Zack Fuss

Views and opinions are my own.

[Zack Fuss @zbfuss]

@ReustleMatt Sorry, I will stop spamming you. Next time I need to borrow money to buy some LEAPs I will just call instead.

[Zack Fuss @zbfuss]

@ReustleMatt @xvrmdf …Or it may read that an index of Zack’s guests is performing in line with the S&P whereas Matt’s are not.

[Zack Fuss @zbfuss]

@ReustleMatt Need to see some output from the “Year of Building Furniture”

[Zack Fuss @zbfuss]

@ReustleMatt Top.

[Business Breakdowns @bizbreakdowns]

Today, we break down one of the world's largest and oldest pharmaceutical companies, Merck.

From humble beginnings as a small family pharmacy in Germany, Merck is now a $260 billion market cap business.

Keytruda, arguably the world's most important cancer drug, is at the heart of Merck's recent success. This single medication now generates over $25 billion in annual revenue—nearly 50% of Merck's total revenue.

Merck's future will depend on its ability to navigate an ensuing patent cliff for Keytruda in 2028, but the company's story is not only about Keytruda.

It's about a business that has consistently pursued innovative science combined with a handful of bold decisions that resulted in the development of some of the world's first vaccines and breakthroughs in diabetes treatment.

It's also a story about the high-stakes world of drug development, where billions are spent on research and patents are fought over the world's next blockbuster drugs.

To break down Merck, @zbfuss is joined by @varma_ashwin97.

[Patrick OShaughnessy @patrick_oshag]

Help us spread the word on an important new role:

We are hiring an Editor in Chief at @joincolossus. Our podcasts reach ~8m unique people a year and the scope of our ambition is growing. 

We are building a platform to find and shine a light on the most interesting people and ideas on the frontiers of business and investing. 

That'll include perpetual improvements on our existing shows, exploring new formats (there's already a print publication in the works!), and lots of experiments (content, guests, marketing, new shows)–always with an ear to our audience. 

The right Editor in Chief will push our pace getting there while keeping our quality bar high and our voice consistent. 

The only requirements are an incredible passion for business and investing, excellent taste, and serious operational chops. 

You will work very hard. You will build a team. You will meet incredibly interesting people along the way. Your work will be an expression of your standards and interests. And, if we're doing our jobs, you will stoke curiosity and agency in millions of people.

Apply here: https://t.co/FMioWsJwMM

Must be based in NY, SF, Seattle. Some travel is required in all cases.

[Zack Fuss @zbfuss]

@ReustleMatt Hah got a good laugh from this one. A couple take-outs and a couple bankruptcies. Sounds about right.

[Zack Fuss @zbfuss]

@nachkari When it comes to inflation, somehow nobody wants to talk about compounding

[Zack Fuss @zbfuss]

@nachkari Hope lower. Think higher

[Zack Fuss @zbfuss]

@ReustleMatt Never had you pegged as an expensive denim guy. Love it

[Zack Fuss @zbfuss]

@chrispronger @jspujji @patrick_oshag @Benioff @DanielSLoeb1 @sama @Oprah @JeffBezos @patrick_oshag ^ Chris would be a pretty cool conversation.

[Zack Fuss @zbfuss]

@patrick_oshag @JunctionOctopus @domcooke On it, sorry Junction!

[Zack Fuss @zbfuss]

@patrick_oshag @IlirSela @AswathDamodaran @FoundersPodcast @bizbreakdowns @domcooke Would love to dig in to the economics of a pizza joint and everything around adjacent to it.

[Cristina Jones @cristinagberta]

Great fun to talk about my second favorite business in the world :) Thanks @patrick_oshag @zbfuss for the kind invitation 🙏

[Patrick OShaughnessy @patrick_oshag]

We started @bizbreakdowns because we wanted in-depth explorations of companies that most piqued our curiosity.

We wanted them to be detailed AND entertaining. We think every business has something to teach us.

Here’s a recap of the companies we’ve explored so far this year:

[Zack Fuss @zbfuss]

@compound248 @mattcoutts @ReustleMatt @patrick_oshag We tend to be better at calling tops than picking bottoms, but we got lucky this time.

[Zack Fuss @zbfuss]

@BillBrewsterTBB Preference would be both levered and unlevered ROI metrics. Hopefully the management team is looking to solve for the highest returning projects and then using a capital structure that drives a stronger ROE without putting the business at risk. Two somewhat separate decisions

[Zack Fuss @zbfuss]

@Vathashimo @patrick_oshag Which would you like to see? Give us a couple companies and we will try and find somebody who has studied the business.

[Zack Fuss @zbfuss]

@tclaugus2 Herdez, Gruma and Sigma (via Alfa) are all great Mexican based food businesses with increasing exposure to North America. Eventually should probably be US listed without an ADR

[Zack Fuss @zbfuss]

@patrick_oshag @mattcoutts 👀 👀 👀

[Techmeme @Techmeme]

In the fall, John Deere will start selling its fully autonomous 8R tractor, which can gather data about the soil to improve its algorithms as it operates (@willknight / Wired)

https://t.co/sQ0h6kljkE
https://t.co/WKmo8qda4V