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Me, neither. Well, not until a few weeks ago.
About a month ago, I told my parents about an incredible opportunity I had. They were nearly as excited as I was about this opportunity to collaborate, and they offered to watch our boys so my wife and I could take a quick trip to Salt Lake City, Utah to explore the possibility further.
When anyone else inquired about our weekend plans, we told them we were going to “the cities.” It may not have been the whole truth, but it was true — after all, we did spend an afternoon touring RVs at the convention center and spent an evening in a hotel, but “the cities” wasn’t our final destination.
Technically, Salt Lake City is one of many cities — I’m sure the Biglaw Investor could make a cohesive argument that a visit to any two cities would have constituted the truth as having visited “the cities”. If you disagree with that version of the truth, well then maybe you can’t handle the truth.
A Covert Operation
Why did my wife and I visit SLC?
Were we skiing? No, although we did have lunch up in the snowy mountains of Snowbird.
Were we there to worship? No, but we did take a stroll through Temple Square.
Did we go for the renowned fine dining? No, but we did have a delicious dinner with delightful company at a top-rated restaurant downtown. Our company, or rather our hosts as I should say, were the good Dr. Jim Dahle and the White Coat Investor staff.
Over the course of a couple weeks and a few dozen e-mails, we had brainstormed some ways to work together and form a synergistic relationship.
I felt quite comfortable with the ideas we had come up with, and I felt as though I knew him pretty well having read hundreds of his articles, seen his smiling face in dozens of pictures with stunning backdrops, and having heard his authoritative voice in numerous podcasts.
To him, though, I was more of an unknown entity. A pair of hands on a keyboard without a face, voice, or curriculum vitae to review. To remedy this, my wife and I were invited to join him and his crew in SLC to get to know each other, all expenses paid. Did somebody say free? When’s the next flight?
The White Coat Investor Reality Tour
Our hosts loosened the purse strings for our visit. My wife and I had deluxe downtown accommodations. As we departed for dinner, the Boston Celtics were checking in. Any hotel good enough for NBA stars is good enough for me. Scratch that. It’s too good for me, but I’ll gladly live like a king for an evening.
Over the course of a day and a half, we rode in not one, but two Toyota Sequoias. We were greeted with a cleverly crafted Welcome sign, complete with a depiction of a physician literally on fire (a prototype for the new logo), courtesy of the eldest Dahle daughter. We met the entire family of six, and we sat down together at the infamous cherry dining room table.
The majestic mountains surrounded us as we wound our way up to Snowbird for lunch with a view. True to my frugal foundation, I picked up the tab for our sandwiches, which I estimate cost me roughly 20% of what Dr Dahle paid for dinner the night before.
It was an amazing weekend, and I had to tell someone, so I’m telling you.
A Partnership is Forged: The WCI Network
You may notice the WCI Network badge in the header of this page. What does that mean for our sites? It means you will see some content from WCI on these pages, and more content from me on WCI. We plan to do some cross-promotion to help bring our messages to more high-income professionals who could benefit from our collective knowledge and experience.
While we do have a fair amount in common, this partnership only makes sense if we have different voices. While WCI gave you 14 reasons Why You Shouldn’t Retire Early, I plan to do exactly that within a couple years. He skies double black diamonds, something this guy fears. Dr. Dahle drinks waters; I drink beers. Yet, we managed to get along famously.
Of course, there is a business side to our relationship, as well. If you are familiar with Dr. Dahle, you already know that he is a successful entrepreneur. He believes in passive index fund investing, but also looks for alternatives with some of his investing dollars. This site is one of those alternative investments. He and his business manager now have a small slice of equity in my business, and a vested interest in my success. I now have new friends in Salt Lake City, and they are excellent friends to have.
I will continue my Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday posting schedule, and WCI will maintain a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. You will see more Saturday posts on both sites, which would give you something to read every day of the week within the WCI network.
Not much else will change around here. Dr. Dahle and I are working with a common business manager to bring on new Site Sponsors, and there may be minor changes in how the ads are displayed. I will continue to donate much of my profits according to the charitable mission. I am quite hopeful and confident that this new arrangement will allow us to be more generous over the coming years.
- 4 Physicians
- Financial Independence
- Frugality
- Investing
- Miscellany
- Physician Issues
- Q & A Interviews
- Retire Early
- Sunday Best Collection
- Top 5 Lists
- Taxes
If you’ve been a regular reader, I hope you’re half as excited as I am about the White Coat Investor affiliation.
Cheers!
-Physician on FIRE
60 thoughts on “Mixing Business with Pleasure: PoF Goes to SLC”
WCI and PoF are rock solid. My “go to” sites for sure!
Very nice PoF! You and The White Coat Investor are both good guys. This partnership will be a benefit to all high-income earners with more contents and diverse background. Good luck and stay in touch.
Great partnership. It was fun to meet you briefly while you were in SLC. Nice view, eh? Sorry I couldn’t join you for lunch. Next time for sure.
Hehe…love that physician on fire sign! Funny stuff!
Congrats on the new business partnership! Hope it works out well for you!
Well, congrats and awesome news. I guess, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Although, I had always viewed you two as friendly rivals anyway. So it sounds like he has a vested interest in your success. Looking forward to the cross promotion and postings.
Holy cow! You tune out for a weekend and look what happens. This partnership makes a lot of sense. Hardly surprised to see it hatched by PoF who might have missed his calling as an empire builder (or maybe that’s the second act). Really looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with.
And – totally on board calling a trip to Salt Lake City a visit to “the cities”. Plus, everyone up North probably thought you were saying “the seedy’s” anyway. I’m sure they understood what you and your wife were up to.
Congratulations to you and WCI on forming what I’m sure will be a successful, long-term partnership.
I can imagine you pitching your blog on Shark Tank:
Mark Cuban: I’ll pay $$$ for 10% of your blog. I’m a tech billionaire and an original FIRE member.
WCI: I’ll match that offer, but partner with me because I have the expertise and connections to take your blog to the next level.
PoF: I’m with WCI.
Congrats again!
Clever. Funny that you mention Shark Tank. When we had our little business meeting, the agenda had a section labeled “The Pitch.” I thought that would be my chance to explain why this would be a good idea for him, but it turns out I was the on the receiving end of “the pitch.” Not that I needed much convincing.
Cheers!
-PoF
Wow! Good for you. Jim’s site was one of the most influential for me getting started on my own financial education and in my limited e-mail interactions with him he has always been extremely gracious and genuine. Also been loving your site since just finding it more recently. Looking forward to where you both take things going forward.
You both amaze me with the amount of quality content you produce while working, monetizing your sites, and balancing with parenting and other interests. Is there a class in med school or a secret medicine that they give you allowing you to do everything without needing sleep?
Congrats!
Thanks, EE!
No secret medicine, but med school does force you to be productive with your time, that’s for sure. And we both went to med school before teaching programs instituted work hour limits. I imagine it’s a bit more humane now.
Best,
-PoF
Great work PoF! Looking forward to more great content from 2 masters of medfinance. Congrats to WCI as well for finding such a strong partner in the medfinance blogosphere.
Congratulations!
Glad to hear of this success, and the sharing approach you’re taking.
Good luck to the success of the WCI network!
Congrats! I’ve always been surprised at how much sponsorship there seems to be in your niche – and it makes perfect sense that you would work together rather than in competition.
Hope it works out as anticipated!
Oh man, that library photo! I’m going to geek out for a moment…
Okay. Now congrats to both you and WCI. I’m so excited to follow along and now have two great sites to promote to students and residents.
Sounds like the White Coat Investor team knows how to take care of its prospective business partner, and that you and your missus got to share some quality time together, in addition to striking up what only seems like a great business deal. Congrats, and keep up the good work. Looking forward to see what comes from both parts of the WCI network. Are there other members of the network as well?
Thank you, Lars-Christian. Great name!
Initially, the WCI Network will consist of two sites, but there is the potential for the Network to grow in the future if the partnership proves to be mutually beneficial, as we anticipate it will.
Cheers!
-PoF
Awesome. It’s important not to curb your ambitions at an early stage, and I’m sure you’re only just embarking on what will inevitably end up with world domination. At the very least within the online personal finance sphere, targeting physicians! 🙂
Congratulations on the partnership, PoF! Sounds like more fantastic posts to come!
I hope you enjoyed SLC! I went a few weeks ago and went ski-ing up at Park City. It was crazy cold, but it was super beautiful.
This is awesome! It’s almost embarrassing how big a hit of dopamine I got when reading both you and WCI’s posts this morning, my two fave bloggers under one roof! Or maybe umbrella is a better metaphor… either way, I’m very excited about this! I discovered both sites around the same time probably a year ago and both of you have had major positive impacts on my finances and career outlook (I’m also a gas passer), so thank you and keep up the good work! I’m sure I’ll be liking and sharing your stuff for years to come!
Congrats! Excited for you!
As a native of SLC, I hope you enjoyed your visit. I am actually up in the mountains skiing as I comment. It definitely is beautiful here!
That’s great, Brittany!
The next time we visit, we’ll definitely spend more time in the mountains.
Cheers!
-PoF
Stands up and slow claps…
Looks like you stayed at the Grand America – beautiful facility. I’ve been there twice on my trips back to SLC.
Congrats on the new partnership, PoF
Ding Ding Ding!
Nice catch, Ty. That is indeed where we stayed. Luxurious.
Best,
-PoF
POF,
Congrats! Like many, I found your blog through WCI. Jim continues to offer great financial advice, but you have great advice and amazingly similar life goals to mine. I am looking forward to more great posts and excited to see what develops from the synergy between your two blogs!
Joe Nomad
Impressive! Nice strategic partnership in helping educate physicians. Looking forward to more great content!
Wowza! Congrats, PoF! I’m excited to see where this collaboration goes. And, of course, a nice free vacation is never too shabby, either. 🙂
Indeed! I only regret we didn’t have more time to spend there. Soon enough, we will.
Cheers!
-PoF
Big win! Congrats!
Congratulations PoF! I am part of the minority (the only?) group who discovered you first, and only later hopped over to WCI. This sounds like a great partnership.
Very cool! It sounds like an exciting new partnership. 🙂 You are laying some good track for this upcoming retirement gig.
Congratulations to both of you! I´m really impressed with both your blogs so this sounds great!
Very cool. I’ve been reading WCI for four years and PoF for probably about six months. I got the link to PoF from the WCI’s The Other Guys post. Look forward to continued reading.
Wow, congrats. I imagine that it will only improve your current platform.
So exciting! I was looking forward to the big reveal and knew it wouldn’t disappoint. We do a lot of work with staff and students around Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (and your mention of SLC made me think of him.) This new relationship is a great example of his 6th habit – Synergize. Creative cooperation at its finest!
Holy cow! Congratulations on your new partnership! I look forward to seeing how it unfolds. BTW, awesome photo of the library.
Thank you, Mrs. G! I expect I’ll be adding many more shots taken with my new Olympus 9-18mm wide angle lens — I have to justify the business expense somehow! Of course, I got mine used off eBay.
Cheers!
-PoF
#Jealous!
Well done!
You have definitely made a splash over the past year that you have been blogging, moving and growing faster than I have seen any of the other PF blogs.
Congratulations!!
Congrats to both parties on this wonderful development!
Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggety dog! Super cool. Just please don’t combine your blog names. ‘White Physician’ or ‘Coat on FIRE’ probably won’t have the same appeal as the current names…
I second that emotion. Nice one, Dr. P. 🙂
Congratulations and this arrangement sounds like the beginning of a great educational and business empire that will benefit all of us physicians. I agree with Dr P, please don’t combine your names!
I think The Happy Philosopher would make a great addition to the network. Your three blogs are the main physician blogs I read. You all have very different voices but I learn from all of you.
Great news! Glad to see the collaboration. Awesome job on the blog. It has been amazing to watch how fast you built your site and following through being generous with your time and wisdom!
Cheers,
Dr-In-Debt
Congrats on the new partnership! Sounds like a big new step for the site. I dig that new logo they made you 🙂
Congratulations PoF!! Sounds like a fantastic collaboration, and a great opportunity to solidify your exit from the hamster wheel of life. More reading you say? Yes Please!
Wow! I this this is great. I have been reading WCI for years. I have been reading your site since almost the inception I think. You have introduced me to several interesting sites like ERN and the retirement manifesto. There is some overlap with Jim Dahle’s stuff but you are funnier. I look forward to the collaboration.
I appreciate the kind words and having you as a reader, Hatton1.
I will be sure to rub this in the good Dr. Dahle’s face.
Cheers!
-PoF
Aha, the big secret, revealed! (Not as big as your identity, but pretty freaking cool). Hanging with the (NBA) Stars, life in the big city.
You’re going places, Doc! Looking forward to the ride! Congrats on a great partnership!
For much of this article, I thought you were going to say that you joined the “Scientific Advisory Board” of some shady MLM supplement company as many of them are in SLC.
Happy to see that isn’t the case ;-).
Really? I had no idea.
Rest assured, there will be no PoF branded “Ripped Fuel” on the shelves of GNC anytime soon.
Cheers!
-PoF
Amazing! Cheers to a successful partnership!
Sweet! I’ve been a big fan of WCI for years now. I first found him over on Bogleheads and followed him over to his site. Although I’m not a doctor, I always found his writing style engaging and enjoyed reading his perspective on investment and money.
I’m looking forward to seeing your collaboration-best of luck to both of you!
This is not news anymore, of course- it has been a few years now. And a great partnership, for the good of all, it’s turned out to be! I’d missed this post before, though- and it’s classic you! Great read.
Wow, you weren’t kidding when you mentioned an upcoming big announcement the other day! Let me be one of the first at this odd hour to say “Congrats Dr. PoF!” Looking forward to seeing more cooperation with WCI!
Cheers and have a great weekend everybody!
Wow, very cool! I had of course noticed the cross promotions of posts on twitter the last week or two, and figured something big was in the works! Congrats to a great partnership, guys!
You are a perceptive one, LoaMS. Nice sleuthing, and Thank You!
-PoF