Episode Details

Finance splits an investment return into beta and alpha. Beta is what the market gave you just for showing up. Alpha is what your skill added on top. A founder who catches a rising tide can drift forward and mistake the current for their own stroke. When multiple scientists discover calculus or the telephone simultaneously, the era's beta did the heavy lifting. Alpha shows up when the result depended on who was in the room. When you size up a win, separate the current from the stroke.

Featuring: Isabel Wilkerson, Daniel Kahneman

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Chapters:

(00:00) A newsletter wins Product Hunt during the newsletter boom
(00:29) Splitting a return into beta and alpha
(00:59) Beta as a brutal headwind
(01:31) Newton, Darwin and Bell arrive at the same discovery twice
(02:03) Alpha depends on who was in the room

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