings, return on invested capital and cost of capital

Why business owners often make better long-term equity investors

Look-through earnings and building a “mini Berkshire”

The difference between making money and beating a benchmark

How benchmarks can distort investor behavior

Why knowing yourself and your clients matters in portfolio construction

Matt Zeigler and I had the privilege of hosting Robert Hagstrom for a special 100-Year Thinkers Edition of the Excess Returns Podcast.
Available now on Excess Returns Podcast and Talking Billions. 🎧
I’m excited to share this episode with you—it’s reposted here with permission and blessing from the Excess Returns team. Don’t miss it! And follow their work, links below.
https://www.excessreturns.co/
https://cultishcreative.com/
Podcast Program – Disclosure Statement
Blue Infinitas Capital, LLC is a registered investment adviser and the opinions expressed by the Firm’s employees and podcast guests on this show are their own and do not reflect the opinions of Blue Infinitas Capital, LLC. All statements and opinions expressed are based upon information considered reliable although it should not be relied upon as such. Any statements or opinions are subject to change without notice.
Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed.
Information expressed does not take into account your specific situation or objectives, and is not intended as recommendations appropriate for any individual. Listeners are encouraged to seek advice from a qualified tax, legal, or investment adviser to determine whether any information presented may be suitable for their specific situation. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

Eric Pachman is a chemical engineer-turned-data storyteller who exposed hundreds of millions in drug pricing overcharges through his nonprofit 46 Brooklyn Research, and now uses data visualization to reveal hidden truths about jobs, healthcare, and inequality as founder of Data for the People. Find Eric here: https://www.data4thepeople.com/signup

Episode Sponsor: Fiscal AI is a modern data terminal that gives investors instant access to twenty years of financials, earnings transcripts, and extensive segment and KPI data—use my link for a two-week free trial plus 15% off: https://fiscal.ai/talkingbillions/3:00 – Eric opens with a near-death pacing experience at the Moab 240-mile race — hypothermia, lost in the mountains, 80 miles covered over two days — and how surviving it cracked open the question: what am I doing with my life?
7:00 – Career journey: chemical engineer → ExxonMobil → Harvard Business School → Morgan Stanley (oil & commodities) → buy-side family office → CSX Railroad → pharmacy/drug pricing → 46 Brooklyn Research.
10:05 – Drug pricing exposed: middlemen taking ~33% of every transaction. "Imagine if the stock price was $1,000 and the commission was $333."
14:03 – His mother's death from pancreatic cancer. Her mental anguish — the inability to fill an internal void with things and experiences — became "the greatest teaching I've ever had in my life."
22:00 – Harvard Business School as a crucible: the introverted engineer forced to speak without certainty, eventually becoming a speaker at thousand-person maritime conferences.
28:00 – The jobs data reality: outside healthcare, the U.S. economy has been losing jobs. Healthcare was 200% of all job growth in the prior year.
33:20 – Exclusive reveal: 3 states (CA, PA, NY) account for 60% of the most Medicaid-sensitive elder care jobs — and 2027 cuts will hit them hardest.
40:41 – AI and jobs: "Net contraction through attrition is the same thing as firing people to me."
48:31 – "Maximum efficiency and productivity ends up killing what makes us human, which is creativity."
58:55 – Burnout: "If you're only doing something for yourself, you will reach a point of burnout."
1:08:43 – On success: "What can I do to impact the broader community... and lose all attachment to the outcome?"

Podcast Program – Disclosure Statement
Blue Infinitas Capital, LLC is a registered investment adviser and the opinions expressed by the Firm’s employees and podcast guests on this show are their own and do not reflect the opinions of Blue Infinitas Capital, LLC. All statements and opinions expressed are based upon information considered reliable although it should not be relied upon as such. Any statements or opinions are subject to change without notice.
Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed.

Find me on Substack: https://bogumilbaranowski.substack.com/
In this monthly Unfiltered Coffee check-in, I start with a lesson I keep learning from wealthy people — live your life now, don’t wait. I share a personal story about buying and riding a red Ducati, and the unexpected memories it created. Sometimes the best investments we make aren’t financial at all.
I answer listener questions, recommend where new listeners can start, and highlight standout recent and upcoming episodes — conversations on historical financial advice, intangible assets, surrounding yourself with good people, microcaps, Berkshire and Buffett, family advising, trading psychology, and execution.
I talk about how I research and track many stocks, and why research itself is a form of motion. Small adjustments beat freezing every time. I share my productivity system — notes, scheduling, a weekly “improve or eliminate” review, and the power of an “undo button” when things don’t work.
We get into outdated money beliefs and why so many people don’t feel wealthy even when they are. Money as freedom. Money as peace of mind. The difference between waiting for permission and finding the courage to act.
I reflect on what I’m learning from studying Li Lu, on staying patient in markets that feel expensive, and on why advisory fees are really an investment in trust and service. We close with thoughts on outsourcing versus doing it yourself, a “forgotten money” exercise that might surprise you, and what it means to keep and pass on wealth with intention.
Podcast Program – Disclosure Statement
Blue Infinitas Capital, LLC is a registered investment adviser and the opinions expressed by the Firm’s employees and podcast guests on this show are their own and do not reflect the opinions of Blue Infinitas Capital, LLC. All statements and opinions expressed are based upon information considered reliable although it should not be relied upon as such. Any statements or opinions are subject to change without notice.
Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed.