We have a special episode today, breaking down the CHIPS Act. We've covered the semiconductor space in depth on Business Breakdowns, but in this conversation, we go broader. We discuss the CHIPS Act, enacted by Congress in 2022, which aimed at boosting the US's semiconductor manufacturing capabilities to better compete with East Asia. America had been dependent on that foreign manufacturing which created massive shortages, having implications across some of our most important resources and defense systems. The CHIPS Act itself provides just under $53 billion in subsidies for US companies and t ..read more

Today we are breaking down InterDigital, a really interesting business that sits completely under the radar for most investors. InterDigital has the foundational patented technology that makes mobile phone communication and device-to-device communication possible. Everything revolving around 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, the Internet of Things, and all of these devices in the world that communicate with one another is underpinned by InterDigital technology. My guest is Jenny Wallace, co-founder and CIO of Summit Street Capital Management. We discuss InterDigital's five decades of history, what it takes to m ..read more

Today, we break down India's largest non-banking financial company, Bajaj Finance. Bajaj has a market cap of over $50 billion, which can largely be attributed to the significant growth over the past two decades. One of the headline numbers that immediately caught my attention from Bajaj is that the loan book compounded 40% from 2009 to 2022. To break down Bajaj I'm joined by Saurabh Mukherjea, the founder and CIO of Marcellus Investment Managers. Saurabh previously joined us for a breakdown on Titan and returned to dive into this specialized lender. Please note: Marcellus also holds shares in ..read more

Welcome back for part two of this business breakdown on the private credit markets. I am now joined by Josh Clarkson, managing director at Prosek Partners.  Our discussion with Armen was really focused on the supply & demand dynamics of private credit, where the public markets & regulatory markets have played a role, that certainty and speed of getting deals done, and how that has proved to be an advantage for private credit versus traditional solutions. In our conversation with Josh, we transition into some broader takeaways, the history of the private credit markets, and some of ..read more

Today, we have a special two-part episode on private credit. In 2023, the global private credit market topped $2.1 trillion in assets and committed capital. Rather than making blanket statements like private credit is an emerging bubble, we wanted to explore the various segments of private credit and ask simple questions like “Where is this growth coming from?”, take a closer look at supply and demand, and capture some of the nuance that is so important to any analysis of these emerging markets.  To start, we use the lens of a successful fund manager in the space, Armen Panossian, the co ..read more

Today, we are breaking down British American Tobacco. Regardless of your views on tobacco as a product, the market is one of the oldest in the world. My guest for today is Evan Tindall, co-founder and CIO of Bireme Capital, and he helps us cover how the tobacco market has evolved. We go way back in time, discussing how the product itself has evolved from smoking pipes to cigarettes to what we're seeing today - the nicotine pouch market and all the craze around it. We also cover how you evaluate a company where the market outlook is so uncertain. Please enjoy this breakdown of British American ..read more

Today, we cover the industrial conglomerate AMETEK. This is one of eight companies that Mark Leonard and his team at Constellation Software studied as they built their own empire. And it's one well worthy of a discussion as you'll hear.  To break down AMETEK, I'm joined by Nael Fakhry, Co-CIO of the Osterweis Capital Management Growth and Income Strategy. Nael has spent a significant amount of time around AMETEK from the early 2000s until today. Please enjoy this breakdown on AMETEK. Listen to Mitch Rales talk about Danaher on Art of Investing. Interested in hiring from the Colossus Comm ..read more

Today, we're covering a behemoth in the research market, Gartner. Executives are willing to pay up to $30,000 for reports and $50,000+ for full subscriptions so they can access insights and data to help them make business decisions, purchasing decisions, and pivoting decisions.  Our guest is Alvise Peggion, portfolio manager at Fairlight Asset Management. He helps us cover how Gartner grew into this at-scale player, how the research and sales model has been fine-tuned over time, and where the opportunity for growth is in the future. Please enjoy this Breakdown of Gartner.  Inte ..read more

This is Matt Reustle. Today, we break down Winmark, a major player in the reseller economy. You're likely familiar with some of Winmark’s brands, like Plato's Closet or Play It Again Sports. Altogether, Winmark operates five brands through a franchising model.  Our guest to break down Winmark is the current CEO, Brett Heffes. During our conversation, we discuss the broader reseller economy, the dynamics of managing those brands and different franchise brands, and how Winmark thinks about growth. In the back half of the conversation, I also made sure to talk to Brett about his thoughts on ..read more

This is Matt Reustle. We are back in the world of aviation today, breaking down Embraer. Embraer has carved out an interesting niche, manufacturing regional jets, business jets, and military aircrafts. Our guest is Richard Aboulafia, Managing Director at AeroDynamic Advisory and long-time aviation analyst and consultant. We break down how this aviation success story grew out of Brazil, the evolution of the regional jet market, the business jet market, & tap into military aircrafts, and, of course, we cover the opportunity presented by Boeing today. Please enjoy this breakdown of Embraer ..read more