Costco is not only Charlie Munger’s favorite company of all time (plus he’s on the board, natch), it’s an absolutely fascinating study in how seemingly opposite characteristics can combine to create incredible company value. For instance: Costco has the cheapest prices of any major retailer in America — and also the wealthiest customer base. They pay their hourly workers 30% above the industry norm (and give them excellent healthcare + 401k benefits) — and are almost 3x more profitable on labor than Walmart. Speaking of Walmart, Costco stocks 40x fewer SKUs than their Bentonville-based rivals — yet sells an average of 15x more volume of each. And oh yeah, practically all of Costco’s C-Suite started their careers as baggers and checkout clerks! Tune in for a mind-bending exploration of one of the world’s most iconic — and iconically unique — companies.
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Episode 50: Apple - Beats
Episode 49: The Stitch Fix IPO
Episode 48: Qualcomm - Broadcom
Episode 47: The Atlassian IPO
Episode 46: Blue Bottle Coffee
Episode 45: HTC, Google and the Future of Mobile
Episode 43: The Square IPO
Episode 42: Opsware (with special guest Michel Feaster)
Episode 41: Booking.com with Jetsetter & Room 77 CEO Drew Patterson
Episode 40: Activision Blizzard
Acquired Episode 39: Whole Foods Market
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Acquired Episode 38: SoundJam (iTunes)
Episode 37: BAMTech, Disney and "the Biggest Media Company You've Never Heard Of”
Episode 36: The LA Clippers
Episode 35: Oculus
Episode 34: The Starbucks IPO with Dan Levitan
Episode 33: Overture (with the Internet History Podcast!)
Episode 32: The Snap Inc. IPO
Episode 31: The Uber - Didi Chuxing Merger with Brad Stone, author of The Upstarts & The Everything Store
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