Profit From the Profit: David Bahnsen on Dividend Growth Investing [Business Makers Podcast]

Is investing just legal gambling? Not when you're investing in real, growing profits.
David Bahnsen, founder and CIO of The Bahnsen Group, joins Gabe Rench to talk about his new book, Profit From the Profit: The Past, Present & Future of Dividend Growth Investing. They cover the worldview behind investing, why a growing dividend keeps management honest, Apple's cash hoard, Meta's $40B metaverse bet, the SpaceX IPO, and how reinvesting dividends turns market volatility into your friend.
Key takeaways
01:30 What you believe drives how you invest. A theology of wealth creation means growing the pie, not taking someone else's slice.
04:15 Investing vs. gambling: if the intent is zero-sum (I win, you lose), it isn't investing. Investing in real profits lets two people win at once.
07:15 The dividend growth thesis: a company can only grow its dividend year after year if it's growing profits year after year.
12:30 Why Apple and Facebook skipped dividends, and why dividends line management up with shareholders, the owners of the business.
18:20 The returns: focus on yield on original investment. Hold the tree and take the fruit, instead of selling good investments to get paid.
23:30 Betting on Elon: entering SpaceX at a $2 trillion valuation is very different from backing Tesla at $100 million. Quick gains come with the chance of quick losses.
32:40 Volatility is your friend: reinvested dividends buy more shares when prices fall, with no new money and no debt. That's compounding within compounding.
36:00 Can you pick dividend stocks yourself? What to look for: free cash flow, leverage, and management's commitment to the dividend.
38:30 How bad media mergers set billions on fire, and why skipping dividends raises a company's cost of capital.
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and intro
01:30 How belief drives investing
04:15 Investing vs. gambling
07:15 David's dividend growth thesis
09:30 How to find dividend-growing companies
12:30 Why Apple and Facebook skipped dividends
18:20 What returns dividend growth investing delivers
23:30 Betting on Elon and the SpaceX IPO
30:20 Pride, arrogance and staying on top
32:40 Why volatility is your friend
36:00 Can you pick dividend stocks yourself?
38:30 How bad media mergers set billions on fire
About our guest
David L. Bahnsen is the founder, managing partner and chief investment officer of The Bahnsen Group, a wealth management firm of about $11 billion. He writes the weekly Dividend Cafe and is the author of The Case for Dividend Growth (2019) and Profit From the Profit (Post Hill Press, 2026), a national bestseller.
Book: https://profitfromprofit.com
The Bahnsen Group: https://thebahnsengroup.com
Dividend Cafe: https://dividendcafe.com
X: https://x.com/DavidBahnsen
Business Makers Network National Conference: May, in the Nashville / Lebanon, Tennessee area, with David Bahnsen speaking. Tickets: https://businessmakers.network (Events)
Business Makers Network: A Network for Courageous Christian Business Leaders
Website and membership: https://businessmakers.network
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"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17
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