Business Breakdowns
Learn how companies work from the people who know them best. Each episode dissects a single business - from its origins and model to its financials and competitive edge. Join hosts Matt Reustle and Zack Fuss as they uncover the lessons behind every success story. Learn more at www.joincolossus.com.
Episodes
March 6, 2026 • 52 mins
This conversation was originally released in June of 2023.
Today we return to the semiconductor value chain with one of the most important companies in modern technology: ASML. The company began life as an unwanted spin-out from Philips with no real product and little expectation of success. Today, it builds the only machines capable of manufacturing the most advanced chips in the world.
To break down ASML, I’m joined by Tom Wals...
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February 11, 2026 • 70 mins
Today we are breaking down the cybersecurity giant, Cloudflare.
Today, Cloudflare controls over 20% of the world’s web traffic, and more impressively, absorbs 2.5mn cyber attacks per second.
My guest is Sam Eden, Investor at Square Peg’s Global Tech Fund. And while I understood on the surface what Cloudflare does, Sam helped me get into the weeds on how the digital pipes actually work.
So we go through the rise of Cloudflare a...
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February 5, 2026 • 49 mins
Today we have a special episode breaking down how investors are using AI.
This is a question I get from many of you, and while there is no shortage of content on the implications of AI, I know there's an appetite to learn more about tangible use cases, how to make sure you're getting the most out of these tools, how to think about advancements in the technology, and ensuring that you're keeping pace with the innovation curve.
So...
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January 30, 2026 • 39 mins
Today we are breaking down Games Workshop. This episode is another examination of the business of IP. Whether it's Disney, Electronic Arts, or Nintendo, there are so many businesses built around core IP. And while Games Workshop and its Warhammer franchise may not be as familiar to our North America listeners - this episode will tell you why that may be changing very soon.
My guest is Todd Wenning, President and CIO of KNA Capital...
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January 8, 2026 • 74 mins
Today we’re breaking down Databricks, a $130B private company that helps companies collect, store, and process very large amounts of data, and then use that data to run analytics and train machine learning models.
Databricks sits in the middle of modern data systems, connecting raw data pipelines to the tools teams use to analyze information and build AI. If you’ve worked on large-scale data or AI projects, there’s a good chance ...
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December 12, 2025 • 47 mins
Today we are breaking down Amadeus, the dominant infrastructure powering global travel bookings. If you've used a travel agent or corporate booking system, you've likely interacted with Amadeus's technology—though most of what they do happens behind the scenes in airline operations, hotel inventory management, and logistics coordination.
Ben Needham, portfolio manager at Ninety One Asset Management, explains how Amadeus built its ...
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December 5, 2025 • 32 mins
Today, we are breaking down one of the more impressive B2B media businesses I have come across, Doximity. It's been called “the LinkedIn for doctors.”
Jim Jones, partner and analyst at William Blair Asset Management, helped explain exactly how Doximity works as a business. Jim gets into the community engine that works for and around medical professionals. And yes, there is a social network, but it's the add-ons, such as the requi...
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November 14, 2025 • 59 mins
Today we are breaking down GE Aerospace. We did cover GE several years ago, but that episode focused on Larry Culp's turnaround of the conglomerate.
Ramesh Narayanaswamy, co-founder and portfolio manager of Tourbillon Partners, joins me to explore what is now a pure-play aerospace business. We discuss the unique dynamics of the aerospace supply chain and the long-cycle nature that differentiates this industry. We also explore the...
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November 7, 2025 • 50 mins
This is Matt Reustle. Today, we are back to talk about increased access to alternative investing. My guest is Josh Clarkson, managing director at Prosek Partners. You may remember that Josh joined us last year in our primer series on private credit. He is back today to discuss what this development could mean for all the counterparties involved.
We put some numbers around the opportunity, cover what asset managers might be best p...
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October 31, 2025 • 60 mins
This is Matt Reustle. Today we are breaking down Robinhood. My guest is Arthur Olson, founding partner at Ravenswood Partners. We get into how Robinhood grew from a mobile-native brokerage idea that faced many challenges along the way into the third-largest broker in the USA.
Arthur educates on how the business model has evolved and diversified away from a pure pay-for-order market. We discuss how product velocity is the foundati...
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October 24, 2025 • 56 mins
This is Matt Reustle. Today we are breaking down CompoSecure, a company that manufactures premium metal credit cards and payment cards. My guest is Parsa Kiai, Managing Partner at Steamboat Capital. What really made Parsa the ideal guest is that he has a history with CompoSecure from before the Dave Cote era, which started sometime in 2024.
We get into all of this: the niche market of premium metal credit cards, how CompoSecure h...
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October 15, 2025 • 53 mins
This is Matt Reustle. Today, we are breaking down the industrial giant Amphenol. Amphenol pairs two of my favorite business frameworks that are often discussed on Breakdowns. Firstly, I am drawn to any company that specializes in selling mission-critical parts, which represent a small percentage of a manufacturer's total production cost. And secondly, Amphenol has a track record of M&A success underpinned by s decentralized model....
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October 9, 2025 • 46 mins
This is Matt Reustle. Today, we are exploring the world of media deals. My guest is Blake Saunders. Blake has been in media investment banking for almost two decades. When I first met him, he was a banker, so I wasn't expecting to lean into this relationship, but I often introduce Blake to others as the banker.
We delve into the current deal landscape and some of the realities of the media market, exploring how companies are navig...
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October 1, 2025 • 48 mins
This is Zack Fuss. Today, we are breaking down Exor. The origins of Exor date back to the end of the 19th century when Giovanni Agnelli founded the Auto Company Fiat. Over the company's 100-year-old history, a lot has changed. While some of the core assets remain the same today, Exor serves as an investment holding company. Its largest and most notable assets include Ferrari, CNH, Stellantis, Philips, and a number of other notable...
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September 24, 2025 • 63 mins
This is Matt Reustle. Today we are breaking down the recent IPO WaterBridge. I am joined by James Davolos from Horizon Kinetics.
We start with HK's history with these very unique businesses that are off the radar for many with TPL, Landbridge and now Water Bridge. James gets into the weeds and nuances of what this business actually doesa and why the service that they're providing is so incredibly important, particularly with US ...
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September 5, 2025 • 73 mins
This is Matt Reustle. Today we are breaking down the Latam e-commerce Giant, Mercado Libre. My guest is Daniel Wu of Bristlemoon Capital.
I was introduced to MELI about 15 years ago when it was still the eBay of Latam, and similar to a place that you revisit after a long time away, MELI looks a lot different than those early days.
Just consider that with a $120 billion market cap, MELI is three times the size of eBay today an...
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August 13, 2025 • 62 mins
This is Matt Reustle. Today, we are breaking down the real estate broker Compass. Compass itself is a fascinating business and historically a controversial stock. It was founded in 2012 by Robert Reffkin and has scaled in that short period of time to become the largest real estate brokerage in the United States.
Geoff Collette, founder of Aeon Capital Partners, is back as a guest. After his Breakdown on Goosehead, we thought it ...
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August 7, 2025 • 58 mins
This is Matt Reustle. Today's Breakdown caters to both public and private investors alike. My guest is Aaron Cohen, head of the Financial Services and Technology Group at GTCR, and our topic is insurance Brokers. I was initially intrigued by Aaron and GTCR after seeing their announced $13 billion sale of Assured Partners to Arthur J.Gallagher, an incredible success story in the insurance brokerage space that we covered in a previo...
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July 23, 2025 • 60 mins
This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. My guest is Adam Chandler, co-PM at Claremont Global, and together we get into the nitty gritty of exchanges. We all know how integral exchanges are to the financial system but we rarely stop to understand how they operate, how they make money, and how they shape the flow of dollars. This episode aims to do just that. Please enjoy this breakdown o...
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July 16, 2025 • 41 mins
This is Matt Reustle. Today, we are breaking down Agilent. If you aren't familiar with Agilent, it is a $30 billion market cap company at the time of this recording, and they focus on one of the more interesting niches: equipment and instruments sold into laboratories.
Its equipment is being sold to the life sciences sector, diagnostics, applied chemical markets, and some very unique R&D work. My guest is Mark de Vos, fund manage...
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