Oriental Trading Company is a successful business that has been around for over 50 years.
The company focuses on quality products, low prices, and a large selection.
These factors have helped Oriental Trading Company to build a strong competitive advantage.
In Part 1, I went through Borsheims, Buffett’s jewelry retailer in Omaha. It has historically had a very strong business model, although this may be changing. And his jewelry business has a lot of interesting parallels to his biggest retail business, Nebraska Furniture Mart. Company 2: Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM) I was in Omaha with […]
Back in 2017 and 2018, I took a bunch of Peking University students to Omaha to have lunch with Warren Buffett. And we also did visits (arranged by Berkshire) to several of his private businesses around Omaha. And as every business he buys has a competitive advantage, it was a good chance to try and […]
I have mentioned a few times on the podcast that I use a one page sheet to do an initial estimate for valuation. I got asked about that today so I thought I would send it out. However… I am not a hedge fund or other such analyst. I do not spend my days updating […]
In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses lessons from Warren Buffett on compounding and competitive advantage. He shares insights on how to build businesses that can grow over time, and how to identify companies with sustainable competitive advantages.
In this podcast, Jeffrey Towson discusses the concept of “criticality” as a type of switching cost. He specifically talks about Wabco, one of Warren Buffett’s companies that has fairly powerful B2B criticality. Wabco is a supplier of braking systems for trucks and buses, and its products are critical to the operation of these vehicles. As a result, customers are reluctant to switch to other suppliers, even if Wabco’s prices are higher. This gives Wabco a strong competitive advantage.
In this episode of the Asia Tech Strategy podcast, Jeffrey Towson shares his 9 investment questions. These questions can help you evaluate companies for investment by assessing their competitive strengths, market size, and management team. Towson also discusses the importance of building digital moats, which are sustainable competitive advantages that make it difficult for competitors to imitate.
I’ve been teaching a private equity class at CEIBS in Shanghai for like 5 years. I call it private equity but it’s really about how to analyze companies and investments. Regardless of whether it is private or public. Whether the approach is active or passive. It’s basically my checklists, which are 9 questions. I’ve mentioned […]
I’ve been thinking a lot about mapping companies. On one hand, they are typical “information goods” companies, most of which have had their economics turned upside down by digital. Everything from encyclopedias and phone books to videos and music. There is a long list of previously good businesses that have been transformed, disrupted and/or destroyed. […]
One of things I like about Warren Buffett is he is very open about his life. He talks a lot about his experiences, his wife, his father and his friends. And when students and younger folk ask him business questions, he often answers with personal advice. For example, at one of the lunches we had, […]