John Pfeffer is an entrepreneur, investor and author of “An (Institutional) Investor’s Take on Cryptoassets.”  He is currently Partner of Pfeffer Capital.  In the 2000s, John was a Member at private equity firm KKR, and in the 1990s, he was Chairman of the Executive Board of leading French IT company Groupe Allium S.A. Before that, he advised on turnarounds while with McKinsey in Europe and Latin America. Our conversation jumps in the thought process and structure behind John’s family office portfolio, which combines building new businesses alongside fund investments in public equity, private equity and venture capital. We touch on common issues like active vs. passive, access and fees, but from a very different insider’s perspective. We then turn to his work in the crypto world and discuss his framework for incorporating crypto investing in a portfolio, conducting research in the space, defining the proposition for store of value and utility protocols, and valuing tokens and coins. John was the first investor I’ve come across that has both done a deep dive into the crypto world and is neither all-in nor all-out.  He connects markets and economics with the complex ecosystem just simply enough that a layman like me can follow along.   Learn More Join Ted's mailing list at CapitalAllocatorsPodcast.com Write a review on iTunes Follow Ted on twitter at @tseides For more episodes go to CapitalAllocatorsPodcast.com/Podcast   Show Notes 2:38 – How John thinks about managing his own capital 2:51 – Process to find a business to build 5:08 – Sizing of thematic deals 5:50 – New project copying a European retail model 7:18 – Core of the portfolio 9:02 – Biases of investment alternatives 11:18 – How will tax changes impact the private equity business 11:49 – What does he know about GP’s as an insider that other LP’s might not know 13:53 – How do they tackle venture capital investing 16:25 – Fees 17:40 – First involvement in looking at cryptocurrencies             17:46 – Institutional Investors Take on Crypto Assets 19:40 – Where do crypto assets fit in the structure of the portfolio 21:20 – Holding period for an asymmetric option 22:07 – What else did he do in cryptoassets after that first investment 24:54 – Store of value and utility protocols 29:51 – Valuing crypto assets 31:51 – Velocity of crypto exchange 40:12 – Gold replacement value of bitcoin 45:21 – Closing questions

Kim Lew is the Vice President and CIO of Carnegie Corporation, where she is responsible for the investment and oversight of the Corporation’s $3.5 billion Foundation. Kim joined Carnegie in 2007 after spending a dozen years at the Ford Foundation. She is also a Trustee of Ariel Investments, the Board Chair of the Stevens Cooperative Schools, and a member of the investment committees of the Girl Scouts of America and the ACLU, and the steering committee of the Private Equity Women Investor Network. Last year, Institutional Investor awarded her Endowment & Foundation CIO of the year.   Our conversation covers the American dream story of Kim’s parents, Kim’s path to picking technology stocks and venture capital managers at Ford Foundation, two very different models of successful Foundation investing, blow-by-blow of the creation of an atypical Co-CIO seat at Carnegie, responsibilities that CIOs hate, idiosyncratic investments, committee meetings that foster long-term thinking, evolution of a farm team of managers, risk-taking in investing and life, and what to do when you turn 50 years old.   Learn More Join Ted's mailing list at CapitalAllocatorsPodcast.com Write a review on iTunes Follow Ted on twitter at @tseides For more episodes go to CapitalAllocatorsPodcast.com/Podcast   Show Notes 1:52 – A look at Kim’s background 4:03 – How did her family life impact her schooling 5:26 – Was there anything in her upbringing that drew her to business 6:18 – First job out of college 7:15 – Heading to Harvard Business School 8:42 – The move to Prudential 9:48 – Her time at Ford Foundation 17:35 – Move to venture funds at Ford 18:20 – Comparing the job of sourcing managers then to today 20:27 – Kim’s move to Carnegie 22:42 – How the investment thinking was different at Carnegie 26:32 – How did their thinking on investing play out in individual decisions 27:55 – The decision to have Co-CIO’s 34:22 – Worst parts of being a CIO 37:13 – An outside responsibility that has been helpful to Kim’s career 38:56 – How the thinking on an investment committee for a pension can be different 40:05 – Stepping into the sole CIO role 41:06 – Imparting your influence on investment decisions when you are less in the weeds 41:42 – Carnegie's investment strategy 46:38 – Implementation 56:59 – Taking risks vs being smart with your capital 1:01:36 – 50 things she had never done before 1:05:42 – Closing questions