Welcome back to MT Capital Research! If you’re new, join a group of 10.2K Informed Investors who receive frequent reports on the World’s Most Interesting Companies by subscribing below:
MT Capital Research is a reader-supported publication. If you want exclusive access to monthly reports on companies I believe warrant attention consider upgrading below:
Hi all,
As long-term readers are aware, the primary focus of this newsletter is to provide in-depth company-specific research, a lane that I have strictly contained myself within since inception. However, on occasion, I feel it is of use to provide an update on how the newsletter as an entity is actually functioning. So here we are folks, let’s start MT Capital Research 2022 in Review.
First off, let’s talk numbers. This same time last year when I was reflecting on the journey so far, I was ecstatic with the progress I had made. At that time, I had approximately 3265 newsletter subscribers and 8000 followers on Twitter, growth that started from essentially zero in April of 2021. Heading into 2022, I wanted to exceed the pace I set in the year previous, a test I passed with flying colours, even despite the historic market environment and the obliteration of sentiment that has greatly reduced the overall interest in investing-related content. As of January 1st, 2023 I have approximately 10.23K newsletter subscribers, a 313% increase from last year, and 20.3K+ twitter followers, a 255% increase from last year.
Upon reflection, I would primarily attribute this growth to two things: network effects and noticeable content quality improvements. Starting with the former, there is no doubt in my mind that it becomes easier to achieve upward momentum once you have a solid foundation underneath you. The more followers on twitter you have, the more people come into contact with your content, the more individuals that feel compelled to share your work with their peers, so on and so forth. Combined with the fact that the Substack recommendation feature has been a steady deliverer of traffic (thank you to the 40 writers that recommend my work to their subscribers), MT Capital Research has been reaping the rewards of a strong network, a phenomenon I expect to continue going forwards.
Moving over to the latter, there has been a night and day improvement in my content. I am of the opinion that if you don’t look back at your past work with a slight hint of disappointment then you haven’t improved enough. In the last 6 months in particular, I believe I have really honed my craft. My work has remained in-depth, but I feel the addition of quantitative valuation analysis has added an extra layer of usefulness that readers can leverage to determine what assumptions they need to make to achieve a reasonable return on the company in question.
With that in mind, how exactly do I envision the future of MT Capital Research? Let’s start off with the content. The entire way I view investing was changed this year when I watched this 2 hour+ Grant Williams interview with Anthony Deden. Therein, the viewer gets inside the mind of a seasoned asset manager that views things so differently from the industry as a whole. Deden outlines the importance of finding generational businesses, of which are run with incentive structures completely different from the short-termism ingrained within modern finance, and are structured to withstand the test of time. This video really resonated with me in a way that words will not sufficiently explain, and since then I have been fascinated with studying businesses that fit the aforementioned criteria, a fascination that will be reflected in the topics of the large majority of my upcoming deep-dives. I am prioritizing this focus because I feel it is disingenuous to continue to solely focus on companies that I have little interest in analyzing, and that don’t align with the criteria I myself find important when investing.
Next, let’s spend a few seconds on the concept of seeing dreams through. I continue to aspire to make MT Capital Research my sole endeavour, and allocate considerable amounts of my time to making this a reality. I am only 24 and I believe a decade of continued nose-to-the-grindstone effort will bring this goal into fruition. Looking forward, my two focus points for 2023 will be obtaining 20K newsletter subscribers and 40K twitter followers, each of which I believe are achievable by year-end and will bring me closer to my goal.
Lastly, in August of 2021 I set 5-year goals for myself and I believe I have exceeded the majority of these expectations. Although I still feel like a little more time is required until I'm comfortable launching a podcast, I continue to aim to smash through the goals I set for myself going forward.
To all my family, friends, and readers, thank you. Without you, the work needed to continue MT Capital Research would not be feasible nor justifiable. I am eternally grateful for the support I have received and will continue putting out the highest quality research possible.
Happy New Year,
Matt from MT Capital Research.
Congratulations MT and Happy New Year!
Great job so far, all the best in 2023!