Merrill Stillwell

Campaign door knocking with some serious helpers! Had to drag our 3 year old off the streets to get ready for bed (mom was working late at the hospital)

-ignore process, focus on power
-come over the top w/ pressure from higher ups when needed

-sneak beneficial procedural rules into non-controversial bills
-delay delay in the legal system (& use public funding)
-buy off needed people w/ jobs & contracts
-blackmail electeds via intentionally difficult situations
-outlast electeds w/ shorter terms

Wild read & I'm only 1/3 in (~1920s). Robert Moses was a bureaucrat w/ way more power than almost all politicians in NY. Some of the tactics he was using early on:
-latch on to populist causes (parks for him)
-starting a project made it impossible to stop
-always always underestimate costs

I'm running for City Council in my hometown of Littleton, CO! Littleton is an awesome place and I'm excited to work to make it even better.

Please vote for me & donate any amount!

Check out the campaign website for more info & to donate!

stillwell4littleton.com

Businesses with sustainable moats will benefit the most from AI. Highly competitive industries could be really difficult as AI compete away profits

Epic time to finally attend the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting with my mom & brother. It is too cool that an entire sports arena packed with people get together to celebrate old school American business.

A little more than a month later, the US stock market is now higher than the day before Liberation Day tariffs were announced.

It is so so hard to predict where markets will move.

6:30 AM sunrise in line for the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting! With fellow fans my mom and brother

Wild stat: gold has outperformed the S&P 500 since 2000

One of my favorite investing quotes from Henry Singleton:

"I believe in maximum flexibility, so I reserve the right to change my position on any subject when the external environment relating to any topic changes, too."

Headed to the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha for the first time in 2 weeks! Anyone have recommendations for events to attend around the main event? (DM me if you want to meet up as well!)

Opening up my thoughts publicly has been a major accelerator of my learning process. Both through writing online (Twitter/LinkedIn) + speaking publicly (Toastmasters). Intimidating but hugely positive.The exposure has helped me refine my ideas + meet some amazing people. I can't recommend it enough!

Super simple chart showing the structure of a LIHTC affordable housing project:

(via the @resetbasis Substack)

The places I hang out & invest all have "parking problems."

Both are true:
-these locations are so popular that parking fills up
-they are popular because the design is less car focused

Signing a lease w/ a great new small business for the long term >>>>>> selling a property for short term profit

Beautiful parking lot sharers:
-coffeeshop/brewery
-church/school
-gym/dentist
-hotel/office
-library/park

A big shift. The pandemic + millennials starting families pushing growth to the suburbs

Favorite Denver bars
Star Bar
High Lonesome
esp
Herb's
Don’s
Sobo 151
Seven Grand

Much tougher to build new renewable sources w/ high financing costs

mailchi.mp/zeihan/will-...

Conventional power plant (coal, natural gas): ~20% of lifetime cost is up front construction, the other 80% is in ongoing fuel & operations

Renewable facility (wind, solar): ~2/3 of the lifetime cost is up front. The other 1/3 is in operations (fuel is free)

Finding great investments is hard enough. Difficult to understand business plans, complicated ownership structures & fat tail risk just aren't worth it.

Signs of life in downtown Denver! Boutique hotels are always great for pedestrians to walk in & around.

The Populus Hotel (left) & The Slate Hotel (right) here

And, for the first time, real frustration w/ memecoins printing random fortunes & taking attention from anything serious in the space.

Stopped by an Eth Denver event expecting everyone to be excited w/ Bitcoin +40% in the last 6 months & the most favorable gov't in its existence...

But everyone was apocalyptic. Pessimism everywhere. All negative due to short term price drops (which seems silly in the big picture)

Adventures in real estate: anyone have ideas for how to get rid of this thing?? Total disaster inside & it was abandoned on a remote mountain property.

Best Colorado whiskey:
1. Laws
2. Peach Street
3. Old Elk
4. Woody Creek
5. Stranahan's

(RIP Golden Moon)

All the ski resorts close to Denver are world class but Vail is my clear favorite.

Best skiing + restaurants + nature + fun walkable town

The bowls are one of a kind. Epic snow out there after this all-time storm!

Business lesson from my early career: there are a ton of different ways to make money but some are a heck of a lot easier than others.

Smart use of tough real estate space. No visibility + excessive parking + not super appealing + huge space.

Colorado Bounce Company is a perfect fit since it brings in its own crowd & can use the funky space. Extra nice for them: cheaper rent!