The other weekend, I did movie night with my kids. Given their affinity for some throwback movies from my childhood, I went back to the proverbial well of my youth for another classic – Back to the Future.
Quick movie aside: As the movie began and my inner child cozied up to my kids, the number of curse words was eye opening for a 1980s PG-rated movie. Fortunately, my eight-year-old son quickly put my mind at ease by informing me that he hadn’t heard anything in the movie that he didn’t already know – such a relief.
As we watched the movie, it hit me like a bolt of lightning: Marty McFly’s DeLorean is the perfect metaphor for every investor’s fantasy.
Just punch in a date, hit 88 mph, and boom—right place, right time, rich before you can say “Great Scott!”
It’s basically the dream behind every market-timing strategy: Buy just before the boom, sell just before the bust, and retire to Hill Valley in your flying car.
And right now, the temptation to play market-time traveler has never been higher. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has investors buzzing like Doc Brown on Red Bull. “Is it too late to buy Nvidia?” “Should I dump my bonds and go all in on AI?” “How can I get in before the next big breakout?”
I get it. The AI boom is exciting. Transformative even. But here’s the thing: the stock market isn’t a DeLorean.
There’s no flux capacitor to help you perfectly time entry and exit points. And history has taught us many times over that IF you did have a magic DeLorean, you might be surprised by the landscape of AI stocks if you dialed your DeLorean to 2030 or 2035.
What Airlines Can Teach Us About AI Investing
In 1958, the first U.S. commercial jet took to the skies—and life on Earth was never the same. What once took days by train or car could now be done in a few hours. The jet engine didn’t just move people faster, it accelerated global commerce, reshaped industries, and gave rise to our modern economy.
Air travel made the world smaller, more connected, and more productive.
Sound familiar?
That’s because we’re now witnessing another once-in-a-century leap in human efficiency—Artificial Intelligence.
Like jet travel in the ’60s, AI is transforming how we live and work. It’s writing emails, driving cars (sort of), analyzing medical scans, and, yes, helping investors build portfolios. It’s revolutionizing everything it touches.
So here’s the million-dollar question…
If AI is the new jet engine… is that a good thing for investors?
Let’s rewind. You might assume the airlines—the literal rocket ships of modern progress—must’ve made early investors rich. Spoiler alert: they didn’t.
In fact, commercial airlines have been a graveyard for long-term investors. Why?
- Razor-thin margins
- High operating costs
- Brutal competition
- Vulnerable to every crisis (oil, pandemics, volcanoes—seriously)
Despite transforming the world, the airline industry hasn’t reliably created wealth for shareholders. One of my favorite investment quotes of all time comes from Richard Branson when he was asked how to become a millionaire. His response – “There’s really nothing to it. Start as a billionaire and then buy an airline.”
World-Changing ≠ Wealth-Making
Back in 2000, everyone knew the internet would change everything. They were right. But that didn’t stop investors from losing 80% in dot-com stocks in the NASDAQ Index when the bubble burst on the euphoria (and excessive valuations) surrounding the internet craze.
The same lesson applies now: being directionally right about a technology doesn’t mean you’ll be financially right about HOW to invest in it.
And that’s where this all connects.
Being First Isn’t Being Best
Before Google launched in September 1998, there were at least a dozen notable internet search engines already in existence—many of them quite popular at the time. You may remember a few such as Yahoo!, Excite, and my favorite – Ask Jeeves.
Google didn’t invent search. It just rethought it. It figured out how to be faster, cleaner, and far more relevant—a classic case of second-mover advantage.
The big lesson? Being the first mover in internet search or AI gives you a head start—but being the best mover is what wins the race. Most of Google’s early competitors are now tech fossils, while Google commands over 90% of global search engine market share.
Enter: The AI Parallel
Right now, we’re in the early innings of the AI revolution. Companies are racing to integrate AI into everything—from customer service to cancer research. Just like airlines, AI is a platform—a utility that enhances other industries.
But just because something is world-changing like commercial travel and the internet doesn’t mean it’s portfolio-changing.
AI is likely to:
- Increase productivity
- Disrupt entire industries
- Create enormous business efficiencies
But the companies building the tools—think cloud infrastructure, chip makers, or AI software startups—are in a crowded, rapidly evolving space. Many are burning cash like a jet engine burns kerosene. Without our trusty DeLorean, it’s too early to tell if these companies will look more like Ask Jeeves or Google Search in the future.
3 Ways to Invest Without Breaking the Time-Space Continuum
Successful investing doesn’t require time travel—it requires discipline. The smartest investors aren’t trying to guess what’s next. They’re building portfolios that don’t need to guess.
So, how do you invest in the future without trying to predict it?
- Own the Innovation, Don’t Chase It
You don’t have to YOLO your portfolio into AI stocks. A diversified strategy already includes exposure to companies driving future innovation—just without betting the farm on any one outcome. - Stop Trying to Be Early—Be Long-Term Instead
Timing trends is a fool’s game. But participating in long-term themes with discipline? That’s where the real compounding happens. Invest in companies that use AI well, not just build it. - Invest Like a Scientist, Not a Sci-Fi Hero
Test ideas. Rebalance when appropriate. Stick to the process. Don’t let CNBC headlines make you ditch your plan for a hoverboard ride through market noise.
Final Thought
As the lessons from commercial flight, the internet, and search engines remind us, trying to bet on the next technological breakthrough or the companies that will ultimately dominate is like trying to outrun lightning in a parking lot. You might get lucky. But it’s not a strategy—it’s a screenplay.
You don’t need to be Marty McFly to build wealth. You just need a plan, a little patience, and maybe a reminder every now and then that standing still often beats speeding toward the wrong future.
Castle Quote: “The great irony of investing is that the biggest technological breakthroughs often produce the worst investments.” – Jason Zweig
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