Panic with Friends - Howard Lindzon

Latest Episodes:

Bloomberg’s Ted Merz on Financial Journalism and Information Dissemination in the Age of Social Media (EP.133) Jan 21, 2021

Show notes

I always love getting to interview people who typically ask the questions. And this episode with guest Ted Merz is no exception. Ted has spent 30 years at Bloomberg, first as a journalist and later overseeing application and product building. Now, he works as their Global Head of News Product. Ted was there at the early days of Bloomberg when financial journalism was at its infancy. It was fascinating getting his perspective on this sector and how it has changed and grown over the years. In this episode, Ted and I talked about how he landed his first role at Bloomberg, the biggest story he’s covered, financial journalism, the value of content, integrating Twitter into Bloomberg, data and more.

Guest - Ted Merz, Global Head of News product at Bloomberg

howardlindzon.com, bloomberg.com

Twitter: @howardlindzon, @TedMerz, @knutjensen

linkedin.com/in/ted-merz-cfa-b711257

#fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance

Douglas Boneparth of Bone Fide Wealth on How He’s Making Money for (and from) Millennials (EP.132) Jan 14, 2021

Show notes

If our last guest Tiffany Zhong was the Gen Z whisper, then Douglas Boneparth might just be the Millennial version. And he has the titles to prove it, including the newly named millennial voice of CNBC’s Digital Financial Advisor Council. After spending well over a decade in the financial planning industry, Douglas noticed a gap – a Buzzfeed reading, avocado toast eating, Slack using gap. Millennials weren’t getting the same level of thoughtful time and advice as other older players in finance. Douglas stopped chasing after old money and started finding young people to invest in. He is the founder and president of Bone Fide Wealth, a Manhattan-based wealth management firm specializing in high achieving Millennials, young professionals and entrepreneurs. They currently advise more than $80 million in assets. Douglas is a funny, charismatic, driven and smart guy (even for a Millenial). In this episode, Douglas and I talk about high earning millennials, financial education, when he got interested in the financial world of business, his comedic perspective on his professional and personal life, what a day in the life of a financial planner looks like, his plans for the future, marketing, SEO and more. Enjoy!

Guest - Douglas A. Boneparth, President at Bone Fide Wealth, LLC

howardlindzon.com, bonefidewealth.com

Twitter: @howardlindzon, @dougboneparth, @knutjensen

linkedin.com/in/douglasboneparth

#fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance

Tiffany Zhong, Gen Z Whisperer and Zebra IQ CEO, on the 5 Cs: Creators, Community, Content, Commerce and Culture (EP.131) Jan 07, 2021

Show notes

OK boomers, we’re kicking off our first episode of 2021 with Gen Z whisper and Zebra IQ CEO Tiffany Zhong. I’m a big fan of Zebra’s annual Gen Z report and I recommend all my listeners take a look at it too. It’s important to stay in touch with audiences and perspectives other than those similar to you (something Tiffany talks about in this episode). Tiffany’s company Zebra IQ helps brands create communities to understand Gen-Z and Millennial consumers by offering real-time feedback. They’ve worked with more than 20 companies including Snapchat, Levi Strauss and Turner Broadcasting. Zebra IQ is just one example of how Gen Z can help you make a lot of money if you just listen to them. In this episode, Tiffany and I talk about Zebra IQ, dropping out of college, her twitter strategy, her “five Cs,” moguls, monetizing an audience, TikTok, startups, ecommerce and more.

Guest - Tiffany Zhong, CEO at Zebra IQ

howardlindzon.com, zebraiq.com

Twitter: @howardlindzon, @TZhongg, @ZebraIQ, @knutjensen

Instagram: @tzhongg

linkedin.com/in/tzhongg

#fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance

Rajat Bhargava of Jump Cloud On the Future of Cloud Companies and His Journey as an Entrepreneur (EP.130) Dec 31, 2020

Show notes

Rajat has been an entrepreneur for a while now. He started his first company in college with the help of angel investor (and mutual friend/previous Panic guest) Brad Feld. The pair have now launched around eight companies together. Rajat mainly builds and invests in software companies, with his latest venture being Jump Cloud – a cybersecurity startup building a next-generation cloud directory platform. One of the things I love about Rajat’s company is that they foresaw remote work being the future before COVID-19 even hit. In this episode, Rajat and I talked about his company Jump Cloud, e-commerce, remote work, software, building a zero-trust network, SPACs, what companies he’s got an eye on, content marketing and more.

Guest - Rajat Bhargava, CEO & Co-Founder at JumpCloud

howardlindzon.com, JumpCloud.com

Twitter: @howardlindzon, @rajatabhargava, @knutjensen

linkedin.com/in/rajat-bhargava-8190a723

#fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance

Romeo Power’s Lionel Selwood and RMG’s Robert Mancini On the Booming Electric Vehicle Sector (EP.129) Dec 28, 2020

Show notes

Well, it finally happened. I bought a Tesla. I fancy myself a trend follower, but I think this is the latest I’ve entered a trend. But this is about more than getting a self-driving car that I can nap in. There has been no hotter sector than that of electric vehicles. And lucky for my listeners, I brought on not one, but two experts – Lionel Selwood and Robert (Bob) Mancini – to talk about this booming sector and the SPAC taking it to another level. Lionel’s energy tech company, which specializes in EV battery production, Romeo Power and Bob’s SPAC RMG Acquisition Corp. recently announced a merger allowing Romeo Power to become a publicly listed company. In this episode, Bob, Lionel and I geek out over EV batteries, Tesla, Elon, SpaceX, NIO, SPACs, Romeo Power, electrification, market opportunities, who they would love to drive around for a day and more.

Guests - Lionel Selwood Jr, CEO at Romeo Power, and Bob Mancini, CEO at RMG Acquisition Corp

howardlindzon.com, romeopower.com, rmgacquisitionb.com

Twitter: @howardlindzon, @knutjensen

linkedin.com/in/lionel-selwood-jr-ab031b34

linkedin.com/company/romeopowertechnology

linkedin.com/company/rmg-acquisition-corp

#fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance

A Special 2020 Year in Review with Stocktwits’ Riley Rosenberger and Thomas Tranfo (EP.128) Dec 25, 2020

Show notes

A year ago on my blog, I asked: “Could 2020 be as good as 2019?” From where I’m standing now, that’s going to be a different answer depending on who you ask. So, I called on two pretty cool kids over at Stocktwits to put something together and help us all make some sense as to what exactly happened this infamous year. That’s right, this isn’t just any episode of Panic – it’s a Stocktwits and Panic with Friends pandemic special! In this episode, Stocktwits’ Riley Roseberger and Tommy Tranfo break down what was going on in the markets from the pre-COVID days in January to the dark days of March to where we stand as of December. We talk about the industries, trends and stocks that dominated conversations on Stocktwits and beyond in 2020, including Tesla, oil, SPACs, EV companies, solar, gambling, social platforms like TikTok and Snapchat, crypto, weed and more. I want to thank Stocktwits again for putting this all together and continuing to put up with me as I make this podcast. I hope you’ve had as much fun listening as I’ve had making Panic with Friends this year!

Guests -

Tommy Tranfo, Community Manager at StockTwits

Riley Rosenberger, Content Manager at StockTwits

howardlindzon.com, stocktwits.com

Stocktwits/Twitter: @howardlindzon, @TCTRANFO, @coloradoriley

linkedin.com/in/thomas-tranfo-639960129

linkedin.com/in/riley-rosenberger-4485b1106

#fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance

Epsilon Theory Co-Founder and Author Ben Hunt on Finding Your Pack and the ‘Platform’ Narrative (EP.127) Dec 21, 2020

Show notes

I’ve had Ben Hunt on the podcast before, but I felt it was time to bring him back on to get his insights on the financial, cultural and political state of our country as of late. When I’m not talking his ear off, Ben is busy writing nonstop for Epsilon Theory, a newsletter and website that examines markets through the lenses of game theory and history. It’s a treat to have smart, thoughtful people like Ben on the podcast. He isn’t trying to spin a narrative, but genuinely wants to inform others about what’s going on and what they can do about it. I may even need to bring him on as a co-host – I love talking to him that much. Last time I had Ben on we talked about zero interest rates, writing and the politicizing of the stock market. This time around, Ben and I talked about his life as a publisher, media culture, the markets, the ‘mendacity’ of the world, crypto, SPACs, capital and what’s been going on with his company. This was a fun one to record. Enoy!

Guest - Ben Hunt, Co-Founder and Partner at Second Foundation Partners, Author and Co-Founder at Epsilon Theory

howardlindzon.com, epsilontheory.com

Twitter: @howardlindzon, @epsilontheory, @knutjensen

linkedin.com/in/bhunt

#fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance

Christie Marchese of Storyspaces On the New Theaters and the Future of Gathering for Movies (EP.126) Dec 17, 2020

Show notes

If you have missed going to the movie theater as much as I have during the pandemic, then this is the episode for you. I brought on Christie Marchese in this episode to talk about how her company Storyspaces is helping keep the spirit of the movie-going experience alive. As the founder of Storyspaces, she works to organize both virtual and in-person movie events with new and critically acclaimed films (basically the COVID-world answer to not getting to go to movie theaters). As founder and CEO of Picture Motion, she leads a team of impact producers, marketing strategists and communication specialists to develop grassroots marketing and social action campaigns for films. In this episode, Christie and I talk about all things film – how she got into movies, her favorites, working directly with filmmakers, virtual cinema and the post-COVID future of film. We also chatted about Storyspaces, human-centered distribution, the logistics of planning screening events, creativity and culture, social change and more.

Ram Parameswaran of Octahedron Capital On Why Investing should be Simple, Not Easy (EP.125) Dec 14, 2020

Show notes

I had the pleasure of having Octahedron Capital founder Ram Parameswaran on this episode of Panic. His firm Octahedron is a crossover fund that invests in the internet economy. Previously, Ram was a partner at the multi-billion dollar firm Altimeter Capital, focusing on public and private tech investments. He also has some big names in his past investments, including a pre-IPO Uber, Google and TikTok parent Bytedance. Ram has been inside the beast and is now applying it to his own markets. He’s a smart guy and public investor who knows a lot about a lot. In this episode, Ram and I discussed growth, the culture of Silicon Valley, tech, his work at Octahedron Capital, SPACs, trends in the public & private markets, crossover funds, global investing and more. Enjoy!

Guest - Ram Parameswaran, Founder at Octahedron Capital

howardlindzon.com, octahedroncapital.com

Twitter: @howardlindzon, @_ram_, @knutjensen

linkedin.com/in/ramparameswaran

#fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance

Rick Heitzmann of FirstMark Capital Joins Me to Discuss Public & Private Markets, VC Investing and the Anti-Portfolio (EP.124) Dec 10, 2020

Show notes

If anyone can stay calm in the face of panic, it’s Rick. He founded his VC firm FirstMark Capital, which focuses on consumer technologies, during the 2008 recession. Twelve years later, I think it’s fair to say Rick is doing pretty well. He’s invested in a variety of industries, ranging from commerce to gaming to data services to media and sports. His investments include big names like Pinterest, Airbnb, DraftKings and Discord. Rick’s a kind and generous guy who I can always count on to give thoughtful advice and insights. He’s even been kind enough to talk with me in the past about VC investing at Stocktoberfest East in 2018, so I was happy to have him on this episode of Panic to share all that sage wisdom with my listeners. In this episode, Rick and I talked about public and private markets, DraftKings’ success, his company FirstMark Capital, SPACs, the anti-portfolio, open source, being a dad, what sectors have surprised him, the future of gaming and healthcare and more. Enjoy!

Guest - Rick Heitzmann, Founder, Partner & Managing Director at FirstMark Capital

howardlindzon.com, firstmarkcap.com

Twitter: @howardlindzon, @rickheitzmann, @knutjensen

linkedin.com/in/rickheitzmann

#fintech #invest #investment #venturecapital #stockmarket #finance