#053: Patrick Geddes - From Zero to $42 Billion... How to Play the Stock Market without Getting Played

Good investment advice can be hard to come by as you always wonder if you’re getting taken advantage of, working with the right people or making the best decisions. On this episode of Establishing Your Empire I host Patrick Geddes and he just released a book titled ‘Transparent Investing’ and all net revenues—including net proceeds from the sale of the book, speaking fees or other incomes—will be donated to nonprofits focused on financial education.

In this episode, we explore Patrick’s entrepreneurial journey from idea to start-up to being acquired by BlackRock for over a Billion dollars.

As with many other fields, the investing space has been going through rapid changes with new technologies that are popping up every year. And with these shiny new technologies, we’re getting used to more and more instant gratification from our investment portfolios as well. This is one of the many issues our guest today is trying to address with his new book. Patrick Geddes, the author of Transparent Investing: How to Play the Stock Market without Getting Played, and the Co-Founder & Former CEO of Aperio Group, joins us today to talk about investing, entrepreneurship, tax-loss harvesting, and more.

Patrick’s career journey starts in the oil industry, where he got interested in the finance aspect of the business. Since then, Patrick has been in several executive roles and eventually started his first company. We start our conversation with how he stumbled upon the path of entrepreneurship and the development of his first company.

A key area we touch on today is the concept of tax-loss harvesting. Patrick dives into how it works and the benefits this concept can provide for businesses. Patrick also shares his take on retail investing and his thoughts on the newly emerged technologies that bring instant gratification-based activities to the investment space and some of the red flags investors should keep in mind when it comes to investment opportunities.

Moving onto Patrick’s book, we talk about what inspired him to write his book and the issues he’s trying to address with it. Furthermore, he shares with us some of the personal habits and practices that came in handy for writing his book, his vision for the future, and some advice for young entrepreneurs.

[00:15] Getting to Know Patrick - We start the conversation by talking about who Patrick is, his career journey, and some of his amazing achievements.

[04:55] Transition into Entrepreneurship – Patrick reflects back on how he was inspired to get out of the corporate space and start a company and the experience of making the first hire.

[08:55] Getting Traction – We dive into the measures Patrick did to gain traction for the new company.

[12:00] Tax-loss Harvesting – Patrick explains what the concept of tax-loss harvesting is about and how companies can benefit from it.

[14:45] Retail Investing – Patrick shares his thoughts on the increasing popularity of retail investing and how it may shape the future of investing.

[18:30] Transparent Investing – We dive into the concept behind Patrick’s Book, “Transparent Investing: How to Play the Stock Market without Getting Played.”

[29:50] The Purpose – Patrick shares his thoughts on the reason for writing his book and the issues prevalent in the investment space that he’s trying to address with the book.

[34:05] Red Flags – Patrick dives into some of the red flags investors should be aware of.

[37:15] Habits & Practices – We ask Patrick about the personal habits and practices that helped him write his book with a clear vision.

[45:10] The Future – Patrick shares with us his vision for the future as an entrepreneur and an author and what he would do differently if he had the chance to start his career all over again.

[54:15] Advice for Youngsters – We ask Patrick what advice he’d give to the young version of himself.

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