Invest Like the Best

Patrick O'Shaughnessy × Alex Behring × Daniel Schwartz

3G’s concentrated model makes downside discipline and end-customer ownership the core tests, with one investment per fund and house capital as the largest check.Burger King’s cited 25x return came mainly from expanding restaurants from 12,000 to north of 30,000, while Skechers shows the opposite mandate: protect growth.With valuations “more stretched” and capital abundant, the next test is finding founder- and family-controlled businesses worth owning for decades.

Patrick O'Shaughnessy × Ari Emanuel

Ari Emanuel’s anti-AI bet is live events, supported by longer leisure windows and demand for finite, status-rich experiences across UFC, WWE, festivals, and premium hospitality.His $4.2B UFC purchase at roughly 20x nearly broke him before ESPN rights and COVID’s Fight Island proved the thesis, while a Paramount boxing league and rising sports-asset prices offer catalysts.

Patrick O'Shaughnessy × Alex Pall × Drew Taggart

Generative AI has made copyright enforcement a “cat out of the bag,” suggesting creators may gain more by shaping irreversible tools than resisting them.Spotify uploads have risen from roughly 10,000 to 190,000 each Friday and could reach a million within a few years, making originality, identity and world-building scarcer competitive assets.Mantis applies a high-touch “sixth man” model to founders while distinguishing genuine momentum from fundraising hysteria, with “What’s your DPI?”replacing marked-up IRR as the relevant test of returns.

Patrick O'Shaughnessy × Jay Hoag

Hoag sees contrarian opportunity in consumer internet as capital crowds into SaaS and AI despite 5 billion-plus engaged smartphone users.TCV targets companies after technology risk falls, emphasizing monetization, defensibility, adoption, high incremental margins, and limited leverage; private-market liquidity remains unresolved.

Patrick O'Shaughnessy × Neil Mehta

Greenoaks concentrates its capital and attention on 10–15 founders annually, seeking future S&P 500 companies rather than broad deal coverage, with more than $13 billion of profits and a 33% net IRR across nearly $15 billion of AUM.Mehta’s edge is identifying jaw-dropping customer experiences that break accepted trade-offs, as Coupang’s 12-to-24-hour delivery lifted retention from market levels in the 30s to Rocket cohorts in the 60s; concentration, growth endurance and AI economics remain key tests.