Books & Banter

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

@iribnews_irib @s_m_marandi @grok is this accurate?

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

@BenKizemchuk Great letter! If you didn’t want to de-gross and go into sovereign fixed income for tax and other reasons, what kind of hedges would you look for?

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

@Marcus___007 @HealthRanger Sadly, the now long history of military (mis)adventures around the word is replete with miscalculations, ignorance and incompetence. Even when there would/should have been knowledge to prevent many of those

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

@Malcolm77756640 I’m surprised the borrow is so cheap on the name

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

And the competitive threat isn’t just from the frontier AI companies but just generally super intense. So many entrepreneurs want to ‘solve’ education. On top of that, $nrdy’s take rate as the intermediary is far above market. They don’t have anything close to the monopolistic marketplace dynamics you see in real estate or autos. Parents and tutors switch rather freely.

It looks like the company is now squeezing more out of its stickier relationships. These relationships have a finite lifetime and parents/tutors can also take their relationship off the Nerdy platform. So the whole ‘strategy’ seems one of desperation alas.

Our research to be fair has been very cursory. Open to anyone punching holes…

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

@Malcolm77756640 Thanks! Haven’t reviewed the numbers properly yet but this seems like a fair take.

For a long time the insider buying perplexed me but founder operators exhibit complex behavioural patterns that are deeply irrational, even as they more than anyone else about the business

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

@RealJimChanos @RHouseResearch But you otherwise now agree with @RHouseResearch ? His pushbacks to your points seem fair. Genuine question.

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

@MarceloLima Good points!

@abialecki pls join the fray

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

@nicbstme @EventDrivenEddy Your response is my cliché.

It was a fair question about your moat…

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

@MarceloLima @mcannonbrookes @Benioff And @abialecki pls at $kvyo

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

@edzitron Brilliant! Thank you indeed.

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

@smsutherland @oliverkenyon Could you pls point to more?

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

@Malcolm77756640 @JohnnyUtahN9 Also lots of competition! Including players not looking to make money from tech ed like Khan and Google.

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

@wbmosler @JamesTate121 Pls don’t give up!

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

Don’t follow this closely but his statement was not subtle:

“Archer is pairing realistic innovation with the capital, manufacturing capabilities, and strategic partnerships required to actually deliver next-generation aerospace and defence technologies at scale. The opportunity to support the development of their dual-use vertical lift platform is compelling. I’m excited to get to work.“

Unless there was personal beef, this can only be construed as a dim assessment by an insider

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

@BenKizemchuk Nice letter! 🙏

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

@dampedspring @BickerinBrattle Seems realistic and so wondering why yields remain so sticky. Could it really be the nonsensical ‘fiscal debt crisis’ crowd keeping Gov bonds where they are?

[Books & Banter @phira_ventures]

@BickerinBrattle Fair but it’s still a very strange mania. There’s little of the euphoria part which normally signals market tops.