Raoul Pal, Co-Founder & CEO RealVision

Financial Knowledge Is Necessary Power.

Financial knowledge is paramount for individuals, organizations and of course investors. In fact, a lack of knowledge is a set up for failure. Raoul brings pertinent financial information to the reach of any investor seeking to gain an edge. After the financial crises in Europe and the European sovereign banking crises in 2012, Raoul saw a need for a platform to empower individuals with financial literacy and know-how in order to make sound financial investments.

As the financial crisis unfolded, despite his many predictions and warnings, people were genuinely taken by surprise. He wanted to do something to give people knowledge and empower them with the next-generation financial literacy. As he brainstormed with his team, they took a bold step to go with an idea that many thought would fail—short form free video.

Raoul’s thoughts were “The value placed on financial information should be high. This is very important. People need to value it and pay for it.” RealVision is full of financial knowledge from the world’s most famous hedge fund managers, analysts and strategists. Raoul mentions “ It changed the whole model of democratizing access to information.” It attracts knowledge seekers of all demographics, ages and groups curious and inquisitive about the financial industry and how it might affect them. They are a community of learners that span into different forms of media including Twitter, YouTube, podcasts, written and video.

Not Your Fathers Portfolio

The old way of paving forward financially during the time the Baby Boomers were in their late twenties to forties—compared their millennial children at the same age—has shifted dramatically. No matter how much CNBC you watch, the next wave of investment cannot only look back on old processes and investment rules. For example, Baby Boomers were able to invest in real estate at low valuations in comparison to the very high prices of real estate nowadays. Besides investing this has also made the purchase of a house unaffordable for most millennials.

One character trait that is important for an investor is patience. Do millennials have a long term hold mentality? Raoul thinks yes and no. Yes, because they are massive 401(k) passive investors and buy index funds, but millennials are also forced to take risks that the baby boomers would have thought of as insane. Risk can be seen as taking a chance in the hope of seeing larger gains now or losing it all. The culture has changed and is more driven by risk. Risk taking has driven many of today’s business ventures, fueling entrepreneurship, startups, retail trading and crypto currency investments. We now live in a risk seeking driven culture.

Roaring 20’s Best Time Ever?

With many advancements in technology “in the ‘20s”, we may be lured into thinking it is the best time ever. Is it? Raoul thinks otherwise, the ongoing debasement of the currency system by the central bank will result in the purchasing power of incomes to decrease vs. the price of assets. At this time, if the purchasing of assets is feasible, there is a good chance one can do well in this environment.

Next Level Tech Transformation

The accelerated pace in which divergent technologies is transforming our lives and the way we do businesses is unprecedented—described as the Exponential Age—referring to the lightning speed at which tech is evolving. The list is long and converging—from Crypto, AI, robotics and longevity sciences to biotech, internet of things, electrical vehicles and green. These new innovations will create transformative shifts we have never seen before—in our homes, at work, in our cars, and our bodies. Raoul characterizes this as the renaissance of our time—but are we getting ready to embrace the changes and shifts?

Will Cryptocurrency Gain Bullish Momentum?

The downturns and dips of crypto currency can give many investors anxiety leading to calling it quits. According to Raoul, if you are investing in Crypto, you cannot be worried about the cycle. If you are, you are doing it wrong. The mind frame one should have is, investing in the adoption of a network, not trading.

Crypto is driven by two things: Network Adoption, which is Metcalfe’s Law that states “The value of a network is proportional to the square of the number of nodes in the network.” The other is Money Supply and Liquidity Cycle. Crypto is cyclical. This cycle can bring down the value 70% to 80% and create a big panic. Many say that the key is to hold on to it. Your time horizon has to be at least ten years. What is the biggest message about Bitcoin? Will it become the next payment system? Many think so. Raoul does not, saying it is too volatile. What it can be used for is to move money around such as transfers, payment for certain products and services which are already taking place.

Culture, Brand And Community Assets

Science Magic Studios, co-founded by Raoul, is a Digital Asset Venture Studio. Its mission is to tokenize culture. Culture is in everything from music, sports, fashion and entertainment. They all have cultural currency. How can this be taken hold of and made tangible in the digital asset world? They are helping organizations, that fit this value business model, build digital asset ecosystems.

Who Will AI Impact?

It may be easier to list who it won’t impact. You are not on that list. How seriously should you be taking AI and how much of an impact will it have? AI will impact every industry that is based around knowledge. Categories of people will be laid off and could quite possibly never get a job again. Initially AI proved to be better than humans in single tasks, but now he believes it is becoming more generalized and better than humans in most all tasks—and with systemic adoption the impacts will be tremendous. We will all see.