Today we are breaking down Polaroid. For 30 years, Polaroid monopolized the instant photography industry, producing one Nobel-caliber breakthrough after another. As their products dazzled, sales grew from just under $1.5 million in 1948 to $1.4 billion in 1978. Today, the business is a shadow of its former self but the lessons from its history and especially from the founder endure. Edwin Land is not the most familiar name in business history, but he has had an outsized influence on the world in which we live. In particular, he was Steve Jobs’s hero. To break down Polaroid, I’m joined by David Senra, who studies history’s greatest entrepreneurs through his Founders podcast. David is uniquely qualified to distill the lessons and secrets behind Edwin Land and his life’s work, Polaroid.   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: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt   Show Notes [00:03:04] - [First question] - How unique Edwin Land was [00:08:58] - What he was like and how he solved the problem that lead to Polaroid [00:13:20] - Defining what a polarizer is at a high level [00:16:36] - How scope of ambition can overcome humble beginnings [00:18:59] - The story of the instant camera and how much of a leap forward it was   [00:26:11] - Revealing the Instant Camera; The marketing side of Polaroid beyond the initial magic Land created [00:31:40] - Why they were so successful in building a four decade moat around their patent [00:34:59] - Living in the space of the important and the impossible  [00:38:50] - Optimism as a moral duty that we can take away from Land [00:42:59] - Lessons from the aftermath of Polaroid after Land’s death  [00:48:02] - What the story of Polaroid most represents that is useful for entrepreneurs [00:49:52] - A Triumph of Genius

Today, we’re breaking down a global semiconductor company known as AMD. AMD isn’t the biggest and hasn’t always been the best chip maker in the world. But as cyclical and structural changes take place in the semiconductor industry, AMD serves as a great proxy for what’s going on and why. To break down the details, both behind the company and the industry, I’m joined by Jay Goldberg, a semiconductor industry consultant at D2D Advisory and Partner at Snowcloud Capital. We explore the rise of custom silicon, AMD’s competition with Intel and Nvidia, and whether or not chip making is a good business at all. Please enjoy this breakdown of AMD.   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: @JoinColossus | @patrick_oshag | @jspujji | @zbfuss | @ReustleMatt   Show Notes [00:02:27] - [First question] - Where to start when it comes to understanding semiconductors  [00:04:21] - Why semiconductors were created in the first place   [00:04:57] - Key milestones and players in the semiconductor industry  [00:07:35] - What are the factors that determine who wins and loses [00:08:37] - The semiconductor industry map today writ large [00:12:05] - How the changing geopolitical landscape affects power in this sector  [00:14:15] - Why we can’t just throw unlimited money at this problem to solve it  [00:15:30] - Whether or not chip businesses are actually defensible and good businesses [00:17:37] - Differences between CPUs and GPUs and how everything we do uses them [00:22:56] - AMD’s history with CPUs and GPUs and how they’ve evolved over time [00:26:55] - Why there is such a high barrier to enter and disrupt the chip design market [00:31:54] - A future where we transition to specific and specialized use-case chips  [00:35:36] - Companies like Google and Apple building their own in-house chips [00:38:55] - Other industries where this dynamic exists outside of semiconductors [00:41:57] - The scope and economics of AMD today  [00:44:26] - What’s important to know about AMD and Intel’s capital allocation strategies [00:47:28] - What he’d focus on if he was the capital allocator for a big chip company [00:48:55] - One major lesson that this industry has taught him about investing [00:50:28] - Major lessons about AMD and the world writ large that isn’t addressed yet