> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.antoinebuteau.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Lessons from Alan Waxman
- URL: https://www.antoinebuteau.com/lessons-from-alan-waxman/
- Published: 2026-06-26T09:01:08.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-18T21:46:11.000Z
- Description: Alan Waxman co-founded and leads Sixth Street with a flexible, “go-anywhere” investment mandate, challenging private credit’s asset-gathering “factory model” while examining structural risk, sports investing, and how unconstrained teams can be built and sustained.
- Author: Antoine Buteau
- Tags: Profile, Hedge Funds & Investing Profiles

![Visual summary of operating lessons from Alan Waxman.](https://www.antoinebuteau.com/content/images/2026/06/lessons-from-alan-waxman-profile-infographic.webp)

## Lessons from Alan Waxman

As co-founder and CEO of the $130 billion investment firm Sixth Street, Alan Waxman is known for his flexible, "go-anywhere" mandate and for criticizing private credit's asset-gathering "factory model." This compilation collects his views on structural risk, sports investing, and how to build an unconstrained team.

### Part 1: The "Factory Model" and Private Credit

1. **On the factory model:** "The industrialization of capital gathering inherently forces managers to deploy capital faster than the market might naturally support, creating structural pressure." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
2. **On asset-liability mismatch:** "When you pair illiquid, long-term loans with vehicles offering quarterly liquidity to retail investors, you are setting the stage for inevitable redemption stress." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
3. **On fee-driven behavior:** "Chasing fee-related earnings changes a firm's focus from generating pure alpha to simply feeding the asset-gathering machine." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
4. **On private credit corrections:** "The gating of funds and redemption requests in private credit aren't a systemic failure, but rather a healthy, necessary correction to an overheated model." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
5. **On underwriting standards:** "When the primary goal becomes scale and speed to satisfy the factory, the natural casualty is the rigor of your underwriting standards." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
6. **On true private credit:** "Real private credit is about bespoke, highly structured solutions for specific company needs, not mass-producing generic loans." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
7. **On the retail wealth channel:** "The aggressive push into retail wealth for private credit products requires a level of education and transparency regarding liquidity that the industry has not fully mastered." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
8. **On market discipline:** "Periods of stress are a gift because they flush out the tourists and force the industry back to the fundamentals of matching duration and risk." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
9. **On scale versus alpha:** "Growing AUM at all costs is the enemy of maintaining the flexibility required to actually generate differentiated returns." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
10. **On structural fragility:** "The factory model creates a fragility that is hidden during bull markets but becomes immediately apparent the moment capital flows reverse." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*

### Part 2: Flexibility and "Go-Anywhere" Investing

1. **On investment mandates:** "Having a completely flexible, go-anywhere mandate is the only way to ensure you aren't forced to invest in a specific asset class when it is fundamentally overvalued." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
2. **On cross-asset fluency:** "You have to be able to evaluate a real estate deal, a software company, and a sports franchise through the same core lens of risk and return." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
3. **On unconstrained capital:** "Unconstrained capital allows you to act as a liquidity provider when others are paralyzed by the strict definitions of their fund mandates." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
4. **On avoiding style boxes:** "The moment you put your investment strategy into a rigid style box, you lose the ability to capture the best risk-adjusted returns in shifting markets." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
5. **On capital as a solution:** "We don't view capital just as money; we view it as a highly adaptable tool designed to solve a very specific problem for a management team." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
6. **On market dislocations:** "Flexibility is most valuable during market dislocations, because that is when traditional capital sources retreat to their most conservative silos." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
7. **On structural creativity:** "You have to be willing to invent the security that a company needs, rather than forcing them to issue a security that already exists." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
8. **On thematic investing:** "We don't rely on macro predictions; we rely on micro-level flexibility to adapt to whatever macro environment actually materializes." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
9. **On being a partner:** "A flexible mandate means we can sit across from a founder and ask 'What do you actually need?' instead of 'Here is what we sell.'" — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*

### Part 3: The Architecture of Sixth Street

1. **On firm independence:** "Building Sixth Street meant creating an architecture where the investment team was entirely insulated from the pressures of asset gathering." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
2. **On institutional DNA:** "You cannot bolt on a flexible, cross-asset capability to a traditional private equity firm; it has to be the foundational DNA from day one." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
3. **On the 'one-team' model:** "Silos destroy information flow. We built a firm where compensation and culture strictly enforce a single, integrated team." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
4. **On shared information:** "The most valuable asset in an investment firm isn't the capital, it's the speed and fidelity with which information moves across different sector teams." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
5. **On scaling a culture:** "As you grow from a handful of partners to hundreds of employees, the challenge shifts from making good investments to systematizing how you make good decisions." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
6. **On data-enabled investing:** "We built our infrastructure to ensure that every investment decision is grounded in proprietary data, not just market consensus." — [*Source: \[Sixth Street*](https://sixthstreet.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
7. **On permanent capital:** "Structuring our own capital base to be long-term and stable is what allows us to be patient when the rest of the market is panicking." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
8. **On flat hierarchies:** "In a complex transaction, the best idea has to win, regardless of whether it comes from a first-year analyst or a founding partner." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
9. **On alignment of interest:** "True alignment means the investment team feels the pain of a loss just as acutely, if not more so, than the limited partners." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
10. **On leaving a legacy:** "The goal was never just to build a successful fund; it was to build an institution that would outlast its founders by institutionalizing our investment process." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*

### Part 4: Sports, Media, and Live Events

1. **On sports franchises as assets:** "Sports teams are no longer just vanity assets for billionaires; they are highly complex, IP-rich media companies that require institutional capital." — [*Source: \[Bloomberg The Deal*](https://www.bloomberg.com/originals/series/the-deal?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
2. **On women's sports:** "Investing in Bay FC and the NWSL wasn't just a cultural play; we saw a massive, mispriced opportunity where the underlying demand vastly outstripped the capitalization." — [*Source: \[Bloomberg The Deal*](https://www.bloomberg.com/originals/series/the-deal?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
3. **On media rights:** "The unbundling of traditional sports media rights creates a vacuum where flexible capital can help leagues and teams bridge the gap to direct-to-consumer models." — [*Source: \[Bloomberg The Deal*](https://www.bloomberg.com/originals/series/the-deal?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
4. **On stadium infrastructure:** "Modern sports venues are year-round real estate ecosystems, and financing them requires a blend of real estate, corporate credit, and media expertise." — [*Source: \[Bloomberg The Deal*](https://www.bloomberg.com/originals/series/the-deal?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
5. **On minority stakes:** "Taking a minority position in a franchise like the Spurs allows us to provide strategic capital without disrupting the operational control of legacy ownership." — [*Source: \[Bloomberg The Deal*](https://www.bloomberg.com/originals/series/the-deal?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
6. **On fan engagement:** "The monetization of the fan experience is still in its infancy globally, particularly when you look at European football clubs compared to US franchises." — [*Source: \[Bloomberg The Deal*](https://www.bloomberg.com/originals/series/the-deal?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
7. **On the ecosystem approach:** "You can't just buy a team; you have to invest in the entire ecosystem surrounding it—from local real estate to regional broadcasting." — [*Source: \[Bloomberg The Deal*](https://www.bloomberg.com/originals/series/the-deal?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
8. **On live events:** "The premium on live, unscripted content is only going up as the rest of the media landscape becomes increasingly fragmented and on-demand." — [*Source: \[CNBC*](https://www.cnbc.com/?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
9. **On European football:** "The financial structures of many European clubs are antiquated, creating a massive opportunity to provide modern, structured capital solutions to stabilize their operations." — [*Source: \[Bloomberg The Deal*](https://www.bloomberg.com/originals/series/the-deal?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*

### Part 5: Identifying Alpha and Unitizing Risk

1. **On unitizing risk:** "You have to break down every potential investment into its absolute smallest components of risk and assign a specific required return to each one." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
2. **On defining alpha:** "Alpha isn't just about picking the right company; it's about structuring your entry point so that you are mathematically protected if your thesis is wrong." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
3. **On relative value:** "The essence of our strategy is constantly comparing the risk-adjusted return of a senior secured loan in a software company to an equity stake in a real estate portfolio." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
4. **On margin of safety:** "You build your margin of safety not by hoping for a good outcome, but by structuring the downside so tightly that a bad outcome is survivable." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
5. **On downside protection:** "We spend 90% of our time obsessing over how we can lose money, and let the upside largely take care of itself." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
6. **On asymmetric bets:** "The goal is to construct a portfolio of investments where the upside is equity-like, but the structural protections are credit-like." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
7. **On complexity premium:** "We are highly attracted to situations that are too complex for traditional lenders and too debt-heavy for traditional private equity, because that is where the premium lives." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
8. **On pricing risk:** "If you can accurately price the risk that everyone else is running away from, you have a structural advantage in any market environment." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
9. **On illiquidity:** "We demand to be heavily compensated for locking up our capital; if the illiquidity premium isn't there, we simply will not do the deal." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*

### Part 6: Navigating Crisis and Complex Deals

1. **On the Airbnb investment:** "During the peak of COVID panic, Airbnb didn't need a standard loan; they needed a bespoke capital solution delivered with extreme speed and certainty." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
2. **On the Spotify deal:** "Our work with Spotify demonstrated that even the most successful growth companies occasionally require complex, non-dilutive capital structures that traditional markets can't provide." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
3. **On acting during panics:** "When a crisis hits, the firms that have pre-positioned their capital and maintained a flexible mandate are the ones that dictate terms." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
4. **On speed as a differentiator:** "In distressed situations, the ability to underwrite a billion-dollar check in a matter of days is a more significant competitive advantage than the cost of capital." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
5. **On solving founder problems:** "Founders in crisis don't care about your fund structure; they care about whether you can actually solve their immediate balance sheet problem without destroying their equity." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
6. **On structural leverage:** "We use structural protections—like seniority and covenants—rather than massive amounts of financial leverage to generate our returns in complex deals." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
7. **On conviction:** "You can't wait for the market to give you the 'all-clear' signal; by the time the consensus agrees an asset is safe, the alpha is already gone." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
8. **On managing distress:** "Distressed investing isn't about buying cheap debt; it's about taking an active role in restructuring a fundamentally good business with a broken balance sheet." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
9. **On the value of certainty:** "In a highly volatile environment, capital certainty is the most valuable commodity we can offer a management team." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*

### Part 7: Culture, Teamwork, and Leadership

1. **On culture as an antidote:** "A strong, resilient culture is the only reliable antidote to the inevitable chaos of a rapidly changing business environment." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
2. **On winning as a team:** "Individual brilliance is great, but over a long enough time horizon, a highly connected team will always beat a collection of brilliant individuals." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
3. **On Gregg Popovich's influence:** "We drew heavy inspiration from Coach Popovich; the idea that 'the ball finds the open man' applies just as much to capital allocation as it does to basketball." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
4. **On connectedness:** "The strength of a firm is measured not by its AUM, but by the density of connectedness and trust between its partners." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
5. **On hiring:** "We look for people who are exceptionally smart but possess the low ego necessary to change their minds when the data proves them wrong." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
6. **On intellectual honesty:** "You have to foster an environment where admitting you were wrong about a thesis is celebrated as a vital part of the risk management process." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
7. **On continuous improvement:** "The moment a firm believes it has perfected its model is the exact moment it begins its decline." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
8. **On communication:** "In times of stress, the volume and transparency of internal communication must increase exponentially to prevent silos from forming." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
9. **On defining success:** "Financial returns are the output; the actual measure of success is the quality of the decisions being made by the team on a daily basis." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
10. **On shared values:** "You can teach the technical skills of investing, but you cannot teach the core values of integrity and extreme teamwork; you have to hire for them." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*

### Part 8: The Goldman Sachs Era and Career Lessons

1. **On early rejection:** "Getting ghosted after 35 interviews, including four at Goldman Sachs, taught me that persistence and resilience are far more important than a linear resume." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
2. **On the Special Situations Group:** "Running SSG at Goldman was the ultimate training ground; it was a pure meritocracy where we were forced to unearth value in the most complex corners of the market." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
3. **On institutional training:** "Goldman Sachs embedded a deep appreciation for risk management and the absolute necessity of rigorous, institutional-grade processes." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
4. **On non-linear paths:** "The best investors rarely have a straight-line career; the detours and failures are what build the judgment required to price risk correctly." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
5. **On leaving a legacy platform:** "Stepping away from the security of Goldman to build Sixth Street required a fundamental belief that our specific model of flexible capital could stand on its own." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
6. **On organizational design:** "The greatest lesson I took from my early career was observing how the structural design of a firm directly dictates the behavior of its investors." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
7. **On managing one's career:** "You have to be the primary architect of your own career; relying on an institution to passively manage your trajectory is a mistake." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
8. **On personal organization:** "Scaling yourself as a leader requires a rigid, almost obsessive personal organization system so that you can remain completely present in chaotic moments." — [*Source: \[Invest Like the Best*](https://joincolossus.com/episodes?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*
9. **On evaluating talent:** "I learned early on to look past the pedigree and focus entirely on how a person processes complex information under pressure." — [*Source: \[Goldman Sachs Exchanges*](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/podcasts?ref=antoinebuteau.com)*\]*