On today’s episode, Clay is joined by Cristiano Souza to discuss his three primary criteria in identifying an excellent business. Cristiano Souza is the founder of Zeno Equity Partners, a firm he started in 2022 after spending 28 years at Dynamo. From 1994 through 2015, he was on the team that managed the Dynamo Cougar fund, which invested in high-quality equities in Brazil. During that time, the fund compounded at 24% per year in US dollar terms. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN: 00:00 - Intro 03:33 - The three things that Cristiano looks for in a business. 13:43 - What the Founder’s Mindset is, and why it is so difficult to find. 18:53 - Why Cristiano believes that LVMH has a significant opportunity to continue to grow. 33:53 - The mistakes Cristiano has made in assessing management teams. 39:57 - Why Linde PLC is a core position in Christiano’s portfolio. 51:17 - Why AppFolio is well-positioned to continue growing in the property management space. And so much more! Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences. BOOKS AND RESOURCES Join the exclusive TIP Mastermind Community to engage in meaningful stock investing discussions with Stig, Clay, Kyle, and the other community members. Cristiano’s firm: Zeno Equity Partners. Book mentioned: Mastery by Robert Greene, The Nvidia Way by Tae Kim. Email Shawn at shawn@theinvestorspodcast.com to attend our free events in Omaha or visit this page. Follow Cristiano on LinkedIn. Follow Clay on X. Check out all the books mentioned and discussed in our podcast episodes here. Enjoy ad-free episodes when you subscribe to our Premium Feed. NEW TO THE SHOW? Get smarter about valuing businesses in just a few minutes each week through our newsletter, The Intrinsic Value Newsletter. Check out our We Study Billionaires Starter Packs. Follow our official social media accounts: X (Twitter) | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok. Browse through all our episodes (complete with transcripts) here. Try our tool for picking stock winners and managing our portfolios: TIP Finance Tool. Enjoy exclusive perks from our favorite Apps and Services. Learn how to better start, manage, and grow your business with the best business podcasts. SPONSORS Support our free podcast by supporting our sponsors: Hardblock Found SimpleMining CFI Education Netsuite Unchained The Bitcoin Way Vanta Shopify Fintool Onramp TurboTax Vanta Fundrise HELP US OUT! Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a rating and review on Spotify! It takes less than 30 seconds, and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it! Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm