Invest Like a Boss

We polled ILAB listeners for your questions and said Ask Us Anything! We received so many questions that we decided to split it into two episodes, one for Johnny and one for Sam. First up is Johnny, where he answers questions on investing as well as lifestyle in this open forum style episode. Listen to ILAB 237 on iTunes here or subscribe on your favorite podcast app. Where we are: Johnny FD – Mon...

Johnny and Derek do a one-on-one episode about a subject they are both passionate about – cars! We try not to bring them up too much in the show, but both guys are certified car nuts, so this is a fun episode that hopefully you’ll get something out of as well. Your car is an expense that often gets overlooked as many deem it a necessary cost to live life. Nonetheless, the guys talk how to find a d...

Johnny interviews Composer CEO & Co-Founder Ben Rollert on this episode to talk quantitative strategies. If you aren’t familiar with quants, they’ve been used by hedge funds for decades to determine trades and were only available to those with advanced mathematics degrees until now. Composer has created an easy to use tool featuring hundreds of pre-determined strategies aka “symphonies” like follo...

Sam and Derek provide updates on their drastically down metaverse portfolios. They go over each individual holding and their respective current losses in this bear market. They also indicate why they are still excited about this space and which companies they are continuing to invest in. Individual stock holdings mentioned in the episode: $AI, $AMD, $ATVI, $BILI, $AVID, $EA, $KWEB, $MTTR, $COIN, $...

Johnny and Derek do a 1 on 1 episode discussing their investment plan for the ongoing bear market. What’s changed in their philosophy, now that everything is not just blindly going up, dealing with inflation and what they’re buying/avoiding in today’s market. Listen to ILAB 233 on iTunes here or subscribe on your favorite podcast app.   Where we are: Johnny FD – Balkins / IG @johnnyfd j Sam Marks...

We pull Sam's recent interview from Justin Donald's "Lifestyle Investor Podcast" for our bosses to hear in case they missed it. Sam and Derek provide intro/outro duties to help set up the interview and elaborate further on Sam's journey to a $100M exit with his company at the end of the show.  Entrepreneur Magazine calls Justin Donald “The Warren Buffett of Lifestyle Investing.” Imagine being able...

Derek interviews European Watch Company representative Joshua Ganjei about the explosion of interest in trading and investing in luxury watches. Joshua breaks down watch culture, what the market looks like, what brands/models are hot and which watches are the most sought after today. Then Derek and Johnny share their experiences with high end watches and how they're looking to get in on this oppor...

Johnny and Derek discuss in long form what's happening on the ground in Ukraine. Johnny crosses back over the border and breaks down what everyday life looks like now since the war with Russia has begun. They discuss the different regions of Ukraine, where Russia has attacked, what's still open, how people are maintaining "normal" lives during wartime & more. Johnny also gives an update on the sta...

A follow-up to ILAB Episode 228 , Sam shares his personal experiences at Bordeaux's famed "En Primeurs" week. He went along with Julien Angevin, who is the curator for Volume Wine Vault. They tell us about the experience tasting, investing and the attitudes that these vineyards carry toward pure wine investors.  Listen to ILAB 229 on iTunes here or subscribe on your favorite podcast app. Where we...

Sam interviews Cult Wines CEO Tom Gearing for the second time ( first appearance ILAB 161 ), to get a more specialized look at the most important wine region in the world. Bordeaux, France has an annual wine futures purchasing period called "En Primeur" and Tom explains how to get involved in this and find the best values for future wine profits. Then Sam and Derek talk about their thoughts on win...

Derek interviews Mile Method's Trevor Wright to talk about his secrets of flying around the World for (almost) FREE. Trevor has flown to 133 countries for an average of $16/flight! Johnny also hops on the intro and outro to tell us about his place in Kyiv, which is where he's recording this episode from. Derek and Johnny talk about their experiences with points, flying and whether chasing the poin...

This episode contains adult themed content, but we tried to keep it as PG-13 as possible! Johnny interviews "Porno Dan" Leal, who has been a porn producer and actor for over 20 years where he's produced over 5,000 scenes. Dan tells us about the economics of getting into the adult entertainment industry. Learn about how little performers make in scenes and how much they make branding on their own i...

Johnny and Sam recap the most tumultuous quarter in ILAB history. Everything from escaping the war in Ukraine and leaving the fate of his properties behind, to then going to Hungary, Greece and now Poland for Johnny. During this time, Sam left Spain and decided to start a motorcycle trip around Thailand. And that's just the lifestyle update for the audio podcast portion! If you'd like the full epi...

It's tax time in the United States, so Johnny and Sam go over some of the (legal) tax hacks they've learned about and taken advantage of over the years. Many of these may apply to other residents of other countries as well, so find out what you may be missing out on in this episode. If you have more hacks to add, make sure to let us know! Listen to ILAB 224 on iTunes here or subscribe on your favo...

This is our first episode on the topic of digital land investing. Derek interviews WeMeta CEO/Founder Winston Robson to get an introduction to digital land and how it differs from physical land. They go over use cases, restrictions, future potential and challenges for digital real estate. It's super early in the space, but there are a lot of people betting on the future of land in the metaverse. D...

Johnny & Derek go over everything related to the ever important "Emergency Fund". From how to save for it, where to store it, use cases where it saved them and more. It's extremely important to have readily accessible funds for emergencies, but many people still don't do it! Listen to this episode and get your emergency fund sorted before you need it. Listen to ILAB 222 on iTunes here or subscribe...

A book mentioned many times over on ILAB throughout the years is "Adventure Capitalist" and we were finally able to speak to author Jim Rogers on this episode! Sam and Derek kick off the show both talking about the influence of the book and then jump into the interview. Sam interviews Jim where he touches on his experiences visiting nearly every country in the world, even ones at war during the ti...

This episode kicks off with Johnny telling of the journey to make it out of Ukraine safely. This sparked a conversation on the importance of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in times of war and failing fiat currencies. Then the show jumps to longtime ILAB listener and tax professional Chris Kotarba (Chris K) who explains ways, for U.S. citizens in particular, to hack the system and legally save...

FarmTogether Founder & CEO,  Artem Milinchuk, returns to ILAB exactly one-year later to talk about their incredible growth as they approach nearly $200M AUM, as well as their commitment to funding sustainable and prosperous farming. Check out Artem's first appearance on Episode 172 to hear the basics and come back to this episode to hear about the advancements they've made since then. Johnny and D...

Sam and Derek take a deep dive into Bitcoin as it pertains to use cases, perception, future growth, inflation and more. Sam interviews Saifedean Ammous, author of The Bitcoin Standard, who was once a critic of Bitcoin himself but now has seen the power of its capabilities. Saifedean expertly drops deep knowledge on all things Bitcoin and explains why it is a superior alternative to fiat currency. ...

Codie Sanchez is the founder of Contrarian Thinking, a newsletter, and media company read by hundreds of thousands about thinking critically and cash flowing unconventionally. She owns 25+ boring businesses and is known for making Main St. sexy again. Before being an investor and writer, she ran a cannabis PE fund, Latin American investment biz, worked at Goldman, Vanguard and was a conflict journ...

Sam interview's Child's Dream Foundation's Co-Founder and Managing Director Marc Thomas Janni on how to properly vet out charities you're thinking of donating to. Sam and Johnny have both worked with Child's Dream in the past and they have seen their accomplishments first hand. Marc explains what to look out for when considering an NGO (Non-governmental organization) to donate to and speaks of the...

MLG Capital CEO Tim Wallen returns to the show ( ILAB 121 - Investing in Private Real Estate Funds, with MLG Capital's Tim Wallen - Invest Like a Boss ) to give us an update on how things have changed in the U.S. real estate market in the last two years. Sam asks about the returns on his personal investment in MLG Capital 's Fund IV and how to get involved in MLG Capital 's latest fund V. Tim also...

Sam takes a deeper dive into the world of fine wine with London's OENO Group to fdiscuss their approach to getting involved in the sector. OENO offers a new approach that we have yet to see in the wine space, only drawing commissions off profits with no management fees! Sam and Derek do a quick catchup on how their new year has started so far and share why they may not be starting so great. Then S...

Sam and Derek take it back to basics with a special episode on the incredible math of compounding interest. They'll show you how anyone can passively become a millionaire with a little disciplined investing and time. This is an evergreen topic that has proven itself for decades and should apply to anyone for the foreseeable future. Make sure to share this one with family and friends who are new to...