“As investors, we often emphasize the importance of having a long-term focus. But life is not lived in the long term; it’s lived day by day.”

About Our Guest

Eric Markowitz is the Director of Research at Nightview Capital, where he leads high-level research and plays an active role in the day-to-day decision-making for The Nightview Fund. Before joining Nightview Capital in 2016, Eric had a successful career as an investigative journalist, with bylines in The New Yorker, GQ, and Fast Company, among other publications. He is also the author of The Nightcrawler newsletter. Eric graduated cum laude from New York University with a BA in Journalism, specializing in Business.

Why Listen?

As an independent firm, we take pride in collaborating with thought leaders across the investment world. Eric and his firm are known for their long-term investment focus in growth-oriented U.S. businesses through their Nightview Fund. I have been following Eric’s work for a while, and initially reached out to him after reading an article he wrote for Fast Company about artificial intelligence earlier this year. However, after meeting with him, I realized this episode would take a much different direction than I had first anticipated.

In early 2023, Eric received a life-altering diagnosis. Doctors told him he needed emergency brain surgery to remove what they called a “rapidly enhancing lesion,” a condition that could have been fatal. At just 36 years old, Eric was faced with the shock of this news. As he prepared for surgery, he wrote a letter to his young daughter, said goodbye to his family, and braced for the worst. For someone who had built their professional identity around long-termism, the future appeared to be collapsing in an instant.

As investors, we often emphasize the importance of having a long-term focus (as does Eric, whose column for BigThink.com is literally called “The Long Game”). But life is not lived in the long term; it’s lived day by day. In this episode, Eric shares his powerful story of how this experience transformed his perspective, revealing how much of his previous focus was misaligned with what truly mattered to him. We recommend reading a piece he wrote sharing this experience, which went viral earlier this year (you can read the article here).

In addition to his personal story, we discuss why optimism is crucial to be a good investor, how his journalism skills help make him better in his current role, and why the financial industry needs a “rebrand.” Eric also shares his views on the future, including how artificial intelligence will drive transformative positive change in the years to come.

While Eric’s story is intense, it serves as a reminder that life cannot be engineered on a spreadsheet. As advisors, our job should be to help people prioritize what truly matters as they build lives around their deepest values. Thank you to Eric for sharing his story, and we hope you enjoy this episode.

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Eric’s weekly newsletter: “The Nightcrawler”

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Disclosures: Alliance Wealth Advisors, LLC (“Alliance”) is an SEC Registered investment advisory firm that is independently owned and operated. The information in this interview is provided for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment, legal, or tax advice. Opinions expressed in this interview are subject to change without notice. It is important to remember that investments in securities involve risk, including the potential loss of principal invested. Past performance is no guarantee of future results and diversification does not guarantee a profit or protect against loss in a declining financial market. Alliance does not guarantee the suitability or potential value of any particular investment or strategy and accepts no liability for reliance on this presentation. Alliance also does not make any representations as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party mentioned in this communication and takes no responsibility. Our guest and was not a client of Alliance Wealth Advisors at the time of this publication, did not receive any compensation for this interview, not otherwise affiliated with, the firm and not client of Alliance Wealth Advisors at the time of this publication. For more information regarding Alliance, please visit alliancewealthadvisors.com/legal-disclosures.