This is Zack Fuss. Today we are breaking down the Mitsubishi Corporation. In Japan, the business model of a trading company is prominent. The big five trading companies caught the attention of global investors in 2020, when Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a major stake in all of them: Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Itochu, Marubeni, and Sumitomo. Today's Berkshire stake i ... Show More
Apr 17
Givaudan: The Magic Ingredients - [Business Breakdowns, EP.242]
Today, we are breaking down Givaudan, the Swiss fragrance and flavor giant hiding in plain sight. I came away from this episode with a new way of seeing the world around me. When you learn that a single company is behind the scent of your shampoo, the taste of your burger, and th ... Show More
41m 20s
Mar 20
Apollo: Connoisseurs of Complexity - [Business Breakdowns, REPLAY]
This episode was originally recorded in March 2025. Today, we are breaking down the global alternative asset manager, Apollo. I reflected on my personal experiences with Apollo for this episode, and there's a saying that hard work can beat talent when talent doesn't work hard. W ... Show More
1h 14m
Apr 2021
Mike Kerns and Jesse Jacobs - Content to Commerce - [Invest Like the Best, EP. 220]
My guests this week are Jesse Jacobs and Mike Kerns, co-founders and partners at The Chernin Group, TCG, a multi-stage investment firm dedicated to building consumer businesses. Many think of TCG as some of the best media investors in the world, and in this discussion, you’ll qui ... Show More
1h 13m
Jan 2024
Erik Serrano - Investing in Investment Firms - [Invest Like the Best, EP.358]
My guest today is Erik Serrano. Erik is the CEO of Stable Asset Management, which he started 14 years ago in his early 20s and has scaled to over $3 billion in AUM. Unusually, Stable’s strategy focuses on other investing firms. They look to back the Blackstone's of tomorrow and p ... Show More
1h 27m
Jan 2021
Ram Parameswaran - Internet Scale Businesses – [Invest Like the Best, EP.207]
My guest today is Ram Parameswaran, founder of Octahedron Capital. Ram started Octahedron this year after more than 5 years as a partner at Altimeter Capital where he made investments in Square, Bytedance, Pinduoduo, and Udaan. In our conversation we cover the potential for inter ... Show More
1h 27m
Aug 2022
Robert Smith - Investing in Enterprise Software - [Invest Like the Best, EP.291]
My guest today is Robert Smith, the founder, Chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners. An engineer by training, Robert started Vista at the turn of the millennium and built it into one of the world's most successful software-focused investment firms. We discuss the white space ... Show More
59m 8s
Feb 2024
Ali Hamed - Building an Investment Firm - [Invest Like the Best, EP.362]
My guest today is Ali Hamed. Ali was first on Invest Like the Best six years ago. He was 26 at the time and four years into building his investing firm, CoVenture. Both then and now, Ali is an example of what’s possible when you think creatively. Six years later, CoVenture now ma ... Show More
1h 30m
Nov 2023
Brad Jacobs - Think Big and Move Fast - [Invest Like the Best, EP.352]
My guest today is Brad Jacobs. Brad’s resumé is remarkable. He has founded seven companies, all of which are billion-dollar or multibillion-dollar businesses. He has done 500 M&A transactions and raised $30 billion dollars of debt and equity capital. Currently, he is the Executiv ... Show More
1h 26m
Jun 2022
Lydia Jett - Investing in E-commerce - [Invest Like the Best, EP.282]
My guest today is Lydia Jett, Managing Partner of SoftBank Investment Advisers. Lydia leads the team’s consumer, internet, and e-commerce investments and has worked with many of the most significant consumer platforms in the world, including as a board member of Coupang and Flipk ... Show More
1h 10m
Aug 2023
Lee Ainslie - Hedge Fund Maverick - [Invest Like the Best, EP. 341]
My guest today is Lee Ainslie, the founder of Maverick Capital. Lee started his investing career at Tiger Management where he worked for Julian Robertson. In 1993, he left to start Maverick and has built the firm into one of the top-performing hedge funds of the last 30 years. Le ... Show More
1h 38m
Feb 2023
Jeff Green - Modernizing Advertising - [Invest Like the Best, EP.315]
My guest today is Jeff Green, the CEO and co-founder of advertising platform, The Trade Desk. The Trade Desk is the second advertising exchange Jeff has built, having sold his first venue to Microsoft in 2007. He started The Trade Desk in 2009 and has built it into a $30 billion ... Show More
1h 7m