Oct 11, 2026 · 28 min
Ackman’s concentrated bets meet Australian brands abroad
Live from New York: Bill Ackman, Aussie businesses & other observations
The episode links a high-conviction investment philosophy with a practical question about why some Australian businesses travel better than others.
- 1Bill Ackman favors concentrated positions in enduring companies with strong competitive advantages and long-term growth potential.
- 2Uber’s autonomous-vehicle opportunity could either reinforce its marketplace moat or challenge the business model that supports it.
- 3Australian brands succeed in the United States when they translate cultural strengths while adapting to crowded local markets.
Don't miss
The hosts debate whether autonomous vehicles will strengthen Uber’s marketplace moat or threaten the business it currently operates.
The brief
Bryce and Alec reflect on their Bill Ackman interview, covering artificial intelligence, Warren Buffett, long-term investing, concentrated portfolios, and the patience available to everyday investors.
Their portfolio primer centers on Ackman’s preference for a small number of moat-focused companies, while Pershing Square’s listed structures raise questions about discounts to underlying asset value.
Uber becomes the sharpest test of the thesis: autonomous vehicles could improve the marketplace, but they could also weaken the moat built around connecting riders and drivers.
The discussion then turns to Australian brands in the United States, contrasting café and food concepts that found cultural traction with expansions that misread competition or local expectations.
The episode’s broader lesson is that durable investing and successful expansion both depend on identifying a real advantage—and understanding when the surrounding market can erode it.
What was said on this episode
30 statements · 18 positive · 12 negative
Everyday investors should exploit their longer time horizons.
“And so we should take advantage of it.”
Listen at 0:30
Everyday investors should use patience unavailable to quarterly-reporting professionals.
“everyday investors, we have that opportunity to just be patient. And so we should take advantage of it.”
Listen at 6:05
Bill Ackman favors concentrated investments in enduring companies.
“Bill's philosophy really centers around concentration. He's very concentrated, finding enduring companies and then going hard on them.”
Listen at 7:02
Pershing Square’s holding company rose 145% since its listing.
“it's up 145% since listing”
Listen at 8:25
PSUS declined 6% over the past twelve months.
“PSUS is down 6% for the past 12 months”
Listen at 8:32
PSH declined 20% over the past twelve months.
“PSH is down 20% the past 12 months.”
Listen at 8:37
PSUS and PSH trade below asset value despite investment performance not being bad.
“a big reason why they're down isn't because the investment performance has been bad. It's because they both trade at massive discounts to their assets.”
Listen at 8:40
PSUS trades at a 23% discount to its underlying assets.
“The PSUS trades at a 23% discount.”
Listen at 9:11
PSH trades at approximately a 36% discount to its assets.
“the European version, it's trading at like $64, 36% discount.”
Listen at 9:28
Listed investment company prices can diverge from underlying performance due to supply and demand.
“That is the reason why I hate LSEs. It's because it's purely driven by supply and demand of the listed stock, not the actual underlying performance.”
Listen at 9:36
Active ETFs provide investors the value of their underlying assets.
“you get the value of the underlying assets.”
Listen at 10:08
Listed investment company share prices may not rise with underlying asset values.
“with LICs, they can go from $100 to $110 and the share price can not move.”
Listen at 10:18
Uber has become meaningfully profitable over approximately five years.
“it's really become a meaningful, like meaningfully profitable.”
Listen at 11:43
Uber has become the globally dominant ride-hailing player.
“It's become the monopoly player globally.”
Listen at 11:55
Uber would benefit greatly by aggregating autonomous-vehicle ride supply.
“if it can, like, aggregate supply from Waymo and Apollo Go and Zooks and Tesla, and it can be the one place where people order their rides, it'll be a massive winner”
Listen at 12:25
Bryce Leske expects Uber to aggregate autonomous-vehicle ride supply successfully.
“Which I think will happen.”
Listen at 12:39
Bill Ackman seeks enduring companies resistant to long-term disruption.
“Bill's looking for companies that are enduring, can't be disrupted over the long term.”
Listen at 14:03
Guzman y Gomez closed its Chicago expansion and exited the US market.
“they decided to shutter it and leave the us market”
Listen at 16:04
Job Watson’s Cafe has six New York City locations and continues expanding.
“they now have six locations in New York City, including a Speak Easy cocktail lounge, so still doing well and expanding.”
Listen at 17:23
Sushi Counter expanded to three stores, over 30 staff, and 2,000 rolls daily.
“the business has absolutely skyrocketed from three stores over 30 staff doing 2,000 roles a day and expanding.”
Listen at 18:25
This Bowl has four US locations.
“They have four locations in the US”
Listen at 19:09
Aesop has 78 stores in the United States.
“now has 78 stores in the US.”
Listen at 20:10
Pie Face’s US expansion collapsed within three years amid closures and lawsuits.
“it collapsed in a wave of uh us store closures and then lawsuits within three years”
Listen at 21:09
Aporto ended its US expansion by April 2013.
“By April 2013, they were done.”
Listen at 21:45
Crust Pizza abandoned its planned Los Angeles expansion after opening one store.
“They tried to enter LA in the early 2010s, opened one store, planned to open a lot more, gave up, never opened more.”
Listen at 21:57
Australian expansions fail when entering highly competitive markets or misreading local terminology.
“what hasn't, they've come into an incredibly competitive market. Guzman, Mexican food, incredibly competitive. Crust, pizza, pie face they just got wrong with vocab.”
Listen at 22:36
Australian brands succeed by innovating on familiar US products rather than changing tastes.
“coffee, the others, it's sort of like not coming in and saying we're going to try and change your taste preferences or anything. It's just kind of innovation on what perhaps already existed.”
Listen at 22:48
Bluestone Lane has 55 locations across eight US states.
“They've got 55 locations in eight states.”
Listen at 24:43
Thailand’s government has invested in promoting Thai food internationally.
“the Thai government has invested in rolling out Thai food around the world.”
Listen at 25:13
Australian government support could strengthen Australian coffee culture abroad.
“Imagine if the government backed it.”
Listen at 26:00
Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.
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