Category Archives: SAMPLE POSTS

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[EQIX – Equinix; INXN – Interxion] Network Effects in a Box

The “internet”, as the name implies, is a network of networks.  Scuttleblurb.com is sitting on server somewhere connected to an IP network different from the one your device is connected to and the fact that you are reading this means those two networks are communicating.  Likewise, if your internet service provider is Charter and you’d like […]

[VRSK – Verisk] High Quality Cash Flow, Limited Reinvestment Opportunities

When evaluating the competitive advantage of a data-based analytics business, three important questions come to mind: 1) Is the data proprietary? 2) Are the insights from the data critical? and 3) Does the data fuel a product feedback loop? Verisk began its operations in 1971 as Insurance Services Offices (ISO), a non-profit enterprise started by P&C […]

[RYAAY – Ryanair] Low Cost Flywheel

“One thing we have looked at is maybe putting a coin slot on the toilet door…Pay-per-pee.  If someone wanted to pay £5 to go to the toilet, I’d carry them myself.  I would wipe their bums for a fiver.” Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair In a letter to one of GEICO’s officers dated July 22, […]

[BRO – Brown & Brown] Compounder in a Fragmented Sector

“He wasn’t just saving his own soul when he donned his coat and hat after dinner and went out again to resume his work – no, it was also to save some poor son of a bitch on the brink of letting his insurance policy lapse, and thus endangering his family’s security ‘in the event […]

[TRUP – Trupanion] A SaaSy Underwriter

Looking at TRUP is like staring at one of those ambiguous images that could be both a rabbit and a duck, both a saxophonist and a woman’s face: we know that this is an insurance company, but we’re compelled to analyze it as a data-driven subscription service. Of course, all responsible insurers are data-driven and […]

[MCO – Moody’s] The Self-Reinforcing Standards Moat

Moody’s is a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations (NRSROs), a title bestowed by the SEC on a handful of credit rating agencies, the top 3 of whom act as an oligopoly in the US debt ratings gambit.  As you well know, Moody’s (and S&P and Fitch) fell into disrepute during the last financial crisis when […]

[CPRT – Copart; KAR – KAR Auction Services] Copart is a Beast + Impending IAA Spin-Off from KAR

Beneath the bustle of a used car lot lies a swarm of activity that few of us have ever seen, a thriving ecosystem of wholesalers, rebuilders, parts recyclers, insurers, and intermediators whose trading activities usher some vehicles to dealer lots for resale and others to repair shops or salvage auctions.  Roughly 45mn used cars are […]

scuttleblurb business update (2020)

I recently did an interview with my friend @LibertyRPF. It will serve as a substitute for my 2020 year-end review since it contains everything I wanted to say (and more). With permission from @LibertyRPF, I have reproduced the interview below. You can access the original here. Interview with David Kim a.k.a. Scuttleblurb 𝕊𝕡𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝔼𝕕𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 #𝟙 Scuttleblurb is one of […]