Business Breakdowns

By Colossus | Investing & Business Podcasts

Business Investing

What's Business Breakdowns about?

Learn how companies work from the people who know them best. We do deep research and interview industry veterans, investment professionals, and corporate executives to explain the inner workings of public stocks and private businesses. For each company, we break down their history, business model, financial statements, secret sauce, and bull/bear case. We believe every business has lessons to teach us and Breakdowns is here to highlight them. Learn more and stay up to date at www.joincolossus.com.

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Vistra Corp: Full Stack Ene...

11.29.2023

This is Zack Fuss. Today we are breaking down Vistra Corp. Vistra is an integrated retail electricity and power generation company. The company, through its subsidiaries, is involved in electricity generation and wholesale and retail energy sales to commercial, municipal ...

Business Breakdowns episodes:

11.29.2023 Vistra Corp: Full Stack Energy Provider - [Business Breakdowns, EP.138] This is Zack Fuss. Today we are breaking down Vistra Corp. Vistra is an integrated retail electricity and power generation company. The company, through its subsidiaries, is involved in electricity generation and wholesale and retail energy sales to commercial, municipal ...
11.22.2023 Entegris: Solutions for Semiconductors - [Business Breakdowns, EP.137] This is Matt Reustle. Today we are breaking down Entegris, a supplier of advanced materials and process solutions for semiconductors. Small interferences with the different materials that exist within the semiconductor will slow it down and make it inoperable, and ...
11.15.2023 The Coca-Cola Company - [Business Breakdowns, EP.136] This is Zack Fuss. Today we are breaking down The Coca-Cola Company. On May 8th, 1886, Dr. John Pemberton brought this perfected syrup to Jacobs Pharmacy in downtown Atlanta, where the first glass of Coca-Cola was poured for five cents ...
11.08.2023 FedEx: Anytime, Anywhere - [Business Breakdowns, EP.135] Today we are breaking down FedEx. FedEx has a more direct impact on the U.S. economy than 99.9% of U.S. businesses - an actual statistic from Dun & Bradstreet. It was a business started in 1973 by the famous Fred ...
11.01.2023 Databricks: Data Based Decisions - [Business Breakdowns, EP.134] This is Zack Fuss. Today I am joined by Yanev Suissa, Managing Partner at SineWave Ventures, to break down the private company Databricks. Born out of a UC Berkeley research lab in 2013, Databricks has grown rapidly, and after 50% ...
10.25.2023 Match Group: The Business Behind Tinder - [Business Breakdowns, EP.133] This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down the giant of online dating. Even if you found love the old-fashioned way, you're likely familiar with the Match brands like Tinder and Hinge, amongst many others. To break down ...
10.18.2023 Olin: Chemistry and Cash Flows - [Business Breakdowns, EP.132] This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down Olin Corporation. Olin is a key player in industrial chemicals but many of those chemicals are used in products that we encounter on a day-to-day basis. To break down Olin, ...
10.13.2023 WEX: Fleet Cards - [Business Breakdowns, EP.131] This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down WEX, a big fish in a less known pond. WEX is a leader in the fleet card market - they offer trucking businesses special credit cards which help secure advantaged ...
10.04.2023 Equifax: Your Score & More - [Business Breakdowns, EP.130] This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down the data services giant, Equifax. Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax have built this fascinating oligopoly worth studying, but the business has extended well beyond the credit checks on mortgages. Their employee ...
09.27.2023 Boeing: Turbulent Times - [Business Breakdowns, EP.129] This is Zack Fuss, an investor at Irenic Capital, and today we’re breaking down Boeing. Founded in Seattle in 1916 by William Boeing, the company has produced thousands of commercial and military aircraft over the past century. It is an ...
09.13.2023 Kingspan: Influential Irish Insulation - [Business Breakdowns, EP.128] This is Dom Cooke and today we’re breaking down an Irish business that has become the global leader in insulation products for buildings. Founded in 1965, the business is called Kingspan and today it has a market cap of nearly ...
09.06.2023 Padel: Causing a Racket - [Business Breakdowns, EP.127] This is Dom Cooke and today’s breakdown is a little different. Last week we looked at the most popular sport in the world in Football. Today, we break down the business behind a sport in its relative infancy - Padel. ...
08.30.2023 The Business of Football - [Business Breakdowns, EP.126] This is Dom Cooke and today we’re breaking down the business behind the most popular sport in the world, Football or Soccer. It’s a vast market. 3 billion people around the world watch the sport and more than €30 billion ...
08.23.2023 Casey’s General Stores: Fueling Convenience - [Business Breakdowns, EP.125] Today we are going into the land of convenience stores to break down Casey's General Stores. Casey's currently operates in 16 states in the Midwest and Southern US. As of this recording, they have close to a $10 billion market ...
08.16.2023 Take-Two Interactive: GTA and NBA 2K - [Business Breakdowns, EP.124] This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down Take-Two Interactive Software. If you listened to our Business Breakdown on Electronic Arts, Take Two is another giant in the video game publishing space. They are best known for their ...
08.09.2023 Nubank: David vs Goliaths - [Business Breakdowns, EP.123] This is Zack Fuss, an investor at Irenic Capital, and today we’re breaking down Nubank. The Brazilian-based neobank has gone from nothing to extraordinary scale in a short period of time. 10 years after its founding, the company counts 46% ...
08.02.2023 Argenx: Changing Lives with Llamas - [Business Breakdowns, EP.122] This is Zack Fuss, an investor at Irenic Capital. Today, we're breaking down Argenx, an immunology company founded in 2008 by its three founding partners. Today, it's a $30 billion company set to produce over a billion dollars in sales. ...
07.26.2023 Copart: The Car Undertaker - [Business Breakdowns, EP.121] This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down the vehicle auction giant, Copart. You may be unfamiliar with Copart but, at the time of this recording, the company has a $40 billion market cap. They operate in over ...
07.19.2023 Lululemon Athletica: The Athleisure Leader - [Business Breakdowns, EP.120] This is Zack Fuss, an investor at Irenic Capital, and today we’re breaking down Lululemon Athletica. The Canadian company, founded by Chip Wilson in 1998, has grown from a pop-up store in a yoga class to a $45 billion apparel ...
07.12.2023 Toast: The Restaurant Operating System - [Business Breakdowns, EP.119] This is Zack Fuss, an investor at Irenic Capital, and today we’re breaking down the vertical market software business, Toast. Toast is a software platform built specifically for restaurants. Their operating system gives restauranteurs all the tools they need to ...
07.05.2023 Applied Materials: Sanding Atoms - [Business Breakdowns, EP.118] This is Zack Fuss, an investor at Irenic Capital, and today we’re breaking down the biggest manufacturer of chip making equipment in the world, Applied Materials. Last week, we looked at the other leading equipment maker in the semi-industry, ASML, ...
06.28.2023 ASML: Competing with Moore’s Law - [Business Breakdowns, EP.117] This is Matt Reustle and today we are back covering the semiconductor value chain. ASML was once a forgotten subsidiary of Philips. Today, it's one of the most important technology companies in the world. To break down ASML, I'm joined ...
06.21.2023 Roku: One Stop Streaming Shop - [Business Breakdowns, EP.116] This is Jesse Pujji and today we are breaking down Roku. With all the hype about social media and smartphones, it’s easy to forget that the average American still spends over 5 hours a day watching TV. And while the ...
06.14.2023 Mobile Gaming: A Freemium Economy - [Business Breakdowns, EP.115] This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down the mobile gaming industry. It was several months ago that I was reading an industry report for our Business Breakdown on Electronic Arts. I was shocked to see that mobile ...
06.07.2023 First Citizens Bank: The Bank Buyers - [Business Breakdowns, EP.114] This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down First Citizens Bank. I'm joined by investors with plenty of experience investing in banks - Bill Nygren and Alex Fitch of Oakmark. First Citizens is a bank with 125 years ...
05.31.2023 PayPal: A Digital Money Marketplace - [Business Breakdowns, EP.113] This is Dom Cooke and today we’re breaking down PayPal. PayPal has been at the forefront of digital payments since the early days of the internet. Founded by Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and others, who have since become household names, ...
05.24.2023 Restoration Hardware: Climbing the Luxury Mountain - [Business Breakdowns, EP.112] 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 ...
05.17.2023 FICO: A High Score Business - [Business Breakdowns, EP.111] 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 ...
05.10.2023 FC Bayern Munich: The Best Run Club in Football - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 110] 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 ...
05.03.2023 MTN Group: Connecting Africa - [Business Breakdowns, EP.109] 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, ...
04.26.2023 Roper Technologies: Industrial Titan to Software Giant - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 108] 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 ...
04.19.2023 Dolby Laboratories: The Sound Standard - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 107] 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 ...
04.12.2023 Electronic Arts: FIFA, The Sims, Madden and More - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 106] 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. ...
04.05.2023 Titan: A Golden Case in Indian Retail - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 105] 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 ...
03.31.2023 The National Basketball Association - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 104] 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 ...
03.29.2023 Jim Chanos: A Short Thesis on Data Centers - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 103] 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 ...
03.22.2023 Markel: Playing The Long Game - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 102] 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 ...
03.15.2023 The Walt Disney Company: An Entertainment Empire - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 101] 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 ...
03.08.2023 IPL: The World’s Fastest Growing Sports League - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 100] 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 ...
03.01.2023 Wise: Moving Money Around the World - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 99] 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 ...
02.22.2023 Ryanair: Low Cost Obsessed - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 98] 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 ...
02.16.2023 Constellation Software: Principled, Profitable, Permanent - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 97] 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 ...
02.08.2023 The Business of Sport: NFL, F1, PGA Tour - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 96] 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 ...
02.01.2023 Qualcomm: Making Smartphones Smart - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 95] 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 ...
01.27.2023 Orangetheory Fitness: A Franchise HIIT - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 94] 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 ...
01.18.2023 WeChat: China’s Operating System - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 93] 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 ...
01.11.2023 Hermès: The Luxury Icon - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 92] Today’s breakdown has been at the top of our to-do list since the show started. There are few brands as strong as this one and the way the Dumas family has nurtured it over six generations is remarkable. We are, ...
01.04.2023 L’Oreal: Because You’re Worth It - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 91] This is Matt Reustle, and today we are breaking down the personal care giant, L'Oreal. Founded in the early 1900s by a French chemist, L'Oreal and its long list of iconic brands have been driving cosmetics innovation for over a ...
12.28.2022 Carbon Reduction: Changing Business Practices - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 90] This week is the second half of our mini-series on the two major levers to reduce the impact of climate change. Last week, we covered Carbon Removal with Nan Ransohoff. Today we're focused on Carbon Reduction. To break down the ...
12.21.2022 Carbon Removal: A Primer - [Business Breakdowns, EP. 89] This week and next week we will break down the two biggest levers we have in the fight against climate change. Carbon reduction and carbon removal. Today, we will focus on carbon removal. To break down where we stand and ...

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