The Rules of Investing

Samantha Wong was employee #1 at Blackbird Ventures, the largest shareholder in design software giant Canva and one of Australia’s most influential venture capital firms. When Sam joined Blackbird in 2015, the Australian VC ecosystem was in its infancy - a cottage industry with just a few hundred participants. The landscape has changed dramatically over the past decade as companies like Atlassian, Afterpay, SafetyCulture, and Canva have captured investor attention and created a thriving breeding ground for innovation. In this episode of The Rules of Investing, Sam discusses the rapid evolution of the VC landscape in Australia and New Zealand, why backing the right founders is essential to early-stage investing, and the next generation of companies growing at unprecedented rates.

While the market obsesses over volatile AI software and tech start-ups, global private equity giant EQT says the real money is being made in the physical layer. In this episode of The Rules of Investing, Ken Wong, Partner and Head of Asia Pacific Infrastructure at EQT Partners, breaks down why the massive, structural build-out of data centres and renewable energy grid connectivity is the market’s most misunderstood, and overlooked, growth opportunity.

While the market's gaze is fixed on the horizon, the ground beneath quality stocks has shifted, delivering the toughest period of performance since the lead-up to the GFC. But as the saying goes, “it’s always darkest before dawn.” In this episode of The Rules of Investing, James Abela explains why it is critical to have a process for navigating challenging markets, and highlights the bright spots, both globally and on the ASX, that are presenting a breadth of opportunities in small and mid-cap companies.

Chris Watling from Longview Economics joins The Rules of Investing to discuss the global macro outlook, including AI-driven market concentration, inflation, oil, interest rates, Australian housing, and the hidden fragility beneath parts of the US economy and equity market.

In this episode:

Why the AI theme may be carrying more of the global economy than investors realise

Oil, Iran and the Strait of Hormuz

Why inflation may not be the biggest risk facing markets

The difference between Australia and the rest of the developed world

Signs of weakness beneath the surface of the US economy

Why investor complacency could become a major problem

The one investment Watling would make if markets closed for five years.

After four years away, Patrick Poke is returning to The Rules of Investing. In this short relaunch episode, Patrick and James Marlay reflect on the podcast’s evolution, the return of video episodes, and what listeners can expect next.