The Contrarians with Adam and Adir

Adam and Adir record live from The Commons in Cremorne, covering Australia’s worsening housing and rent crisis, Apple’s rumoured folding iPhone, the company’s pricing power, and whether AI’s frontier model economics can survive customers moving to cheaper alternatives. Chris Judd then joins to talk markets, uncertainty, inflation, US debt, Cogstate, MAAS Group, Firmus, data centres, founder-led investing and why the best returns often come from backing people prepared to think differently.00:00 - Live From The Commons03:07 - Australia’s Housing and Rent Crisis19:02 - Apple’s Folding iPhone30:30 - AI Models and Data Centres35:10 - Chris Judd Joins Pod46:31 - Chris Judd’s Macro View58:18 - Cogstate1:03:37 - MAAS Group and Firmus1:16:02 - Founder-Led InvestingA big thank you to the team at The Commons for hosting our first live episode of the pod (or something like that). You can link to their website here: https://www.thecommons.com.au/Link to Cerutty Macro Fund: https://ceruttymacrofund.com.au/Join us on Substack for articles, news and more: https://www.thecontrarianspod.com/

Adam and Adir debate whether founders and senior executives should be allowed to sit on external boards while running a business, before turning to the coming pressure on big law fees as AI starts breaking the traditional leverage model. They also unpack Yo-Chi’s extraordinary rise, its reported billion-dollar-plus valuation, global expansion plans, store economics, and why timing, product and execution can turn a good retail concept into a monster business.01:05 - The CEO Board Seat Debate09:26 - AI Comes For Big Law24:29 - Yo-Chi’s $2bn Valuation29:54 - Why Yo-Chi Worked38:55 - Yo-Chi’s Global UpsideJoin us on Substack for articles, news and more: https://www.thecontrarianspod.com/