Fighting Inertia
Diligent Curiosity
Inertia has been quite the bitch.
I've sat on this substack for almost 2 years because I could never figure out what I’d write as my first post. And along the way life got in the way, and there was always something of higher importance and priority that bumped writing down the to-do list.
Reflection over the new year has reminded me that writing has always been a therapeutic avenue for me to think about and process both the world around me and the world inside of me. A decade after first losing touch with writing, I'd love to hop back on the bandwagon. So here goes.
Who am I?
Singaporean by birth, I moved to the US for college, and have been here ever since. A San Franciscan for the moment, I spend a lot of my free time enjoying all that the Bay Area has to offer, including the great produce (cooking) and the great outdoors (tennis, golf, hikes). On the side, I spend most of my days investing in the public markets (equity / debt), with a recent focus on impact investing.
What will I write?
Honestly, no idea. To be frank, the main reason for the 2 years between setting up this substack and this first post was not being able to define my focus.
So in the spirit of favoring action over inaction (one of my big goals for 2024), I will leave the exact theme of this substack as a big TBD, and just start writing. But gun to my head, you should expect to read musings on things your average hedge fund impact investor living in the Bay Area would come across and think about - books, articles, investment ideas, industries, news articles, etc. that pique my interest. Expect (hopefully) weekly posts on what I learned during the week, and with less frequency, deeper dives into issues or trends that are on my mind.
Being Curious, Not Judgmental
Ultimately, though - I hope to abide by the title of this substack, which was said in an iconic episode of everyone’s favorite Football coach (yes, the British one), Ted Lasso (which, funny story, he actually misattributed): “Be Curious, Not Judgmental”. Too often we come to quick, snap judgments on issues that we know too little about. Evolutionary instincts, for sure, as any second wasted could mean being devoured by the predator stalking us. But in an ever more complex world, nuance is everything, as nuance is how we work through the hottest of hot button issues out there, and how we develop accurate and truly differentiated and contrarian views.
And how do we get to the nuance? Through true, genuine curiosity, through asking the right questions, through patience and persistence. And that’s my goal here - to diligently and patiently fill in the pieces to the puzzle that is our magical and wonderous world, one thought, music, and post, at a time.
Thanks for reading.