In Practise

How much can you really pay for 'quality' companies?

'Over the long term, it’s hard for a stock to earn a much better return than the business which underlies it earns. If the business earns six percent on capital over forty years and you hold it for that forty years, you’re

Primary Research

In Practise Primary Research Checklist

“The business grapevine is a remarkable thing. It is amazing what an accurate picture of the relative points of strength and weakness of each company in an industry can be obtained from a representative cross-section of the opinions of those who, in one way

iBuying

iBuying: Zillow vs Opendoor

Read the full interview HERE We recently interviewed the Former Head of Strategy and Finance at Opendoor on the competition in iBuying. We explore: iBuying transaction process, fees, and costsImportance of optimising capital structure and operations to maintain marginsDrivers of a 5% gross margin

Esports

Esports & The Overwatch League

Read the full interview HERE We interviewed the Former Director of the Overwatch franchise at Blizzard Entertainment to explore the future of esports. We discuss: Different esport league structuresComparison of The Overwatch League and traditional sports like NFL or NBAImplications of the publisher control

Shopify

Shopify: Creativity at Scale

Read the full interview HERE We recently interviewed a Former Director at Shopify on culture and organizational structure and effectiveness. We explore: Parallels between organizing a jazz ensemble and corporationsHow to foster new ideas and creativity within an organizationChallenges to scale and maintain a

Gaming

Unity Game Engine Economics

Read the full interview HERE We recently interviewed the former Head of Strategy, APAC at Unity Technologies, one of the world's largest game engine suppliers. We explore: Positioning of Unity vs Epic's Unreal engineUnity's shift from perpetual licenses to SaaS business modelUnit economics of

Wealth Management

St. James's Place: Distribution is King

Read the full interview HERE We recently interviewed a Former Corporate Strategy Director at St. James Place and Current Head of Strategy at Quilter on the structure of the UK wealth management industry. We discuss: The segmentation and growth drivers of UK indepedent advisorsHow

Gaming

Value of Gaming Intellectual Property

Read the full interview HERE We interviewed the Former Senior Director at Take-Two Interactive Software and NCSOFT on how the value of gaming IP is evolving in a free-to-play world. We explore: Why mobile-first companies like Zynga have an advantage in a free-to-play worldHow

Aerospace & Defense

TransDigm vs OEM's

Read the full interview HERE We interviewed the former Chief Customer Officer at Telair, the cargo handling system business that TransDigm acquired for $750m in 2015. We explore: Core Telair business pre-TransDigm acquisition and relationship with OEMThe different contracts between OEM, supplier, distributors, and

Game Publishers

Fortnite Gameplay Design

Read the full interview HERE We interviewed the former Head of UI at Epic Games who managed a team of artists, designers, and programmers for five years to build Fortnite. We explore: Core differences in Heroes of the Storm and Fornite gameplay design and

Gaming

PlayStation & Game Consoles

Read the full interview HERE We interviewed a 25-year game console veteran and Former SVP Strategy at PlayStation on the evolution of the console business. We explore: The original problem of accessibility a game console solvedHow Sony entered the console business and the relationship

Marketplaces

eBay vs Zynga: Building Online Communities

Read the full interview HERE We interviewed an executive that built the PowerSeller Program for eBay and then managed the Global Community at Zynga to explore how to build online communities. We cover: What makes a healthy online communityHow eBay launched and scaled the

US Sports Betting

Building Online Gaming Technology Stacks

Read the full interview HERE We interviewed the former Digital Delivery Director at GVC Holdings on how operators look at sourcing software suppliers to build out the stack. We cover: The technology stack strucutre of online gaming operatorsHow European operators approached building the stack

US Sports Betting

Parx Casino: Choosing GAN & Kambi

Read the full interview HERE We recently interviewed a Former VP at Parx and Former Head of Business Development on the future of the US online sports and casino landscape. We explore: Historical CAC and retention of DFS playersHow online is additive to casinos'

US Sports Betting

Kambi vs SBTech Sportsbooks

Read the full interview HERE We recently interviewed a former Director and the first employee in the US at Kambi Group, one of the leading B2B sportsbook suppliers globally. In the full interview we explore: The scale advantage of Penn and Boyd and how

Online Food Delivery

How Restaurant Franchisees work with Delivery Vendors

Read the full interview HERE We interviewed a Former Director at Subway on the risk in the franchisee network and how franchisors work with delivery vendors. We explore: Impact of coronavirus and potential franchisee closuresFranchisee setup costs and requirementsRoyalty, advertising, and system fees for

Software

Xero vs Intuit

Read the full interview HERE We recently interviewed a Former VP Sales at Xero on the go-to-market strategy of Xero vs Intuit. We explore: How Xero successfully drove down customer acquisition costs by focusing on adding value to the accountant channelWhy it is harder

Travel

Air Travel Distribution: Airline vs GDS

Read the full interview HERE We interviewed the founder of Travelocity and Founding Chairman of Kayak.com on the structural changes in air and hotel distribution over the last decade. We explore: The history of Sabre and formation of the GDS businessPotential impact of

Insurance

Lemonade, Inc: Disrupting Insurance

Read the full interview HERE We recently interviewed a founding member of Lemonade, the insuretech unicorn due to list in June 2020, on the core differences in the Lemonade business model versus traditional carriers: We discuss: Why there is a misalignment of incentives between

Aerospace & Defense

TransDigm Business Model Risks

Read the full interview HERE We recently interviewed a Former VP who spent over 26 years at Esterline Technologies selling components to both OEM's and in the aftermarket. We explore: Esterline's pricing strategy pre-TransDigm acquisitionWhy Esterline was focused on moving up to sell bigger

Music Publishing

Spotify vs Record Labels

Read the full interview HERE We interviewed the Former CEO of EMI Group, one of the four largest record labels globally and now owned by Sony, on the structural changes in the music industry and Spotify's opportunities. We explore: Fundamentals of a music artist

Hotels

Hilton Honors Loyalty Program

Read the full interview HERE We recently interviewed the Former Global Head of Corporate Strategy at Hilton Worldwide on building loyalty and hotel distribution. We explore: How Hilton built a portfolio of brands for all market segmentsHotel conversions versus new buildsHow hotel loyalty schemes

Aerospace & Defense

TransDigm's Pricing Strategy

Read the full interview HERE We recently interviewed a Former President at TransDigm on the company's value-based pricing strategy. We explore: Why TransDigm's culture is uniqueHow TransDigm streamline inventory of acquired assets to increase capital efficiencyTwo-tiered OE pricing strategy and how OEM's view TransDigmAftermarket

Beverages

Fever Tree vs Schweppes

Read the full interview HERE We recently interviewed a Current Executive Vice President of Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits, the largest spirits distributor in the US, to discuss how Fever Tree is positioned versus Schweppes. We explore: Southern Glazer's strategy of pitching Fever

Software

SaaS Business Models & UK HCM

Read the full interview HERE We recently interviewed a former Product Marketing Director HCM Solutions at Sage, who has over 25 years experience in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Human Capital Management (HCM) software industry, on the resilience of HCM market in a