Generating Alpha Podcast

This week on Generating Alpha, I sat down with Gavin Baker, founder and CIO of Atreides Management, one of the most respected technology-focused investment firms in the market today. Gavin grew up in Houston, Texas, the son of two attorneys, with an early obsession with history, books, and games of skill and chance. He arrived at investing almost by accident — a college internship at Donaldson, Lu...

This week on Generating Alpha, I sat down with Jeff Yass — co-founder and managing director of Susquehanna, one of the largest trading and quantitative finance firms in the world — and the first repeat guest in the history of the show. This one is different. The first time around, we walked through prediction markets. This time we skipped that entirely and went straight at the ideas — the economic...

This week on Generating Alpha, I sat down with Michael Shvo — real estate developer, art collector, and founder of SHVO, one of the most distinctive luxury development firms in the world. Michael grew up in Arsuf, Israel, the son of two organic chemistry professors. As a teenager he taught himself to trade oil and gas stocks, made millions, and lost it all before finishing school. He completed his...

This week on Generating Alpha, I sat down with Christian Angermayer — serial entrepreneur, biotech pioneer, and founder of Apeiron Investment Group, one of the most unconventional private investment firms in the world. Christian grew up in a small town in Bavaria and dropped out of university at 20 to co-found Ribopharma, a biotech built on groundbreaking RNA interference technology. He sold it to...

This week on Generating Alpha, I sat down with Michael Paulus — serial entrepreneur, fintech pioneer, and founder of PCM Encore, one of the fastest-growing fiduciary wealth management firms in the country. Michael earned his undergraduate degree in Economics and a Master's in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford, where he helped manage a portion of the university's endowment th...

This week on Generating Alpha, I sat down with Fabrice Grinda — serial entrepreneur, prolific angel investor, and founding partner of FJ Labs, one of the most active venture funds in the world with over 1,100 investments across six continents. Fabrice grew up in Nice, France, the son of a doctor. He arrived at Princeton, graduated summa cum laude in economics, and was already running his first bus...

This week on Generating Alpha, I sat down with Ian Livingstone, co-founder of London Regional Properties, one of Europe's most successful and enduring private investment firms — with over $30 billion deployed across four decades and approximately $10 billion in assets under management today. Ian's journey began in Ealing, London, where he grew up the son of a dentist. After qualifying as a...

This week on Generating Alpha, I sat down with Yoni Assia, co-founder and CEO of eToro, the platform that has fundamentally changed how a generation approaches investing. Yoni's story begins in Savyon, Israel, where finance was in the air from childhood — his father founded Magic Software and would pull over the car to read stock quotes with his kids, while his mother ran a copyright law firm....

This week on Generating Alpha, I sat down with Dmitry Balyasny, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Balyasny Asset Management (BAM), one of the world's most successful multi-strategy hedge funds with over $30 billion in assets under management. Dmitry's journey began in 1992 when he joined Schonfeld Securities as a proprietary trader straight out of Loyola University Chicago. Over nine...

This week on Generating Alpha, I sat down with Peter Muller, founder and CEO of PDT Partners, one of the most successful and secretive quantitative trading firms in modern finance. Pete's journey is unlike any other on Wall Street. After graduating with honors in mathematics from Princeton, he moved to California to compose music for rhythmic gymnastics teams before landing at BARRA, where he...

This week on Generating Alpha, I sat down with Larry Connor, founder and managing partner of The Connor Group and one of the most successful real estate investors of the past three decades. Larry's path was unconventional. After graduating summa cum laude from Ohio University with degrees in English and history, he started a painting business in high school, built and sold a tavern with a 300%...

This week on Generating Alpha, I sat down with Keith Rabois, Managing Director at Khosla Ventures and one of the most accomplished operators and investors in Silicon Valley history. Keith's path was unconventional. After studying political science at Stanford, where he met Peter Thiel and worked on The Stanford Review, he graduated from Harvard Law School, clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals...

This week on Generating Alpha, I sat down with Paul Wachter — founder and CEO of Main Street Advisors, the firm that has quietly become one of the most influential strategic advisory platforms in entertainment, sports, and culture. Paul’s path to building MSA was anything but conventional. After studying at Wharton and Columbia Law School, he began his career in law before moving into senior roles...

This week on Generating Alpha, I sat down with Ryan Tolkin — CEO of Schonfeld, a multi-billion dollar alternative asset manager that has quietly become one of the most powerful and consistent forces in the hedge fund industry. Ryan's history with the firm dates back to a high school internship, where his analytical talent was first spotted. He joined the firm as Chief Investment Officer at 27, a r...

This week on Generating Alpha, I sat down with Collin Roche — Co-CEO of GTCR, one of the most influential and consistently successful private equity firms of the modern era. GTCR is widely known for pioneering the Leaders Strategy — a model that flips traditional private equity on its head by first identifying world-class executives, then building companies around them. Under Collin’s leadership,...

This week on Generating Alpha, I sat down with Antonio Gracias — one of the few true first-principles thinkers in modern business and a key architect behind some of the most transformative companies of the 21st century. A student of physics and the human brain, Gracias began his career as an operator — stepping into distressed and underperforming businesses and engineering turnarounds through disc...

This week on Generating Alpha, I sat down with Thomas Peterffy — founder of Interactive Brokers, one of the most profitable and technologically advanced trading platforms in the world, used by nearly every professional trader. Born in post–WWII Hungary, Peterffy grew up under communist rule before escaping the Soviet Bloc and arriving in New York in 1965 with no money and no ability to speak Engli...

This week on Generating Alpha, I’m joined by Jeff Yass — founder of Susquehanna International Group, one of the most successful trading firms in the world. Jeff is a former professional poker player and horse bettor turned options trader. In 1987, he founded Susquehanna with five friends, and today it stands as one of Wall Street’s largest and most influential firms. Thanks to Susquehanna’s succes...

This week on Generating Alpha, I’m joined once again by Mickey Drexler—the legendary “Merchant Prince” who reshaped modern retail through his leadership at Gap and J.Crew. In part two of our conversation, Mickey shares his unfiltered perspective on why he’s always had a distaste for corporate America, and how bureaucracy, complacency, and ego often kill creativity. We dive into his definition of g...

This week on Generating Alpha, I’m joined by Mickey Drexler — one of the most legendary figures in modern retail. Best known for transforming Gap into a global powerhouse and later reinventing J.Crew into a cultural phenomenon, Drexler has earned the nickname “The Merchant Prince” for his unparalleled ability to read consumers, build brands, and shape culture. Over decades, his vision has not only...

This week on Generating Alpha, I’m joined by Mike Anders, co-founder and General Partner at ICONIQ Capital — the discreet wealth manager and investment platform behind some of the world’s most influential leaders, including Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, and Dustin Moskovitz. Often described as part family office, part venture powerhouse, and part philanthropic partner, ICONIQ now oversees more...

This week on Generating Alpha, I’m joined by Larry Silverstein, one of New York’s most influential real estate developers and the Chairman of Silverstein Properties. Over the course of his career, Larry has transformed the skyline of Manhattan, developing and managing some of the city’s most iconic office and residential towers. He is best known for his pivotal role in rebuilding the World Trade C...

This week on Generating Alpha, I’m joined by Thomas Kaplan, one of the most successful commodities investors of our time, renowned for his rare ability to pair historical perspective with bold conviction in the markets. Over the course of his career, Thomas has made some of the most significant calls in silver, gold, and natural gas — building multibillion-dollar ventures like Leor Exploration and...

This week on Generating Alpha, I’m joined by Michael Chu — Global Co-CEO of L Catterton, the world’s largest consumer-focused private equity firm with more than $35 billion under management. Over three decades, Michael has helped transform L Catterton from a boutique investor into a global powerhouse with offices across North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Known for his deep understandi...

This week on Generating Alpha, I’m joined by Alan Zafran — co-founder and managing partner of IEQ Capital, the $41.7 billion wealth management firm advising some of the most successful entrepreneurs, executives, and families in the world. Over more than three decades in the business, Alan has built a reputation for pairing sophisticated investment expertise with a deeply personal, relationship-dri...