Page 2 Welcome to Graham & Doddsville We are pleased to bring ing, and management you the 41th edition of quality and capital allo- Graham & Doddsville. This cation. Mr. Kidd discuss- student-led investment es his early experiences publication of Columbia with the semiconductor Business School (CBS) is industry, which shaped co-sponsored by the Heil- his unique and successful brunn Center for Graham long-term approach to & Dodd Investing and the investing. Columbia Student Invest- ment Management Asso- We continue to bring you Meredith Trivedi, Man- ciation (CSIMA). stock pitches from cur- aging Director of the Heil- rent CBS students. In brunn Center. Meredith We first interviewed Ar- this issue, we feature leads the Center, cultivat- thur Young, portfolio three contest-winning ing strong relationships manager and co-founder pitches. Amitaabh Sahai with some of the world´s of Tensile Capital Manage- ('21) shares his long idea most experienced value ment. We discussed Mr. on DXC Technology investors and creating numerous learning oppor- Young’s investing princi- (DXC). Will Husic (‘22), tunities for students inter- ples and founding of Ten- Harrison Liftman (‘22), ested in value investing. sile, his approach to gen- and Cathy Yao (‘22) eralist value investing, share their buy thesis on idea generation, and Ten- Live Nation (LYV) as an sile’s unique blend of pub- attractive covid-19 re- lic and private investing. covery idea. Finally, Na- Mr. Young also shares his than Shapiro ('22), Le- views on the attractive vente Merczel ('22), Kyle aspects of investing in Heck ('22), Kirk Mahoney software businesses. ('22), and Vineet Ahuja ('21) share their long Next, we interviewed thesis on RealPage (RP). John Huber, Managing Partner and founder of Lastly, you can find more Saber Capital Manage- interviews on the Value ment. Mr. Huber shares Investing with Legends his early experiences with podcast, hosted by Pro- investing, his decision to fessor Tano Santos. Pro- start Saber, and the evo- fessor Santos has recent- Professor Tano Santos, lution of his investment ly conducted interviews the Faculty Director of the style. Mr. Huber is a very with guests including Heilbrunn Center. The thoughtful investor whose Howard Marks, Jan Hum- Center sponsors the Value firm is modeled after the mel, Mohnish Pabrai, Sa- Investing Program, a rig- original Buffett Partner- mantha Greenberg, and orous academic curricu- ship fee structure. His David Marcus. lum for particularly com- thoughts on business mitted students that is taught by some of the quality, portfolio construc- We thank our interview- industry´s best practition- tion, and developing as an ees for contributing their ers. The classes spon- investor are excellent. time and insights not sored by the Heilbrunn only to us, but to the Center are among the Lastly, we interviewed whole investing commu- most heavily demanded Wilmot Kidd and John nity. and highly rated classes Hill of Central Securities. at Columbia Business Central is a closed-end G&Dsville Editors School. fund that’s operated since October 1929. We dis- cussed the evolution of markets during Mr. Kidd’s long career, the im- portance of taking a long- term approach to invest- Volume I, IssuePage 23 Page 3 SAVE THE DATE The Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing at Columbia Business School presents THE 12TH ANNUAL From Graham to Buffett and Beyond OMAHA DINNER Date: TBD Setting: Virtual (more info to come) Tickets go on sale in March at www.grahamanddodd.com The annual From Graham to Buffett and Beyond event is generously sponsored by: For inquiries, please contact: [email protected] Page 4 Arthur Young, Tensile Capital Management Arthur Young is the attending or auditing conviction. But I think Portfolio Manager of business school classes most importantly as a Tensile Capital at Haas, than learning litigator, you learn to Management, a firm the law school case respect both sides of an he co-founded in studies. argument. As a lawyer, 2012. Tensile employs it's plaintiff versus an opportunistic value Armed with a law degree defendant. As an approach to investing but also a hefty student investor, it's the bull in the public markets, loan balance, I was case versus the bear managing a fortunate to land an offer case. And whether concentrated portfolio from a well-regarded you're on the long side and working closely firm in my hometown of or the short side, you with management Miami. I learned and should respect both. teams to enhance developed some critical shareholder skills working as a “As a litigator, you Arthur Young, value. Tensile also securities and makes select private commercial litigator that learn to respect both Tensile Capital investments. helped me down the Management road as an investor. sides of an argument. Editor’s Note: This Because you come in As a lawyer, it's interview took place after the problem has on January 6th, 2021. manifested itself in some plaintiff versus form or fashion, you defendant. As an Graham & Doddsville learn a lot about the (G&D): Can you start by consequences of certain investor, it's the bull telling us about your decisions, how the background and how you sequencing of events case versus the bear got into investing? can impact an outcome, case. And whether and ultimately, how Arthur Young (AY): things can go wrong. you're on the long From an early age, I've always been intrigued by You also recognize the side or the short side, numbers, puzzles, importance of gathering you should respect problem solving, and your own facts and game theory. And if you evidence, as you will, to both.” think about it, that's support your case. what investing boils Hearsay doesn't cut it, All that said, being a down to ultimately. It's a so if you think about commercial and complex interplay of what we do as investors securities litigator these elements along in gathering primary doesn't exactly lead to with judgment, research, which our Fidelity knocking on your experience, and process is very heavily door offering you a job. humility. And although I dependent on, that's Fortunately, after paying majored in economics incredibly important. off my student loans and and studied markets starting to look for extensively in college, I Of course, the skills you opportunities, right actually went to law develop in taking around that time school at Berkeley. depositions and cross- McKinsey announced The education, rigor, and examining witnesses that they were opening a structure that I learned come in handy when you Miami office and ramping there had a profound interview management up their efforts to recruit impact on how I analyze teams, competitors and non-MBA graduates. At issues. But it was really experts. You're trained McKinsey, I was able to during that time in law to listen to certain words learn the nuts and bolts school that I realized and read body language. of businesses and how to that my passion was in You learn to identify work with senior investing. I probably when management management teams. spent more time reading teams are being evasive. the Wall Street Journal And you also learn when Shortly after I was and Barron’s, and they have true (Continued on page 5) Page 5 Arthur Young, Tensile Capital Management promoted at McKinsey, the ideal partner from a are a lot of different Fir Tree Partners, “devil’s advocate” ways to look at founded by Jeff perspective, given his companies, to look at Tannenbaum, opened an experience and natural different securities office in Miami. I was the skepticism. Blum was throughout the capital first, and really only hire also where I joined a structure, to be creative in the Miami office public company board, in your due diligence, during my two years JDA Software – which and to be persistently there, which allowed me was instrumental to my Socratic about every to work side-by-side development in position that you own. At with the late Andrew understanding the Blavin, it was a focus on Fredman, who was importance of corporate deep value and actually a Columbia governance and learning concentration. And at MBA; I believe he was about enterprise Blum, I furthered my one of the best, under- software. recognition of the power the-radar investors of of working with our generation. His G&D: What are the management teams and energy, bandwidth, and principles behind the boards. Thus, when you ability to just distill a origin of Tensile Capital, think about Tensile complicated investment and what kind of value today, we do all of thesis into two sentences investing approach do those, and none of them was amazing. Under his you take? are mutually exclusive. tutelage, I learned to do It's really a value everything from capital AY: Doug and I felt that orientation we call structure arbitrage, to we could combine the opportunistic value, distressed debt best of our shared and combined with investing, to short individual experiences in concentration – and in selling. forming Tensile Capital certain instances, in 2012, and that's really working with Subsequently, I went to the opportunity to invest management teams and a firm, Blavin & Co., on behalf of like-minded boards to drive where I learned the investors and institutions shareholder value. power of concentration in an opportunistic and and truly deep value selective fashion over a investing. long-term horizon. At “It's really a value Afterwards, I led the Tensile, we have two public equity investing classes in our fund – a orientation we call effort at Blum Capital, public-only class and a where I was able to hybrid class, where we opportunistic value, hone my skills in invest in both public and combined with working with illiquid securities.