The $1K Mistake That Made Me Rich (And Why I'm Doubling Down on This Stock)

The Fire Phone Lesson That Cost Me a Fortune

Back in 2014, I was riding high on Amazon stock—up nearly 3x in just a few years. When Bezos announced the Fire Phone, I thought I was a genius and immediately sold. The phone was a disaster, right? I was absolutely correct about that.

But here’s what crushed me: I was catastrophically wrong about Amazon stock. While I was sitting on the sidelines patting myself on the back, Amazon became a 14-bagger. I learned three brutal lessons that day:

1. Don’t overthink short-term noise
2. Trust founder-led companies to fail forward
3. Never bet against innovation, even when ideas look stupid initially

Amazon didn’t stop at books. They launched AWS, bought Whole Foods, built an ad empire, created Prime—all moves that seemed risky at the time.

Fast Forward: TransMedics Is My Amazon Do-Over

I bought TransMedics (TMDX) in early 2023. Stock was printing money. Then in August 2023, they announced acquiring Summit Aviation—a capital-intensive business. My gut screamed “margin compression!” The market agreed, cutting the stock in half.

But this time, I remembered the Fire Phone. I did nothing and gave founder Waleed Hassanein room to operate.

Two years later? TMDX is 3x from those lows, revenues doubled. That aviation acquisition? Now used in 78% of transplants. The company just posted:

• Transplant revenue up 32%
• Logistics revenue up 35%
• Net profit margin at 17%

They’re targeting 10,000 transplants soon, plus kidney markets and international expansion—opportunities that could be orders of magnitude larger.

The Real Takeaway

Warren Buffett nailed it: “It’s good to learn from your mistakes. It’s better to learn from other people’s mistakes.”

Don’t sell great founder-led companies over tactical concerns. Give them runway to execute. Because sometimes the move that looks stupid today becomes the franchise that prints money tomorrow.