#411 – Kai Wu, Sparkline Capital – Investing in Innovation, Intangible Value, & Web3

<p>Today’s guest is <a href= "https://twitter.com/ckaiwu"><strong>Kai Wu</strong></a>, founder and CIO of <a href= "https://www.sparklinecapital.com/team"><strong>Sparkline Capital</strong></a>, an investment management firm applying state-of-the-art machine learning and computing to uncover alpha in large, unstructured data sets.</p> <p>In today’s episode, we’re talking about two topics that are important for investors to understand in 2022 – <strong><a href= "https://www.sparklinecapital.com/post/intangible-value">intangibles</a></strong> and <strong><a href= "https://www.sparklinecapital.com/post/investing-in-innovation">innovation</a></strong>. Kai shares how he uses machine learning to track things like brand equity, human capital, network effects, and IP to measure the intangible value of each firm (and how he implements this through his ETF, <strong><a href= "https://etf.sparklinecapital.com/itan/">ITAN</a></strong>). Then he shares why his research leads him to believe value is <em>not</em> dead.   </p> <p>Finally, we talk about his most recent paper about investing in innovation, a popular investment theme that’s under scrutiny as of late.  Kai shares why he believes the current drawdown is not driven by pure innovation but by a selloff in expensive unprofitable stocks.</p> <p>-----</p> <p>Follow Meb on <a href= "https://twitter.com/MebFaber"><strong>Twitter</strong></a><strong>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mebanefaber/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LinkedIn</a></strong> and <a href= "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKvWzzrVUA_DSCoKXL6GU2w?sub_confirmation=1"> <strong>YouTube</strong></a></p> <p>For detailed show notes, click <a href= "https://mebfaber.com/2022/05/02/e411-kai-wu/"><strong>here</strong></a></p> <p>To learn more about our funds and follow us, subscribe to our <strong><a href= "https://theideafarm.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=6750faf5c6091bc898da154ff&id=7249739cdb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mailing list</a> </strong>or visit us at <a href= "http://www.cambriainvest