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TMTLongShort: "Game selection is the most important aspect of being successful.

2026-08-06 · 21:18 UTC ·@TMTLongShort ·1 min read

Brief

TMTLongShort warns that game selection — choosing who and what you compete against — determines success, saying 'If you find yourself competing with someone like Alec you already set yourself up to fail.' Lake Cornelia adds that the elite split into 'insanely smart' lazy and 'moderately smart' relentlessly hardworking; recommends a July 28 Alpha Exchange interview with Alec Litowitz.

Why it matters

TMTLongShort: "Game selection is the most important aspect of being successful. If you find yourself competing with someone like Alec you already set yourself up to fail."

Key details

  • Lake Cornelia Research: elite investors fall into (1) "insanely smart people who are lazy" and (2) "moderately smart people who work insanely hard"; claims the top 0.01% are meaningfully superior to the top 1%.
  • Recommended listening: Alec Litowitz interview on Alpha Exchange (July 28, 1h11m); author asserts, "Imagine trying to beat Alec at risk arb in the 1990s. He would murder you."
Source evidence

Game selection is the most important aspect of being successful. If you find yourself competing with someone like Alec you already set yourself up to fail.

Lake Cornelia Research Management (@CorneliaLake)

This is one of the very few podcasts / interviews with a HF founder where it is painfully obvious how inferior you are. The elite world is filled mostly with (1) insanely smart people who are lazy and (2) moderately smart people who work insanely hard. Most people don’t appreciate how much better the top 0.01% of people are than even the top 1%.

Listen to Buffett, Druck or Tepper and they come off folksy with this “aw shucks” vibe; idiots can be forgiven for not appreciating they aren’t on the same planet and aren’t playing the same game. These people are smarter than everyone, work harder than everyone and have great judgement. Imagine trying to beat Alec at risk arb in the 1990s 🤔. He would murder you.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…

Link

Alec Litowitz, Founder of Magnetar Capital and QStar Capital

Podcast Episode · Alpha Exchange · July 28 · 1h 11m
podcasts.apple.com

— https://nitter.net/CorneliaLake/status/2085436999683670248#m