#63 Simon Kold: On the Hunt for Great Companies

Simon Kold is the founder of the Denmark-based investment firm Kold Investments and was previously at Novo Holdings, one of the world’s largest investment organizations. Our conversation focuses on Simon’s upcoming book, On the Hunt for Great Companies, which details how to determine business quality. We cover the aspects we find the most interesting and encourage everyone to buy the book and read it in full. The book will be released on 29 October 2024.

For more info about the podcast, go to the episode page and make sure to follow us on X/Twitter. We love to hear your thoughts on what you like and what we can improve, so please give us your rating and a review. You’re also very welcome to tell us about great authors, books, and investors you want to hear on the show. Thank you! /Eddie & Niklas with team

This episode was recorded on September 11, 2024.

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Episode Chapters

(00:00) Introduction by Eddie & Niklas

(01:38) Welcoming Simon

(05:35) On the Hunt for Great Companies and inspirations

(12:58) Thoughts on the book’s structure

(15:54) How to evaluate passion among management

(20:20) Evaluating communication

(28:46) Focusing on disadvantages to evaluate moats

(36:28) Tapeworms vs Honeybees

(43:08) Predicting demand

(47:05) Views on cyclical companies

(52:32) Is Simon focusing on large or small companies

(54:11) Kold Investments - Simon’s investment company

(01:00:14) Position sizing

(01:04:28) What differentiates Simon’s fund

(01:05:45) Future writings?

(01:07:46) Book discussions

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Books Mentioned

• On the Hunt for Great Companies - Simon Kold (to be released on 29 October 2024)
• The Little Book that Builds Wealth - Pat Dorsey
• The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing - Pat Dorsey
• 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy - Hamilton Helmer
• Poor Charlie’s Almanack - Charlie Munger, John Collison
• The Outsiders - Will Thorndike
• Michael O'Leary: Turbulent Times for the Man Who Made Ryanair - Matt Cooper
• Factfulness - Hans Rosling
• Superforecasting - Philip Tetlock
• The Checklist Manifesto - Atul Gawande
• Deep Survival - Laurence Gonzales
• The Quest of the Simple Life - William J Dawson
• Parnassus on Wheels - Christopher Morley
• The Clock of the Long Now - Stewart Brand

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Companies Mentioned

• Alibaba
• Arm
• TSMC
• ASML
• Ryanair
• John Deere

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More on Simon

• Personal website: https://www.simonkold.com/
• LinkedIn - Simon Kold
• Koldinvestments.dk

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About the Podcast

Intro episode: https://www.redeye.se/podcast/investing-by-the-books/817383/0-intro-to-investing-by-the-books

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What is Investing by the Books?

Investing by the Books was founded by Henrik Andersson, Bo Börtemark, Mats Larsson and Michael Persson. It has published hundreds of book reviews in the past 10 years and operates on a non-profit basis.

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