Graham Weaver: How to Scale Bright Spots, Overcome Limits, and Achieve Asymmetry | E141

Graham Weaver ( @grahamcweaver ) is the founder and CEO of Alpine Investors, a leading private equity firm managing $17+ billion in assets and boasting over 650+ investments in the past 23 years. Alpine's CEO-in-Training program is highly sought after, ranking as the top choice among MBA graduates from Stanford, Harvard, and Wharton. Beyond his leadership at Alpine, Graham imparts his expertise as a lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he teaches courses on managerial skills and managing growing enterprises. His dedication to education was recognized with the Distinguished Teaching Award in 2024. Graham's multifaceted career offers valuable insights into private equity, leadership development, and business education.

Timestamps:

00:00 – Introduction and the Utility of Money
07:30 – Starting a Fund: Key Steps and Strategies
15:15 – Lessons from the First Fund: Failures and Growth
22:45 – Continuous Improvement: Hiring Executive Coaches
30:10 – The Three Promises of Alpine Investors
38:40 – The Power of Asymmetry in Life and Investing
48:05 – Overcoming Limiting Beliefs with Coaching
58:30 – Time Management and Aligning Goals with Action

Resources

[yunhanjin]

Biggest takeaways:
- Look for things with asymmetric returns.
- Set 5-year goal, and write down 3 things every day you do to achieve those goals. Record time it takes for each, and time spent on tasks that do not contribute to your goals.
- Think about adding values to the company.