Episode Details

Vitaliy Katsenelson, the CEO at IMA, a value investing firm in Denver, joins Julia on episode 30 to discuss his newest book, Soul in the Game: The Art of a Meaningful Life, which is his first non-investing book. Vitaliy shares his love of writing, family, work, music, and stoic philosophy in the book.

In this episode, Vitaliy details his backstory of growing up in Soviet Russia and coming to America. He also shares his impressions of capitalism and how investing was “love at first sight.” For Vitality, writing is the most important thing that’s transformed his life and career, and he spends 700 hours each year writing.

Vitaliy views Stoicism as an operating system for life. He wishes he had encountered Stoicism when his mother died of brain cancer when he was 11, and that tragedy helped bring him closer to his father.

Elsewhere, Vitaliy shares his views of the markets and why high-interest rates are making value investing great again. He dives into his thesis of a Dot-com Bubble 2.0, how tech stocks became overvalued thanks to abundant capital, and how eventually, that sector will be a “value investor’s paradise.” He also shared his economic outlook and house the housing market is worse than you think.

0:00 Intro

0:42 Born in Russia, made in America

2:36 First impressions of capitalism

4:31 First taste of Pepsi

8:01 Finance was ‘love at first sight’

12:28 Writing journey

16:30 700 hours per year writing

19:08 Navigating a painful period through writing

22:50 Losing mother to brain cancer at age 11

25:00 Stoicism as an operating system for life

27:00 Stoicism and investing

30:12 High interest rates make value investing great again

32:33 How low rates fueled tech stocks

35:36 Thoughts on tech layoffs

36:46 Quiet quitting ends with loud firing

39:00 Dot-com bubble 2.0

44:37 Tech stocks will become a value investor’s paradise

46:00 We’re likely going to have a recession

46:55 Housing market is worse than you think

51:00 Where it gets worse for homeowners

52:05 A value investor’s framework during a recession

53:37 America became more tribal

55:40 Student loan debt forgiveness is a slippery slope

1:02:00 A moral hazard

1:03:00 Final thoughts