Dan McMurtrie on Resilience, Recovery, and Longevity in Investing

The Alchemy of Money

I’m very excited to share with you all a conversation with my friend Dan McMurtrie of Tyro Partners. The entire interview is about a topic that I believe is under-discussed but of vital importance to any investor: resilience and recovery when dealing with sustained pressure and stress. I believe this is crucial to longevity in investing.

A number of great investors have commented or hinted at the mental and physical strain from a combination of market volatility and personal or business issues. Many retired because they were simply too exhausted and burned out to continue.

You can find detailed show notes, examples, and a transcript on my substack - neckar.substack.com.

"The goal of investing under stress is serenity. If you can, in times of extreme stress, get your life to be mundane that's a victory."

"You'll hear a lot of managers say, Hey, I bought the market in the financial crisis, but they're probably not going to get on TV and say, and I threw up in the trashcan for it.”

"When things go wrong, you're short a put on your own time.”

"Think about it like a team, like a sports team. We need to have players who can execute plays at all times. And in order to have people who can execute plays at all times, some people have to have some Gatorade on the bench and let's just accept that and engineer around it.”

[00:01:00]: Introduction. Why is resilience important?

[00:07:00]: Where to find good advice? How to broach the subject?

[00:20:00]: What are the different dimensions in which this matters (i.e. individual vs. team)?

[00:37:00]: Which non-investment areas offer useful insights?

[00:50:00]: What are specific best practices? Are these idiosyncratic or are there universal themes?