Planet MicroCap Podcast | MicroCap Investing Strategies

Episódios Disponíveis

5 de 253

The Anatomy of a Fallen Angel: Management, Mispricing, and Turnarounds + Weight Watchers $WW Thesis with Paul Cerro, Founder and CIO of Cedar Grove Capital Management
My guest on the show today is Paul Cerro, Founder and CIO of Cedar Grove Capital Management, and today’s conversation is all about fallen angels — once high-profile companies that collapse due to poor execution, leverage, or macro pressure, but can become some of the most mispriced and compelling opportunities in the market. Paul breaks down the anatomy of a fallen angel, why these setups create structural market inefficiencies — especially in illiquid micro-caps — and how forced selling, headline-driven reactions, and information scarcity can disconnect price from fundamentals. Most importantly, he explains the key dividing line between a genuine opportunity and a value trap: management credibility. In micro-caps, direct access to leadership gives investors a rare ability to test their assumptions and validate the story before making a high-conviction bet. We also zoom out to the macro landscape, where Paul sees 2026 shaping up as a major buyout year for fallen companies. With private equity sitting on record dry powder — and the potential for rate cuts — consumer-facing businesses, retailers, restaurants, and even selected real estate names could become prime acquisition targets. And then we dig into a fascinating case study: Weight Watchers (WW) — a company Cedar Grove originally shorted into bankruptcy, and one Paul now views as a compelling post-reorg long. He walks us through the dramatic deleveraging, the mandatory cash-sweep that accelerates equity value creation, and the company’s strategic pivot toward a holistic wellness model that integrates behavioral coaching with GLP-1 medications. It’s a rare look at how a fallen angel can move from short to long purely based on fundamentals, incentives, and structure. This episode is a deep dive into special situations, fallen angels, restructuring dynamics, and the psychology required to separate opportunity from permanent impairment. And for full disclosure, Paul mentions a number of companies today, and I’m not a shareholder in any of them. For more information about Paul Cerro and Cedar Grove Capital Management, please visit: https://www.cedargrovecm.com/ We just announced our full slate of investor conferences for 2026, all in partnership with MicroCapClub. Our next major event is Planet MicroCap: LAS VEGAS, happening June 16–18, 2026, at the Bellagio. Registration is now open for that. And, later in the year, we’ll be heading back to Toronto, October 27-29, 2026 at the Arcadian Loft. The mission is to bring the best microcap investors and companies together to gather, connect, and grow. This includes your participation. We know you are putting your 2026 investor conference calendars together, and we’d like to humbly invite you to join us for one or both of them. Please visit www.planetmicrocapshowcase.com for more information. See you in Vegas and Toronto! Planet MicroCap Podcast is on YouTube! All archived episodes and each new episode will be posted on the Planet MicroCap YouTube channel. I’ve provided the link in the description if you’d like to subscribe. You’ll also get the chance to watch all our Video Interviews with management teams, educational panels from the conference, as well as expert commentary from some familiar guests on the podcast. Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1Q5Yfym Click here to rate and review the Planet MicroCap Podcast The Planet MicroCap Podcast is brought to you by SNN Incorporated, The Official MicroCap News Source, and the Planet MicroCap Review Magazine, the leading magazine in the MicroCap market. You can Follow the Planet MicroCap Podcast on Twitter @BobbyKKraft
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Thinking like Private Owners in the Public Markets with Jason Kirsch, Portfolio Manager at Rosen Partnership
My guest on the show today is Jason Kirsch, Portfolio Manager at Rosen Partnership and co-architect of the firm’s Active Value Strategy — a concentrated, long-only, private-owner-style approach to investing in micro-cap companies across Canada, the U.S., and Europe. In this episode, Jason walks us through Rosen Partnership’s philosophy of thinking like private owners in the public markets: buying capital-light, high-ROIC compounders at meaningful discounts to intrinsic value; partnering with aligned management teams; and using “constructivism” — a collaborative, non-activist engagement style — to help unlock long-term value. We dig deep into how Jason builds a true knowledge edge: talking not just to management, but to former executives, board members, competitors, suppliers — anyone who can broaden the mosaic and create an informational gap most investors simply aren’t willing to develop. Jason also shares lessons learned from catalysts that didn’t play out, how misaligned incentives can turn a bargain into a value trap, and why understanding your own psychology is just as important as understanding any business. For more information about Rosen Partnership, please visit: https://www.rosenpartnership.com/ We just announced our full slate of investor conferences for 2026, all in partnership with MicroCapClub. Our next major event is Planet MicroCap: LAS VEGAS, happening June 16–18, 2026, at the Bellagio. Registration is now open for that. And, later in the year, we'll be heading back to Toronto, October 27-29, 2026 at the Arcadian Loft. The mission is to bring the best microcap investors and companies together to gather, connect, and grow. This includes your participation. We know you are putting your 2026 investor conference calendars together, and we'd like to humbly invite you to join us for one or both of them. Please visit www.planetmicrocapshowcase.com for more information. See you in Vegas and Toronto! Planet MicroCap Podcast is on YouTube! All archived episodes and each new episode will be posted on the Planet MicroCap YouTube channel. I’ve provided the link in the description if you’d like to subscribe. You’ll also get the chance to watch all our Video Interviews with management teams, educational panels from the conference, as well as expert commentary from some familiar guests on the podcast. Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1Q5Yfym Click here to rate and review the Planet MicroCap Podcast The Planet MicroCap Podcast is brought to you by SNN Incorporated, The Official MicroCap News Source, and the Planet MicroCap Review Magazine, the leading magazine in the MicroCap market. You can Follow the Planet MicroCap Podcast on Twitter @BobbyKKraft
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36:52
Capital Cycles, Moats, and Margin of Safety + Thoughts on $AAP $TRBR.V with Kenny Chan, Founder & Portfolio Manager of Korwell Capital
My guest on the show today is Kenny Chan, Founder and Portfolio Manager of Korwell Capital. Kenny is only 23, but he’s built an investment philosophy rooted in the classics — Peter Lynch, Joel Greenblatt, Warren Buffett — and adapted with a modern, high-conviction approach. His north star: “Buy Phil Fisher–like businesses at Graham-like prices.” Kenny walks us through the four categories that define his framework: misunderstood Buffett-like compounders, deep Graham-style value plays, capital-cycle opportunities, and turnarounds. We discuss how he launched Korwell Capital straight out of college, and how investing his own convictions — not academic theory — drives his process. We dig into two examples that bring this to life. First, Advance Auto Parts, where Kenny saw a rare combination of capital-cycle tailwinds, industry consolidation, and a fixable integration problem — creating a classic turnaround at a very cheap price. Second, Trubar, which received a takeover bid on the day of our interview. Kenny breaks down why he viewed the company as a niche brand with a durable moat, why the sale undervalues its long-term potential, and the critical lesson he’s taking away: understand management incentives before you invest. We wrap with Kenny’s advice for aspiring managers — especially the importance of writing publicly, testing your theses, and building a network through the quality of your ideas. We talked about a number of companies in today's episode, Kenny is a shareholder of Advance Auto Parts and Trubar, and I am not a shareholder in any of the names mentioned. For more information about Kenny Chan and Korwell Capital, please visit: https://korwellcapital.com/ Planet MicroCap Podcast is on YouTube! All archived episodes and each new episode will be posted on the Planet MicroCap YouTube channel. I’ve provided the link in the description if you’d like to subscribe. You’ll also get the chance to watch all our Video Interviews with management teams, educational panels from the conference, as well as expert commentary from some familiar guests on the podcast. Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1Q5Yfym Click here to rate and review the Planet MicroCap Podcast The Planet MicroCap Podcast is brought to you by SNN Incorporated, The Official MicroCap News Source, and the Planet MicroCap Review Magazine, the leading magazine in the MicroCap market. You can Follow the Planet MicroCap Podcast on Twitter @BobbyKKraft
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45:24
Crypto at a Crossroads: Institutional Viability and Remaining Risks with Jacob Stephan, Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street Capital Markets
My guest on the show today is Jacob Stephan, Senior Research Analyst at Lake Street Capital Markets. He recently authored a “Crypto Industry” white paper, and I invited him on to break it down. In this episode, Jacob lays out why digital assets have crossed into institutional viability—a “normalization phase” driven by clearer regulation, enterprise-grade infrastructure, and real corporate adoption. We discuss the internet-style adoption curve (crypto at ~7% global penetration), why regulation is the cornerstone of investability (FIT 21 progress, the new FASB fair-value accounting, and pending clarity in the U.S.), and how stablecoins—“dollars with an API”—are emerging as the killer app with multi-trillion settlement volumes. Jacob walks through concrete examples from Visa, Mastercard, and JPMorgan moving beyond pilots to on-chain settlement, and contrasts stablecoins’ payment utility with Bitcoin’s treasury/“digital gold” role. We also cover the nuanced risks: centralization at the access layer (custody, cloud, compliance), state-by-state regulatory differences, speculative micro-cap “crypto treasury” raises, and why bipartisan momentum reduces—but doesn’t eliminate—policy risk. Finally, Jacob shares the “picks and shovels” angle—cloud, fintech/payments, and semiconductors—as scalable ways to participate in the build-out without direct token exposure, and why even low single-digit institutional allocations could materially move the asset class. We discussed a number of crypto currencies in today’s episode. Jacob owns SOL, SUI and BTC, and for full disclosure, I also own BTC. For more information about Lake Street Capital Markets, please visit: https://www.lakestreetcapitalmarkets.com/ Planet MicroCap Podcast is on YouTube! All archived episodes and each new episode will be posted on the Planet MicroCap YouTube channel. I’ve provided the link in the description if you’d like to subscribe. You’ll also get the chance to watch all our Video Interviews with management teams, educational panels from the conference, as well as expert commentary from some familiar guests on the podcast. Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1Q5Yfym Click here to rate and review the Planet MicroCap Podcast The Planet MicroCap Podcast is brought to you by SNN Incorporated, The Official MicroCap News Source, and the Planet MicroCap Review Magazine, the leading magazine in the MicroCap market. You can Follow the Planet MicroCap Podcast on Twitter @BobbyKKraft
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57:22
Financial Archaeology: Deep Research and Uncommon Insights with Gwen Hofmeyr, Founder and Senior Analyst at Maiden Financial
My guest on the show today is Gwen Hofmeyr, Founder and Senior Analyst at Maiden Financial. In this episode, Gwen walks us through her unique research methodology — which she refers to as “financial archaeology.” This is a process built around extremely deep, original investigative work designed to uncover uncommon information — insights that simply aren’t available in typical company reports or mainstream research. We discuss how Gwen routinely spends 200 to 600 hours analyzing a single company, validating market share by breaking down thousands of individual products, and constructing an understanding of a business that is entirely independent of management narrative and sell-side opinion. We also talk about how this approach leads to owner-level conviction, and why that conviction matters so much in the microcap universe, where volatility is high and broad consensus is often absent. Gwen also shares why some of the most compelling opportunities she’s finding today are in Europe, particularly in industrial and lagging-edge technology companies, and how AI is actually increasing the value of deep human research — not replacing it. For more information about Maiden Financial, please visit: https://www.maidenfinancial.io/ Planet MicroCap Podcast is on YouTube! All archived episodes and each new episode will be posted on the Planet MicroCap YouTube channel. I’ve provided the link in the description if you’d like to subscribe. You’ll also get the chance to watch all our Video Interviews with management teams, educational panels from the conference, as well as expert commentary from some familiar guests on the podcast. Subscribe here: http://bit.ly/1Q5Yfym Click here to rate and review the Planet MicroCap Podcast The Planet MicroCap Podcast is brought to you by SNN Incorporated, The Official MicroCap News Source, and the Planet MicroCap Review Magazine, the leading magazine in the MicroCap market. You can Follow the Planet MicroCap Podcast on Twitter @BobbyKKraft
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