Jess Larsen – You Should Never Speculate When Investing

<p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessrlarsen/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Jess Larsen</strong></a> started his finance career on a mergers and acquisitions team with Citi. Later he founded several businesses; the three companies he currently co-owns are<a href="https://www.graystokeinvestments.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Graystoke Investments</a>,<a href="https://www.graystokeadvisors.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Graystoke Advisors</a>, and<a href="https://www.graystokemedia.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Graystoke Media</a>.</p><p>Jess was previously the Director of Special Operations and Intelligence Agencies practice for the management consulting firm the Arbinger Institute.</p><p>Ten years ago, he co-founded a charity called<a href="https://www.childrescueassociation.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Child Rescue Association</a> that combats child trafficking through prevention campaigns, aftercare support, and undercover rescue missions.</p><p>You can listen to him regularly on his podcast,<a href="https://www.graystokemedia.com/episode" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Innovation &amp; Leadership with Jess Larsen</a>.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p class="ql-align-center"><strong>“Cash flow is king.”</strong></p><p class="ql-align-center">Jess Larsen</p><p>&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>Worst investment ever</strong></h2><p>When Jess was in his twenties, he left Southern California and went back home to Canada, where he started an energy-focused private equity fund. Then some friends got him and his small group of friends into a deal with a billionaire. They co-invested in a company with exclusive rights to bring renewable energy technology for small hydro from Europe. The company had big deals tied up with guaranteed investment contracts from the Ontario government.</p><p>Jess, his brother, and his partner did their due diligence, and everything was smelling like roses. The group decided to invest two and a half mi