Today we are breaking down American Tower: the REIT, the communications giant, and the infrastructure asset. To break down American Tower I'm joined by William Heard, founder and CIO of Heard Capital Management. William founded Heard Capital in 2011.  Today, the firm manages $2 billion in assets, holds about 15 to 20 names, and has very specific criteria for investing in companies. We cover AMT from all angles—the long life, physical assets that underpin the business, the contracted and highly visible revenue stream, the secular growth story, and some of the micro dynamics. American Tower represents so many things in the economy, so it made for a very interesting and wide-ranging conversation. Please enjoy this Breakdown of American Tower.  For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Alphasense. AlphaSense has completely transformed the research process with cutting-edge AI technology and a vast collection of top-tier, reliable business content. Imagine completing your research five to ten times faster with search that delivers the most relevant results, helping you make high-conviction decisions with confidence. AlphaSense provides access to over 300 million premium documents, including company filings, earnings reports, press releases, and more from public and private companies. Invest Like the Best listeners can get a free trial now at Alpha-Sense.com/Invest and experience firsthand how AlphaSense and Tegas help you make smarter decisions faster. — This episode is brought to you by Public: Invest in stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and more in one place. A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. The [6.7%] yield is the average annualized yield to maturity (YTM) across all ten bonds in the Bond Account, before fees, as of [9/05/2024]. A bond’s yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore a bond’s YTM is “locked in” when the bond is purchased. Your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTM is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTM of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity, or if the issuer calls or defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. You should evaluate each bond before investing in a Bond Account. The bonds in your Bond Account will not be rebalanced and allocations will not be updated, except for Corporate Actions. ----- Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes (00:00:00) Welcome to Business Breakdowns  (00:03:42) Understanding American Tower's Infrastructure (00:04:41) Market Size and Share (00:05:44) Ownership and Construction of Towers (00:06:51) Investment and Growth in Tower Infrastructure (00:11:32) Data Centers and Their Importance (00:14:34) Leasing Model and Revenue Structure (00:17:02) Management and Financial Strategy (00:18:42) Acquisitions and Growth Strategy (00:21:39) Management Teams and Strategic Priorities (00:22:35) Capital Allocation and Dividend Strategy (00:24:09) REITs and Market Dynamics (00:26:49) International Operations and Challenges (00:29:19) Carrier Spending and Revenue Streams (00:37:57) Risks and Competitive Landscape (00:38:58) Lessons from Breaking Down American Tower

Today we are getting into the world of coffee with Gregory Zamfotis, the founder of Gregorys Coffee. We breakdown the New York City born coffee chain that now spans across twelve US states.  This is a true look into what it takes to open up a coffee shop and the economics behind it. We get into what it's like to innovate in an industry where innovation can last a week before a competitor releases the same thing on their menu. And Greg also shares all of the challenges around going from one store to a second store to scaling into what Gregorys is today. Please enjoy this Breakdown of Gregorys coffee. For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by EightSleep, the temperature-controlled mattress cover that heats or cools your mattress to transform your sleep. The Pod 4 Ultra is the new gold standard in intelligent sleep systems. It can be added to your current mattress like a fitted sheet and is been clinically proven to give you up to an hour more quality of sleep every night. The cooling capability can cool your side of the bed to 20 degrees below room temperature, all managed by the pod's autopilot feature, which adjusts the temperature throughout the night. Go to eightsleep.com/breakdowns and use the code glueguys for $350 off.  --- This episode is brought to you by Public: Invest in stocks, bonds, options, crypto, and more in one place. A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond’s yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond’s YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. ----- Business Breakdowns is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Business Breakdowns, visit joincolossus.com/episodes. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Show Notes (00:00:00) Welcome to Business Breakdowns (00:04:33) Growing Up in the Food and Beverage Industry (00:06:57) Deciding to Pursue Gregorys Coffee (00:10:04) Opening the First Gregorys Coffee Location (00:16:42) Innovating and Expanding the Business (00:28:57) Challenges and Lessons in Scaling Up (00:50:52) Comparing Quality: Mass Chains vs. Our Espresso (00:53:27) Our Mission and Core Values (00:58:10) Consistency Across Locations (01:00:46) Partnership with Simon Property Group (01:07:36) The Role of Technology and Loyalty Programs (01:12:16) Balancing Order Ahead and In-Store Experience (01:15:47) The Cost and Challenges of Opening a Coffee Shop (01:22:13) Handling Competition and Maintaining Quality (01:24:29) The Coffee Community and Industry Trends (01:27:16) Vision for Future Expansion (01:29:12) Building a Strong Team and Infrastructure (01:34:04) Lessons Learned and Entrepreneurial Advice