Clarkus Aurelius

[Clarkus Aurelius @clarkeeread]

@aakashgupta @packyM @readwiseio save thread

[Clarkus Aurelius @clarkeeread]

140/90 - 2021-08-15 | Titan enters the crypto space
https://t.co/4tED6COi0k (via @revue)

[Clarkus Aurelius @clarkeeread]

LOVE these Napkin Math analyses. Costco retail strength lets brands pass marketing discount onto consumers, increase total sales volume with minimal hit to profitability, no hit to brand image. Actual win-win. Wonder if TGT still in-houses private label or has similar model.

[Clarkus Aurelius @clarkeeread]

Kirkland’s success defies our intuition and experience. Shouldn’t lower prices lead to lower quality products? How can they offer rock-bottom prices but still have some of the best products around?

[Clarkus Aurelius @clarkeeread]

But if Costco is pitting brands against themselves, why do the brands put up with it? The short answer is they want to. Costco is one of the largest sales channels in the world and brands can still profitably sell their products under the Kirkland brand.
https://t.co/IvpdAx00Tz

[Clarkus Aurelius @clarkeeread]

Operational effectiveness of WMT, COST impresses beyond most tech companies. (Sufficient data, actual strategy) Simple business model, risks under direct company control, robust w/o external hedging. Really cool.

[Clarkus Aurelius @clarkeeread]

This makes Costco a unique business: they turn real estate spending into memberships. It’s just another CAC/LTV model, albeit one with more operational challenges. On the other hand, Costco has one advantage compared to other companies with these economics:

[Clarkus Aurelius @clarkeeread]

if a store doesn’t work out, they still own the real estate. So it’s a CAC/LTV model, with a clawback. Investors can essentially ignore the entire business of buying goods and selling them at a markup, since it’s breakeven by design. https://t.co/UcrKDRLPoA

[Clarkus Aurelius @clarkeeread]

Meaningful parallels to common gripes re: emissions - "71% generated by 10 corps, why do I need to change my showerhead?" Universal rules feel just, accountability feels just, asking first-movers to do more feels unjust. Half-forceful stance doing public health folks no favors.

[Clarkus Aurelius @clarkeeread]

https://t.co/4GrgHFyGJ3

"On the one hand, he thought, it would be mostly an effort to try to persuade vaccinated people — people who had already “demonstrated a predilection towards taking care of themselves and others” — to re-embrace masks. Cont.

[Clarkus Aurelius @clarkeeread]

On the other hand, those people have already done what they were asked to do; they got vaccinated. Telling them the thing that was supposed to be their Covid off-ramp wasn’t the end of the journey — that might not go down well, he thought."