Jesse Ransford is a rising corporate finance consultant who recently traded the rugged terrain of his native Colorado for the fast-paced world of corporate finance in New York City. As an avid and accomplished skier, Ransford is used to pushing himself to new heights. His recent move to New York City is just the latest example of his lifelong quest to explore new horizons.
Born and raised in Colorado, Jesse’s love for the outdoors was innate. He became an avid skier, racing the slopes of Aspen Highlands and skiing in knee-deep powder on expert terrain.
Jesse discovered a love for the performing arts while attending a small charter school in Aspen, where he appeared in school plays; his favorite role was the White Rabbit in “Alice in Wonderland.” Yet, he yearned for broader horizons and convinced his parents to send him across the country to attend boarding school in New Hampshire, where he formed lifelong friendships with students from around the world.
After heading back home to study economics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and in the years following his graduation, Jesse quickly built a reputation for his technical skills, which include developing advanced Excel models for complex valuations and conducting industry research across technology, energy, and retail sectors.
Jesse credits his education with giving him a solid foundation in analytical thinking and problem-solving. The curriculum was rigorous, he recalls, but it was the hands-on projects and the simulation of real-world economic scenarios that captivated him. He says his academic background has been invaluable in his current role in corporate finance consulting at Economics Partners, where he frequently applies these skills to analyze complex financial situations and provides practical advice to clients. His work involves spearheading economic reports for clients while working his way through the challenges of modern business valuation.
As he settles into his new career and new home, Jesse is immersing himself into all that New York offers, discovering the city’s diverse neighborhoods, cultural offerings, and the culinary scene while continuing to advance his career in corporate finance.
Jesse Ransford sees artificial intelligence as a game-changer in the valuation consulting space. The emerging trend that genuinely excites him most is how AI tools are transforming traditional workflows and freeing consultants to focus on higher-level analysis.
While Jesse admits It’s very difficult to predict which companies will dominate the future of artificial intelligence, he likes to look back at the dot-com era in the 90s, when Yahoo, IBM, and Intel were considered the most promising and innovative companies. Today, he says, these firms struggle to maintain relevance.
He does predict that companies positioned to supply AI developers with semiconductors, storage, and energy will likely experience heightened growth over the next decade, while those providing services that can be replicated or replaced by AI will benefit immensely. Service providers, including banks, consulting firms, law firms, and marketing agencies, all rely heavily on employees for output. As soon as companies can grow output without increasing labor costs, profit margins will increase, and equity returns will soar, Jesse believes.
Understanding that picking ultimate winners is near impossible, Jesse has chosen to focus his investments on the upstream supply chain of service providers. “Leaders in the AI race, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta, all require the same infrastructure to build large language models (“LLMs”). Such infrastructure includes specialized semiconductors, data centers, and energy plants. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) is the obvious contender here, but I have withheld investments from the behemoth in fear of overvaluation. Instead, I have chosen Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM), which trades at a P/E ratio of nearly half that of NVDAs. TSMs stock price has surged 42% in the last twelve months,” Jesse explains.
He has also invested in a power company that he says has repositioned itself for the AI boom. “Traditionally an industrial engine manufacturer, Power Solutions Industrial Infrastructure (NASDAQ:PSIX) has marketed its sustainable fuel generators as reliable solutions for data centers. PSIX has increased nearly 500% over the past twelve months,” Jesse says, demonstrating that he does his homework.
Understanding that many AI-related stocks trade at high multiples, Jesse first looks at Price-Earnings ratios (“P/E”) when analyzing a stock. He explains, “ A P/E ratio of 10, for example, means that I am paying $10 for every $1 that a company earns over a one-year period. Notable value investor Benjamin Graham achieved his greatest successes from choosing stocks at P/Es of 10 or below. Similarly, Warren Buffett prefers P/E ratios below twenty. As a general framework, Jesse says he views Price to Earnings(“P/E”) ratios above 30 as a signal that a stock is likely overvalued.
Given the uncertainty in picking winners, Jesse prefers a diversified basket as the safest bet. Low-expense index or mutual funds should make up most of an individual’s portfolio, he recommends, adding that diversifying investments across companies and sectors is extremely important to minimize risk. “That being said, index funds are generally weighted towards the most valuable companies, which are likely AI-related companies in this day and age.”
He points out that the S&P 500, for example, has roughly a third of its value invested in the Magnificent 7, a group of large-cap companies in the technology sector. Due to their size and performance, these stocks accounted for roughly one-third of the S&P 500’s total market capitalization at the end of 2024. They also made up a significant percentage of the market’s total 2024 returns but experienced some volatility in early 2025. This concentration exposes retail investors and passive 401K holders to AI gains automatically.
I While it’s too early to tell which AI companies will succeed in the long run, Jesse Ransford believes companies that develop a strong relationship with users early on will have an enormous advantage. “Currency OpenAI is positioned in the LLM market as Google is positioned in the search market, he explains, “and ChatGPT has become consumers' go-to AI platform, creating a formidable barrier for competitors seeking market entry.”
Adjusting from Colorado to New York City has provided Jesse Ransford with new energy and opportunities as he adapts his lifestyle to an urban environment dramatically different from his upbringing. As much as he embraces his city life, Jesse remains connected to his Colorado roots, returning as often as he can to experience the ups and downs of a different kind on the ski slopes.
