Dan Villalon is a true renaissance man, with a deep technical love for, and expertise in, investing, winemaking, and woodworking – specifically surfboards and ukuleles. It’s one thing to understand the basics of a complex and intricate topic, and quite another to be a maker. Not to mention, being able to teach and explain the way Dan does.

During the pandemic, do-it-yourself became almost a cliché. Bread, anyone? Our team was just as guilty of this trend, discovering the liberation that comes from learning how to build on your own. After listening to Dan, we’d argue the source of that liberation comes from deeper understanding and appreciation for how things are made, and for the people who do the making. In this episode, Dan elaborates on how renowned American physicist Richard Feynman changed his life with the quotation “What I cannot create I do not understand.”

More about Dan Villalon

Dan is the Managing Director and Co-Head of Portfolio Solutions Group at AQR Capital Management. In his role, he oversees the team responsible for advising clients on portfolio challenges, developing custom analysis and writing white papers and other research. Dan is also a member of AQR’s Multi-fund Investment Committee, which oversees the design construction and implementation of multi-asset multi-strategy portfolios. Listen below or click here to listen on Apple.

Last week, the New York Times featured photographer Gray Malin in their business section, but just a few weeks before that, he sat down to talk to Matt Hall as a guest on the TLV podcast. Photographer Gray Malin creates iconic images synonymous with travel. His work has taken him all over the world. In this episode, he shares stories behind select images, including how it took three years for his vision of photographing painted sheep to come to life and the surprising thing that happened during the shoot that took the images to the next level. Gray Malin’s views from above give a unique perspective. Hear about his first job in Hollywood, what inspires him and where he wants to travel to next.

This podcast episode (42 minutes) is worth listening to for a variety of reasons. Most importantly, Carl Richards is one of the best in the world at connecting money and emotion in ways real people can understand. He is the creator of the Sketch Guy column, appearing weekly in The New York Times since 2010. With over 800 simple sketches, Carl knows how to get us thinking and talking about what really matters in our lives. Through his writing, speaking, and sketches, Carl makes complex financial concepts, easy to understand. His work also serves as the foundation for his two books, The One-Page Financial Plan: A Simple Way to Be Smart About Your Money, and The Behavior Gap: Simple Ways to Stop Doing Dumb Things with Money.

Matt loved taping this episode with Carl from his new home in London and counts Carl as a long-time friend.

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