The James Altucher Show

Mitch Lowe has been a significant disruptor of Hollywood's distribution models over the past two decades, promoting all-you-can-eat subscription models on personal devices and at the box office. Netflix famously redefined consumer video distribution while Movie Pass infamously imploded in 2019. Today, Mitch speaks openly with James about why his companies ended up on their trajectories while describing the analytics that factor into their business plans.For a deeper dive into the dramatic evolution of the entertainment business, read or listen to Mitch's new memoir: Watch and Learn: How I Turned Hollywood Upside Down with Netflix, Redbox, and MoviePass?Lessons in DisruptionOther topics include:How Netflix's DVD queue saved the company (11:12)The genius of Netflix's auto-play feature (12:46)Content business models: ad sales vs. subscription (14:29)What led to Movie Pass' downfall? (17:46)Movie studios' stranglehold on movie theater pricing models (21:52)How Movie Pass used 'the float' in its business operation

Trung Phan returns to the show for a third time to discuss Warren Buffett's $18 billion miss on Disney - twice!He and James discuss the 92-year-old's growth investment strategies focused on long-term stakes, reducing risk profiles, and increasing margins decade-over-decade.Additional topics include:Warren Buffett's 1966 Meeting with Walt Disney (03:56)How Warren Buffet became CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (13:50)Warren Buffett's relationships with Michael Eisner and Bob Iger (20:00)Buffett's willingness to invest in a company "late" (30:24)How did Buffett's investment style change over the decades? (40:20)The story of Rose Blumkin and the Nebraska Furniture Mart (45:50)James' trading strategy to piggyback Berkshire Hathaway's positions (52:42)(Editor's note: Topic times don't account for sponsor ads and may appear a few minutes later in the episode on your podcast player)------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy

"It must be embarrassing for the World Champion to lose to me - I feel bad for him!" said Hans Niemann, after the defeat of Magnus Carlsen on September 5, 2022. Carlsen's subsequent withdrawal from the Sinquefield Cup - the first in his career - followed by a cryptic tweet suggesting Niemann cheated, have put the chess world on edge.Five days later, Chess.com - one of the largest online chess sites - banned Hans Niemann from its tournaments after accusations arose that Niemann had cheated in online chess tournaments. Adding to the political optics, Chess.com is in the process of acquiring Carlsen's company, the Magnus Group.Today, we are gracious to have IM Ken Regan on the podcast to help unravel this situation and discuss his methodology for detecting cheating in the chess world. When the chess world suspects someone of having cheated in a tournament, Ken Regan is the expert who gets the call.Using a database of tens of thousands of top-level games, Kenneth Regan, himself an international chess master, has

David M. Rubenstein is Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of The Carlyle Group, one of the world's largest and most successful private investment firms. Established in 1987, Carlyle now manages $325 billion from 26 offices around the world. Rubenstein is Chairman of the Boards of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the National Gallery of Art. He is an original signer of The Giving Pledge and a recipient of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy and the MoMA's David Rockefeller Award.David returns to the show for a third interview with James to discuss his new book, How to Invest: Masters on the Craft, which pulls from his one-on-one interviews with the biggest names in finance, including  Ray Dalio, Marc Andreessen, Stan Druckenmiller, Sam Zell, Mike Novogratz, Larry Fink,  and Mary Callahan Erdoes.Topics include:What is the role of obsession in skill development? (04:03)Investment risk vs reputational risk (07:23)What are the most intriguing asset classes? (12:21)Ho

You can't believe some of the pitches that we heard during our hedge fund days!  One of the funds that we managed almost got scammed out of 10's of millions of dollars! Also, do you think a hedge fund for crypto is possible?In this episode, Dan, Omid, and I talked about the craziest pitches we have heard, what it's like investing privately, and Omid's origin story into the crypto world after he quit!This will be the last episode of the Wall Street Insane, however, we will do another series on all the crazy stories like these!Listen to the episode and tweet at me @jaltucher or Jay, the producer, @jay_yow to let us know if you like this episode!Visit Notepd.com to read more idea lists, or sign up and create your own idea list!My new book Skip The Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever you get your new books!Join the You Should Run For President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for president.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesalt

Today, we're sharing James' recent interview on the RealVision podcast 'My Life in 4 Trades'.Hosted by Maggie Lake, My Life in 4 Trades is a weekly podcast featuring the brightest minds in the world of finance. Each guest shares insights on the extraordinary trades that transformed their careers and the trades that set them back.Here's how they describe their interview with James:"James Altucher has been to hell and back. On the morning of September 11, 2001, James was just three blocks away from Ground Zero when two hijacked airplanes flew into the Twin Towers. He was one of the few who witnessed both impacts, and that led to years of post-traumatic stress disorder. He also went broke and lost everything. But he rebounded and found new success. James talks to Maggie Lake about the importance of resilience and open-mindedness when it comes to trading and investing and why he writes down 10 ideas every morning."Topics include:James gives his trading background in 5-minutes (03:20)James discusses 9/11 and his t

"What is so deep in our core...that it's unchangeable in times of change?" - Jason FeiferEntrepreneur EIC Jason Feifer takes James through the stories and philosophies that resulted in his new book Build for Tomorrow: An Action Plan for Embracing Change, Adapting Fast, and Future-Proofing Your CareerIn this jam-packed episode, Jason shines a light on the tunnel vision that companies and employees force upon themselves and urges both to embrace the self-examination needed to thrive when market conditions change. Topics include:Who was the Emperor of San Francisco? (00:00:58)What are stories a more persuasive argument than data? (00:06:59)All about Build for Tomorrow: An Action Plan for Embracing Change, Adapting Fast, and Future-Proofing Your Career (00:17:20)The most important question of self-examination: What is it for? (00:23:59)Why should you write a single sentence that defines your mission? (00:35:33)Why did Jason write Build for Tomorrow? (00:38:30)How is Jason using the Skip the Line "Spoke and Wheel"

"Politics makes people stupid," says James, an outspoken critic against buying into skyrocketing college tuition fees. James attended Cornell and has finished paying back his loans. Robyn chose not to go to college and pursued an entrepreneurial lifestyle. The two of them now have five college-aged children. Jay went to a private college but, as a foreign national, wasn't eligible for federal student aid.Today, our non-partisan co-hosts dissect the Biden administration's decision to cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loans for qualified individuals.Topics include:Robyn's new podcast: Moms and Stocks (04:54)Crypto fund fronted by Matt Damon accidentally refunds $10.5m to a woman instead of $100 (07:56)Is student debt forgiveness a moral hazard? (11:15)Is the taxpayer paying for the loan forgiveness? (13:40)Why Are Student Interest Rates Rising? - (18:01)Are colleges hedge funds with campuses? (19:19)Who is paying for the loan forgiveness? (21:29)Is the loan forgiveness fair or unfair? (23:25)Progressive v

Cult dominated the news cycle a couple of years ago, and the government has been talking about releasing UFO footages, and psychics, are they even real?In this episode, I was joined by Andrew Gold, the host of the award-winning podcast, On The Edge, a BBC journalist, filmmaker, and TV presenter, to talk about some absurd and insane things that he has to do while chasing the cult story, UFO story, interacting with a psychopath, and exorcism!We talked about if Will Smith's apology is sincere, how Andrew thought he might get murdered by a cult's priest, is Amanda Knox guilty, and more! Listen to the episode, and tweet @ me @jaltucher if you think this episode is fascinating!Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book Skip the Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned

You know, back in our hedge fund trading days, it was so stressful that Dan and I seriously thought about pivoting to selling Diet Pill on Television! after failing 9 of the other ideas, we eventually started StockPickr, which was eventually acquired by Thestreet.com. It is at that time, Omid wrote a 10-pages letter, and he quit me! We also talked about how we get connected to thestreet.com, how Jim Cramer crashed our website, how it was rebuilt and optimized, how Omid actually felt about the whole StockPickr and Thestreet.com's deal, and how I could never work in a corporate.Listen to the episode and tweet at me @jaltucher or Jay, the producer, @jay_yow to let us know if you like this episode!Visit Notepd.com to read more idea lists, or sign up and create your own idea list!My new book Skip The Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever you get your new book!Join You Should Run For President 2.0 Facebook Group, and we discuss why should run for president.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full

If you miss the conversation between General Spalding and me on the potential war that might happen between China, Taiwan, or the US, make sure you check out Episode 884: Will the US lose to China in the War!? with General Robert Spalding, it's one of the pemissitic episodes that I have done in years, and this episode is almost a sequel to the episode.In this episode, my business partner, Dan Kelly, and Omid Malekan joined me in this episode breaking down how we would trade and our strategy if the war actually breaks out between China and Taiwan, plus if somehow the US was involved.We also talked about how will Ethereum do after the merge, and if it will overtake Bitcoin at some point.Listen to the episode, and let me know what you would do if war between China and Taiwan breaks out!Visit Notepd.com to read more idea lists, or sign up and create your own idea list!My new book Skip The Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever you get your new book!Join You Should Run For President 2.0 Facebook Group, and

Nerdwriter's YouTube channel has helped me through the lockdown. I especially enjoy the video where he breaks down Louis C.K.'s joke about playing monopoly with his daughter, and how his daughter learned a valuable adult lesson from the game! I have watched that video over and over, more than 10 times! In this episode, I am fortunate enough to have the creator of Nerdwriter, Evan Puschak, an American video essayist, and journalist on to talk about his new book, Escape into Meaning: Essays on Superman, Public Benches, and Other Obsessions!It's such a fascinating book! We broke down some of the videos from Nerdwriter, especially Louis C.K.'s video, Darth Vader, Jerry Seinfeld, and also How Donald Trump Answers a Question!! We also talked about what drove Evan to write this book, how he grow his YouTube channel, and what motivates him to keep creating content!Visit Notepd.com to read more idea lists, or sign up and create your own idea list!My new book Skip The Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever you

This might be one of the most pessimist episodes that I have done! The China-Taiwan tension has been rising every day since The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. The question is what is she doing there? Why is she there? What brought her to Taiwan?With all the questions that I have, I invited General Robert Spalding, retired United States Air Force brigadier general, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, this work focuses on U.S.-China relations, economic and national security, and the Asia-Pacific military balance, and basically asked him, will the US win if the war breaks out?We break down whether was it propaganda when the media says China is enraged at the US because Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. How much did China control? How much does the US rely on China in terms of Supply Chain? Could China have been sabotaging us all these years?Listen to the episode, and let us know what you think!Visit Notepd.com to read more idea lists, or sign up and create your own idea list!My new book Skip

This is a fun episode, so I didn't tell anyone this, but I am an Honorary Colonel in Kentucky! Before I get into the story of how I became an Honorary Colonel, we talked about some interesting current events, and also congrats to Jay for getting his new Tesla! However, I can never figure out how to work the door handle! Why do they have to change the door handle design!?Anyway, join me, Robyn, and Jay The Producer, to talk about my political journey when I was 12 years old, and how I got the Honorary Colonel Title in multiple states!Visit Notepd.com to read more idea lists, or sign up and create your own idea list!My new book Skip The Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever you get your new book!Join You Should Run For President 2.0 Facebook Group, and we discuss why should run for president.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please subscribe to "The James Altucher Show"

Gumroad has been around 11 years and more, and people have made tens of thousands of dollars selling digital products on Gumroad! But do you know, how Gumroad was founded?In this episode, the founder and CEO of Gumroad, Sahil Lavingia who also invested in Clubhouse, Republic, and more, joined me to talk about his origin story and his road to creating Gumroad!Sahil's origin story is fascinating, he was young and wanted to buy some Xbox games, so he started learning how to build websites to make money on the side. He then fell in love with building sites and apps, and eventually landed as the number 2 employee on Pinterest.Like every great entrepreneur and inventor, Sahil built Gumroad because he had a problem selling his digital goods and services online, he saw the pain that the world need to be solved, so he took it upon himself and started Gumroad in  hope to help others to help their product online! And then, the rest is history!Listen to this episode and find out more about Sahil!Visit Notepd.com to read

I think there should be an Adulting 101 course out there!In this episode, my wife, Robyn, and I talked about why weren't some subject taught in high school. Like, as how to do laundry, how to take care or rent an apartment, how to cook for one person, and so on...Of course, Robyn has her own takes on those subjects! She thinks that parents should be the ones that teach the kids those skills as part of their parenting method! However, we both agree on high school should at least teach the kids about doing taxes, how to prepare for job interviews, and also teach basic probability and statistics! (A note from Jay the Engineer, we did learn those in our high school in Malaysia. Not taxes, but basic accounting.)Robyn and I also discuss how to have a healthy relationship with your spouse, and how having unique skills and/ or unique experiences can win you in life!Listen to the episode, and if you like episodes like these, make sure you give it a like, tweet at me @jaltucher, and leave a review!Visit Notepd.com to r

During my trading time, it was so miserable, I just wanted to get out! However, something kept me in the game during that time! In this episode, Dan Kelly, my business partner, Omid Malekan, and I realized we had so many insane stories because we have zero pedigree, and we came from a non-traditional background.We also talked about how Victor Niederhoffer, an American hedge fund manager, champion squash player, bestselling author, and statistician sort of putting us on the path, and how we ended things because of my writing!This episode also includes how I was miserable, I wanted to get out, the oil trade that Omid did back in 2008 during the pricing collapse, how we unintentionally got someone else fired, and how we made deal with thestreet.com.Listen to the episode and tweet at me @jaltucher or Jay, the producer, @jay_yow to let us know if you like this episode!Visit Notepd.com to read more idea lists, or sign up and create your own idea list!My new book Skip The Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherev

This is a fly-on-the-wall episode! I was hanging out in the yard with my wife, Robyn Altucher, and we started talking. The conversation goes so well, that I took out my phone, and started recording our conversation!In this fly-on-the-wall episode, we talked about colleges, whether is it justified to pay such high tuition fees for college, my fear throughout my adult life, and how dishonesty will destroy one's life.Listen to the episode, and if you like episodes like these, make sure you give it a like, tweet at me @jaltucher, and leave a review!Visit Notepd.com to read more idea lists, or sign up and create your own idea list!My new book Skip The Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever you get your new book!Join You Should Run For President 2.0 Facebook Group, and we discuss why should run for president.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please subscribe to "The James Alt

Tascha, a macroeconomist and technology investor gave a great explanation of the outlook of the economy right now. She gave a bird's eye view of what caused the inflation and the "mild" recession, how long will that last, and what was her prediction for the future. On top of that, she explains web3 infrastructure to me, and breakdown how could crypto tokens and NFTs could be utilized, and she also breaks down some of the use cases for cryptocurrencies as well.If the episode (830) with Omid Malekan, educates you on what actually are cryptocurrencies, this episode with Tascha will be the one that educates you on the future and outlook of cryptocurrencies from a macroeconomist point-of-view.Visit Taschalabs.com to learn more about Tascha's work.Also, make sure to check out Episode 830 with Omid Malekan.Visit Notepd.com to read more idea lists, or sign up and create your own idea list!My new book Skip The Line is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever you get your new book!Join You Should Run For President 2.0 Fa

What is going on with the world in the past 3 years, especially the past few weeks? There is news about inflation, the economy, and reports of big tech companies planning to lay off their employees.With the uncertainties looming, we need something to take our minds off the news and calm our anxiety. I remember the podcast that I did with Julia Cameron, an American teacher, artist, poet, playwright, novelist, filmmaker, composer, journalist, and most of all, the author of "The Artist Way".In the episode, Julia talked about her morning pages, we discussed the 10,000 hours rules, and how can we use all the practices to help our creativity juice flow. Eventually, the episode led me into writing, Skip The Line, and then created the idea list website, notepd.com.Listen to the episode, I hope the conversation with Julia in this episode helps you as it helped me.If you want to see an example of what Notepd's list looks like, check out my post here: https://notepd.com/idea/the-ultimate-guide-to-becoming-an-idea-machin