Andrew Milgram - Full-Contact Capitalism

**Patrick O'Shaughnessy** (0:00)
The best operators have a relentless focus on leverage, finding ways to multiply their impact rather than just working harder. But here's what I see happening in finance teams everywhere. Brilliant people getting buried in expense management busywork. If you think about it, you become a finance leader because you love strategic work, modeling scenarios, optimizing capital allocation, finding the insights that actually move the business forward. But instead, you're chasing receipts and categorizing transactions. It's the opposite of leverage. This is exactly why I'm so bullish on what the team at Ramp has built. Kareem and Eric understood that every minute spent on manual expense management is a minute stolen from high leverage work. So they automated all of it. Automatic categorization, receipt matching, spending controls that actually work. I love the network effect that this creates. When finance teams at companies like Shopify and Stripe automate the mundane stuff, they free up cycles to think bigger, to ask bigger questions, spot patterns others miss, and make the kind of strategic bets that separate great companies from good ones. The math is simple. Get your time back, focus on what matters. Check out ramp.com/invest and see what happens when you eliminate the busy work. Ridgeline is hosting their annual Basecamp conference this September 22nd through the 25th in Deer Valley, Utah. I will be there and soul over 50 top investment management firms from around the country. Now in its fourth year, Basecamp has become where the future of investment management is created. Ridgeline gets the most influential changemakers in the same room learning and sharing ideas about the latest innovations that are drastically altering how this industry operates. It's truly a must attend event for anyone who wants to understand and be inspired by what's coming next for investment management. Again, I'll be there but space is limited and attendance is curated. You can request an invitation by heading to ridgelineapps.com. Don't wait, registration closes August 8th. As an investor, gaining an edge means having the right tools. And one platform leading the way is AlphaSense. Trusted by 75% of the world's top hedge funds, AlphaSense is the market intelligence platform that gives institutional investors access to over 500 million premium sources. From company filings and broker research to news, trade journals and more. And with its recent acquisition of Tegus, it also includes the world's largest library of expert interview transcripts, over 200,000 calls covering more than 24,000 public and private companies. All in one platform so investment teams can move faster, go deeper and make high conviction decisions with confidence. Now AlphaSense is transforming the research process with the launch of its deep research tool, part of the next generation of its AI-powered platform. Unlike other deep research tools, AlphaSense's version is purpose-built for investment research. It runs multi-step iterative analysis using AlphaSense's proprietary content, including those 200,000 expert transcripts, and in minutes surfaces insights that would take multiple interviews and days of digging to uncover. It's like adding 10 analysts to your team, helping you accelerate analysis, deepen understanding and make sharper decisions. See it in action at alphasense.com/invest.
Hello and welcome everyone. I'm Patrick O'Shaughnessy and this is Invest Like the Best. This show is an open-ended exploration of markets, ideas, stories and strategies that will help you better invest both your time and your money. If you enjoy these conversations and want to go deeper, check out Colossus Review, our quarterly publication with in-depth profiles of the people shaping business and investing. You can find Colossus Review along with all of our podcasts at joincolossus.com.

**SPEAKER_2** (3:17)
Patrick O'Shaughnessy is the CEO of PositiveSum. All opinions expressed by Patrick and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of PositiveSum. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. Clients of PositiveSum may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this podcast. To learn more, visit p-s-u-m.v-c.

**Patrick O'Shaughnessy** (3:45)
My guest today is Andrew Milgram. Andrew is the founder of Marblegate Asset Management, an alternative investment firm that invests in credit opportunities and special situations. He joins me to discuss his unique approach to distress investing in the middle market, revealing how middle market EBITDA has declined 20 to 25% since 2019, creating what he calls the K-shaped economy. His investment stories are legendary, particularly his $600 million bet on New York City taxi medallions, which we go into in great detail. We discuss Marblegate's approach to negotiation, sourcing deals directly from hundreds of regional banks, and understanding the human element in distress situations. Please enjoy this great conversation with Andrew Milgram. Andrew, I think you and I have talked about doing this for five years.