Run up to VP Conference 2027

Donald · October 7, 2026, 11:54am

Hi VP Community,

Many have been asking when are we doing the next VP annual Conference? or, rather why aren’t we? And our standard response has been we usually do that to nurture new passionate talent emerging at VP (identified from original PUBLIC contributions at VP).

The nurturing environment is heady - NOT ONLY with first-hand learnings on
a) structured presentations on the Investment Maturity Curve (many levels deeper - beyond being just a good stock picker (as I was subjected to in 2011 by Mr D - that completely changed the VP journey)
b) 1-1 interactions with VP seniors (Hitesh, Ayush, Anant and others)
c) interactions/quality time with reknowned investing practitioners
d) research/analysis and now AI tools productivity handholding from Screener.in (our very own @pratyushmittal)

BUT ALSO the warm life-long bonding that happens in an intense, completely open, and passionate learning environment. For those of us who started collaborating since 2011-12 and many met for the first time at the 2015 Annual Conference it was an instant high, that every VP Annual meet has lived up to.

I think all VP collaborators would vouch for one thing - that the friendships and the bonding that got sparked and ignited during the Conferences have been our biggest blessing in life. The real compounding has been in these enduring trustworthy decade-plus relationships with smart honest always happy-to-help guys/gals that we are so proud of. Each one of us VP collaborators will probably vouch for the fact that the wealth compounding that inevitably happens, is (actually) lesser in significance !!

Having said that barring a few Collaborators like @Anant & @rupeshtatiya who make a habit of making exemplary contributions each year at least once or twice a year, most of us senior collaborators have been lazy/sort of retired, do not find merit of public sharing at VP (that does bring its own challenges), and/or graduated to active fund management with concomitant heavy regulatory restrictions. And there are a few (not answering yes to any category above), who do not want to write – till they have perfected a write-up (as if there ever is one) since reputations are at stake !

There is another set of VP Members who are now giving writing at VP - the miss, I forgot to add - they mean well, and write well at substack first (and say they think better of why repeat what I have already written elsewhere) and/or individual blogs. They are actually playing a good part in making investors better-informed. But they MISS “weighting” correctly the IMPACT of active collaboration in their own growth journey; because often-times the “rigour” of public scruitiny/solid defence among equally passionate folks - fixated on the same business/idea is probably absent (consequently blind-spots likely to remain).

So here’s the way out we think – to bring the collaboration energy roaring back!

We are kick-starting 3 initiatives at VP, which will be measured for output in next 6 months and throw up promising new (and old) talent that make solid public contributions at VP and thus qualify for the next VP Conference 2027

VP Intern Fellowship: owner @gourabpaul : upshot – mentoring from VP seniors, VP Cert and automatic VP Conference selection (6month performance based)
VP Domain Expert Network: owner @rupeshtatiya : upshot - Domain Experts get to work closely with VP seniors on mutual interest areas
VP Stock Stories: owner @donald : upshot – new investable stock stories matching HBL. SBCL standards

Next post(s) will detail bit more on each of these initiatives and highlight the process sought to be adopted for the same. And then we will let the process owners upload their process docs for perusal and value/addition by anyone interested.

Let’s get that famed VP Collaboration magic back!!

Donald · October 8, 2026, 12:06pm

Let’s start with the easy one, first: New Stock Stories

Following is planned as on date (11 Oct, 2026):

List is NOT exhaustive. We believe these are good to great stories to track/invest in with clear 3-5 year growth visibility? You have your own favourite high-convic tikon bet you are willing to put your hands up to Assist or Own-Up, please DM @Donald

Oftentimes, one easy complaint from folks on such attempts is - ab stock story ka kya fyada/run up has already happened for most!

a) not true for all in list
b) don’t forget every year one gets at least 1 or 2 opportunities to bet heavily (Feb-Mar 2025, Feb-Mar 2026 if you recall from your surefire recent memory!!)

So let me do some SELLING to our well-known Skeptics (of deep dives/high-conviction approach) as also to newbies who don’t know any better!

Our experience is for 80% folks the BUY LIST is NOT 100% ready (for lack of CONVICTION) and therefore at big 20-30% corrections- folks freeze (everything looks equally attractive/run-down), and don’t take decisive action, when they could have/should have. This is due to various reasons: lack of good enough research before stock run-up, absence of reliable industry scuttlebutts to cross-check data/insights from multiple sources; inability to size up Management – in terms of strategic depth/ability to scale up (vs competitors) in a structural opportunity for India say, to plain simple riding-the-bandwagon laziness!

But if you are a follower of in-depth VP Stock Stories – deep dive into all of above is just the job we take up very very seriously – before we officially publish a VP Stock Story. The Template is frozen – you have to fill up everything from Red Flags to Corporate Governance scans to Business Model vulnerability. If one scans the list of erstwhile VP stock Stories – enumeration of the business model strengths, competitive advantage sustainability, and say scalability over last few years, the track record demonstrated is second to none.

Not that we covered all scalable opportunities. But what we covered we did with complete sincerity, and a paka-pakaya-khitchdi is there for ALL to take advantage of – in big corrections, even if one missed the bus in the initial ride. Think HBL Engg, think Shivalik bimetal, Think Shailey Engineering, think Usha Martin, think PI Industries – hey these are still very good rides for the next 5-10 years we will stick our VP necks out and vouch for without batting an eyelid, right. But that’s just me being me. I love to keep buying the same stories over 2-3-5 years and more especially if they continue to provide evidence of operating leverage coming in, value migration efforts bearing fruit, and therefore qualifying to keep scaling business/profits 10x over next 10 years.

Then there are the Opportunistic Bets one can take – where many many have made even super quicktime 5x-10x in 1-2-3 years. I am a bandwagon-rider here, no shame in admitting that. But I still try and make sure that those who have done that level of work in their sure-fire opportunistic bets – do make it easier for folks like us to quickly understand why is it such a great opportunity. Again in-depth work comes to the rescue. I have never seen the super-smart investors shy away from deep-dive insights served on a platter. In fact, they lap it up!! (deep dive insights do make life easy for everyone – the hard sloggers and super smarts alike).

So the next list of VP Stock Stories being attempted – CONVICTION levels are very high for some of our best collaborators. Their favourite business story is so strongly entrenched in their minds it’s easy-peasy for them to put it down in our structured stock story templates – and refine it quickly - especially if those who will assist put up all the base information for them to make the stock story owner’s life easier and much more productive. It’s also very educative for someone completely new to the story to assist as they do 1-1 deeper questioning/understanding directly with the guys/gals who know the story best!

Our sincere request to any passionate/hungry/ambitious learner of the INVESTING CRAFT, do put your hands up for these meaningful deep-learning collaborative activities at VP. Assist or Own up in 4-5 stock story drafting process with complete sincerity (fal ki chinta bina kiye ), we can assure you will never look back, and you would have changed a few gears up in your investor journey. More than that you will most likely fall in love with your collaborators !!

PS: Anyone can apply. Please DM Stock Story owner @Donald if you do want to put your hands up to assist or own a stock story write-up. Caveat - your application will be entertained ONLY if accompanied by some data-driven comprehensive work that you may have already put up at VP/elsewehere or from your Notes.

For those new to VP and/or NOT familiar with the Stock Story format/why its been hugely effective in our journey of raising the CONVICTION bar on any business, you gotta see absorb/imbibe from these links below:
VP Stock Stories
VP Stock Story 2.0 Template.docx (41.4 KB)
VP Learnings Base

Donald · October 11, 2026, 12:45pm

Now let’s turn to the new initiative that’s generated the most buzz: VP Intern Fellowship
I hear Gourab is being inundated with lots of DM’s asking for details, and he has told them to wait !!
(reason being we have been at him for preparing a crisp structured document that lays out in detail what can be expected/whats in it for those who apply and get selected, and the like).

Now all of us seniors do some mentoring at our individual levels. Many would reach out to us individually, some would show some spark, and we love to encourage passionate new learners to work closely with us.

However NOT one of us was/is prepared to do what Gourab has offered to do. Actually do this formally all days of the week, briefly discuss work items, progress, and follow up to ensure there is some meaningful data-driven, and/or insightful contribution posted - every week!! Apparently he has prior happy experience working with interns to produce practically useful output. I am sure Gourab. with your sincere approach and some oversight by VP Seniors every 2 weeks or so, you will make the internship program meaningful, practically actionable, and an insightful exercise for everyone.

This idea/offer came from Gourab during one of our internal meet-ups - where we were discussing what to do to bring high-quality energetic discussions back at VP. We instantly knew this idea could work beautifully, but who would bell the Cat? I thought none there in the meet up would be ready, but here was Gourab - putting his hands-up - with a gleam in his eye!! He said “arre baba - sabse jyada fyada mujhe hoga - the added effrort is nothing much, I will be able to also broaden my coverage hugely - I am very ambitious on that aspect. Besides I love engaging with young minds”! That settled, any doubts in our minds - if there is someone who can deliver on this promise, its Gourab!

That’s a pretty heavy commitment Sir - and hats off to you @GourabPaul - if you deliver this with aplomb - VP community will be grateful, nay the entire investing community (especially newbies) will be really grateful to have a formal investing practitioner program, on an ongoing basis, running here at VP.

VP thrives on practical, actionable, insightful work. VP Community is known for that.
Your initiative may just help us to deliver much much more on that front. Your initiative may turn out to be THE initiative of 2026.
Good Luck !

PS: Request @GourabPaul to please upload the secret doc you have been working on (when ready) with some dope on why you are so dopey with Interns . Though we have broadly discussed what to cover, eager to know the specifics - especially, how will you incentivise the young minds for serious, diligent, consistent output.

GourabPaul · October 11, 2026, 1:35pm

Thank you @Donald da for kickstarting this fellowship. The internship details are documented as attached. Having learnt concepts, strategies, framework and mindset from VP veterans I feel this could be a one of a kind fellowship focused on the practitioner aspect.

Just highlighting here why any passionate hungry learner of the Investing craft (with enough bandwidth) should give this a real serious try.

What is in it for you?

Discover your strengths and weaknesses and find team members with complementary skills.
Learn from practitioners and interact with investors of different styles — you will likely figure out what style resonates with you most
Build your own set of sounding-board partners (and Mentors) who highlight blind spots and help you build on your strengths. You will start creating your own Investing Trust Network.
Six months of disciplined, peer-reviewed public work that gets real eyeballs.
Develop a holistic stock analysis and valuation framework that you can start defending with senior investors.
Certificate of Completion.
Direct entry to the 2027 VP Conference (limited slots, performance-based).
Access to domain experts, industry specialists, and fund managers — only on proof of consistent, self-driven, exemplary output.
For Top Performers: Letters of Recommendation where appropriate, priority consideration for future VP initiatives or Stock-Story ownership, and inclusion in an Alumni circle for continued peer learning and occasional mentor check-ins.
Build a documented public track record of stock analyses and defended theses that strengthens your profile for equity research, portfolio management, or other related roles.

Please go through the attached document where we detail out the nitty-gritties. Feel free to share with folks you think may benefit from such a program.

VP Intern Fellowship Program -Final.pdf (195.4 KB)

P.S.: I can personally vouch for this opportunity. I had the chance to meet phenomenal investors (who remain my mentors) back in 2023. 80–90% of my network is still from VP members, with high-quality ideas continue to be discussed and debated. I often feel like the dumbest person in the room. Most importantly, my return CAGRs have improved.

Cshar · October 11, 2026, 4:52pm

Are you holding any exams to join VP conference & why it has limited slots? Why not allow the community to listen & gain experience and meet people? There are many people on forum who would be interested to listen only and not present ideas. Just a suggestion. Put a fee for managing the event and how do you define performance? Are you setting some goals for members?

Shivansh_srivastava · October 12, 2026, 3:55am

Really looking forward to the intern fellowship program. Excellent initiative by the team!!

fabregas · October 12, 2026, 8:06am

I disagree with this suggestion. Personally speaking when I post something on VP it takes hours, if not days, of background work. I am not doing it out of generosity. I am doing it with the expectation that other people will help me validate or correct my findings and this will eventually lead me to finding good investment ideas. There is already more than enough material available here on VP for the newcomers or non-active participants. They can first learn from that, start making their own contributions and then get better at it. The people who manage VP have already done enough by, first of all, making this platform available for free and posting their own learnings in great detail. Many passive members have greatly benefited from content posted here, including myself and I continue to do so.

Cshar · October 12, 2026, 8:51am

There are better AI tools which provides better information than available on Value picker now a days. Why does anyone needs endorsement from others for their own conviction? Its borrowed in that case. Anyway enjoy the close circle.

Donald · October 12, 2026, 9:39am

Thanks @Cshar for reaching out.

Hope yours is a genuine query and I understood the intent correctly. Many others might be in similar boat (especially new to VP) and trying to understand what we are doing & why. So I have tried to answer to the best of my ability.

VP Conferences are physical meets to allow the kind of intense interaction and bonding over 3-4 days as highlighted in initial post. Will check what can be done on allowing live stream of sessions and/or recordings - it’s a valid suggestion.

Now as for the query on who defines performance/are you setting goals for members?

VP Intern Fellowship applicants – Yes, we do (as outlined in Gourab’s crisp document)
For other registered members – No, we do not/cannot (each to his own destiny )

For a seat at the Conference high-table though, like for all good things in life, there are no free lunches! VP Platform is designed/purposed towards a Meritocracy - so that despite the call to keep everything open, accessible, for all to participate freely – we balance the trade-offs on deluge of not-so-value-added stuff vs stuff that is highly valuable for the Community. So there are highly valuable contributions, as also some consistent contributors. And that when spotted well - we have always tried to nurture, through more direct interactions, closely working together as possible. And for the top contributors - participation at VP Conferences has proven to be a great way to nurture.

While there is always an element of subjectivity to gauging top contributions, VP has in place a reputation system in place since 2015. We do not highlight it much. {Link to Likes Leaderboard). And of late we have added “Actionable Advise”, and “Insightful” buttons to the likes (which along with Flags was good as a first step towards a more relevant, more holistic VP Reputation system. Grateful to @satishwe who developed and integrated this functionality into the earlier Reputation system on our request. (Split later into separate thread}

I will also try to take out time later in the day to point to links where we have written before – on contribution quality at VP, what type of posts/content/activity is valued more & why. Simply put structured, data-driven, practical on-ground informative contributions are valued more than say open-ended posts, or what we call “gvan” posts (jo aapko AI bhi de dega, sahi pakda boss). However, Cumulative totals of Actionable and Insightful Content contributions from Members obviously gets high weights – in deciding the most valuable contributors.

All of us need to mark/acknowledge these buttons more – every time we see a post that stands out!!. I would say each one of us SHOULD go back to our favourite topics, where we gained the most in terms of practical insights and actionable learnings, and mark them as such – even as that may have no bearing on the current exercise on hand.

We are hoping that in 6 months time, all of us will get familiar with using these buttons, and will use these judiciously to highlight the most valuable contributions to the VP Community. And that will surely lead us to the most valuable contributors.

Now how many numbers to accommodate at the limited high-table/and what format works best - for the intended purpose of nurturing high-value contributors towards blossoming more, and posting even more high-quality contributions, in higher numbers at the Community - that’s a different exercise, for a different time. First let’s use the next 6 months and enable the system to throw up a more objective system of judging valuable contributions – NOT performance.

PS: I am outside, on the move got some time during lunch to reply. If I have missed something that could give greater clarity on subject, will review later in the day and update this post.

Cshar · October 12, 2026, 10:45am

@Donald Thanks for detailed reply, It was just a suggestion to expand the horizon. I do understand and accept that Valuepickr has to abide by its code of conduct.