Network News: Thank you Guy Spier

A trusted network is something no entrepreneur should be without

Sep 09, 2025

Above: Dinner with Guy & a few others in 2019

Thank you Guy

Katie and I want to pause here and thank Guy Spier for his generous words about the new edition of our book, “What’s Keeping You Up at Night?”.

I first discovered Guy through his Talk at Google nearly a decade ago, and then his book ‘The Education of a Value Investor’. His ideas about investing — and about life — stayed with me1. In 2019, I was fortunate to meet him in person (above). Since then, I’ve attended VALUEx, the conference Guy runs in Switzerland, in both 2024 and 2025, and I’m already looking forward to being in Klosters again in 2026. From each interaction with Guy I’ve come away not just with new insights and ideas, but with new friends — some of whom, I reckon, will be lifelong.

What strikes me about both our journeys is how simple long-term relationship building really is. It isn’t about tricks or hacks. But it isn’t an exact science either — you have to show up, help out without expecting anything in return and do so regularly not knowing what, if anything, might happen. And it’s about doing this consistently, year after year.

That’s what Guy has done through VALUEx. It’s what Katie and I have tried to do through 9others. And if you keep at it, something remarkable happens: the right people find their way into your life. Businesses and wealth grows. Lives change. Work gets done.

Thank you, Guy — for the testimonial, for the friendship, and for showing all of us what’s possible.

Here’s what he had to say…

“Matthew Stafford and I have parallel lives. While he and Katie Lewis were building 9others, I was building VALUEx – my investment conference.
“We all arrived at the same insight: Skip the big-stage conferences and go straight to small circles with strict confidentiality and blunt honesty. That’s how businesses grow, lives change, and real work gets done.
“In "What's Keeping You Up at Night?" Matthew and Katie strip all the fuss out of networking. What's left? Nine others, some hard questions, and real answers. If you, like us, think that social capital is worth more than any balance sheet, you need to read this book – and start your own table of 9others”.
— Guy Spier, Founder of the Aquamarine Fund & VALUEx