Transcription
It's like, well, maybe Africa is going to be the place to go 50 years from now for your children when the West totally implodes and they're coming for [Music]. People going to the to the event that you're hosting in September. Um, the the topic this year is Frontier markets. I was curious why, um, why the focus on Frontier markets? Does that signal a shift in your business, or what's the, what's the interest and where does it come from?
So Nomad Capitalist Live is our annual event. This is the fourth. We had a couple of events back in the 2010s and I stopped it because I was starting a client business and it genuinely frustrated me to see people coming to events and not doing anything. It may be hard to believe, like I'm a capitalist, I like to run profitable businesses, but I, I, I would also like to enjoy it and I like to see people doing stuff. Um, I don't want to be the guy selling hopium or selling the get-rich book. So we stopped the events. When I brought it back, I wanted to make it more about action. And, and so for this year, it's Nomad Capitalist Live 2024. We're focusing more on Frontier markets. It's more capitalist, probably the same amount of nomad, more capitalist, and I think a little bit less of the doom and gloom. Because, you know, I think some of the disconnect between some of me when I put out a YouTube video and I talk about certain stuff, and I'm not quite as extreme as some people are in the US. I've left that world. I bet if I went back and lived in it, I would share more of their frustrations. I, me, listen, I'm never getting on board with like the lizard people or taking over the world, okay? But I'm sure I probably softened a little bit because the problems that people living in a country like the US have, I, I just escaped those. Like I can't get behind guys who spend their entire lives complaining about, you know, how women are impossible to get along with, you know, because it's like, not the women that I met over the years, like, you know, like. So put your, like, my point is, I'm kind of tired to an extent. Like I'm happy to keep preaching the message. I'm happy to keep telling people, like, here's the tea leaves that I'm reading about. Yes, I think you need a second passport because more countries are going to try and tax you, no matter where you go. Like I'm happy to share that kind of stuff. And maybe some people find that alarmist. I think it's going to happen. Everything my parents and I talked about on the table 30 years ago, 25 years ago, has happened. Um, but I also want to give people actual alternatives. Because I realized I ran to something. I ran to better social opportunities. I ran to seeing emerging markets unfold in front of my very eyes. I wasn't running from something, but I think some people see it that way. And so I wanted to bring in a lot more of the frontier market experts, like yourself, and some of the people that, you know, some of the people on that show, um, to tell people and to put, like, here's what you can do to not only get some asset protection by putting your money in other countries, but by taking advantage of the real opportunities that again, are not just the, the, uh, Indonesia ETF. I don't think that's the best way to play it most of the time. And so, yeah, we've got about half a dozen frontier market experts. We've got entrepreneurs from around the world, from the blockchain and the crypto space, um, to kind of other businesses. They're going to be coming. I think we've got like over 40 speakers and panelists. Uh, Tony Fernandez, who's the CEO of AirAsia, they started that with a million dollars, now it's like, I think the biggest airline in Asia. He's going to be talking. Nigel Farage, Mr. Brexit, is going to be talking. He's obviously very controversial, but he has a message. The message is where he's from and where I'm from and where you're from isn't what it's cracked up to be anymore. So it's going to be a little bit of that. Uh, and it's going to be a lot of, here's where you can go. Here's tax-friendly countries you haven't heard about. Here's how we hire, here's how we manage, you know, companies all around the world. Like real-life stuff. Uh, here's passports that you haven't heard about. We talked to the clients about them, but, you know, we had to go to Guatemala, for example, and knock on a guy's door to figure this thing out because you just can't find it online. Uh, we talk about some of that kind of stuff. So I'm, I'm a big believer in the Nomad part, but I think that the Nomad part needs to be fueled more by capitalist. And so I think that, to your point, um, Frontier markets are going to play a big part of it because, um, people want to run to something. And if you know, you, it, it represents more a shift in myself and what I think the business should be and what I think people should be focusing on. And away, away from, it's easy to complain. And I can make every video talking about CBDCs. And I, listen, I think there's some real concerns there. I also believe very much that if you set yourself up in the way that we talk about, you don't need to be nearly as angry. And so, okay, once you figured out that part, what do you do next? Frontier market investments as one of the things.
Yeah, I, I think there definitely a lot of, I mean, for, for one thing, yeah, something to run to. And there's just a lot of exciting opportunity in these countries that are kind of agnostic to whatever economic cycles that happen. Part of so, yeah, people worried about a recession didn't come last year. People worried about a recession, right? I mean, I mean, Cambodia, I guess suffered. You, you know, these markets better than I do, but, uh, I mean, I guess there's a dip during COVID in some of them. Other than that, I mean, three decades, no recession. Some of these places.
Yeah, yeah. I guess since we're, we're running a fun time, I, I'll just have one last question. Um, if you had one message you'd like to share, like, let's say, like your, your last day on Earth and everyone you know is, is going to be gone and you want to just leave one message, what would that be?
Well, I, I look at it this way. I was born in in Cleveland, Ohio. I always tell people, you people from the United States, they, they say, oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Uh, but I was born in Cleveland, Ohio in this kind of Rust Belt, uh, town, and right across the lake from Canada. And I often ask myself, if I would have been born right across that lake, tiny an aberration of geography, I mean, so close in the scheme of the world to be born across a lake in a different country. If I would have been born across the lake and I wouldn't have had all the different regulatory issues, if I want, you know, like all the, like everything that's different about Canada. I mean, Canada is obviously kind of probably going the wrong direction these days also, but in terms of being able to leave Canada and be more personally free, would Nomad Capitalist even exist? Would there have been this frustration with like, why does the US think they own me? Maybe not. And I would encourage people to think about that. Um, you know, I think there's, there's limits to libertarianism in the sense that if you're just a pure libertarian, you just sit around and complain all day and kvetch about how unfair things are. And I've seen so many libertarians over my life in numerous different businesses who they just, they're very smart people, they never get ahead. All they wanted was kvetch. But there's a libertarian part of me that says, yeah, I mean, we're all subject to certain things because of these imaginary borders. And yet we constrain ourselves to that. Uh, I mean, people in Cleveland, Ohio, I'd imagine think that they're just as American and they celebrate the United States just as much as someone who's born smack dab in the middle of the country. Um, and so we base our entire lives around like, oh, you're supposed to date people from Cleveland, Ohio. Well, I mean, I was an entrepreneur very early on, way before that was cool. I mean, now I guess it's cool to be 20 years old and be an entrepreneur, but not when I was young. And, um, Chinese and German girls, uh, found that a lot cooler, uh, than American girls. And like, that's just one example. Has nothing to do with lowering your tech. It has nothing to do with thinking that something terrible is going to happen, a black swan event. It's just one little example. The guy who left Portugal in 1993 to go to the US to get healthcare. It's a small example. We're conditioned to think that our country is the best. And I think part of the reason I flock to emerging markets a lot over the years is because they have a very healthy and and deserved skepticism about their government. They're like, yeah, why wouldn't you want to pay less tax? The government wastes it all anyway. And I think we're seeing in, in our lifetime, is this great reduction of the delta between, uh, opinions of, uh, you know, the United States and in opinions of some of those emerging world countries. I think that we're seeing that the United States is actually quite a corrupt country. It's just corrupt in different ways. And it's perhaps in many ways more corrupt. Um, I mean, the wealthiest county in the United States is right outside of Washington D.C. It's all the government contractors who go and sell consulting services, which is why the US costs more to build, you know, homeless housing than it does in socialist European countries. Why? Because everyone around Washington D.C. is getting fat and happy selling consulting, selling bombs, selling whatever else. That's not corrupt. So we're seeing a reduction in this delta. And yet people still kind of cling to, well, but it's still the best country. Well, you could have by a, you know, it's a miracle of birth. You were born in that country. So I think look at it more as a miracle. Go where you're treated best. And say, if the women that I, you know, get along with are over here, that's where I'm going to go. If the place that wants my kind of business, uh, is over here, that's where I'm going to go. I mean, like, there's, there's no benefit to suffering in silence. There's no benefit to martyrdom. Um, you know, I talked about the Alexi Navalny death recently, courageous guy. It's a nuance, you know, obviously, I mean, I think there's nuance with any country. I don't think Russia is the absolute number one. They're, they never do anything right. And the US absolutely never does anything wrong. But obviously, you know, he's a courageous guy. But I asked myself, could he have done more? Not to, I don't mean to bash him in any way, but could he have done more from Europe to actually impact things? Um, maybe that's not what he wanted to do, and I respect his decision. But I, I think to myself, I mean, if you can have more of an impact by going where you're treated best, you could lead a happier life that causes you to have more of an impact by going where you're treated best. Throw away those imaginary lines. Realize it was somewhat by chance. Realize you can also appreciate things for once what they once were without totally throwing it away. You can appreciate having something for a season in your life. You can appreciate having that friend for 40 years of your life. Um, you know, I think that's a healthy way to look at relationships. But there's a time for things to end. And I think that, um, you know, diversification and moving on from things that no longer serve you that you've been holding on to for the most dogmatic of reasons, this patriotism, I, I think is, um, the best way for you to be successful.
Definitely. Yeah, I think, uh, either side of the political aisle you're on, people on both sides have identified corruption as the problem. And I think, um, globalization is, is probably one of the root causes of what's causing so much anxiety in the US. But there's also a ton of ways you can benefit from globalization now. So you may as well take advantage of it. By the way, I mean, again, using Malaysia, look at all the video of Malaysia. I give this example many, many times. Go back and look at Malaysia in movies 30 years ago. It looked a hell of a lot different. And, you know, what spending time in Malaysia with some of the kindest people that you'll meet. Um, yeah, you know, what, I'm glad that they have more economic opportunities. They may not be as wealthy as the United States, but there are there. I mean, Mexico and Malaysia, I think are two very kind of misunderstood countries in terms of the actual wealth that's in, uh, the country. Um, uh, I'm glad that people there have more opportunities. I mean, I, I don't, I, I actually think it's, um, it's a hideous behavior that like, uh, anyone would try and and concentrate the wealth of the entire world into a few countries so that it trickles down to the point where, again, people who have, uh, vastly fewer skills than people in other parts of the world win purely based on their geography. I think that anyone who wants that, it's a terrible thing. And so I'm happy to see that the places that I, uh, around the world, um, have been able to develop and they're going to continue to develop. And now even Africa, you're seeing a number of countries building very solid, uh, middle classes. About half a dozen countries are really in the kind of solid middle class, uh, system. Nobody in the West is paying attention to that. You're paying attention to that. Your guests are paying attention to that. But, um, the, the West just knows Africa, it's poor, it's, it's falling apart. It's like, well, maybe Africa is going to be the place to go, uh, 50 years from now for your children when the West totally implodes and they're coming for people. Um, just one possibility. I, I, I wouldn't be so quick to, so I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss some of these places totally.
Yeah, I mean, I, I think like looking at places like Kigali and Rwanda is probably much safer and cleaner than most US cities at this point. Like 50 years, yeah, your daughter doesn't have to be harassed by a guy living in a in a tent doing, uh, you know, doing cocaine at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon.
Right, right. Well, Andrew, it was great to catch up. Thanks so much for joining the podcast. Always a pleasure to speak with you. Thank you, Nick. [Music]