In 2016, I bid a staggering $57,000 for lunch with billionaire investor Bill Ackman.
I had followed Bill’s career from a distance for years. He loved getting his hands dirty, helping the companies he invested, often with incredible results. He’s best known for transforming the Canadian Pacific Railway from the back of the pack into a leader in efficiency. By flipping the script on Canada’s least efficient railway, he turned it into a paragon of performance, pocketing an eye-popping profit of $2.6 billion. It’s the kind of move that turns a good investor into a legend.
When Bill auctioned off a 1-hour lunch for charity, Chris and I went all in, we wanted to learn from him in person. We asked him about everything we could think of and was surprised by his brutal honesty about everything from investing, to business partnership, to marriage and raising children.
I was blown away.
Almost a decade later, as my public persona has taken on a life of its own, I find myself in Bill’s shoes, fielding inquiries from both young and seasoned entrepreneurs seeking guidance. I get dozens of emails every day asking about my deal flow, how I hire CEOs, lessons from running agencies and now a public company, the due diligence process for our acquisitions, my podcast routine, daily supplements— the list goes on.
Instead of spending my life on back-to-back calls, I’m inviting you, with this newsletter, into my day-to-day.
Once a week, I’ll share a list of five things that have caught my attention. Tools I’ve tried, products I’m loving, books I’m reading, and more. Think of it as a series of text messages sent directly to your inbox. But most importantly, I’ll be answering a question each week from my audience. My goal is to bring you high-quality actionable advice that’s usually reserved for private circles.
Welcome aboard,
Andrew
