Before You Proceed

I will get to the content, I promise. Let me meander through some disclosures first.

The Short Version

My closest friends do not trust me with the choice of ice cream toppings. You should extend that skepticism to everything on this site. Nothing here—the articles, the spreadsheets, the chatbot—is financial advice. I am a guy on the internet sharing his homework. (The homework has been wrong before.)

Pinch your left ear-lobe and say it with me: "This is NOT investment advice."

The Legal Reality

I am not a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, or financial planner with the SEC, FINRA, or any regulatory body in any jurisdiction. No fiduciary relationship exists between us. I owe you nothing except hopefully an interesting read. You owe me nothing except maybe a polite disagreement in the comments.

Conflicts of Interest

I hold positions in the securities I discuss. Obviously. Why would I write about things I do not own? (Actually, I have done that too. Humans are inconsistent.) I may buy more tomorrow. I may sell everything in a panic at 3am. I have no obligation to tell you when I do. Our interests may diverge at any moment.

On the AI Chatbot

There is a chatbot on this site that sounds like me. Flattering, I know. It uses artificial intelligence and will occasionally hallucinate, misremember, or state nonsense with great confidence. (Also like me.) It is entertainment. If you make investment decisions based on a chatbot, we need to have a different conversation.

Past Performance & Risk

Past performance is not indicative of future results. I could be lucky. I could be skilled. (Unlikely.) The next decade could humble all of us. Markets are humbling like that. All investments carry risk, including the complete loss of principal. My portfolio is concentrated in ways that would make a financial advisor weep quietly.

Not an Offer

Nothing on this website constitutes an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. This is not a fund. This is not a solicitation. This is a blog with delusions of grandeur and a Google Sheet.

Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, I disclaim all liability for any damages arising from your use of this site or reliance on its content. You use this site at your own risk. If you lose money following ideas you found here, that is on you. If you make money, I will accept a thank-you chai.

Indemnification

By using this site, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Ninaad Mhaske and Open Source Holdings from any claims, damages, or expenses arising from your use of the content. The lawyers made me include this. I do not fully understand it myself.

Governing Law & Other Terms

This disclaimer is governed by the laws of the State of Washington. You must be at least 18 years old to use this site. (If you are younger and reading investment blogs for fun, you are either going to be very successful or very boring at parties. Possibly both.) I reserve the right to modify this disclaimer at any time. If any provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions stay in effect.

By clicking "I Understand" below, you acknowledge that you have read this disclaimer, understood it (or at least skimmed it with intent), and agree to its terms.

This preference is saved for 30 days.

Open sourcing quality investing

A lot of how the super-rich invest is public knowledge. Their letters are filed. Their portfolios are disclosed quarterly. The playbook is right there. This project distills their philosophy, reverse-engineers their moves, and publishes everything. No gatekeeping. Public track record. Judge freely.

View Holdings Read Research

Investment Philosophy

How I think about capital allocation

Everyone wants to multiply wealth. Interestingly, very few want to imitate the truly wealthy. The best investors in history—Graham, Buffett, Munger, Pabrai—have been remarkably open about their methods. Their letters are public. Their portfolios are filed quarterly. The playbook is free. Most people ignore it.

My approach is simple: find great businesses, buy them at reasonable prices, hold them for a long time. I concentrate rather than diversify. I accept volatility as the price of admission. I am comfortable being wrong for years if the thesis remains intact. (I have tested this comfort extensively.)

I look for businesses with durable competitive advantages, honest management, and long runways for growth. I try to buy them when the price provides a margin of safety. Then I do very little. The doing-very-little part is harder than it sounds. Some days I just scroll Twitter instead.

I am not trying to beat the market every quarter. I am trying to compound capital over decades. Different game. Different rules. Different temperament required. Whether I have that temperament remains an open question.

Track Record

Full transparency, updated quarterly

I publish my holdings publicly because I believe in accountability. Also because it forces me to think clearly. Hard to hide from your own spreadsheet.

Positions

8

Top Position

~25%

Geography

Global

Turnover

Low

Past performance is not indicative of future results. I could be lucky. For full holdings with cost basis and returns, view the spreadsheet.

Research & Writing

Investment theses and reflections

Long-form writeups on positions I hold, the thinking behind them, and occasional existential tangents. I title them "Reasons NOT to own" because reader skepticism is the point.

Reasons NOT to own BABA

My oldest, largest, and (at time of writing) least successful holding by all measures. I continue to be bullish. (Read: stupid.)

Alibaba · China

Reasons NOT to own Tencent

Part of my challenge is adapting to all other humans. The other part is explaining why I own a Chinese gaming company to anyone who asks.

Tencent · China

Turkish Insurance

So far I have been wrong. Of course the next thing I did was put a quarter of my net worth in Turkey. You should not be looking for insights from such a guy.

AGESA · Turkey

Kaspi: Kazakh Superapp

A fintech from Kazakhstan that somehow became one of my highest conviction positions. The world is strange. I am just along for the ride.

KSPI · Kazakhstan

Frequently Asked Questions

The questions I get asked

Who are you?

Hey there. I am Ninaad. My name means "echo" in my mother tongue. I have been a mushroom farmer, a physics tutor, a consultant, and a product manager. I currently work in Tech doing security things. Sounds impressive until you realize I spend most days in meetings.

My hobbies are limited to reading, writing, snowboarding, rock-climbing, and investing. This site is about open sourcing my investment performance—the wins, the losses, and the existential crises in between.

Why does this website exist?

A lot of how and what the super-rich invest in is public knowledge. 13F filings. Annual letters. Conference talks. This site is my attempt to distill the essence from the best people in the field, translate their philosophy into plain English, and reverse-engineer their moves.

Everyone wants to multiply wealth. Interestingly, very few want to imitate the truly wealthy. This project finds, plagiarizes, and curates great investments. The plagiarizing part is the whole point.

Why does it matter to you?

I want to be a collector of interesting, quality people. Then I want the time and optionality to learn from them. Currently, I am limited by time. (Like everyone else on this little wet rock.)

If you think of your personal kingdom—with you as the ruler—all you have is time, energy, and wealth to manage. Time flies. Energy fluctuates. Only wealth can multiply. And wealth offers optionality. That is the game.

What is the end goal here?

At the minimum, I hope you learn something new here. It is a purely selfish motive—teaching clarifies my own thinking and it makes me happy.

If I fail at that, you are probably a savvy investor already or our interests simply differ. In which case, I would like to get you a drink or a book to learn more from you. Give me the opportunity. Get in touch.

Why not just start a fund?

At this time, I am building a publicly facing track record. Managing a fund requires proficiency in raising capital, analyzing equities, tactful position sizing, ability to stomach periodic downturns, and a lot of paperwork. I am good at maybe one of those things. Maybe.

We will see. Join the waitlist if this interests you. Perhaps a decade from now we can look back and laugh. Or cry. Hard to say.

What is with the chatbot?

I built an AI chatbot trained on my writing and thinking. It sounds like me. Mostly. It hallucinates occasionally. Also like me.

You can ask it about investing, books, career, or why I left India. It is not financial advice. It is a parlor trick with delusions of usefulness. But it is kind of fun. Try it.

The Echo

Meet my echo

My name means "echo" in Marathi. So I built one. A chatbot trained on my writing and worldview. Ask about investing, books, career, or the immigrant experience. Not financial advice. (It knows this. I have told it many times.)

Talk to the echo →
you: what's your take on BABA?
bot: My oldest, largest, and least successful holding. Reader skepticism encouraged. I continue to be bullish (read stupid) about this bet.
you: any book recommendations?
bot: Poor Charlie's Almanack if you want to think better. Shoe Dog if you want to feel inspired. Sapiens if you want to ruin small talk forever.
Ninaad Mhaske

About

Ninaad Mhaske

I work in tech doing security things. Previously product management at Microsoft (Azure Cloud + AI), consulting at PwC and Capgemini. A bunch of acronyms on my resume. None of which qualifies me to give you financial advice.

I invest my own capital using principles borrowed from people much smarter than me—Graham, Buffett, Munger, Pabrai. Most of these bets are cloned. I concentrate. I hold for years. I try not to panic. Results vary.

I write to clarify my own thinking. If it helps you, wonderful. If it does not, fair enough. Either way, thank you for the gift of your time.

Background

MBA & MS in MIS, University of Arizona. CISSP, AWS Solutions Architect. Currently based in Seattle. Originally from India. (The visa situation is its own saga.)

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