Steve Cohen, Piqué, Aravind Srinivas

What do Steve Cohen, Gerard Piqué Bernabéu (yes football fans, that Piqué), and Aravind Srinivas have in common?

More than you’d think. They come from wildly different worlds - finance, football, and frontier tech. But they share the same DNA of elite performance. Here’s what connects them:

• Elite performers in high pressure arenas - global financial markets, World Cup and Champions League, and the AI race.

• Deep belief in data and information advantage - alpha through data-driven analysis at Point72, analytics-driven innovation in media and sports management at Kosmos, and the real-time knowledge engine at Perplexity.

• Mastery of training and process - whether physical, mental, or computer.

• Bold transitions - comebacks, mid-season retirements, PhD dropouts. They’ve all taken sharp turns and bet on themselves.

• Talent magnets - they surround themselves with A-players. The best of the best. And they know that great teams build great outcomes.

• Cross-disciplinary minds - they don’t stay in one lane. Their success comes from blending fields and seeing connections others miss.

Different paths. Same mindset...

High conviction. High stakes. High performance.

But what else?

All three spoke Wednesday afternoon at the Sohn Investment Conference.

Before I share about the event and my experience attending, I’d greatly appreciate if you could check out their website to get involved and consider making a donation. I’ll donate all new subscription revenue for the next month (including full annual subscription amounts) from this newsletter to the Sohn Foundation. If you make a donation on their website, send me a screenshot (I don’t need to see the amount) and I’ll upgrade you to the It’s Pronounced Data Paid Tier for a year. You can reply to this email or just email me direct at [email protected].

Sohn 2025

The annual conference convenes the best and brightest investment managers in the industry to share insights, while raising funds in support of pediatric cancer research and care.

I was fortunate to attend this week, having previously only heard from many prior attendees, read notes and articles after the event, and tuned into the CNBC on-site broadcast to hear from the masters of investment research - a segment I’ve spent nearly my entire career to-date focused on.

The day started off with The Alternative Data Experience - multiple morning sessions organized by BattleFin - followed by idea presentations from Next Wave CIOs, lighting rounds, fireside discussions, and unparalleled networking opportunities.

It’s one of the only glimpses we get into the process of the most sophisticated, thoughtful, calculated, daring, and kind (yes, I said kind, ignore any media portrayal of a “hedge fund trader”) investors in the world.

As an investment research geek, I noticed a few things.

Obsession with leaving no stone unturned - or as legendary investor Peter Lynch, who managed the Fidelity Magellan Fund from 1977 to 1990 with 29.2% average annual return, put it, “the person that turns over the most rocks wins the game.”

Extensive primary research - which was referenced multiple times:

• “from our 39 telephonic expert interviews”

• “the credit card transaction data showed”

• “we revisited our expert calls from 2021 and in 2024 conducted the same calls and noticed a meaningful shift in sentiment”

• “we have spoken to 25 industry leaders”

Quantification of risk - the potential upside AND the potential downside.

More on process - “When things aren't going right, you go back to your process. If your process is consistent and you believe in your process, you get over self-doubt. Ball players go through slumps.” - Steve Cohen, Point72 + New York Mets

It’s not just about process or technology - “Investing happens more in the heart than in the head.” - John Harris, Ruane Cunniff.

A special thanks to Evan Sohn for your the invite to attend, for hosting this phenomenal event now in its 30th year, and for your relentless commitment to the fight against pediatric cancer, having raised $150 million for groundbreaking research, technology, and programs to target cures and improve patient care.

Some pics from the event below…

Steve's phone rang mid-discussion. He said it was important. So we are all assuming it was either Juan Soto or Tim Harrington 😉 (many don’t know that Tim used to work for Steve).

Also, shoutout to David Einhorn for including multiple cartoons and memes in his presentation. In his words, “my ‘cartoon person’ put these together - yes, that’s a job that exists at Greenlight.”

And Kristov Paulus who presented on Robinhood with a slide clarifying that he realizes he’s at Sohn, not Robin Hood (the Robin Hood Foundation annual gala was Monday, drawing many of the same attendees), and that he is not Vlad Tenev (had me fooled - look at his LinkedIn photo).

And Larry Robbins, who used his 10 minute slot to do not one, but two pitches, condensing more information and insight into each than most can include in an hour. Like, truly unbelievable watching this guy present. The person next to me leaned over and said “that’s why he’s the best.” My phone buzzed 5 minutes later with a text from another friend in the audience. It read, “That’s why he da the best.”

Instructions from the photographer: “do that celeb/model no-smile look”

I need to watch Zoolander again and work on my Blue Steel… pretty sure I just look tired 😂