
He Quantified 200 Years of Disruption | Kai Wu on Separating Software Survivors from Value Traps
From Excess Returns by Excess Returns
June 2, 2026 · 1h 4m · Season 1 · Episode 453
About this episode
Kai Wu discusses his research on AI disruption and how to identify software survivors amidst value traps.
Kai Wu of Sparkline Capital joins Excess Returns to break down his latest research on AI disruption, software stocks, value traps, and intangible moats. We discuss why software valuations have collapsed, why traditional value investing can fail during technological disruption, and how investors can separate potential AI winners from companies whose business models may be permanently impaired. AI Disruption: Moats and Value Traps https://www.sparklinecapital.com/post/ai-disruption Kai Wu on X https://x.com/ckaiwu Sparkline Capital https://www.sparklinecapital.com/ Topics Covered: Why software stocks are trading at a historically unusual discount to the market How AI disruption can create both real opportunities and dangerous value traps Why Blockbuster, Borders, RadioShack and newspapers offer lessons for today’s software selloff How patent data and natural language processing can measure technological disruption Why disruption has helped explain the poor performance of traditional value investing Why value investing may still work in sectors insulated from technological change How intangible assets like brand, human capital, intellectual property and network effects can protect…
People in this episode
Host: Excess Returns
Guest: Kai Wu
Topics covered
- AI disruption
- software stocks
- value traps
- traditional value investing
- intangible assets
- technological change
Keywords
- AI disruption
- software stocks
- value investing
- intangible moats
- technological disruption
- market valuation
- investment strategies
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Sparkline Capital, Blockbuster, Borders, RadioShack, The New York Times, Walmart
Books & works: AI Disruption: Moats and Value Traps
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