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.

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: joincolossus.com/eic Must be based in NY, SF, Seattle. Some travel is required in all cases.

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

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:

I’ve been blessed to spend time with many of the world’s great investors. 20 years ago, I made a point to hunt down the best. Many are now popular on Fintwit - Nick Sleep, Li Lu, Chuck Akre. Others should be - Chris Hohn, Larry Robbins, and more. For🎄: 12 lessons I learned🧵👇

Self-recommending.

Pretty interesting article about the potential benefits of GMOs and a solid framing of the debate. I always found the public's cautious perception of GMOs to be fascinating in the context of society's broad acceptance of alcohol consumption. nytimes.com/2021/07/20/magaz…

Much is made of Domino's shareholder returns. Fantastic business with fantastic capital allocation. Over the last decade, $DPZ has produced $2.6B of free cash flow, whilst returning $5B of capital to shareholders via repurchases and dividends (sharecount down from 60.8M to 39.6M)

Wix is a fascinating business far outside of my circle of competence. It's evident that every business needs an online store front; that's manifesting through the likes of Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Facebook, etc. It seems like a first mover advantage helps create opportunity

Chipotle reported that it now has more than 21 million loyalty members, that puts it in-line with Starbucks at 22 million Wonder how far away we are from a digital burrito wallet akin to Starbucks loyalty program.

Enjoyed exploring the ecosystem approach to CPG with @KatColeATL. @Cinnabon is one of the few brands that has successfully crossed the chasm from restaurant to retail in a manner that helps to make both channels stronger

Here are our blocks for today's episode on Chipotle. Setting the Table by @dhmeyer is a must read. joincolossus.com/episodes/24…

Imagine if you could click any of these logos and access a definitive conversation on the business, filled w/ applicable lessons This is just part of the vision that we are working towards @joincolossus We take the first step April 5th We'll need your help T-minus 2 weeks...

Grocery is an $800B category. It garners a massive consumer wallet share. Amazon isn't going away, will accept losses for a long time and does not have to contend with legacy obligations (e.g. pensions) or a store foot-print falling in to obsolescence... bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

It's really cool that Roblox is holding a public investor day ahead of its highly anticipated IPO 1. Make someone care 2. Make it interesting 3. Make it human (h/t @zacktrak) Combine that with strong financial results and the opportunity is limitless... youtube.com/watch?v=7XisxSUU…

This is an industry that’s largely foreign to me but the way that @typesfast describes how @flexport is attacking the freight ecosystem, reminds me of a Bezos truism “Every layer of new tech makes another layer of innovation possible”

Instacart to explore backwards integreation Aggregate demand, cut out the middle man. Use full margin, and savings on rent/labor savings to fund the cost of fulfillment. Will be interesting to watch ft.com/content/364a0f74-f016…

Deere might be the most under discussed technology winner of this current economic cycle

Instacart has successfully aggregated demand. Now it should use some of its capital to move up the value chain via advertising, 1P goods and backwards integration in to dark stores

Founder of Just Eat-Takeaway addressing recent decision to defend share in London market by reducing fees. Great insight on strategic imperative