New Year, New Blog

Hi Friends,

This past week was the first of the year and the first back at work and our regular lives after what seemed like a really long and beneficial break. I love traveling and seeing new places, but if I'm being perfectly honest my favorite vacation is one where I don't do anything. No responsibilities, no itinerary. Just wake up every day and decide what I feel like doing. I was fortunate to have a couple weeks of that during this holiday.

It's good to be back, in any case. Breaks are great but after a while I start getting anxious to pick back up where I left off and move various projects forward. My daily routine is built around things that make me feel good, like working out and cooking healthy at home, and those habits typically lapse during vacation.

As I mentioned in my last letter, I spent a lot of time this vacation reading about the philosophy and practice of value investing. I've decided it's something I'm interested enough in to start studying seriously and perhaps practicing to some extent. At first with play money but depending on how things turn out I can see a path where it becomes more than that.

And so I started a blog to track my thoughts and investment ideas. I'm pleased to introduce The Merlin Fund, a new site where I will be publishing regularly on the philosophy and practice of value investing. My plan as of now is to write two types of post: explainers and discussion of value investing topics, and detailed breakdowns and evaluations of companies as investment prospects based on value investing ideas.

I don't have a concrete posting schedule yet, as the project is new and I'm still finding my footing. But based on my experience so far, with some more study I should be able to get to a place in the relatively near term where I can put out a high-quality post every week or so.

I read a cool piece this week on setting up a completely automated SaaS company. This mindset aligns with the ideas in one of the best books I read last year, The E-Myth Revisited. Basically looking at a business as a system of systems that all work together to provide value and make money. Looking at the business as the product, rather than just at the specific, tangible thing you are selling. If that sounds cool I highly recommend the book, or you can check out a summary I posted after my first reading.

I hope everyone had time to rest, reflect, and recharge over the past few weeks. Wishing you the best of luck with whatever is important to you as we start another year!

Stay safe and see you next week ❤️