Topley’s Top Ten – November 4, 2019

Author

Matt Topley
November 04, 2019

1.Venture Capital Raised for Firms That Are Not Profitable Second Highest Ever.

• Venturecapital and private equity funds have been selling. Of the $42 billion raisedvia offerings, $29 billion of it was for firms that were not profitable. Thisis the second-highest in at least 25 years. The only year that showed a greaterpercentage was 86% in 2000. If they are unloading losing companies, that tellsus that they do not want to hold such companies during tough times. Cycles Research Early WarningServiceby Cycles Research

2.Stock Market Volatility Hits 52 Week Lows.

No October Volatility Spikes.

3.Green Bond Issuance Could Hit $Trillion in Coming Years.

GreenBond Issuance and Use of Proceeds

Green bond issuance has steadilyincreased since 2007, when the European Investment Bank issued the first“Climate Awareness Bond.” Total issuance surpassed expectations in 2017and is expected to exceed $250 billion in 2018 (Exhibit 4). Citigroup estimatesthat green bonds could grow into a trillion dollar conduit for climate-relatedinvestments by 2020 and SEB, a Swedish bank, predicts that 20% of all bondissuance may be “green” within a few years.

4.Flipping “Burgers”, Flopping IPOs

Fri,Nov 1, 2019

It has been roughly six months sinceBeyond Meat (BYND) made its initial public offering. Although the stock wassitting on nearly an 840% gain from its IPO price at its highs back in July,BYND has come back down to Earth especially after Tuesday’s 22% decline onearnings. Currently, the stock is “only” up 257% since its IPO having pared alarge portion of its gains from the first few months after the IPO.BYND has joined a number of stocks, such as Twilio (TWLO), GoPro (GPRO), Shake Shack (SHAK), and Acacia (ACIA), that have IPO’ed in the past few years,doubling or more in the first few months only to fall considerably in the timesahead. Of these, TWLO was the only one to have considerably recovered withinthe first 500 trading days while GoPro (GPRO) is the only one to fall below its IPOprice.Turning to some of the largest of this year’s class of IPOs, while not to thesame extent as BYND, Zoom Video (ZM) and Crowdstrike (CRWD) saw a similar dynamic as both more thandoubled in the first 50 days but fell in the following months. On the otherhand, the ride sharing giants, Lyft (LYFT) and Uber (UBER), have yet to move backabove the IPO price.  Although BYND has not had immunity from the classicspike and tank pattern, the stock still has dramatically outperformed otherIPOs.  Start a two-week free trial to Bespoke Institutional tounlock access to our actionable research and interactive tools.

©2019 BespokeInvestment Group

5.Aramco IPO Finally a GO.

From Morning Brew https://www.morningbrew.com/

GettyImages

6.Housing Numbers.

• Accordingto the Case-Shiller index, home prices declined in August.

Mortgage originations have been running at multi-year highs.

The Daily Shot

7.Elite Business Schools See Drop in Apps.

Elite M.B.A. Programs Report Steep Drop in Applications

Harvard,Stanford, MIT see declines; international students find more options in Europe,Canada and Asia

8.The Countries with the Most STEM Graduates.

9.Travel Tips for Health.

Why You Should Always Refuse TheIn-Flight Meal

OCTOBER 3, 2019 • MARKELLWOOD

Taryn Toomey is the founder of Class, a workout program thatcombines various techniques (yoga, high-intensity interval training, cardio)with cathartic mantras and encouragement to discharge toxic energy. Think of itas fitness for both the brain and the body in a single, 60-minute session.

She logs around 50,000 miles per year and flies regularly onJetBlue to the West Coast. But Toomey doesn’t have any loyalty to a  particularairline. “I move with the tide, depending on if I just had a nightmaresituation with customer service,” she laughs.

Starting in mid-October, she will take her unique approach tofitness around America via a seven-city tour featuring live drumming from CalebSpaulding. Ahead of the tour, we asked her to give us her tips for fighting jetlag, how to stay refreshed on the road, and how the lymphatic system isintegral to the body’s overall wellness.

Wake up the old-fashioned way—with a real alarm clock

I have a no-phone policy in the bedroom. So I always bring aportable, battery-operated alarm clock so I can turn my phone off and put itaway at night to prevent any interference with my sleep. I’ve created a ritualeach night of turning my phone off 30 minutes before getting into bed. Thisallows my body to fully shut down and prepare for sleep.

I find it especially important to do this when traveling andadjusting to a new time zone and environment. At times, I’ll schedule a backupwakeup call from the hotel, but I find them to be so jarring, especially in apitch-black room. I think a little wooden alarm clock is a gentler way. There’sactually a lot less space for error—I mean, I’ve had my phone not reset to theright time zone when I’m traveling before.

When you travel, pray for rain

When you’re somewhere traveling for 10 days and it rains for acouple of days, that feels like a gift, because you get to settle in more. On atrip, at times, you have that feeling that you should be in action everyday—sightseeing, or going to a restaurant, or fill in the blank. A rainy day ispermission from the universe to stay in and have an introspective, quiet,beautiful day to relax. Stay in your bathrobe, shut down, and let your nervoussystem decompress. We were just down doing a retreat in the Dominican Republic,and in the middle of the morning class, it rained; the skies just opened up andpoured all day. And it felt like such a cleansing. Everyone went back to theirrooms, and when we finally reunited for dinner, everyone said they spent thatday reflecting, resting, journaling, taking a bath. That’s serious restorationthere.

Embrace your inner eccentric

I have a wacky in-flight routine: I rub rollers on my face tomassage it—the Jillian Dempsey gold vibrating wand. You start on your neck andpush it up. It just feels so good; I have a facial device obsession. Then I puton a hyaluronic serum from Barbara Sturm. I have tried all these differentones, and this is the one that works. My skin looks plump and glow-y after Iuse it. I’m a weirdo with those face tools, and I think people wonder: “What iswrong with this woman?”

She has a unique, multistage practice to beat jet lag …

I’m a big fan of understanding the lymphatic system. It doesn’trun on a track like your circulatory system, but instead it lives in thetissues, and the only way to get it moving is through movement. A run, ofcourse, will activate that system, but you should do something else before yougo running. Go into your bedroom and do a series of dry-skin brushings; you canalso use a hard wash cloth. From your feet, do a series of circular motionstoward the belly, up the legs. Spend a lot of time on the stomach, then move upto your arms, hands, and shoulders.

I’ll end with a lymphatic drainage on my face. Take the flat handfrom your chest and swoop up under your chin toward the lymph node by the ears.Then make a small, very light fist with your hand and perform tapping actionsin the exact same places. The dry brush is for your skin, which is the largestorgan, then the tapping action gets down to the muscle. It’s a double whammyand takes all of three to seven minutes.  When you’ve done that, go on arun to get your heart rate [moving], so the circulatory system can bring freshoxygen to the blood.

… and it isn’t just a pre-run ritual, either.

Once you’re back from your run, get in the shower and do the samething to get the circulation going. And perform some hydrotherapy. Stand in theshower for a minute with the water as cold as you can, hitting the brain andthe heart. Then turn it to warm, and stand for another minute. Repeat thisthree times. Because when you’re in the cold, all of the blood moves towardyour organs, and when you do the hot water, it expands the blood and pushes ittoward the surface. You’re doing contraction-expansion to get the body flushedout. It should really help wake you up.

The best wellness destination in the world is in South America

When I think about the ultimate mind-body-spirit experience, Iwould say the Sacred Valley in Peru. You go out at night, and there’s morestars and sky; I’ve always found it very grounding. I used to stay at thisplace called Hanaq Pacha, which means “Where Heaven Meets Earth.” It was awoman, Mama Kia, who passed away; she had adopted 25 children, and it wascreated to fund it. Now the Niños Del Sol children’s home works with a localhotel nearby to host their guests instead.

Check in with your psoas muscle next time you’re on a flight

I will do some seated pigeon-pose stretches while I’m in theseat—I do try to always fly business class if I’m doing a big trip—where youjust kind of cradle your leg and rock it back and forth, feeling the ballsocket of your femur joint rolling around in your hip joints. It’s helpful torelease your psoas muscle, which wraps from your inner thigh all the waythrough the outer hip into the lumbar spine. It’s the width of a filet mignon.When people’s backs feel really achy, they have a tendency to assume it’s theirback, and oftentimes it’s that muscle, super tight.

Refuse that in-flight meal

My friend [nutritionist] Dana James told me to always fast onflights to help with jet lag. I’ll eat right before I take off, or right when Iland. But I notice the amount of air in your digestive system—just from thealtitude and the way that the system processes anything you put into it—isexpanded. When we’re up in the air, we get bored, and there’s this constantbombardment of food and snacks. The first time I tried fasting on a flight wasfrom New York to Los Angeles, and when I landed, I found that I didn’t feellike my stomach was sticking out five feet wider than it usually is. And Iwasn’t as swollen in my fingers and my toes.

This article was provided by Bloomberg News.

10.6 Money Tips From Self-Made Billionaires

Deep PatelOct. 28, 2019

Becoming a self-made billionaire puts you in a league of your own. Of the approximately 585 billionaires in the US, about 360 have made their own fortunes. These are people who have made it big through hard work, sheer will, tenacity and being in the right place at the right time with the right idea.

Weall want to know the secret to success. So, if you could sit down with aself-made billionaire, what kind of money advice would you seek from them? Whatwere the key lessons they learned about managing their finances on the way toboundless fortune?

Hereare some of the best pieces of advice offered up by self-made billionaires. Usethese tips wisely, and you can put yourself on a path to financial solidarityand success.

1. Chris Sacca — Be cheap.

ChrisSacca is known for his Midas touch as a tech venture capitalist. He was anearly backer of Twitter, Uber, Instagram and Kickstarter. Those bets paid off,propelling him to billionaire status.

Sacca’sbest advice to young adults hoping to build their portfolio is: Don’t spendyour money! Instead, he advises you to pinch your pennies and have yourpriorities in order for the long haul. “Being a cheap bastard now means so muchmore freedom and choices later,” Sacca said in an interview with USAToday.

Hehas observed that, too often, people allow debt to pile up while spending toomuch on buying things to fulfill their desires. If you can learn to livesimply, you’ll have money to spare and that will give you more options to startnew projects or launch new ventures.

Foryoung entrepreneurs hoping to follow in his path, Sacca cautions that it’s notan easy road. Each entrepreneur must carve his or her own way to success.“There is no well-trodden route to where I am, no formula toreplicate,” he said. “But without exception, everyone I’ve ever metwho is authentic, daring, empathic, tireless and willing to ask for help hasgone on to be happy and fulfilled.”

2. Reid Hoffman — Have alifeboat.

He’soften called the Oracle of Silicon Valley for his remarkable track record onbuilding companies and his success as a capital investor. Reid Hoffman is aco-founder of LinkedIn and the dating website SocialNet, and was ChiefOperating Officer for PayPal. He even worked on Apple Computer’s eWorld, anearly attempt at creating a social network.

Hoffmannow works to educate entrepreneurs on career planning and risk-taking. He callsthis ABZ planning. You have Plan A, which is your current plan, the businessyou’re trying to launch or the job you’re working at. It’s your plan to move upin the world.

Thenyou have a Plan B, your backup plan; it’s what you’ll switch to if you get outof Plan A. Maybe your Plan B is a side project you’ve been working on, or otherjobs you’re thinking of applying for. But your Plan B should be flexible. Youshould be open to pursuing multiple opportunities or having a variety of backupplans should your Plan A fall through.

Buthaving a Plan B isn’t enough. You also need a “Plan Z.” This is your safetynet, so if everything goes wrong, you won’t be left completely destroyed. It’swhat Hoffman calls your lifeboat. Having a lifeboat option is important,because if potential failure could leave you bankrupt and homelessness, youwon’t want to take any risks — and therefore you’ll never grow.

Forinstance, when Hoffman was getting ready to launch SocialNet, he asked hisfather if he could live with him if the company didn’t pan out. If thathappened, Hoffman planned to find another job and work his way out of debt, buthe knew he’d have someplace to go.

3. Warren Buffet — Live simplyand invest in yourself.

Knownas the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett is famous for shunning a lavishlifestyle (despite his $86.5 billion net worth). The CEO of Berkshire Hathawayhas simple tastes, lives frugally and enjoys being a generous philanthropist.

Buffetstill lives in the house he bought in 1957 for $31,500. He seldom buys newcars. He often grabs a cheap breakfast from McDonald’s on the way to work. Butthere are some things that are worth investing in, according to Buffet. And atthe top of that list should be yourself, he said in an interview with Forbes.

Whateveryour weaknesses are, take steps to address them and overcome what might beholding you back. For Buffett, that weakness was public speaking. As a youngman, he took a Dale Carnegie course and gained so much confidence that heproposed to his wife, Susan.

“Nobodycan take away what you’ve got in yourself, and everybody has potential theyhaven’t used yet. If you can increase your potential 10 percent, 20 percent or30 percent by enhancing your talents, they can’t tax it away. Inflation can’ttake it from you. You have it the rest of your life.”

Healso goes out of his way to show his love for friends and family, but hedoesn’t rely on extravagances to show others he cares. Instead, he might sendnews clippings by mail or personally drive to the airport to pick up a friend.

4. John Paul DeJoria — Have anemergency fund set aside.

Lifehasn’t always been easy for self-made billionaire John Paul DeJoria, but hisexperiences have taught him valuable lessons.

Borninto a poor immigrant household, he began working when he was 9, sellinggreeting cards and delivering newspapers to help earn money for his family. Asan adult, he found himself homeless several times, including shortly afterlaunching a line of hair-care products with his friend Paul Mitchell.

DeJoriawould eventually see sales of John Paul Mitchell Systems hair productsskyrocket. And he would go on to build other ventures, including foundingPatrón Spirits Co. But the first several years of getting his business off theground were grueling. DeJoria said their fledgling hair-care businessconstantly ran behind on paying bills. They finally felt they had turned acorner with the business when they could start paying bills on time aftertwo years.

DeJoria’sadvice to young entrepreneurs is to make sure you have a cash cushion beforeyou launch your business. “Before investing or starting a company, makesure you have enough money saved for at least six  months to pay bills oranything else that might come up financially,” DeJoria said in aninterview with Business Insider.

5. Sara Blakely — Don’t quityour day job.

SaraBlakely, founder of Spanx, is the youngest female self-made billionaire ever tobe included in the Forbes World’s Billionaires list. She came up with the ideafor Spanx when she was 27 and used $5,000 — her entire savings — to get herbusiness off the ground.

Butit was slow going at first, and she ran into many dead ends trying to gethosiery mills to manufacture a prototype. She persisted, until finally a millowner (who ran the idea by his daughters) gave her a shot. Meanwhile, shecontinued to go to her day job, working her Spanx business as a side hustleuntil she was sure it was financially viable.

Throughit all, Blakely pinched her pennies and avoided incurring any debt as she wentthrough the process of launching her business. She wrote her own patent using atextbook and designed her product packaging with the help of friends. She neveraccepted any money from outside investors. She continues to own 100 percent ofthe company, debt free.

6. Dustin Moskovitz — Understandthat entrepreneurship is a high-risk path.

DustinMoskovitz became one of the world’s youngest billionaires as a Facebookco-founder, helping then-roommate Mark Zuckerberg launch the social media sitefrom their college dorm room. He is also the founder of Asana, an enterpriseproject management tool. Although he was able to find success at a young age, Moskovitzcautions others that becoming an entrepreneur is rarely a path to fame andfortune.

Entrepreneurshipis a high-risk path, and the odds of achieving billionaire, or evenmillionaire, status are extremely low. Only a handful of companies end up growingto that kind of scale, Moskovitz said during a presentation to Stanfordbusiness students.

Entrepreneursoften work long, grueling hours and there’s very little glamour to it, he said.According to Moskovitz, a surer path to wealth is joining a later-stage companyand helping them grow it. You’ll have a better chance of getting a high salaryand achieving financial stability.

Moskovitzis also known for his simple lifestyle and his charity work through hisfoundation, Good Ventures. In answering a question on Quora, he wrote: “I neverviewed money as being ‘my money.’ I always saw it as ‘the money.’ It’s aresource. If it pools up around me then it needs to be flushed back out intothe system.”

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