This is Matt Reustle and today we’re breaking down Diploma. Diploma is a specialist distributor of medical equipment and industrial components listed in the UK. It’s a business you’re unlikely to be familiar with and, at first glance, may appear mundane. But dig a little deeper and you’ll find a high-quality operator generating significant free cash flow through a mix of organic and inorganic growth channels.  To break down Diploma, I’m joined by Charlie Huggins, an investor in the business and Head of Equities at WealthClub.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here.   -----   Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @bizbreakdowns | @JoinColossus    Show Notes [00:02:23] - [First question] - The history of Diploma, what they do, and what’s attractive about their business model [00:04:39] - Size and scale of the business and their market capitalization [00:07:03] - Overview of what their life sciences business vertical looks like [00:10:00] - The cyclicality of the seals and controls business verticals  [00:13:45] - Returns on invested capital and thoughts on the capital intensity of seals [00:15:06] - What allows their businesses to keep growing and what characterizes a strong acquisition target for Diploma [00:19:14] - An example of how Diploma fits into the value chain [00:21:24] - How Diploma acquires for low multiples when making acquisitions  [00:23:41] - How they drive quantitative and qualitative returns in their acquisitions [00:27:35] - What management is like at Diploma and their longevity in the business [00:33:19] - Overview of their competitive landscape  [00:35:27] - What the business does with extra cash flow in the absence of M&A activity [00:38:01] - What Charlie finds special about Diploma and what has him excited for the future [00:41:22] - The key risks in each vertical and what worries him about them  [00:48:07] - Lessons for investors, business executives and operators from the Diploma story

Today, we are breaking down Anduril. Anduril builds high tech defense systems for the US Department of Defense and its allies. Crucially, it does so with speed that emanates from Silicon Valley. Founded in 2017 by Palmer Luckey, who previously built and sold Oculus to Facebook, Anduril has achieved the rare feat of challenging the established order in the defense industry.   To break down Anduril, I’m joined by the company’s CEO and co-founder, Brian Schimpf. We discuss the history of the defense industry, how Anduril’s business is counter positioned against the legacy cost-plus model, and what Brian has learned about selling to the DoD. Please enjoy this breakdown of Anduril.   For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.   -----   Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.   Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss   Show Notes [00:02:52] - [First question] - The history of defense technology and the technological and competitive landscape when he set out to build Anduril [00:08:22] - What the early experience was like when approaching the government and finding an early adopter [00:12:44] - Necessity being the mother of invention when it came to developing drones [00:16:37] - What it’s like to develop hardware and software products at the same time  [00:20:26] - How the defense business complex works economically and overview of the detailed cost plus model [00:24:44] - The state of military technology and military conflict today writ large [00:31:10] - Are we heading to a future where warfare is mostly machine against machine?  [00:33:34] - Comparing the ghost drone system to predator drones [00:38:40] - Guiding principles as a firm and deciding on their product roadmap [00:43:25] - An overview of their product lineup and what they’ve built so far  [00:48:13] - Having an open innovation policy to promote competition [00:49:37] - The nuance of politics when it comes to building and running their business [00:51:56] - Most difficult decisions he’s had to make through Anduril’s history  [00:53:51] - How he overcame Anduril’s lowest points and biggest challenges  [00:58:38] - Thoughts on effectively compounding hardware innovation  [01:02:23] - A moment he’s most proud of and regrets most in Anduril’s history [01:04:20] - Lessons learned from observing Palantir and SpaceX  [01:08:37] - The kindest thing anyone has ever done for him