Minimalist Portfolio

The most valuable thing simplicity gives you is focus. The most valuable thing focus gives you is the ability to actually figure things out.

For a while, I bought whatever stocks seemed interesting or popular. Some went up, some didn’t. I didn’t learn much and it all felt kind of soulless.

In 2019, I decided to go deeper. I spent a year studying public market investing like a craft. I read fund letters, memos, filings, presentations, and data sources. I wanted to understand how the best investors think, how they make decisions, and how they build conviction.

The ones that stuck with me were people like Dennis Hong and Cliff Sosin. They weren’t buying a hundred different stocks. They were running tight, concentrated portfolios often with 25-30% of the fund in each position. They understood each company like a founder understands their business.

That gave me a blueprint. I now think of my own investing as a minimalist portfolio:

1. Reserves - A base of index funds (VOO and QQQ) to cover all living expenses indefinitely. I sell 3–4% a year to fund life. No rebalancing, no optimizing. It’s the part of the portfolio I don’t think about.

2. Working Portfolio - I treat this part like my own little fund. I hold 1-5 stocks where I have deep conviction. Right now, the largest positions are Meta (META), Robinhood (HOOD), and Carvana (CVNA). Some shares, some long-dated calls. If this goes to 0, I’ll still be fine. If I’m right, it moves the needle.

3. Everything Else - Funds, private deals, real estate, crypto. I don’t track this closely. It's for curiosity not returns. Maybe someday I’ll buy land.

I only focus on the working portfolio (#2). That’s where I’m trying to develop an edge.

Simplicity is clarity. Clarity demands commitment. It’s easy to hide in complexity because it feels safer. When you do something simple, you have nowhere to hide.