⁠Librarian Capital
Re-posting list of Fundsmith exits with proof of dates

Exited Diageo $DGE in Aug-24 after LAC over-stocking
Exited Estée Lauder $EL in Aug-23 after China blow-up
Exited Adobe $ADBE in Mar-23 after Figma deal
Exited PayPal $PYPL in Dec-22 after COVID bubble

(Thread) https://t.co/3u89oZMOlO
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⁠Librarian Capital
"The smaller the liquor bottle, the bigger the alcohol problem" (h/t yannispappas on Threads)

Similar logic also motivates minimum pack rules for cigarettes

In the US, it is illegal to sell cigarettes in packs of fewer than 20

(21 C.F.R. § 1140.16(b)) cc: $MO $BATS $IMB https://t.co/hoE5EnZzs6
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⁠Startup Archive
WhatsApp founder Jan Koum explains why he charged $1 for the product to intentionally slow growth

Sam Altman recalls:

“I remember in 2011, people would say WhatsApp is never going to work because they charge a dollar and it’s a viral app and that’s just going to kill it right there.”

But Jan explains that charging $1 was a very intentional lever WhatsApp used to slow growth:

“I know it sounds very counterintuitive - why would you want to slow your growth? We wanted to slow our growth so we could better support our existing users. So we could build servers that don’t crash. So that we could build a product that doesn’t drop messages. So that we could answer their customer support emails.”

A lot of people told Jan and the WhatsApp team this was a bad strategy, but Jan compares it to what Facebook did in the early days: “They were doing colleges only, and they weren’t open to the entire world.”

WhatsApp wanted to do the same thing:

“We wanted to make sure that we have our existing users happy, and that when people sign up, they have a great experience, and that the app works, and it’s fast, and the servers are up and running all the time. And I think that worked for us because we were really able to focus on the product.”

Video source: @ycombinator (2014)
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⁠Librarian Capital
Remember Dido Harding, after messes at TalkTalk and COVID Track & Trace, applied to head NHS England?

Even the Tories didn't go for it

Sharon White, after messes at Ofcom and John Lewis, now eyes the Cabinet Secretary job

FT gave her fawning lunch done by self-described "good friend", so they likely think she will get it

John Lewis chair Sharon White: ‘I always ask: what’s the upside?’ https://t.co/5XTTiqE0Vj - Financial Times
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⁠Dimitry Nakhla | Babylon Capital®
RT @DimitryNakhla: Given the $SAVE bankruptcy discussions today, here’s a friendly reminder WHY Airlines are the WORST type of investment you can make 👇🏽

#stocks #investing

WHY YOU SHOULD AVOID INVESTING IN AIRLINES ⚠️

First, let’s take a look at the last 5-year returns of 4 major airlines:

1) $AAL -67% (American Airlines)
2) $UAL -32% (United Airlines)
3) $JBLU -63% (JetBlue)
4) $DAL -34% (Delta)

Why do airlines post such poor results for investors? It’s simple. On average, here are the economics of the sector:

COST OF CAPITAL: ~8%
RETURN ON CAPITAL (ROIC): ~4%

Would you want to own a business that pays $8 just to receive $4 in return?

Of course not. Airlines BLEED MONEY EVERY DAY.

As Warren Buffett asserted in his 2007 Shareholder Letter $BRK.B $BRK.A:

“The worst sort of business is one that grows rapidly, requires significant capital to engender the growth, and then earns little or no money. Think AIRLINES ... The airline industry's demand for capital ever since that first flight has been insatiable.

Investors have poured money into a bottomless pit, attracted by growth when they should have been repelled by it. And I, to my shame, participated in this foolishness when I had Berkshire buy U.S. Air preferred stock in 1989.”

#stocks #investing - Dimitry Nakhla | Babylon Capital®
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