Entrepreneur: Edwin Dorsey ’16

Edwin Dorsey ’16 has always been a self-starter and a motivated individual, so it’s not surprising that as a graduate right out of Stanford University where he majored in economics, he moved to New York City and started his own business, The Bear Cave, a weekly newsletter that keeps finance-minded folks informed on what’s going on in the “short sale” world.

Admittedly, I am not that finance-minded, at least in the sense of the stock market, and when I spoke to Edwin, I had to ask what “short sale” meant. He kindly explained, “A short sale is when you “bet against” a company, meaning you think the stock price is going to decline. You might sell a stock when it’s valued at $300, and then buy the same stock back when it’s at $200, making $100 on the short sale.” The stock market can be a volatile beast and Edwin keeps an eye on companies by doing a ton of research. He looks at activist campaigns, Securities Exchange Commission Enforcement actions, the general business cycle (natural rise and fall of the economy) and more. His Bear Cave newsletter is a journalistic way for him to share his findings with his readers about corporate misconduct, questionable company behavior, and misleading actions. He started the newsletter in March 2020 and since then it has grown to around 6,000 subscribers. The growth is aided by his Twitter account @StockJabber where he has 8,000 followers.

Edwin says he always had an interest in finance and investing and when he was a student, then Head of the Upper School, Larry Frye P ’12, ’15, knew this and made a game-changing introduction. Larry knew Anton Schutz, a fellow HAC parent who ran an investment advisory company right behind Harley on Allens Creek. Larry connected them and they discussed senior internship options. Edwin had a great experience and his interest thrived.

Edwin knows this experience would not have happened without the help of Larry and the Harley community. He still relies on his Harley connection for business today, often bouncing ideas off of a tight group of friends that he made at Harley whom he texts with, sometimes on a daily basis.

Edwin was recently featured on www.institutionalInvestor.com about his work. He’s really making a name for himself down in New York City!

Would You Pay a 22-Year-Old Stanford Grad to Expose Wrongdoing?

Edwin Dorsey carves out a niche in the financial world: chronicling the doings of short-sellers.

If you know something about investing, Edwin Dorsey wants to meet you. And he’s very persistent about it.

Once, Dorsey repeatedly messaged a prominent investor until he got a meeting-and then took a 90-minute Uber ride to get there, because he didn’t have a car. He haunted another investor’s offices, popping in repeatedly with investment ideas. He wrote Warren Buffett so many letters asking to set up a sit-down that Buffett’s assistant felt it necessary to caution him not to fly to Omaha. 

If this sounds like boyish over-enthusiasm, Dorsey comes by it honestly: he’s 22 years old. He started pestering big-name investors for meetings when he was still in high school.

“I’ve always been a big believer that you’ve got to get your face in front of people,” Dorsey says. “Almost everybody has something to teach you. Even if someone isn’t a wildly successful person in their industry, they’ll know something you don’t.”

He’s already learned enough to carve out a niche for himself in the financial world. At an age when his peers are still learning the ropes, Dorsey is putting out a successful newsletter about a sector of investing that doesn’t get the sustained coverage it arguably should: activist short-selling, betting against a company’s stock while alleging fraud or other problems.

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