Teenage Podcaster Shares 4 Life Lessons From Steve Cohen, Howard Marks

A teenage podcaster is on a mission to gather wisdom and advice from financial titans and share it with younger generations.

Amir Fischer, 15, a sophomore at Greenwich High School in Connecticut, launched “Generating Alpha” last year. He’s already interviewed more than 20 guests including Steve Cohen, Howard Marks, Alan Schwartz, Bob Prince, and Anthony Scaramucci.

Fischer told Business Insider the key lessons he’s taken from the conversations, and how he’s applying them to his own life. Here are four big ones:

1. Passion is paramount

“Follow your passion” is a cliché for a reason. Prince, the co-chief investor of Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates, told Fischer to “do something because you want to do it, you can’t help doing it, you’re drawn to it naturally.”

“And if you do that, that compounds over time in terms of your knowledge and capabilities,” Prince added.

Cohen, the founder of Point72 Asset Management, told Fischer that “if you don’t enjoy what you do, you shouldn’t be doing it.”

Fischer told BI that he’s been passionate about finance since the age of 10, when he started watching videos about stock picking during the pandemic.

He’s found that interviewing guests on his podcast inspires him to keep hustling and “learning as much as possible.”

2. Focus on the long term

Schwartz, Guggenheim Partners’ executive chairman and Bear Stearns’ former CEO, told Fischer that creating value trumps short-term wins in achieving long-term success.

“My focus with what I’m building isn’t listeners or views — it’s about having meaningful conversations,” Fischer told BI.

“I’ve applied the principle of delayed gratification in every part of my life. Even something as small as tweaking my tennis form — while it might feel worse at first because I’m used to something else — will pay off in the long run. In a month, it’ll likely be better than it ever was,” he said.

3. Don’t play it safe

Scaramucci told the podcaster that young people should “be comfortable taking risks” early in their careers as building that habit will pay off down the line.

“Don’t live in fear,” the SkyBridge Capital founder and former White House communications director added. “It’s a short, quick life, it can be a fun life, but don’t live in fear.”

Fischer told BI that he “really took the risk-taking part to heart.”

“The worst-case scenario if I fail isn’t that bad — I’m still in high school, bootstrapping what I’ve built, and living with my parents. I’m taking all the calculated risks I can.”

4. Trust yourself

Cohen told Fischer that as he was growing his firm, people around him would question why he kept expanding and working so hard.

“It’s very easy to get talked out of something you feel passionate about,” the billionaire investor cautioned.

Fischer told BI: “I’ve reached out to people I never imagined would respond — and they did. Dream big.”

Similarly, Marks warned Fischer not to let his parents, friends, or anyone else dictate his course in life.

The Oaktree Capital Management cofounder and co-chairman said he doubted the recipe for a happy life was “doing what society wants you to do, or making the most money, or working every waking hour.” Balancing work, family, friends, hobbies, and other pursuits in the right way is a better bet, he added.

Fischer told BI he’s stopped listening to people he doesn’t respect or wish to emulate or learn from. “Chart your own path. Blaze your own trail. Don’t expect excellence or success by doing something ordinary.”