service / likes
Vanguard
“Ben and David love their index funds. You know, we love Vanguard here. If you had bought the S&P 500 with that same $1,000, instead of $17 million today, you would have $170,000.”
Public evidence record
Ben Gilbert
Host · Acquired
- Claims
- 500
- Episodes
- 23
- Shows
- 1
- Named items
- 46
Books, apps, and tools
The evidenced stack.
other / recommends
Defunctland
“There's a great one on the Florida Project, so I highly recommend Defunctland.”
other / recommends
Animagraffs
“I highly recommend the channel, Animagraffs.”
hardware / likes
Disneyland
“The sightlines, man. The, the—I, I like going to Disneyland just to walk around.”
other / recommends
Tifosi
“I highly recommend Tifosi. They're also pretty cheap. I bought three pairs. They're goofy in different colors and they're fun.”
book / uses
Last Man Standing
“One great book I read for research was Last Man Standing to prep for the Jamie Dimon interview.”
other / uses
Invest Like the Best
“I listened to an episode of Invest Like the Best about a year ago, which was a really, really long interview with Graham Duncan.”
app / uses
Gemini
“I find switching costs to be relatively low. I use Gemini for some stuff, then it’s really easy to switch away.”
other / uses
Glass
“I watched the Google IO keynote with Glass and I watched a bunch of Glass content.”
paper / uses
Worldly Partners research
“In fact, in particular, for each of these episodes now, I read the Worldly Partners research on the company we’re covering from front of the show, Arvind.”
app / uses
Netflix
“Think about how I watch Netflix. I will watch Netflix tonight after we record on my Apple TV upstairs.”
other / recommends
Visa
“I highly recommend the Visa one as discussed earlier in the Network of Networks idea, if you haven't heard that”
Claim ledger
What Ben said.
30 transcript-backed records
01 / observation
The only way to answer this question is to answer it with a real thing they could have done differently, because do nothing was not actually an answer.
“The only way to answer this question is to answer it with a real thing they could have done differently, because do nothing was not actually an answer.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Publisher
- Acquired
02 / observation
I mean, the only way this story could get any more awesome is if they somehow beat Disney at their own game, got bought by Disney, breathed new life into the core of the company, and Steve Jobs became the largest shareholder of Disney itself.
“I mean, the only way this story could get any more awesome is if they somehow beat Disney at their own game, got bought by Disney, breathed new life into the core of the company, and Steve Jobs became the largest shareholder of Disney itself.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Publisher
- Acquired
03 / observation
Pixar's highest grossing film yet, and Disney learns all the way to the bank that sequels can be real profitable.
“Pixar's highest grossing film yet, and Disney learns all the way to the bank that sequels can be real profitable.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Publisher
- Acquired
04 / observation
You've got parks to do—it's almost like the extreme bottom of funnel, the way to experience the most Disney thing you possibly could experience every once in a while, but a huge monetization event.
“You've got parks to do—it's almost like the extreme bottom of funnel, the way to experience the most Disney thing you possibly could experience every once in a while, but a huge monetization event.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- The Walt Disney Company
- Publisher
- Acquired
05 / observation
There's a team of operators to make it work. You had to climb a ladder to get all the way to the top.
“There's a team of operators to make it work. You had to climb a ladder to get all the way to the top.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- The Walt Disney Company
- Publisher
- Acquired
06 / observation
Did he leave it on the table? I mean, the only way that Vanguard would exist is by not taking profits.
“Did he leave it on the table? I mean, the only way that Vanguard would exist is by not taking profits.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Vanguard
- Publisher
- Acquired
07 / observation
Now, Porsche, on the other hand, China was 33% of their deliveries a few years ago. Which has collapsed all the way to 15% and continues to fall.
“Now, Porsche, on the other hand, China was 33% of their deliveries a few years ago. Which has collapsed all the way to 15% and continues to fall.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Ferrari
- Publisher
- Acquired
08 / observation
Dealers do, however, play a huge role in the secondary market, and Ferrari knows it's in their interest to have a thriving secondary market since, given how few new cars there are, the entry-level Ferrari is really a used Ferrari. And so it's the way to sort of cultivate the next generation of owners.
“Dealers do, however, play a huge role in the secondary market, and Ferrari knows it's in their interest to have a thriving secondary market since, given how few new cars there are, the entry-level Ferrari is really a used Ferrari. And so it's the way to sort of cultivate the next generation of owners.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Ferrari
- Publisher
- Acquired
09 / observation
There was a half step along the way to a technology that turned out to be a detour that actually wasn’t the future.
“There was a half step along the way to a technology that turned out to be a detour that actually wasn’t the future.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Rolex
- Publisher
- Acquired
10 / observation
The first quartz watch that hit the market in 1969 from Seiko was dependent on the invention and miniaturization of the transistor and integrated circuit before it could actually happen. That’s why we’re stuck waiting from the 1920s all the way to 1969 before it can be used in a watch.
“The first quartz watch that hit the market in 1969 from Seiko was dependent on the invention and miniaturization of the transistor and integrated circuit before it could actually happen. That’s why we’re stuck waiting from the 1920s all the way to 1969 before it can be used in a watch.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Rolex
- Publisher
- Acquired
11 / observation
There was a six wheeled car at one point, because it wasn't in the rules that you only had to have four wheels. And over time, as they start adding more and more guidelines for safety and for all these other reasons, the way to succeed in Formula 1 shifted from making a more powerful engine or figuring out the very best aero to figuring out how to exploit the rules.
“There was a six wheeled car at one point, because it wasn't in the rules that you only had to have four wheels. And over time, as they start adding more and more guidelines for safety and for all these other reasons, the way to succeed in Formula 1 shifted from making a more powerful engine or figuring out the very best aero to figuring out how to exploit the rules.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Formula 1
- Publisher
- Acquired
12 / observation
Even before realizing, hey, media rights are going to be super valuable, the thing that he clearly sees is centralizing these negotiations is going to be the way to extract the most value.
“Even before realizing, hey, media rights are going to be super valuable, the thing that he clearly sees is centralizing these negotiations is going to be the way to extract the most value.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Formula 1
- Publisher
- Acquired
13 / observation
In general, what diffusers do is they direct the airflow that is coming out from the bottom of the car up and sort of out of the way to ideally shape the aerodynamics as the air escapes the back of the car.
“In general, what diffusers do is they direct the airflow that is coming out from the bottom of the car up and sort of out of the way to ideally shape the aerodynamics as the air escapes the back of the car.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Formula 1
- Publisher
- Acquired
14 / observation
The only way anybody's going to write about us and give us space on the sports page is if we make their job easy and put the stats right in their hands every day.
“The only way anybody's going to write about us and give us space on the sports page is if we make their job easy and put the stats right in their hands every day.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- The NFL
- Publisher
- Acquired
15 / observation
I don't think we figured out the way to do it, and everybody else should just snap our way.
“I don't think we figured out the way to do it, and everybody else should just snap our way.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Publisher
- Acquired
16 / observation
The constraint is it must be a non-alcoholic beverage business. And another constraint, it must throw off many billions of dollars in dividends along the way to your shareholders.
“The constraint is it must be a non-alcoholic beverage business. And another constraint, it must throw off many billions of dollars in dividends along the way to your shareholders.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Coca-Cola
- Publisher
- Acquired
17 / observation
In real estate, having the bigger balance sheet is the way to be the preferred tenant, especially if you can promise, hey, longer leases and/or a more credit-worthy operating history.
“In real estate, having the bigger balance sheet is the way to be the preferred tenant, especially if you can promise, hey, longer leases and/or a more credit-worthy operating history.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Trader Joe’s
- Publisher
- Acquired
18 / observation
Let's hop all the way to the East Coast. They decided to start in Boston and build out a set of stores in the 500-mile corridor from Boston to D.
“Let's hop all the way to the East Coast. They decided to start in Boston and build out a set of stores in the 500-mile corridor from Boston to D.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Trader Joe’s
- Publisher
- Acquired
19 / observation
I did a brief history of supermarkets in America to come up to speed on what Trader Joe's does differently and how we got here. So, you go way back, all the way to pre-Civil War America, and you've got general stores.
“I did a brief history of supermarkets in America to come up to speed on what Trader Joe's does differently and how we got here. So, you go way back, all the way to pre-Civil War America, and you've got general stores.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Trader Joe’s
- Publisher
- Acquired
20 / observation
We got to rewind back all the way to 2004, the DARPA Grand Challenge, which was created as a way to spur research into autonomous ground robots for military use.
“We got to rewind back all the way to 2004, the DARPA Grand Challenge, which was created as a way to spur research into autonomous ground robots for military use.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Google Part III: The AI Company
- Publisher
- Acquired
21 / observation
If you’re not a finance person, the way to read into that is yes, we still need a lot of cash for investing in the future of AI and data centers, but we still actually had way more cash than we needed and we decided to distribute that to shareholders.
“If you’re not a finance person, the way to read into that is yes, we still need a lot of cash for investing in the future of AI and data centers, but we still actually had way more cash than we needed and we decided to distribute that to shareholders.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Google Part III: The AI Company
- Publisher
- Acquired
22 / observation
The only way it could have gone better is if instead of launching Android, they launched the iPhone and they also got the iPhone profits rather than just some small dollars that protected their core business.
“The only way it could have gone better is if instead of launching Android, they launched the iPhone and they also got the iPhone profits rather than just some small dollars that protected their core business.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Google Part II: Alphabet
- Publisher
- Acquired
23 / observation
There is one way that Chrome is a business and that is getting paid by Google to drive traffic to Google as a search engine. It’s the only way to operate a business of a browser.
“There is one way that Chrome is a business and that is getting paid by Google to drive traffic to Google as a search engine. It’s the only way to operate a business of a browser.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Google Part II: Alphabet
- Publisher
- Acquired
24 / observation
Buffet’s been running Berkshire for over 50 years. But in Judy’s case, having 47 years to imbue the founder’s personality into the organization as it’s built all the way to this scale is really rare and really powerful.
“Buffet’s been running Berkshire for over 50 years. But in Judy’s case, having 47 years to imbue the founder’s personality into the organization as it’s built all the way to this scale is really rare and really powerful.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Epic Systems (MyChart)
- Publisher
- Acquired
25 / observation
You also can’t do their clever bundling in a bunch of free stuff that you might want to use in the future unless you have the scale economies also. They just develop a lot of software that they either throw in for free or offer to you in the future, and the only way you can develop that much software is have a huge number of customers to amortize it across.
“You also can’t do their clever bundling in a bunch of free stuff that you might want to use in the future unless you have the scale economies also. They just develop a lot of software that they either throw in for free or offer to you in the future, and the only way you can develop that much software is have a huge number of customers to amortize it across.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Epic Systems (MyChart)
- Publisher
- Acquired
26 / observation
Almost the only way in which Epic intersected with Silicon Valley in the entire company’s history, but this is a crazy point.
“Almost the only way in which Epic intersected with Silicon Valley in the entire company’s history, but this is a crazy point.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Epic Systems (MyChart)
- Publisher
- Acquired
27 / observation
The capital calls are the way to do it. It’s an incredible way to get someone to bid $50-$100 million for something that doesn’t exist yet, to say well, in the first year you’re only out $5 million.
“The capital calls are the way to do it. It’s an incredible way to get someone to bid $50-$100 million for something that doesn’t exist yet, to say well, in the first year you’re only out $5 million.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Indian Premier League Cricket
- Publisher
- Acquired
28 / observation
TSMC would fab the chips, would manufacture them, NVIDIA would design them. That is true all the way to today at immense scale.
“TSMC would fab the chips, would manufacture them, NVIDIA would design them. That is true all the way to today at immense scale.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- TSMC Founder Morris Chang
- Publisher
- Acquired
29 / observation
The second benefit is they don’t pay as many taxes since they’re reinvesting before those dollars fall all the way to the bottom line as income.
“The second benefit is they don’t pay as many taxes since they’re reinvesting before those dollars fall all the way to the bottom line as income.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- Mars Inc. (the chocolate story)
- Publisher
- Acquired
30 / observation
The only way in which it hurts them is access to capital, but they don’t need money.
“The only way in which it hurts them is access to capital, but they don’t need money.”
- Speaker
- Ben Gilbert
- Episode
- IKEA
- Publisher
- Acquired