Business Breakdowns

This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down Restoration Hardware. The average person would call RH a furniture company but RH is a company where the CEO feels as important as the business, and CEO Gary Friedman has aspirations well beyond selling furniture. To break down RH, I'm joined by Drew Cohen of Speedwell Research. You may remember Drew from our breakdown of Floor & Decor. We cover how Gary Friedman took Restoration Hardware from the brink of bankruptcy and has built it into a brand with luxury aspirations. We go deep on the business model, why has RH been leaning into this in person experience despite a massive e-commerce boom, the reality of interior designers, inventory management, and orchestrating a supply chain when you sell monstrous couches. There's a lot to talk about here. It's a fascinating business with a fascinating person sitting at the middle of it. Please enjoy this breakdown of RH.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. Stretch your research budget with flexible expert calls you can trust. At a fraction of the cost of traditional expert networks, Tegus customers pay only what an expert charges – with zero markups and no confusing call credits – netting an average 70% savings. Don’t want to conduct a full hour call? Tegus offers the ability to schedule 30-minutes, an offer you won’t find anywhere else. And they don’t stop there. With white-glove custom sourcing for every project and robust compliance measures, including a dedicated 50+ analyst team that vets every call transcript, Tegus ensures your privacy and protection. As the industry innovator for qualitative insights, Tegus helps you find the right experts you need at a quality and speed that can’t be matched. For a limited time, as a listener, you can trial Tegus for free by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt | @domcooke Show Notes (00:02:27) - (First question) - Restoration Hardware’s relevance in the market (00:04:37) - The origin story of Restoration Hardware (00:07:58) - Insight into Gary Friedman’s backstory and his entry into RH (00:09:52) - The current RH business model and how Gary has shaped that over time  (00:17:14) - Their unique marketing funnels  (00:19:47) - Their move into the luxury brand market (00:21:24) - Explaining how the product collections are made up (00:22:32) - Updated supplier relations model  (00:25:25) - Insight into the RH sales model (00:28:04) - Overview of the membership model and how it impacts the business (00:31:42) - Peers within the industry that are using similar business models (00:32:49) - Cyclical macro exposure sales growth over time (00:34:09) - Their operations and logistics model (00:39:03) - The impact of COVID-19 (00:40:15) - Expected working capital for RH and other furniture peers (00:42:36) - Peer group average margin growth (00:45:56) - Key decisions and investments that need to go right (00:48:41) - European housing sizes and issues with American furniture (00:49:52) - Capital allocation history within RH (00:51:15) - How RH stays in style as decor tastes change over time (00:54:02) - His overall insight towards Gary’s ideas and risky business experiments (00:55:37) - His capital structure perspective for the future  (00:58:09) - How RH is moving into the luxury market as other brands move out  (00:59:09) - Lessons learned from studying Restoration Hardware Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Zack Fuss, an investor at Irenic Capital, and today we’re breaking down Fair Isaac Corporation, commonly known as FICO. FICO is best known for its consumer credit scores product, which has become a common language across the world of consumer loans and banking. Less well known, but a major piece of the business, is FICO’s software offering that helps financial businesses with fraud detection, CRM, and loan origination. Between these two offerings – scores and software – FICO earned $1.3 billion last year. To break down the business, I’m joined by Dev Kantesaria, managing partner at Valley Forge Capital Management. In going through its history and business units, Dev explains why it would be tough to design a better business model than FICO. Please enjoy this breakdown of FICO.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. Tired of running your own expert calls to get up to speed on a company? Tegus lets you ramp faster and find answers to critical questions more efficiently than any alternative method. The gold standard for research, the Tegus platform delivers unmatched access to timely, qualitative insights through the largest and most differentiated expert call transcript database. With over 55,000 transcripts spanning 22,000 public and private companies, investors can accelerate their fundamental research process by discovering highly-differentiated and reliable insights that can’t be found anywhere else in the market. As a listener, drive your next investment thesis forward with Tegus for free at tegus.co/patrick. ----- Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt | @domcooke Show Notes (00:02:40) - (First question) - What attracted him to FICO as a business (00:03:31) - An overview of their key products and the value they provide (00:06:01) - How FICO collaborates and competes with credit bureaus (00:11:23) - Their ability to sustain steady growth in a cyclical environment (00:12:48) - How FICO's software offerings complement their credit score business (00:14:13) - Who their competitors are (00:23:16) - The potential competitive risks of emerging A.I. technology (00:25:57) - Why the push for VantageScore in the mortgage industry created more competition for credit bureaus  (00:27:58) - The differences between their B2C and scores businesses  (00:30:38) - A breakdown of the software side of the business and its significance (00:34:26) - All about FICO’s Falcon Fraud Manager and Triad Customer Manager  (00:39:20) - FICO’s capital-light business model in detail (00:41:59) - The aspects of the business that investors often overlook or underestimate (00:45:18) - Lessons learned from studying FICO  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Dom Cooke and today we’re breaking down Bayern Munich. Bayern is Germany’s most successful football club and one of the world’s biggest. Most importantly, it makes a great case for being the best-run club in football. It has an enterprise value close to €3 billion, no debt, has been profitable for 3 decades, and is majority owned by fans. Plus, it has a trophy cabinet to rival any club worldwide. Bayern has won a record 32 national Bundesliga titles, including the last ten in a row, and has won the prestigious Champions League, six times. To break down the business behind the club, I’m joined by Marie Schulte-Bockum, a football journalist and Munich resident. Please enjoy this Business Breakdown of FC Bayern Munich. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors, and provider of Canalyst. Tired of calculating fully-diluted shares outstanding? Access every publicly-reported datapoint and industry-specific KPI through their database of over 4,000 driveable global models handbuilt by a team of sector-focused analysts, 25+ industry comp sheets, and Excel add-ins that let you use their industry-leading data in your own spreadsheets. Tegus’ models automatically update each quarter, including hard to calculate KPIs like stock-based compensation and organic growth rates, empowering investors to bypass the friction of sourcing, building and updating models. Make efficiency your competitive advantage and take back your time today. As a listener, you can trial Canalyst by Tegus for free by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt | @domcooke Show Notes (00:02:38) - (First question) - Overview of Bayern Munich (00:05:37) - How Bayern’s been able to maintain such consistent success writ large (00:12:39) - What the 50+1 rule is and its implications for German football clubs (00:17:24) - Major differences between the Bundesliga and other European leagues (00:22:30) - What it takes to run a high performance team like Bayern Munich (00:28:39) - Driving profits and the three major revenue buckets for Bayern Munich (00:35:48) - Germany’s influence being the biggest economy in the European Union (00:38:40) - How important European football is to every major club and broadcasting revenue (00:43:20) - Whether Bayern are buyers, builders, or borrowers in regards to their team  (00:51:15) - Overview of their expenses and the size of their wage bill  (00:53:43) - What financial fair play is and how it protects football clubs (00:57:27) - How they’ve managed to cultivate one of the biggest fanbases in the world (01:02:14) - Potential risks for Bayern Munich’s continued success (01:04:18) - League-level discussions around sharing revenue equitably  (01:05:34) - Lessons for builders and investors when studying Bayern Munich’s story  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Zack Fuss, an investor at Irenic Capital, and today we’re breaking down MTN Group. MTN is the largest mobile network operator in Africa and one of the 10 largest in the world. It has over 270 million subscribers, operates in 20 different markets, and is also one of the largest FinTech’s in the continent. To break down MTN, I’m joined by Benjamin Isaac, founder and Chief Investment Officer at Brizo Capital. We unpack their mobile money business in some detail, contrast the development of Telcos in Africa with what we’ve experienced in the US, and explore the competitive dynamics of operating in Africa. Please enjoy this breakdown of MTN.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors. Stretch your research budget with flexible expert calls you can trust. At a fraction of the cost of traditional expert networks, Tegus customers pay only what an expert charges – with zero markups and no confusing call credits – netting an average 70% savings. Don’t want to conduct a full hour call? Tegus offers the ability to schedule 30-minutes, an offer you won’t find anywhere else. And they don’t stop there. With white-glove custom sourcing for every project and robust compliance measures, including a dedicated 50+ analyst team that vets every call transcript, Tegus ensures your privacy and protection. As the industry innovator for qualitative insights, Tegus helps you find the right experts you need at a quality and speed that can’t be matched. For a limited time, as a listener, you can trial Tegus for free by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt | @domcooke Show Notes (00:02:24) - An overview of MTN Group today (00:04:13) - Contextualizing the scale and trajectory of the business vis-à-vis  its strong African demographic (00:05:52) - MTN Group’s unique position in the value chain (00:10:37) - The origin and the evolution of MTN Group (00:13:19) - The business’ current and future revenue models and how they differ domestically and internationally (00:15:52) - Comparing ARPU in North America and Africa (00:18:03) - His take on why the international fintech market is developing as rapidly as it is (00:22:48) - Understanding use cases for MTN Group’s mobile money products (00:27:57) - The low market share held by credit card companies in Africa, and the opportunity it represents for MTN Group (00:29:07) - Regional differences, local competition, and the overall market structure (00:30:42) - The architects, visionaries, and capital allocators behind MTN Group (00:34:33) - What structural separation means for a business like MTN Group (00:36:31) - Measuring the size and scale of the business (00:38:53) - Investing in emerging markets (00:42:59) - The importance of location in a mobile fintech company listing (00:45:09) - Risks and challenges facing MTN Group (00:49:53) - How African mobile and fintech markets fared during COVID (00:51:23) - Framing the business’ current and future picture of profitability (00:56:23) - Lessons learned in studying the story of MTN Group Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Zack Fuss, an investor at Irenic Capital, and today we’re breaking down Roper Technologies. Roper is a fascinating case study in how an old industrial business can pivot into a new world focused on software and technology. Roper was founded in 1890 as a manufacturer of industrial equipment and home appliances but, today, it is one of the most profitable software businesses in the world. Much of the pivot and subsequent value creation can be credited to Brian Jellison, who took over in 2001. To break down Roper, I’m joined by Joseph Shaposhnik, portfolio manager of the TCW New America Premier Equities Fund. We discuss the business’s roots, Jellison’s acquisition strategy, and how Roper compares to other niche software acquirers like Constellation Software. Please enjoy this business breakdown of Roper Technologies. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors, and provider of Canalyst. Tired of calculating fully-diluted shares outstanding? Access every publicly-reported datapoint and industry-specific KPI through their database of over 4,000 driveable global models handbuilt by a team of sector-focused analysts, 25+ industry comp sheets, and Excel add-ins that let you use their industry-leading data in your own spreadsheets. Tegus’ models automatically update each quarter, including hard to calculate KPIs like stock-based compensation and organic growth rates, empowering investors to bypass the friction of sourcing, building and updating models. Make efficiency your competitive advantage and take back your time today. As a listener, you can trial Canalyst by Tegus for free by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt | @domcooke Show Notes (00:02:38) - (First question) - Basic overview of Roper (00:05:24) - The businesses history and its pivot away from its roots (00:08:53) - Brian Jellison’s background and his appreciation for software businesses (00:14:23) - The way Brian Jellison would distinguish himself from others in his space (00:20:35) - His focus on acquiring new businesses vs building them himself (00:26:08) - The 3 dials he used to assess capital allocation decisions and the performance of companies (00:29:12) - How they are able to grow and expand margin after acquisitions (00:30:58) - Difference between other vertically integrated businesses like Constellation (00:34:19) - The succession plan at Roper (00:38:00) - Risks to that people should think about when it comes to Roper (00:41:44) - Lessons learned from Roper Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down Dolby Labs. Our favorite Breakdowns are those businesses, which are widely known but barely understood. Dolby fits the bill. You see the logo everywhere but what does Dolby technology do and how does the business work? To answer those questions and break down Dolby, I was joined by Paul Vincent and William Nott from investment manager, Ninety One. We cover the backstory of Ray Dolby, what Dolby's actually building and selling, and how the business model works. Please enjoy this breakdown of Dolby. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. (for me - https://joincolossus.com/episodes/69279744/vincent-dolby-the-sound-standard)  ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt | @domcooke Show Notes (00:02:50) - (First question) - The problem that Dolby initially set out to solve (00:05:02) - Some of the well-known products Dolby offers today  (00:08:41) - The path from noise reduction to enhancing the listener experience  (00:13:23) - Invisalign: Patents, Patients, Profits; How their codec technology is actually implemented  (00:16:40) - Whether or not how we record and what we record on can inhibit our ability to use Dolby’s products (00:18:32) - What the end markets for Dolby look like today   (00:21:04) - Whether or not they can offset against the consolidation of consumer technology  (00:22:54) - Targeting manufacturers as customers (00:26:55) - The trouble in defining Dolby’s total addressable market  (00:28:15) - Metrics used for measuring the size and relevance of the business  (00:31:23) - Outlining their royalty pricing model, its evolution, and the model’s dynamics   (00:34:54) - Whether or not the decline of movie theaters will impact their growth  (00:38:01) - Thoughts about Dolby’s cyclicality and potential trend impacts   (00:42:38) - The margin profile and how capital intensive the business is  (00:46:03) - His views on the potential risks to Dolby’s future  (00:50:30) - What stops Amazon or Apple from producing Dolby adjacent products in house (00:53:18) - How risky it is for Dolby to start pushing into the visual side of entertainment  (01:00:53) - Lessons for investors and builders when studying Dolby’s story  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down the iconic video game publisher, Electronic Arts. EA’s corporate history dates back to the 1980s and the business has evolved with all of the industry shifts in the decades since. To break down EA, I am joined by the author of The10thMan blog. We cover the role of a publisher in the video game ecosystem, the history and dynamics behind crown jewels like FIFA and Madden, and what the growth in mobile and new forms of monetization mean to a business like EA. Please enjoy this breakdown of EA. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt | @domcooke Show Notes (00:02:18) - (First Question) - EA’s role as a video game publisher within the broader industry (00:05:06) - EA’s size and scale today compared to its competitors  (00:08:15) - The founding story and the company’s background (00:16:12) - The impact of licensing agreements with sports games like Madden and FIFA (00:28:31) - The proportion of their games made for mobile, console, and PC (00:32:29) - Economics of a typical new game development and launch (00:34:38) - Expected lifespan of a game or its peak popularity (00:35:57) - How the industry is shifting from up-front sales to in-game sales (00:38:19) - The cost of keeping games up to date and working properly (00:40:00) - Working with third-party game engines versus developing a proprietary engine (00:44:45) - In-game purchases like loot boxes and the legal risks of being deemed gambling (00:48:26) - The video game M&A landscape and a discussion of Microsoft and Activision (00:50:19) - How EA uses a subscription model to unlock value from their back catalog (00:51:43) - Hypothetical top-line growth in the future and the bull case for EA (00:55:48) - Lessons for builders and investors when studying EA’s story Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we’re breaking down India’s largest jewelry business, Titan. Titan began life as a watchmaker in 1984 through a joint venture between India’s biggest conglomerate, Tata Group, and the Tamilnadu state government. Today, the vast majority of its $4 billion in revenue come from its collection of jewelry brands, and Tanishq in particular. To break down the business, I’m joined by Saurabh Mukherjea, the founder and Chief Investment Officer of Marcellus Investment Managers. We cover the importance of jewelry to Indian consumers, the intricacies of retailing across India, and how Titan stands head and shoulders above its competitors in terms of profitability. Please enjoy this breakdown of Titan. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt Show Notes (00:02:45) - (First question) - What Titan is, where it operates, and its size and scale (00:06:50) - The bulk of the demand when it comes to Indians buying gold  (00:08:24) - Getting their start in watches in the 80s and evolving into what Titan is today  (00:14:52) - What a typical Tanishq store looks like and overview of store economics (00:18:58) - How their return profile is changing and what types of stores they want to open (00:23:51) - What gold on lease is and the implications of it for their business model  (00:25:33) - Why make jewelry when they could just be selling gold for savings purposes (00:27:36) - Managing inventory and keeping costs under control at the store level (00:31:54) - Whether or not they have artisans spread out across the country and difficulties of shipping and freight at their current scale in India  (00:33:38) - How they’re attracting customers to stores and store-level marketing strategies (00:37:57) - Splitting their business into middle class, premium, and wedding jewelry  (00:39:22) - Where e-commerce figures into the scope of their business (00:42:47) - Thoughts and philosophy on allocating surplus capital and acquisitions  (00:45:38) - Additional competitive advantages Titan has (00:48:42) - Building brand trust in a low trust economy in such a short time period  (00:50:22) - Where future growth will come from and if they can sustain their current growth rate (00:54:04) - The bull case for their business and what a Saree is (00:57:03) - Risks the business faces as they look out at the future  (01:00:12) - What he’s learned as an investor studying Titan’s business Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down the National Basketball Association. The NBA topped $10bn in revenue last season, in line with MLB and behind only the NFL in terms of major sports leagues. The initial headlines for the next media rights deal, which is coming in 2025 suggest a 200% to 300% increase versus the previous contract. But what's particularly interesting about these data points is that they stand in sharp contrast to declining viewership numbers.  To break down the NBA, I'm joined by Ethan Strauss. Ethan has been intimately involved with the league for the past decade and often writes about why the NBA, like other sports leagues, is not a traditional business. We cover who and what made the NBA into the giant it is today and whether that's getting stronger or less strong. Please enjoy this breakdown of the NBA.  For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt | @domcooke Show Notes (00:03:11) - (First Question) - His background and his entry into the basketball business (00:09:24) - Key turning points that enabled the league to mature to what it is today (00:12:53) - An overview of the league’s economics and scale (00:16:01) - The dynamics of negotiating national and regional TV deals (00:18:57) - How viewership is faring with an increasingly fractured TV audience (00:22:40) - The counter-intuitive notion that lower TV viewership can help extract more media rights profits (00:25:47) - The international market for the NBA (00:31:06) - The unique role of the NBA commissioner and how it compares to other sports (00:34:12) - How individual teams and their owners influence league dynamics (00:37:27) - Rough splits between the NBA’s various revenue streams (00:39:32) - Astronomical franchise purchase prices and owner dynamics (00:41:34) - The possibility of expansion and the creation of new franchises (00:44:41) - How the NBA’s star players draw in fans but also wield power over the league (00:50:07) - The extent to which players’ popularity depends on nationality (00:54:03) - How much players make in salary versus endorsement deals (00:58:11) - Variables that could threaten the success of the league as a whole (01:00:26) - Probable drivers for future success and growth of the NBA (01:02:14) - The role of marketing in the NBA’s continued success (01:04:15) - Cues the NBA could take from other leagues in terms of its media presence (01:07:15) - Lessons for builders and investors when studying the NBA’s story Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Compound248 is back to host another episode of Business Breakdowns. His most recent podcasts have focused on digital infrastructure and today we continue with that theme, but with a twist. Our guest is Wall Street Legend Jim Chanos, famed for bringing a skeptical eye to a credulous world. Together, we walked through his short thesis on the US Data Center REITs, his bear case for commercial real estate, and some broader wisdom on how management can thoughtfully respond to short sellers. Let's get started. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.  ----- This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick. ----- This episode is brought to you in partnership with Roundhill Investments, the advisor to the Roundhill IO Digital Infrastructure ETF – BYTE - which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BYTE. The fund tracks the BYTE Index, which measures the performance of 40 leading global digital infrastructure businesses, such as towers and mobile communications, fiber and fixed line connectivity, and data centers. For a prospectus and more information, please visit roundhillinvestments.com/etf/byte. ----- Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt | @domcooke Show Notes (00:03:30) - (First question) - His counter-narrative thesis of shorting traditional data centers (00:09:34) - How data center hyperscalers have been shifting the industry since 2016 (00:12:14) - The size, margins, and depreciation profile of the data center industry (00:16:14) - The cash burn problem with digital REITs (00:18:30) - How he thinks about interest rates, liquidity, and leverage in the space (00:20:25) - More on why the value of these data centers is so elusive (00:21:57) - The extent to which macro tech slowdowns intersect with his thesis (00:23:13) - What investors see in these businesses that he discounts (00:26:59) - Risks for the short and the bull case for data centers (00:29:04) - Big concerns about the broader commercial real estate market (00:36:34) - The best way for operators to handle a short thesis about their company (00:39:49) - Critical mistakes he recommends managers avoid Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we’re breaking down Markel. Markel is an insurance and investing business. It shares the same operating structure as Berkshire Hathaway in that it uses insurance underwriting profits to fund an investing portfolio that includes both minority and controlling interests in public and private businesses. It was founded in 1930 by Sam Markel to insure Jitney buses and today it is a Fortune 500 company with a market value of $17 billion. To break down Markel, I’m joined by Peter Keefe and Saurabh Madaan. Peter is an investor at Avenir and longtime Markel shareholder, while Saurabh was the Deputy CIO at Markel and is now the founder and managing member of Manveen Asset Management. We discuss why the Berkshire comparison is unfair, how a specific set of values is so deeply embedded in the business, and we use Markel as a lens to talk about capital allocation and the psychology of investing more broadly. Please enjoy this breakdown of Markel.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.    -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt | @domcooke   Show Notes (00:02:34) - (First question) - How they would explain Markel’s unique business model to a friend (00:04:24) - The values and systems that make Markel stand out (00:08:57) - Subtleties that differentiate Markel from Berkshire (00:11:22) - Markel’s stance and perspective in the larger insurance industry (00:15:31) - The structural factors that enable Markel’s excellence across many different classes of insurance (00:18:55) - Why this specialized business model is still not widely replicated (00:20:18) - The disproportionate amount of legacy companies in the insurance industry (00:22:58) - The evolution of Markel’s investment portfolio and investing style (00:29:22) - Key differences between Markel Ventures and the public equity portfolio (00:32:25) - How their decision-making and allocation process differs from traditional funds (00:36:42) - How their small team is able to outperform the bigger competitors (00:39:50) - Summoning patience to reap the benefits of holding positions long-term (00:42:37) - The famous American Tower investment story  (00:46:10) - How they would evaluate Markel from an outside investor perspective  (00:53:43) - Key-man risk in Markel’s agile leadership (00:55:33) - Other risks and challenges they think about with Markel (00:57:05) - How experience with Markel has informed their perspective on the insurance industry (01:00:50) - Lessons for builders and investors when studying Markel’s story Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Jesse Pujji and today we’re breaking down The Walt Disney Company. Disney needs no introduction. We have all interacted with the entertainment empire in some capacity. It was founded 100 years ago as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio and over the ensuing century, the business has grown into a conglomerate of entertainment properties that includes the likes of Pixar, Marvel, Disneyland, ESPN, National Geographic, and Disney+. To explain how the business fits together, I’m joined once again by Ben Weiss, the Chief Investment Officer of 8th & Jackson. We talk about Disney’s famous flywheel, its push into streaming, and why it's such a difficult business to manage. Please enjoy this business breakdown of Disney.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.    -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt | @domcooke   Show Notes (00:02:23) - (First question) - Overview of Disney and their size and scale today  (00:05:15) - Major milestones across Disney’s one hundred year history  (00:07:17) - What lead to their decision to buy ABC and subsequently ESPN  (00:08:00) - Disney’s Original Flywheel; How Disney’s flywheel compounds on top of itself (00:10:11) - Characterizing their competitors and the markets they play in   (00:12:58) - Overview of Disney’s theme park business  (00:15:07) - Fixed costs, growth, and thoughts about volume for their theme parks (00:17:40) - Their cable business and the drivers of growth and success for it  (00:21:33) - Netflix: The Original; What’s different about Disney+ compared to Netflix and why they’re losing money  (00:23:14) - Disney+ verses Netflix in the competitive landscape  (00:24:45) - How far Disney can extend their content offering without degrading their brand (00:27:42) - Overview of Disney’s movie business and its growth levers  (00:29:04) - Creativity, Inc.; A revenue case study of the Cars franchise (00:33:08) - Company culture in running an effective enterprise as big as Disney  (00:35:43) - The recent leadership transition and his thoughts on it as an investor (00:37:24) - Reasons behind the Marvel acquisition in 2009 (00:40:05) - What will have to go right if Disney became the next trillion dollar company (00:43:32) - Possible reasons why Disney could fail over the coming decade   (00:45:56) - Lessons for builders and investors when studying Disney’s story (00:48:54) - Learn more about Disney; Creativity, Inc., The Ride of a Lifetime  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we are breaking down the world’s fastest-growing sports league, The Indian Premier League. The Indian Premier League, often shortened to IPL, is a cricket competition that takes place in India every year between the end of March and end of May. There are 10 teams, 74 matches, and the competition starts and ends within 2 months.  The biggest sports leagues tend to come with long histories. You can trace the NFL back to 1920, the NBA to 1946, and Formula 1 to 1950. In stark contrast, the IPL and its teams were founded in 2008. But despite its relative youth, the IPL is already a sporting giant. It has revolutionized the game of cricket and is the second biggest sports league in the world if you measure it on a per-game basis. To break down the story and business, I’m joined by Ed Cowan. Ed played professional cricket for Australia in the early 2010s and is now an investor at TDM Growth Partners. Please enjoy this breakdown of the Indian Premier League.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.    -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt | @domcooke   Show Notes (00:03:05) - [First question] - An overview of the Indian Premier League (IPL) today (00:07:41) - How cricket fits in the context of Indian culture and markets (00:11:06) - The mechanics of T20 cricket and its history (00:19:33) - The genesis of the IPL (00:21:42) - How the original eight teams were sold by the league and seeded by investors (00:24:44) - The IPL’s conception and the rockier aspects of its startup phase (00:30:13) - The revenue structure and business model broken down into their many streams (00:33:44) - How Indian culture influences media deals in cricket (00:41:55) - How operators have structured the IPL to optimize for media rights  (00:44:53) - More on league-level economics, costs, and IP monetization  (00:47:22) - Dynamics of individual franchises within the league (00:55:19) - The infrastructure model and overhead costs for individual franchises (00:59:03) - A deep dive into the player auction and how it works (01:07:48) - Fanbase demographics and the importance of female representation in the IPL (01:12:38) - How IPL creates and leverages scarcity value (01:17:26) - The increasing international reach of the IPL draft (01:19:32) - How the BBL in Australia stacks up against the IPL (01:25:18) - Premortem case for the IPL (01:28:22) - Why he thinks cricket and the IPL won’t be disrupted any time soon (01:31:59) - Lessons for operators and investors when studying the IPL story Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Zack Fuss, an investor at Irenic Capital, and today we’re breaking down Wise. Wise helps individuals and small businesses move money across borders. It offers significantly faster and cheaper international transfers than traditional banking routes because of its innovative closed-loop system. Twelve years after its founding, Wise serves six million customers and earned close to £1 billion in income last year. Investors currently value the business, which is listed in London, at £6 billion. To break down Wise, I’m joined by former payments exec and now investor at Sydney-based TDM Growth Partners, James Revell. We cover the broken system of correspondent banking, which has led to slow, opaque, and expensive transfers and then explore how Wise has counter-positioned itself to take advantage of this large market. Please enjoy our breakdown of Wise.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.    -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt | @domcooke   Show Notes  [00:02:27] - [First question] - Overview of Wise, their key product, and core competency  [00:04:17] - The founding story of Wise and the road leading to today [00:09:18] - Wise’s size and scale today compared to 2011 [00:11:07] - Their competitive advantages and how it informs their goals  [00:19:24] - Exploring Wise’s closed loop system and why their model can’t be copied [00:21:28] - Unique characteristics of their business model that allows them to capture such robust margins [00:25:32] - Overview of Wise’s unit economics and their revenue model [00:34:49] - Interchange fees and how Project Zero guides the business [00:36:44] - Why their lower take rate doesn’t destroy the industry  [00:38:24] - Ways Wise’s business model can’t simply be copied and replicated  [00:44:35] - Thoughts on who their true competitors are [00:48:10] - Their customer acquisition flywheel  [00:49:49] - Float, increasing net margin, and how they contribute to durability [00:53:55] - Key risks associated with Wise when evaluating the business [00:58:35] - Reasons behind the decision to raise money as a direct listing in the UK [01:01:03] - How people looking at Wise should think about margins over time [01:03:32] - Lessons for builders and investors when studying Wise’s story   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down Europe's largest airline, Ryanair. As we do more breakdowns, we start to look for patterns of successful business models that succeed across different industries. Ryanair is another case study in low-cost shared economies of scale. To break down Ryanair, I'm joined by Holland Advisors’ founder and portfolio manager, Andrew Hollingworth. On this episode, we talk about what makes airlines such a difficult industry for investors, how CEO Michael O'Leary has taken a truly unique approach to building this business, and how to frame cyclical versus secular dynamics in the airline market.  Now, one quick note before we transition to the episode. You'll hear Andrew and I talk about O'Leary's unique PR approach with shareholders, the union, and pretty much anyone that he deals with. If you're interested in that type of dark arts of communication and media, make sure to check out our newest show at Colossus, Making Media. It operates as an ongoing Business Breakdown of our own business, Colossus, and we spend a lot of time studying the world of communications and media more broadly. You'll find a link to that series in our show notes. Make sure to subscribe.    For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.    -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt | @domcooke   Show Notes [00:03:12] - [First question] - Why airlines have such a bad reputation with investors  [00:04:20] - An overview of Ryanair and its size and scale today  [00:05:43] - Unique characteristics about Ryanair’s business model that distinguishes them from their competitors [00:09:10] - What keeps customers coming back to Ryanair [00:10:49] - What else stands out about Michael O’Leary that is key to Ryanair’s success [00:12:16] - Michael O’Leary: Turbulent Times for the Man Who Made Ryanair [00:14:22] - How Ryanair’s business model has evolved against cycles and opportunities [00:19:29] - What else goes into their cheap seat cost structure  [00:23:10] - Approaching labor in light of a unionized industry and workforce  [00:28:07] - The cyclicality of margins and how theirs look compared to their competitors [00:33:47] - Interesting data on airplane utilization and dynamic pricing   [00:36:40] - What’s contributing to the lack of growth at easyJet  [00:42:37] - The risks to Ryanair’s growth as a shareholder   [00:44:00] - Industry responses to cycles and recessionary environments  [00:46:31] - The main takeaways from Ryanair that could be applied elsewhere Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Zack Fuss, an investor at Irenic Capital, and today we’re breaking down Constellation Software. Constellation is a conglomerate which owns more than five hundred vertical market software businesses. It was founded by Mark Leonard in 1995 and has delivered remarkable returns to shareholders since going public on the Toronto stock exchange in 2006. To break down Constellation, I’m joined by Chris Cerrone, a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Akre Capital Management. We discuss Mark Leonard’s genius, why Constellation is the gold standard for employee compensation plans, and how the business has perfected its acquisition engine, which allows it to buy dozens of software businesses each year. Please enjoy this breakdown of Constellation Software.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt | @domcooke   Show Notes [00:02:37] - [First question] - How Chris and Akre came across Constellation Software  [00:05:21] - An overview of Constellation [00:08:40] - The origins of Constellations’ 30-year legacy of extraordinary returns [00:11:57] - A deeper explanation of vertical market software as it relates to Constellation [00:15:30] - The impressive scale of Constellation despite its niche-targeted portfolio [00:18:04] - Their incentive structures and their avoidance of stock-based compensation [00:21:05] - Additional ways in which Constellation stands out, relating to the Rule of 40  [00:23:20] - The barriers that keep competitors and copycats from overtaking them [00:28:00] - The three legs of Constellation’s acquisition engine [00:32:57] - Recent spin-offs of assets as opposed to straight acquisitions [00:35:45] - How Constellation is planning for the future [00:38:13] - Why they’re considering expansion towards non-VMS acquisitions [00:40:30] - Capital allocation and Mark Leonard’s outlook more broadly [00:43:46] - How the business reflects Mark’s nature and values [00:47:31] - How much technology risk does the business face? [00:50:56] - Is organic growth a concern?  [00:57:40] - Lessons for operators when studying Constellation’s story Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Dom Cooke and this week is a little different. It’s Super Bowl week and to get in the mood, we’re doing a sports special as we break down the business behind 3 iconic sports - The NFL, Formula 1, and the PGA Tour. Now, these are not new episodes. We have covered each of these sports over the past two years on Business Breakdowns. But for this episode, we have condensed those conversations into 100 minutes of action, focusing on the similarities and differences between these major leagues. In terms of revenue, the NFL dwarfs the other two sports. But in terms of eyeballs, Formula 1 is the clear global leader. And from a strategic perspective, it’s fascinating to see the evolution since we aired these episodes. For example, you’ll hear Formula 1’s CEO talk about the US being a key growth market, and then you’ll notice that last week Red Bull unveiled their 2023 car in New York. This year’s calendar has 3 US races. Similarly, the upcoming weekend is the second in a series of PGA Tour events designed to bring more of the top golfers together on a regular basis. Neil explains why that was desperately needed in more detail towards the end of this episode. Finally, before we jump into the action. I wanted to highlight our newest Colossus show, Making Media. If you enjoy Business Breakdowns, I think you’ll enjoy that show too. I think of it as a real-time Business Breakdown of our media business, Colossus, and the media industry writ large. Make sure to check it out if you like the sound of it. You’ll find a link in the show notes. Now, without further ado - let’s get to the Business of Sport, starting with the NFL.   Making Media: Hunting for Magicians with Patrick O’Shaughnessy The National Football League Formula 1: The Iconic Motor Sport PGA Tour: Playing Under Pressure   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt   Show Notes [00:03:10] - PART 1: THE NFL (LINK TO FULL EPISODE) [00:35:25] - PART 2: FORMULA 1 (LINK TO FULL EPISODE) [01:07:41] - PART 3: PGA TOUR (LINK TO FULL EPISODE) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Zack Fuss, an investor at Irenic Capital, and today we're breaking down Qualcomm. When you think of semiconductors, Qualcomm isn’t necessarily the first name that comes to mind but its size and utility in our lives is truly striking. The business has an enterprise value of $150 billion and set the standards for 3G, 4G, and 5G mobile connectivity that we rely on so heavily in our daily lives today. I bet that if you don’t have a Qualcomm product in your pocket right now, you most certainly have one in your home. To break down the business, I’m joined by Jay Goldberg, a semiconductor industry consultant and partner at Snowcloud Capital. Please enjoy this breakdown of Qualcomm.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus, the modern research platform for leading investors. I’m a longtime user and advocate of Tegus, a company that I’ve been so consistently impressed with that last fall my firm, Positive Sum, invested $20M to support Tegus’ mission to expand its product ecosystem. Whether it’s quantitative analysis, company disclosures, management presentations, earnings calls - Tegus has tools for every step of your investment research. They even have over 4000 fully driveable financial models. Tegus’ maniacal focus on quality, as well as its depth, breadth and recency of content makes it the one-stop, end-to-end research platform for investors. Move faster, gather deep research to build conviction and surface high-quality, alpha-driving insights to find your differentiated edge with Tegus. As a listener, you can take the Tegus platform for a free test drive by visiting tegus.co/patrick.   -----   Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt   Show Notes [00:02:41] - [First question] - Describing what a semiconductor is for laypeople  [00:03:51] - Distinguishing between chip designers and producers [00:04:53] - Why the semiconductor industry evolved the way it did  [00:05:57] - The history of Qualcomm from the 50s leading up to today  [00:08:40] - Where Qualcomm fits into the world of wireless phones  [00:12:01] - What winning the war of standards means for their economics writ large [00:13:42] - The dynamics within the business that influenced their growth  [00:16:00] - Qualcomm’s direct competitors as they exist today  [00:17:20] - The relationship between Qualcomm and Apple [00:19:42] - What’s happened over the last couple of years in the industry [00:21:05] - The possibility of a structural tailwind in a digitally interconnected world  [00:22:56] - Some of the competitive hostility in the semiconductor space [00:26:58] - Unique directions Qualcomm could be taken beyond positioning  [00:29:02] - What they can do with their abundant free cash flow  [00:30:24] - Variables that preserve and could threaten their margins  [00:32:58] - Where Qualcomm sits within the global struggle for chip dominance geopolitically  [00:35:00] - Capacity constraints that could impact them directly  [00:36:51] - Lessons for investors and operators when studying Qualcomm’s story [00:39:50] - Unique characteristics of Qualcomm’s company culture   [00:41:06] - Thoughts about Steve and Aman as CEOs [00:43:08] - Where Meta, Apple, and Microsoft source their chips  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down the fitness franchise, Orangetheory. I have wanted to do a deep-dive on franchising for a while now and I always knew who the guest would be. I’m joined by a man fully dedicated to all things franchisee and franchisor - the Wolf of Franchises. We talked through the origin story of Orangetheory and the tech-enabled concept that helped differentiate them during the boutique group fitness boom. Wolf walks me through the economics for both the franchisees and the franchisor – and he helps compare this to the rest of the franchise system throughout the conversation. If you’re in any way curious about franchises – I think you’ll enjoy this episode. And if you do, make sure to check out Wolf’s work at wolfoffranchises.com – it’s the exact type of niche dedicated content that I love. Enjoy this breakdown of Orangetheory.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the new digital hub for market intelligence. The Tegus platform empowers Investors and Corporate Development teams to invest smarter by pairing best-in-class technology with the highest quality user-generated content and data. Find out why a majority of the top firms are using Tegus on a daily basis. If you're ready to go deeper on any company and you appreciate the value of primary research, head to tegus.co/breakdowns for a free trial.   -----   Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt   Show Notes [00:02:55] - [First question] - What makes Orangetheory unique from their competitors [00:04:47] - Orangetheory’s founder and origin story [00:06:53] - What it looks like going from an initial concept to a franchise  [00:08:56] - Whether or not early franchises have pricing and adjacent benefits  [00:11:17] - How their franchisee numbers rank compared to their competitors  [00:13:09] - How their location numbers rank compared to their competitors  [00:15:39] - What it would look like applying for and becoming an Orangetheory franchisee [00:17:52] - How much Orangetheory cares about their franchisees being good operators [00:20:35] - Upfront franchise fees and other parent company revenue streams  [00:23:15] - How much revenue is actually going back to the Orangetheory parent company [00:25:41] - Whether or not the parent company helps with upfront costs [00:28:01] - Overcoming the barrier of up front capital for a franchise  [00:29:33] - Unit economics and business models for fitness instructors  [00:30:53] - Rules of thumb and variables to break even on an Orangetheory franchise [00:34:04] - The average cash flow generated by a mid-tier Orangetheory franchise  [00:35:16] - Where an owner might have to reinvest their profits into the business [00:37:14] - Additional marketing and mandatory costs required of an owner  [00:38:47] - How franchisees are protected by new locations  [00:40:47] - The main risks to an ecosystem like Orangetheory over the next five years  [00:44:17] - Key takeaways for operators and investors from Orangetheory’s story Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we’re breaking down one of the most important apps in the world, WeChat. WeChat is the default operating system for life and business in China. Founded inside of Tencent in 2011, it is the original super app and its 1.3 billion monthly active users can order food, message friends, play games, pay bills, shop, and more on the service. To break down WeChat, I’m joined by Connie Chan. Connie is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz and is well-known across Silicon Valley for her deep knowledge of the Chinese consumer technology landscape. We discuss WeChat’s legendary founder, how trust is integral to the app’s success, and why we haven’t seen super apps proliferate in the West. Please enjoy this breakdown of WeChat.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   This episode is brought to you by Tegus. Tegus is the new digital hub for market intelligence. The Tegus platform empowers Investors and Corporate Development teams to invest smarter by pairing best-in-class technology with the highest quality user-generated content and data. Find out why a majority of the top firms are using Tegus on a daily basis. If you're ready to go deeper on any company and you appreciate the value of primary research, head to tegus.co/breakdowns for a free trial.   -----   Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt   Show Notes [00:02:40] - [First question] - Overview of the super app model [00:04:43] - How apps and software from the Western world differ from WeChat [00:06:19] - WeChat’s history in China and why it dominates [00:08:27] - Seeing WeChat as an OS within an app [00:09:19] - How service unification in WeChat affects privacy, identity, and marketing [00:13:16] - High-level analysis of their business model and reach [00:16:53] - What Westerners would find surprising about using WeChat [00:18:04] - History and functionality of WeChat Pay [00:23:14] - The importance of their integrated Mini Programs  [00:25:56] - Factors impacting their margin structure [00:28:51] - Holistic design philosophies for maintaining user engagement and trust [00:30:44] - WeChat’s saturation point and how future growth might look [00:32:02] - How they leveraged mobile-only coding, self-disruption, and internal competition [00:37:21] - Initial app build - simplicity for steady growth [00:38:36] - How her understanding of WeChat influences her investment decisions [00:41:47] - Western companies that have super app potential [00:43:52] - Exporting the philosophy of treating your app users like friends to Western developers [00:44:25] - The relationship between WeChat and the suppliers on their platform [00:47:14] - Uncertainty caused by software regulations in China [00:47:53] - Attributes of her typical investments [00:49:42] - Lessons for operators and investors when studying WeChat’s story Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices