Jason Karp and Rohan Oza – The Power of Brand - [Invest Like the Best, EP.199]
My guests today are Jason Karp and Rohan Oza. Jason is the founder and CEO of HumanCo, a holding company focused on building businesses that help people live healthier lives. Jason formerly ran the hedge fund Tourbillon Capital and was an audience favorite when he was on the podcast several years ago. Rohan is the co-founder of CAVU Venture Partners, one of the fastest-growing venture funds in the CPG space. Before Cavu, Rohan focused on supercharging brands like Vitaminwater and Smartwater at Glaceau which was acquired by Coca Cola for over $4b dollars. You may also recognize his name as a recurring Shark on ABC's Shark Tank. Our conversation covers how to think about investing in brands, what makes for a great brand, how partnerships with influencers and celebrities can turbocharger a brand, how brand ultimately gives you pricing power, and how Rohan and Jason try to add, in their words, sizzle, to the brands they work with. I really enjoyed this conversation with two of the smartest people I know on brands and brand strategy and hope you will too.
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Show Notes
(2:58) – (First question) – Exploring the early part of Rohan’s career with Mars
(4:53) – First time changing a brand’s image
(6:40) – Jason’s transition since his last appearance on the podcast
(9:47) – What parts of a brand excite Rohan as an investor
(11:33) – The marketing machine once you find a brand
(13:13) – Options in the retail strategy
(19:07) – Biggest errors early in a brands lifecycle
(21:04) – The shift where consumers care more about the makeup of a product than just the brand
(26:20) – Finding the fanatical few in the early part of a brands lifecycle
(31:03) – How the role of celebrity has changed in shaping brands
(33:01) – The importance of how a brand makes consumers feel
(36:15) – Will distribution drive market changes in the future
(38:17) – Driving revenue multiples for products
(48:33) – Categories in health and wellness ripe for disruption
(52:20) – How scalable health and wellness brands are as public companies
(55:00) – Challenges that older brands have in today’s environment
(56:46) – Kindest thing anyone has done for Rohan
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Jason Karp – Opportunities in Public and Private Markets - [Invest Like the Best, EP.86]
I believe that any investment strategy that will deliver strong returns in the future must evolve. Any strategy should rest on rock solid foundational principles, which change rarely if ever—things like price discipline, or business growth. But the features of the strategy must keep getting better, because the marketplace is incredibly competitive.
That evolution is the topic of today’s conversation with Jason Karp. Jason is the founder and CIO of Tourbillon Capital Partners, a multi-billion dollar asset manager based in New York City.
We cover a ton of interesting ground. We start with what has happened in public and private markets, discussing the role of quants, passive indexes, and value vs. deep value investing. We compare the relative merits of investing in private equities, and where and how opportunities arise.
We then focus in on two interesting private investing trends: the health and wellness sector and the cannabis industry. First, we discuss Hu kitchen and Hu Products, the food business that Jason started with his family several years ago in response to personal health challenges. Second, we discuss his evolved views on Cannabis as an investment space and why it may also represent a massive growth opportunity.
You all know I value transparency, so it is important to note that since I recorded the conversation, my family became an investor in Hu Products. It has been a fascinating means to learn about the food, health, and wellness industry which has grown rapidly in recent years. We were customers of Hu in New York City long before I even knew Jason, which made that part of the conversation especially interesting for me.
This episode re-enforced my believe in pushing one’s investing strategy to adapt to change market conditions and competitive pressures. If we have any hope of beating Vanguard, we can’t ever rest on our laurels.
This was an especially eclectic and fun conversation, I hope you enjoy my chat with Jason Karp.
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
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Show Notes
3:06 – (First question) – Jason’s view on private markets vs public markets and how his view has evolved
6:02 – Phase of the private markets where companies can achieve huge size and scale without going public
10:31 – Framework of Jason’s value-based investing strategy
13:47 – Reverse discounted cash flow
16:27 – Are there areas of the market that are easier to predict using Jason’s models
20:29 – Tech dominance the longer they are around
21:01 – Jerry Neumann Podcast Episode
22:08 – How markets have changed over Jason’s career
25:58 – Types of edge that you can have in the market
30:00 – Broad examples of sectors that are high-quality, but momentum is hurting them
31:32 – Backstory of Hu Kitchen
38:33 – Investment research into health and wellness
42:56 – State of acquisitions, particularly in consumer product goods
47:13 – Jason’s research into Cannabis
50:43 – The misperceptions of Cannabis
56:30 – Why cannabis is a more important sector to consider than crypto
57:51 – What are the most important levers to growing a business
1:02:24 – Biggest lessons learned in hiring good people
1:06:10 – Investing lessons
1:09:27 – Kindest thing anyone has done for Jason
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club, where you’ll get a full investor curriculum and then 3-4 suggestions every month at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub
Follow Patrick on twitter at @patrick_oshag