An Incredible Experience

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend Stocktoberfest 2025 on Coronado Island. The event was hosted by Stocktwits, the stock market focused social platform.

I’ve been trying to find the right words to express the experience and honestly, I’m not sure anything fully captures just how incredible it was.

I’ve been to lord knows how many conferences across several industries for over two decades. Stocktoberfest was easily the best event I’ve ever attended. Whatever second place is, it's not even close.

I went in simply hoping to gain a bit more clarity around my work and maybe meet one or two other traders and/or market obsessed individuals. What I got was so much more.

The topics and information should impact how you should think about investing for the next decade.

Here are some of my key takeaways from the conference:

The Game Has Changed (And You're Winning)

Here's what you need to understand first: retail traders are no longer the dumb money.

Howard Lindzon opened his keynote with a chart that told the whole story—retail trading volume has nearly doubled since 2010. And this is just the beginning, as the pandemic introduced a multitude of people to markets.

Every trader and venture capitalist I spoke with agreed on one thing: you only need one major winner to reach a new level of wealth.

But here's the catch: you need to know what you're doing, spread your bets properly, and have patience. The road to ruin is paved by people trying to rush it.

What This Means for You

Markets have fundamentally changed. Retail investors who put in the work are done being bag holders at the end of each cycle.

The good news? Tools and resources that were once locked behind Wall Street's gates are now available to everyone—often for free. When I started trading 20 years ago, I could only dream of this kind of access.

The bad news? There are too many resources now, and as anything goes mainstream, charlatans flood in. This is why finding someone you trust who actually knows what they're talking about is critical.

Here's my promise: The insights I share will eventually become common knowledge. But the real wealth goes to those who learn it early. Start now.

Pro Tip: If any part of your investment thesis includes "this will happen because [insert president's name] is in office," stop. You're about to lose money. Political analysis of markets is a guaranteed way to get crushed. Markets don't care about your politics—they care about cycles, credit, and reality.

No effort? You'll be left behind.

“No risk it. No biscuit.”

Forget Everything You Heard: This Is a 10-Year Game

Here's the single most important insight from the conference:

The biggest opportunities ahead are 10-year plays, not 3-5 year bets.

I know that's not what you want to hear. Everyone wants quick wins. But if you're serious about building real wealth, this changes everything.

Michael Parekh said it best: AI won't reach full maturity for 10 years. Self-driving cars won't go mainstream for at least 10 years. Robotics? Also 10 years. The hype cycle screams that the future arrives tomorrow. The smart money is positioning for 2035, not 2028.

Why This Matters:

This pattern matches exactly what I've been observing—and it's the same cycle that played out with internet companies in the late '90s and 2000s. Understanding how these cycles play out is everything.

As the phrase goes, “If you build it, they will come.” And the future is only just beginning to be built right now.

In other words: The cycles keep cycling.

Where the Smart Money Is Going

Let me walk you through each major sector discussed and what you actually need to know.

AI: The $50 Billion Data Center Era

We're not in the AI age yet. We're in the infrastructure build that makes AI possible.

One 1-gigawatt data center costs $50 billion. Let that sink in. This is a hardware revolution first, software revolution second.

The Top Plays (According to Parekh):

→ NVIDIA $NVDA ( ▼ 1.95% ) – Still the undisputed leader. Everything runs through them.

→ Google $GOOG ( ▲ 4.27% ) – Positioned strongly across the entire stack with unmatched data infrastructure.

→ Apple $AAPL ( ▲ 0.35% ) – Contrary to popular belief, Apple has NOT missed the boat. Their hardware-software integration is a massive advantage.

The Surprise Skepticism:

Parekh doesn't believe Microsoft $MSFT ( ▼ 3.11% ) will dominate AI long-term despite their recent success. Why? They're too dependent on Nvidia, their internal innovation is delayed, and they lack consumer hardware leverage. Microsoft is powerful in enterprise cloud, but the AI future belongs to companies that control the full stack.

A Warning About Facebook:
When you use Meta's (Facebook’s) $META ( ▼ 9.68% ) AI tools, you give them access to your contacts. Read that again.

Great for their business and investors. Terrible for your privacy.

Robotics: Coming Faster Than You Think (But Slower Than They Say)

Chris Camillo of Dumb Money delivered the most compelling robotics thesis I've heard.

The Core Insight: Robots are "embodied AI"—artificial intelligence given physical form.

The Timeline:

• 2028: Mass deployment begins

• 2035: Full-scale adoption

The Bottleneck:
It's not manufacturing. It's deployment. And according to Michael Parekh, there isn't enough data to train robots effectively yet. This is a fundamental infrastructure challenge that takes years to solve.

Who Wins:
Amazon could be the biggest beneficiary. Watch Tesla (Optimus), Google (Atronic), Figure, and OneX—though Tesla appears to be falling behind despite the early hype.

Drones & Air Taxis: The Regulatory Dam Just Broke

This isn't about technology anymore. It's about regulation finally catching up.

Michael Thompson from Joby Aviation ($JOBY)—which just received FAA certification—said something striking:

He's stated that prior to this year he has been to DC maybe 10 times in his entire career. Why? Because it was a waste of time as nothing would ever get done.

This year? He's there almost every week.

That's the signal. When regulation shifts this dramatically, fortunes are made.

That panel included some very interesting companies that you are going to keep an eye on in the next decade:

• Joby Aviation $JOBY ( ▼ 0.88% ) – Air taxis

• Surf Air $SRFM ( ▼ 0.25% ) – Electric aviation

• ZenaTech $ZENA ( ▼ 3.93% ) – Drone-as-a-Service

Crypto: Stop Chasing Coins, Buy the Infrastructure

Cem Karsan nailed it: forget the coins. Focus on the "picks and shovels."

The real opportunity is tokenization—making markets safer through instantaneous transactions that eliminate settlement risk.

Mind-blowing stat: Tether makes $100 million per employee.

The Chance Encounter: $FIGR ( ▼ 7.59% )  

By pure chance, I sat next to an early investor in Figure $FIGR ( ▼ 7.59% ) who helped build the company. The conference didn't mention them, but after researching them myself after discussing the company during the panels, I'm captivated.

What makes them special:

Figure uses their proprietary blockchain (Provenance) to originate loans and tokenize assets faster and cheaper than anyone else.

The numbers are staggering:

• Home equity loan funding: 10 days (vs. industry average of 42 days)

• Cost per loan: $730 (vs. $6,900 - $11,230 for legacy lenders)

They have deep regulatory licensing, proprietary tech, and a capital-light model that gives them sustainable advantages over both traditional banks and other fintechs.

This deserves its own deep dive. Stay tuned.

Polymarket: The Disruptor You Need to Watch

Polymarket proved something during the last presidential election: decentralized prediction markets are more accurate than traditional polling.

Everything runs on blockchain—transparent, auditable, and impossible to manipulate like traditional betting markets.

They didn't just beat pollsters. They embarrassed them.

This is potentially the future of how we predict—and bet on—real-world events.

Stock Picks Worth Noting

These stood out:

• $LKNCY ( ▼ 1.86% )  Luckin Coffee – Cole Wilcox's top pick for the next 5 years

• $UP ( ▼ 7.19% )  Wheels Up – Backed by Delta and $ONDA (via Jake Wu)

• $FORD ( ▲ 1.56% )  Forward Industries – Kyle Samani from MultiCoin Capital

• $NVDA ( ▼ 1.95% )  NVIDIA – Nearly unanimous. Tied to the "Circular Economy" theme

The Best Marketing Lesson (From Golf Clubs)

Reed Dickens, CEO of LA Golf, explained why traditional golf club "fitting" is mostly BS.

Most companies build club heads and shafts separately. You're just piecing together parts that weren't designed to work together.

His quote: "Every other driver comes with a stock shaft—that's about $10. Our drivers come with a $400 shaft built into it."

The result? Much more forgiving clubs.

Which means... maybe my terrible golf game has been the clubs' fault all along.

He also gave the best definition of marketing I've heard:

I already feel like a good golfer with LA Golf clubs. So, I guess it's working.

Grateful isn’t a Strong Enough Word

A few years ago, I made a life-altering decision: I bet on myself.

The odds were incredibly low. But it's working. And I'd make the same choice a thousand times over.

When Howard Lindzon offered tickets to Stocktoberfest on social media to those outside of the industry but looking to break in and/or network, I reached out and asked. OK, maybe even begged a little. He graciously said yes. I couldn’t be more grateful.

Like I mentioned before, I went in simply hoping to gain a bit more clarity around my work and maybe meet one or two other traders and/or market obsessed individuals. What I got was a clear path for the next phase of my work and met some incredibly helpful and truly gracious people.

I’ve been following Howard for a number of years, but this is the first time I met him in person and was able to see him operate for a few days.

Howard's insights are as good as it gets. When he talks markets, I shut up and start taking notes. As those who know me can attest, that is VERY rare.

Howard, if you're reading this: A thousand Thank Yous!

And also a big thank you to Phil Pearlman (Pearl-dawg) for putting in that good word for me.

I owe you both.

On a side note: If you’re looking to improve your health and perform better , reach out to Phil. I’ve seen the incredible results.

The bottom line: The world of investing is changing and markets are wide open to those who are willing to take the time and make the effort to improve their financial well-being. Best of all, there are a bunch of very intelligent and experienced people sharing their work to help out find your way. Take your time, play the long game, and it will be one of the best decisions you’ve ever made.

Hope to see you at a future Stocktoberfest!

Click the Leave a comment button if you have any questions or comments, or need something clarified. Don’t be shy. The main point here is to improve constantly. Questions and comments help us both and tells me what you are interested in learning/hearing more about.

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