10/23/23-Amy Hood MSFT,🎧Rich Paul, Hacker🗣️, SEMIs📊,Isaacson📘Musk

"I do 3 things as the CFO of Microsoft..."

Welcome back. In a busy world we can be distracted with the trivial many things or we can focus on The Vital Few.

Something that I am thinking about

Find Able and Honest Leaders-

First we have to find a company that has a high probability of earning above average returns over the coming 5-10 years. Second we have to confirm that it is run by Able and Honest leaders….🤔

Allow me to introduce you to Amy Hood, 52. She is the EVP and CFO at Microsoft and is responsible for leading the company’s worldwide finance organization, including business operations, acquisitions, accounting/reporting, and investor relations.

For the first 12 years of her life Hood grew up in Morehead Kentucky and then in Nashville, Tennessee. She was always interested in math and science. [🧮Math-letes ✊🏽] Her father was a medical doctor, and her mother taught nursing. She has a sister who is now a pediatrician. Hood was raised in her community and church. She adopted the value that one did things for a bigger purpose not always the self. Remembering her parents when she was a child-

Leading by example. We weren’t a family that talked about the example you should set, it was absolutely about the actions that you took.

Hood earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Duke University, 1994, and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University.

Hood joined Microsoft in 2002, and through her tenure with the company has advanced global cloud computing and helped digitally transform the company. During her time at Microsoft, she helped orchestrate over 57 deals. She is deeply involved in the company’s operations, as well as the strategy development and overall execution of the company’s successful acquisitions- LinkedIn, GitHub, Nuance Communications, (Activision $68B, just closed.) And, a $13B partnership/investment in OpenAI whose artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT has lit up the internet.🤩

Amy is often asked how she spends her time-

I do three things as the CFO of Microsoft- 1. Pick Leaders, 2. Develop Leaders and 3. I allocate resources. Two of those things are about building people and teams.

Talking about her colleagues at Microsoft-

People see the executive team once a quarter, or a year, or maybe once in a career. When I am spending time in internal meetings, to me that meeting is another day….. but to them, it is their moment.💫✨🤩 What impression do they leave with?.

I need to make today GOOD. It is a choice of how to respond.

In 2022 Hood's compensation reached nearly $26 million, of which $22 million was in stock awards and incentives. She was the company's highest-paid executive, second only to CEO Satya Nadella.

Amy is one of my favorite communicators on earnings calls. Speaking as a former CFO, I regard Amy as- prepared, calm and whip-smart. Amy has hosted more than 30 MSFT earnings calls. She was asked if she still gets nervous before the calls-

YES. On those days I eat lunch at 10am. 😯✊🏽

Look for Able and Honest leaders to run your portfolio companies. If you are interested, this is a great 45 minute interview with Amy.

[Bank of America’s CEO Brian Moynihan is another leader who I regard as Able and Honest and if you are interested I wrote about him in an 8/2023 post link here.]

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Investing, Companies, Market Past/Future

(I invest in Companies, not in stocks.)

Interesting companies that hosted earnings results or information sessions since my last edition that I reviewed-

• Technology- ASML, LRCX, TSM

• Housing & Banking - JPM, WFC, C, BAC

• Others- COST, NFLX, TSLA

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(With data/charts it is not what you look at, it is what you see that matters.)

📘7 Powers⚡️by Hamilton Helmer applied to Costco-

YES- Scale, Network, Switch, Brand, Process MAYBE- Counter NO- Cornered

Costco added 14 new locations over the last 12 months.

📘7 Powers⚡️by Hamilton Helmer applied to ASML-

YES- Scale, Network, Switch, Brand, Cornered, Process MAYBE- 😐 NO- Counter

📘7 Powers⚡️by Hamilton Helmer applied to LRCX-

YES- Scale, Network, Switch, Brand MAYBE- Cornered, Process NO- Counter

📘7 Powers⚡️by Hamilton Helmer applied to TSMC-

YES- Scale, Network, Switch, Brand, MAYBE- Counter, Cornered, Process NO- 😐

Tesla prices in the USA from the TSLA earnings release. Prices coming down, 😀.

Deposits gained over the last 4 years have been sticky for JPM and BAC.

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Podcasts

62 minute, Tim Ferriss interview of 🎧Rich Paul — The Power Broker and Superstar Agent Behind LeBron James, Draymond Green, and Others (#697)

During the podcast Tim asks Rich to give an example pitch like he would make over the kitchen table🏡 at a prospective athlete’s family home. 😐😀 I found his speech compelling. 🤩

Here is a link to the NBA and NFL athletes that Paul has represented.

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Videos

37 Minute video. Walter Isaacson, best-selling author of "Elon Musk" interviewed by David Rubenstein regarding the book. Excellent interview, behind the scenes of 2 years with Elon. 😬

PS- I started reading the book, and so far I am enjoying it.

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Books and Articles since my last edition

(Books are like loading software on your brain. If I get bored of a book I quit and move on.)

• Play Nice But Win: A CEO's Journey from Founder to Leader by Michael Dell Autobiography Dell is a hard worker and a smart guy. I think he has become a business generalist (in a complementary way) and he is certainly underrated.

• (Blade Runner) Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick Sci-Fi Similar to the movies (both the 1982 version & 2017), but different in a better way. Perhaps the book is more thoughtful and curious than a 90 minute action movie.

Here is a link to many of the books I have read and my 1-5 star rating- Goodreads Books Read

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Wild Card🃏

Hacker Interview, Everybody has a story (40 min)

Gummo is a black⚫ hat white🤍 hat hacker and cybersecurity expert. Gummo's criminal days ended (25 years ago) when US authorities caught him selling satellite television software technology worth upwards of $20 million. He was offered two alternatives: imprisonment or utilizing his hacking skills to benefit humanity.

I think the interview is worth our attention for 2 reasons. First, everyone has a story, and not everyone starts the game of life with equal advantages and talents. Through no action of their own, some begin with an edge and some start off with significant adversity.

Second, he now uses his skills to help enterprises create secure systems. He has first person experience with companies- Hughes Network Systems, LLC (EchoStar), DirecTV, CME Group & NYSE (I know, right 😬), Bitcoin Mining, and consults with unnamed Countries and Celebrities. He has opinions and experience with hacks of- Apple iOS, Cellular Networks, TikTok specifically, Banking data.

As I usually focus on investing and markets, while your are listening to Gummo, keep cybersecurity at the top of your mind. Firms like CrowdStrike 🦅for Zero Trust, and Cloudflare ⛅for Secure global networks.

Gummo has been a hacker for 36 years and also claims to have amassed a large fortune including Bitcoin (BTC). My intuition is to believe him, but I didn’t attempt to confirm this claim.

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Disclaimer: All of my posts are for informational purposes only. I might own some of the companies discussed in these posts. This is NOT a recommendation to buy or sell securities discussed. Please do your own work before investing your money.