Joys of Compounding

A global community of lifelong learners open to all who wish to explore the joys of compounding together.

[Brie Wolfson @zebriez]

This company and team is incredible.

And a rare group of people doing the thing vs tweeting about it all day.

They’re building in the most hardcore market of all time - inference chips - and they’ve got the stories to prove it.

Go etched!!

[Etched @Etched]

We're coming out of stealth.

We've built our first racks after a successful A0 tapeout, $1B+ in customer contracts, and $800m raised.

Early customer tests show us achieving SOTA throughput, latency, and power efficiency on inference workloads.

Our first racks ship this summer.

[Joys of Compounding @joyscompounding]

Spotify: https://t.co/iRIvdcOPsH

Apple: https://t.co/Q6U44tFzAM?

[Joys of Compounding @joyscompounding]

We were super-inspired by the description Jan Mohr gave of how he views new 'co-founders' in each step of the multi-decade journey at CHAPTERS Group

@PaulBuser @buhrman_rick

[Joys of Compounding @joyscompounding]

Spotify: https://t.co/AzVARPKgPM

Apple: https://t.co/nhHKNs23ev

[Joys of Compounding @joyscompounding]

Our teacher today is Jan Mohr, CEO of CHAPTERS Group, a publicly traded, serial acquisition holding company on its way to becoming one of Europe’s technology champions. 🏆 🇪🇺

CHAPTERS originated from a small software startup near Frankfurt in 1998. After selling the core business to a strategic buyer in 2018, the company pivoted to create a preferred home for mission-critical businesses across Europe. Over the past five years, CHAPTERS has founded four distinct acquisition platforms, acquiring around 60 operating companies. This impressive M&A machine has resulted in CHAPTERS’ stock appreciating nearly 10X during this period. 📈 🚀

At the crux of our discussion is the rise of artificial intelligence, which is reshaping the business landscape. Companies worldwide are now considering AI's threats, opportunities, and implications. The software industry, in particular, is experiencing vibrant discourse around AI's transformative potential, driving efficiencies, expanding total addressable markets, and delivering tangible customer value.

We also explored several important topics:
- Leading in times of accelerated change by empowering everyone in the organization to become "teachers, preachers and implementers" of AI.

- CHAPTERS is backed by a concentrated group of long-term, strategic investors, including Mitch Rales, Daniel Ek, and Will Thorndike. Their support provides a critical permanent capital base alongside ongoing strategic value. Jan shares insights on how his team and board have fostered a winning culture through their Manuscript Method, while maintaining a decentralized, entrepreneurial spirit.

With that, we hope you enjoy this session with our good friend, Jan Mohr!

Links in comments.

@PaulBuser @buhrman_rick @portraitanalyst @joincolossus

[Joys of Compounding @joyscompounding]

Spotify: https://t.co/uKWrXp1uMw

Apple: https://t.co/KCEbEbF4Dp

[Joys of Compounding @joyscompounding]

Takeaways from our time with investing legend Steve Mandel, founder of Lone Pine Capital!

@buhrman_rick @PaulBuser

[Rick Buhrman @RickBuhrmanSGH]

So proud of my friend Brad Gerstner @altcap! He's been tirelessly (and selflessly) working on this vision for years. To put the joys of compounding to work for every American child. 🇺🇸

We all owe him much respect + gratitude.

Thank you BG! 💙

#lovewins #joysofcompounding

[Rick Buhrman @RickBuhrmanSGH]

Will Thorndike - The Rise of Long Duration, Serial Acquisition Holding Companies

Our @joyscompounding teacher today is Will Thorndike, co-founder of @CompoundingLabs and author of acclaimed book, The Outsiders.

This is one of the most foundational JOC sessions we’ve ever done because of how much Will has shaped our combined teaching and investing vocations. 🥰

The Outsiders is considered one of the most impactful business books of the 21st century. Lauded by @WarrenBuffett and so many others, it profiles eight CEOs who dramatically outperformed their peers by focusing not on charisma and cult of personality attributes, but on the more quiet and unconventional craft of resource allocation—measured, rational, often contrarian decisions that compounded to extraordinary heights over time.

But Will’s influence goes far beyond the page. He is a pioneer in the private equity and search fund worlds, having founded Housatonic Partners in 1994 and also helping originate the modern search fund model—backing early-career CEOs to buy and grow businesses with long time horizons and radically aligned incentives.

Since then, he has invested in the majority of the top 20 search fund outcomes to date, including @Asurion, which he recently profiled on his podcast 50X. You may not have heard about Asurion but it is likely the greatest private equity investment of all time, generating a more than 5,000 times multiple on invested capital. 🤯

In more recent years, Will’s taken the best of what he’s learned from the PE and Search worlds and is now developing what we think may be an ENTIRELY NEW ASSET CLASS - long-duration, serial acquisition holding companies.

Here are some of the structural and operational features of these businesses:
- These are newco formations that are effectively capitalized on day 1 at book value
- They focus on buying & building recurring revenue businesses in niche markets
- Radical equity efficiency - with often just $10 - 25 million of equity capital deployed forever
- An ethos of exceptional resource allocation → very much aligned with the Outsiders playbook
- The harnessing of both organic AND inorganic growth with a focus on improvability with the assets they acquire
- And, very importantly, these are investors backing founders with an unlimited time horizon and with a focus on ‘multiple on invested capital’ rather than IRR

The alchemy of these attributes are companies that don’t exist to be sold but rather to eternally flourish ♾ – an asset class that harnesses the joys of compounding better than anything else we’ve come across. 📈

I hope you enjoy this class on the rise of long duration, serial acquisition holding companies with our friend and mentor, the eternal outsider, Will Thorndike!

Links in comments.

[Joys of Compounding @joyscompounding]

We are hard at work creating the definitive course on compounding that we always wanted but never had. We hope it contributes toward democratizing the curriculum of compounding.

[Joys of Compounding @joyscompounding]

@farnamjake1

[Joys of Compounding @joyscompounding]

@jjtejkl @patrick_oshag Art of Investing!

[Patrick OShaughnessy @patrick_oshag]

A sample of conversations to come on @InvestLikeBest

- Marc Lasry
- @bgurley and @mjmauboussin together
- @ncsh
- @dittycheria
- 2 hours of Mitch Rales (on @artofinvest)

[Joys of Compounding @joyscompounding]

@CyrusYari @rationalvc @naval Great stuff. Keep going!

[Joys of Compounding @joyscompounding]

@InvestLikeBest So are the best podcasts. @FoundersPodcast @AcquiredFM @InvestLikeBest

[Joys of Compounding @joyscompounding]

@AswathDamodaran Power law alive and well in public markets too.

[Joys of Compounding @joyscompounding]

Spotify - https://t.co/UcKYs0c4qZ

Apple - https://t.co/sJrvnjcQPI

[Joys of Compounding @joyscompounding]

Our teachers today are Iris Rubin & Greg Maged, co-founders of SEEN, the fast-growing, good-for-your-skin haircare company creating a new category at the intersection of science, health & beauty.

This was such an inspiring conversation and I hope you enjoy. Links in comments!