Where Would You Invest $100,000 Right Now?

Please send me investment ideas which spread Hope.

Where E. B. White imagined some Hopeful things.

“All that I hope to say in books, all that I ever hope to say, is that I love the world. I guess you can find that in there, if you dig around.” – EB White

In the spirit of full disclosure and as I often get asked in private emails I thought I’d tell you where I’ve been investing my money.

Candidly I don’t really know my net worth and I’ve never really bothered to try to figure it out. I know it’s a lot but I try to live modestly and middle class with a few private indulgences every now and again.

I prefer investing in early stage businesses which make the world objectively a better place and which above all else spread hope. When I was in a very, very low place I read a letter from E.B. White that helped me get to the next tomorrow and the tomorrow after that and the tomorrow after that tomorrow. Before long I climbed myself out of the rut and I’m mostly good as new.

Here’s that letter which I always keep at hand.

North Brooklin, Maine,
30 March 1973

Dear Mr. Nadeau:

As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing that is left to us, in a bad time. I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the clock, as a contribution to order and steadfastness.

Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say, the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human society — things can look dark, then a break shows in the clouds, and all is changed, sometimes rather suddenly. It is quite obvious that the human race has made a queer mess of life on this planet. But as a people we probably harbor seeds of goodness that have lain for a long time waiting to sprout when the conditions are right. Man’s curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that these same traits will enable him to claw his way out.

Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.

Above all else, I believe in spreading hope and I believe that the traits which are best in us will ultimately win out. (You might even say I believe in traiting well…)

Now I don’t really believe in public displays of philanthropy — too noisy, too noisy! — but I do believe in anonymous charity which I believe includes your time, treasure, and talent. I believe you’ve got duties consistent with your station and that the fulfillment of those duties — paradoxically — is where the real joy lies.

I’ve backed lawsuits as well with mixed success. I won the Gawker lawsuit—and lost at the Supreme Court. Oh well. Naturally I’m trying to figure out how to short Fox News ahead of the Dominion lawsuit. Did you know Rupert Murdoch is going to be deposed? Did you know he took $100M from the Bank of China? Try that one on for size with your favorite Fox News watcher and watch the cognitive dissonance.

I’m personally investing $600,000 in Traitwell.com, the genetics company I cofounded. Traitwell processes the latest in genetics research with genome-wide associated studies on topics or traits of interest to the wider public.

Traitwell is free if you’ve done 23andMe or Ancestry genetic testing and it’ll remain so. Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think. I’ll be writing more about Traitwell as we launch new offerings. Frankly I’m thrilled by the progress we’ve made and it’s a real privilege to work with one of my best friends and the team she and I have assembled. Ultimately I want to build the largest genetics database in the world. We’re going to approach the Deceased, Infants, Migrants, Prisoners, and Soldiers (DIMPS) markets in the coming year. If you have any connections there please drop me a line. Or any other suggestions on the genetics stuff.

I remain very bullish on genetics. Companies I’ve backed in that space include Othram, which is systematically solving all the murders and rapes in the Five Eyes countries, and Genomic Prediction (now LifeView) which is helping couples with IVF.

More recently I’ve become more interested in payments in politically sensitive areas and restaurant tracking technology. So I backed Payala ($100,000) and Repeat ($100,000). I’ll likely be investing in a new type of wind turbine in the next bit though that’ll be mostly through a special purpose vehicle.

When I last ask a friend this question he suggested bitcoin… in 2013. I listened then so I ask you, dear reader, where would you invest $100,000?

Any investment counts though as a rule I don’t trade public equities — not interested in the Chinese casino of the stock market! — and no, I won’t blame you if your suggestion goes to zero but I’m curious as to how you think about these things and why you think the way that you do.

“Life’s meaning has always eluded me and I guess it always will. But I love it just the same.” — E. B. White