Businesses

Companies we've studied. Click through for detailed profiles.

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Airbnb

Online marketplace for short-term lodging and experiences. Disrupted the $800B hotel industry.

Retail

Amazon

World's largest e-commerce and cloud computing (AWS) company. Started as an online bookstore.

Apple

World's most valuable company. Makes iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, and runs a massive services ecosystem.

Berkshire Hathaway

Warren Buffett's holding company. Owns GEICO, BNSF, See's Candies, and major stakes in Apple, Coca-Cola, and more.

Finance

Chanel

French luxury fashion house known for Chanel No. 5, the little black dress, tweed suits, and the double-C logo.

Fashion & Luxury

Coca-Cola

World's largest beverage company. The Coca-Cola brand is the most recognized in the world.

Food & Beverage

Facebook (Meta)

Social media conglomerate: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and the metaverse (Quest VR).

Media

Ferrari

Italian luxury sports car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Icon of speed, design, and exclusivity.

Automotive

Ford

American automaker that pioneered the assembly line and the $5 workday. Made cars affordable for the average American.

Automotive

Goldman Sachs

Global investment bank and financial services company. Known as the most prestigious bank on Wall Street.

Finance

Google (Alphabet)

World's dominant search engine, plus YouTube, Android, Google Cloud, Waymo, and DeepMind.

Technology

Hermes

French luxury goods house known for Birkin bags, scarves, and leather goods. The most exclusive luxury brand in the world.

Fashion & Luxury

LEGO

Danish toy company and the world's most powerful brand. Makes the iconic interlocking plastic bricks.

Consumer Goods

LVMH

World's largest luxury goods conglomerate: Louis Vuitton, Dior, Moet, Hennessy, Tiffany, Sephora, and 75 more brands.

Fashion & Luxury

McDonald's

World's largest fast-food chain with 40,000+ restaurants in 100+ countries. The franchise model pioneer.

Food & Beverage

Microsoft

Software giant. Windows, Office, Azure, Xbox.

Netflix

World's largest streaming entertainment service with 280M+ subscribers. Pioneered the streaming revolution.

Entertainment

Nike

World's largest athletic footwear and apparel company. Started as Blue Ribbon Sports importing Japanese running shoes.

Consumer Goods

NVIDIA

Semiconductor company that dominates GPU and AI chip markets. Powers most of the world's AI training.

Technology

Rolex

World's most iconic luxury watch brand. Known for the Oyster, Submariner, Daytona, and Perpetual movements.

Fashion & Luxury

SpaceX

Aerospace manufacturer and space transport company. Builds Falcon 9, Starship, and Starlink satellite internet.

Aerospace & Defense

Starbucks

World's largest coffeehouse chain with 35,000+ locations. Transformed coffee culture globally.

Food & Beverage

Stripe

Payment processing platform powering internet commerce. Processes hundreds of billions in payments annually.

Finance

The Walt Disney Company

Global entertainment conglomerate: theme parks, movies, streaming (Disney+), Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, ESPN.

Entertainment

Toyota

World's largest automaker by volume. Pioneered lean manufacturing (Toyota Production System) and the hybrid car (Prius).

Automotive

Visa

World's largest payment network. Processes $15T+ in transactions annually.

Finance

Walmart

World's largest company by revenue ($600B+). Discount retail giant with 10,500+ stores worldwide.

Retail

Adidas

Second-largest sportswear manufacturer in the world. Born from a family feud that also created Puma.

Sports

Alibaba

China's largest e-commerce company (Taobao, Tmall). Also cloud computing, fintech (Ant Group), and logistics.

Retail

AMD

Semiconductor company making CPUs and GPUs. Lisa Su's turnaround from near-death to AI chip powerhouse.

Technology

American Express

Global financial services: charge cards, credit cards, travel, and payments. Premium brand in payments.

Finance

Anduril

Defense technology company building autonomous systems and AI for the military. The 'Silicon Valley meets Pentagon' story.

Aerospace & Defense

AT&T

Telecom giant tracing back to Alexander Graham Bell's telephone. Was broken up by the government, then reassembled.

Telecommunications

Atlassian

Australian enterprise software company (Jira, Confluence, Trello). Built without a single salesperson.

Technology

Blackstone

World's largest alternative asset manager. $1T+ in assets under management.

Finance

Boeing

World's largest aerospace company. Makes commercial aircraft (737, 787), defense systems, and space vehicles.

Aerospace & Defense

Booking.com

World's largest online travel agency. Booking Holdings also owns Priceline, Kayak, and OpenTable.

Travel

Chipotle

Fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain with 3,500+ locations.

Food & Beverage

CostCo

Membership warehouse club: $1.50 hot dogs, Kirkland Signature, bulk buying. 900+ stores worldwide.

Retail

Craigslist

Online classified ads site with an intentionally ugly 1990s design. Destroyed newspaper classifieds.

Media

Dell

PC and enterprise technology company. Michael Dell started it from his University of Texas dorm room at 19.

Technology

DoorDash

Food delivery platform and largest delivery service in the US. Expanded into grocery and retail delivery.

Food & Beverage

Duolingo

World's most popular language learning app (100M+ monthly users). Gamified education with an unhinged owl mascot.

Education

Enron

Energy company whose massive accounting fraud led to the largest corporate bankruptcy in history (2001) and destroyed Arthur Andersen.

Energy

FedEx

Global shipping and logistics company. Pioneered overnight delivery. 'When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.'

Transportation

Formula One

World's premier open-wheel auto racing series. Blends technology, speed, glamour, and global audiences.

Sports

General Electric

Once the most valuable company on Earth. Has split into GE Aerospace, GE Vernova, and GE HealthCare.

Gillette

Dominant razor and grooming brand. Invented the disposable razor blade and the razor/blade business model.

Consumer Goods

GoPro

Action camera company that created the wearable camera category. Surfers, skydivers, and extreme sports.

Consumer Goods

Hershey

America's largest chocolate manufacturer. Built an entire town (Hershey, PA) around the factory.

Food & Beverage

IKEA

World's largest furniture retailer. Known for flat-pack furniture, Swedish meatballs, and democratic design.

Retail

Inditex (Zara)

World's largest fashion retailer (Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear). Pioneered fast fashion with 2-week design-to-shelf cycles.

Fashion & Luxury

Instagram

Photo and video sharing app. Acquired by Facebook/Meta.

Intel

Invented the microchip and dominated PC processors for decades. Now struggling to compete in the AI era.

Technology

Johnson & Johnson

Healthcare conglomerate: pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and consumer health products (Band-Aid, Tylenol, etc.).

Healthcare

Kellogg's

Cereal and snack giant: Corn Flakes, Frosted Flakes, Pringles, Pop-Tarts, Cheez-It.

Food & Beverage

Kering

French luxury group: Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen.

Fashion & Luxury

KFC

Global fried chicken chain with 27,000+ restaurants in 150+ countries. Started when the founder was 65.

Food & Beverage

L'Oreal

World's largest cosmetics and beauty company. 36 brands including Lancome, Maybelline, Garnier, and Kiehl's.

Consumer Goods

Liquid Death

Canned water brand with punk rock marketing. 'Murder your thirst.' Turned water into a lifestyle brand.

Consumer Goods

Lululemon

Athletic apparel company that popularized yoga pants and athleisure culture. Premium brand with cult following.

Fashion & Luxury

Mars Inc.

World's largest candy and pet food company: M&M's, Snickers, Twix, Pedigree, Royal Canin, and more.

Food & Beverage

Mastercard

Second-largest payment processing network globally. Processes billions of transactions in 210+ countries.

Finance

Mercedes-Benz

German luxury automaker. Karl Benz invented the first automobile. The three-pointed star is globally recognized.

Automotive

Monsanto

Agricultural biotech company known for Roundup herbicide and GMO seeds. One of the most controversial companies ever.

Food & Beverage

NBA

National Basketball Association. The most global of the US major sports leagues.

Sports

Nespresso

Premium single-serve coffee system. Pioneered the capsule coffee model. George Clooney ambassador.

Food & Beverage

Nestle

World's largest food and beverage company: Nescafe, KitKat, Purina, Perrier, Gerber, and hundreds more brands.

Food & Beverage

NFL

National Football League. Most valuable sports league in the world. Generates $18B+/year in revenue.

Sports

Nintendo

Japanese gaming company that created Mario, Zelda, Pokemon, the Game Boy, Wii, and Switch.

Entertainment

Novo Nordisk

Danish pharma company dominating the diabetes and obesity drug markets (Ozempic, Wegovy). Largest company in Europe.

Healthcare

Nutella (Ferrero)

Italian confectionery company making Nutella, Ferrero Rocher, Kinder, and Tic Tac. World's most secretive food company.

Food & Beverage

Oracle

Database and enterprise cloud computing giant. Larry Ellison built it into one of the largest software companies ever.

Technology

Palantir

Data analytics company working with governments and enterprises. Named after the seeing stones in Lord of the Rings.

Technology

Panda Express

Largest Asian-American restaurant chain with 2,400+ locations. Known for orange chicken.

Food & Beverage

PayPal

Online payment platform that pioneered digital money transfers. The 'PayPal Mafia' spawned Tesla, YouTube, LinkedIn, Palantir, etc.

Finance

Pepsi

PepsiCo beverages and snacks. Pepsi, Gatorade, Quaker.

Porsche

German luxury sports car manufacturer. Iconic 911 design. Also parent company of Volkswagen Group.

Automotive

Procter & Gamble

World's largest consumer goods company: Tide, Pampers, Gillette, Oral-B, and dozens more household brands.

Consumer Goods

Renaissance Technologies

Most successful quantitative hedge fund ever. The Medallion Fund averaged 66% annual returns over 30 years.

Finance

Roblox

Online platform where millions of users create and play games. Massive among Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

Entertainment

Rolls-Royce

Aerospace engine maker and luxury car brand (cars now owned by BMW).

Aerospace & Defense

Salesforce

World's largest CRM company and pioneer of cloud SaaS (Software as a Service). 'No Software' revolution.

Technology

Samsung

South Korean conglomerate: smartphones, semiconductors, displays, appliances. Rival to Apple in mobile.

Technology

Shopify

E-commerce platform powering millions of online stores.

Technology

Sony

Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate: PlayStation, Sony Music, Columbia Pictures, cameras, and more.

Entertainment

Spanx

Shapewear company that Sara Blakely started with $5,000. She cut the feet off her pantyhose and built a brand.

Fashion & Luxury

Spotify

World's largest music streaming platform with 600M+ users. Changed how the world listens to music.

Entertainment

Standard Oil

Controlled 90% of US oil refining at peak. The trust that was broken up by the Supreme Court, spawning the modern oil industry.

Energy

Subway

Largest restaurant chain in the world by number of locations (37,000+). Sandwich shops everywhere.

Food & Beverage

Taco Bell

Mexican-inspired fast-food chain with 8,000+ restaurants. Known for creative menu items and late-night culture.

Food & Beverage

The Home Depot

World's largest home improvement retailer with 2,300+ stores. The co-founders were fired from their previous jobs.

Retail

The New York Times

America's newspaper of record. Successfully pivoted from print to digital with 10M+ subscribers.

Media

TikTok

Short-form video platform with 1B+ users. Part of Chinese tech company ByteDance. Reshaped social media.

Technology

Trader Joe's

Beloved American grocery chain known for unique products, low prices, Hawaiian shirts, and no loyalty programs.

Retail

TSMC

World's largest semiconductor foundry. Makes chips for Apple, NVIDIA, AMD, and most of the tech industry.

Technology

X

Social media platform. Rebranded from Twitter to X after Elon Musk's $44B acquisition.

Uber

Ride-hailing and delivery platform operating in 70+ countries. Disrupted the global taxi industry.

Transportation

Under Armour

Athletic apparel brand that started when the founder made moisture-wicking shirts for his college football teammates.

Fashion & Luxury

Unilever

Consumer goods giant: Dove, Ben & Jerry's, Vaseline, Hellmann's, Knorr, and 400+ other brands.

Consumer Goods

UPS

World's largest package delivery company. Brown trucks deliver 25M+ packages daily in 220+ countries.

Transportation

Virgin

Global brand spanning 400+ companies: airlines, mobile, media, space tourism. Richard Branson's adventure empire.

Entertainment

WeWork

Co-working space company that peaked at $47B valuation before spectacular collapse. Now bankrupt.

Real Estate

Messaging app with 2B+ users worldwide. Acquired for $19B with only 55 employees.

Technology

YouTube

Video sharing platform. Acquired by Google 2006.

Zara

Spanish fast fashion. Flagship brand of Inditex.

Adobe

Creative software giant: Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Acrobat. Pioneered SaaS transition with Creative Cloud.

Technology

Afterpay

Buy-now-pay-later platform from Australia. Popularized BNPL among Gen Z consumers.

Finance

AG1 (Athletic Greens)

Powdered greens supplement that became ubiquitous in podcast advertising. The most-advertised health supplement.

Healthcare

AIG

Global insurance company. Nearly collapsed during 2008 financial crisis and received the largest government bailout in US history ($182B).

Finance

Aldi

German discount supermarket chain with 10,000+ stores in 20 countries. Aldi Nord and Aldi Süd.

Apollo

Global alternative asset manager ($600B+ AUM). Private equity, credit, and real estate.

Finance

AppLovin

Mobile app and gaming technology company. Its AI-powered ad engine drove one of the best stock performances of 2024.

Technology

ASML

Dutch company that makes the most advanced chip-making machines on Earth. No ASML, no modern chips.

Technology

Axon

Makes Tasers and body cameras for law enforcement. The company that arm police with technology.

Technology

Bacardi

World's largest privately held spirits company. Rum brand born in Cuba, exiled by Castro.

Food & Beverage

Basecamp

Project management software company and bastion of anti-hustle culture. Created Ruby on Rails.

Technology

Bayer

German pharma and life sciences. Aspirin, crop science, consumer health.

Benchmark Capital

Elite VC firm known for equal partnership structure and early investments in eBay, Twitter, Uber, and Snapchat.

Finance

Best Buy

US consumer electronics retailer. Sound of Music rebranded to Best Buy.

BHP Billiton

World's largest mining company. Iron ore, copper, nickel, and coal across 90+ locations worldwide.

Industrial

BIC

Maker of disposable pens, lighters, and razors. Sells 30M+ products per day worldwide.

Consumer Goods

Block

Fintech company (formerly Square). Cash App, Square payments, Afterpay, Tidal. Jack Dorsey's other company.

Finance

Blockbuster

Video rental chain. Peak 2004; displaced by Netflix and streaming.

Bosch

German engineering and electronics. Mobility, consumer goods, industrial tech.

British American Tobacco

One of the world's largest tobacco companies. Makes Lucky Strike, Dunhill, Kent, and Pall Mall.

Food & Beverage

Burberry

British luxury fashion house known for the trench coat, the check pattern, and outerwear heritage.

Fashion & Luxury

CAA (Creative Artists Agency)

The most powerful talent agency in Hollywood. Represents A-list actors, directors, athletes, and musicians.

Entertainment

Calm

Meditation and sleep app with 100M+ downloads. Alex Tew previously created the Million Dollar Homepage.

Health & Wellness

Carnegie Steel

Steel producer. Sold in 1901 in one of the largest transactions; made Carnegie one of the richest.

Cartier

French luxury jewelry and watch house. Known as 'the jeweler of kings and the king of jewelers.'

Fashion & Luxury

Cava

Fast-casual Mediterranean restaurant chain. The 'next Chipotle' with 300+ locations.

Food & Beverage

Charles Schwab

Discount brokerage that democratized investing. Pioneered commission-free trading before Robinhood.

Finance

Chess.com

World's largest online chess platform with 150M+ members. Benefited massively from The Queen's Gambit effect.

Media

Chewy

Online pet food and supplies retailer known for exceptional customer service (hand-painted pet portraits).

Retail

Cinnabon

Chain famous for its cinnamon rolls. The smell of airports and malls everywhere.

Food & Beverage

Cisco

Largest networking company. Hardware, telecom equipment, IoT.

Colgate

Oral care, personal care, and pet nutrition company. Colgate toothpaste is in more homes than any other brand.

Consumer Goods

Constellation Software

Acquires and manages vertical market software companies. Has made 800+ acquisitions. Canada's Berkshire Hathaway.

Technology

Convoy

Digital freight network that aimed to be the 'Uber for trucking.' Shut down after burning through $900M.

Transportation

Copart

Online vehicle auction company specializing in salvage and used cars. The 'eBay of wrecked cars.'

Automotive

Coupang

South Korea's largest e-commerce company. Known as 'Korea's Amazon' with same-day delivery.

Retail

CrowdStrike

Cybersecurity company. Their global outage in July 2024 crashed 8.5M Windows computers worldwide.

Technology

Deel

Global HR and payroll platform enabling companies to hire anyone, anywhere. Grew from $0 to $500M+ ARR in 4 years.

Technology

Dolby

Audio and cinema technology company. Dolby sound is in every major movie theater and most devices.

Technology

Dollar Shave Club

Subscription razor and grooming delivery. Acquired by Unilever.

Dropbox

Cloud storage and file sync. Y Combinator-backed.

DuPont

Chemical company that invented nylon, Teflon, Kevlar, and Lycra. 220+ years of innovation.

Industrial

eBay

Online auction and shopping platform. Pierre Omidyar created it to sell a broken laser pointer (for $14).

Retail

Electronic Arts

Major video game publisher: FIFA/EA FC, Madden, The Sims, Apex Legends, Battlefield.

Entertainment

Epic Games

Creator of Fortnite and Unreal Engine. Tim Sweeney vs. Apple antitrust battle.

Entertainment

Epic Systems

Largest electronic health records company in the US, holding data for 300M+ patients. Never went public.

Healthcare

Equifax

One of the Big Three credit bureaus. Infamous for the 2017 data breach exposing 147M Americans' data.

Finance

EssilorLuxottica

World's largest eyewear company. Makes Ray-Ban, Oakley, Oliver Peoples and owns LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut.

Fashion & Luxury

Exor

Agnelli family holding company: Ferrari, Stellantis, The Economist, Juventus FC.

Finance

Exxon Mobil

World's largest publicly traded oil and gas company. Direct descendant of Rockefeller's Standard Oil.

Energy

Faire

Online wholesale marketplace connecting independent retailers with brands. The 'Amazon for local shops.'

Retail

Fanatics

Sports merchandise, trading cards, and sports betting platform. Owns all major US sports licensing.

Sports

Fastenal

Industrial distribution company selling nuts, bolts, and fasteners. Started with a vending machine concept.

Industrial

FC Bayern Munich

Germany's most successful football club. 50+1 member ownership model. 33 Bundesliga titles.

Sports

Ferretti

Italian luxury yacht manufacturer: Riva, Pershing, Custom Line, Wally. Makes some of the world's most beautiful boats.

Fashion & Luxury

FICO

Created the FICO credit score used by 90%+ of US lenders. Your credit score is their product.

Finance

First Citizens Bank

Regional bank that acquired Silicon Valley Bank out of FDIC receivership in 2023.

Finance

Games Workshop

Creator of Warhammer and Warhammer 40K. Tabletop gaming empire with fanatical community.

Entertainment

GE Aerospace

World's leading jet engine manufacturer. Makes engines for 75% of commercial flights.

Aerospace & Defense

GitHub

World's largest platform for software development and version control. Where 100M+ developers collaborate on code.

Technology

Google Maps

The world's most-used mapping application. Powers navigation for billions of people daily.

Technology

H&M

Swedish fast-fashion retailer. Second-largest global clothing retailer.

Harley Davidson

American motorcycle manufacturer. Iconic brand.

Automotive

Hewlett-Packard

Tech company. PCs, printers (HP Inc.) and enterprise (HPE).

Huawei

Chinese telecom giant. World's largest telecom equipment maker. US sanctions over national security concerns.

Telecommunications

IBM

Tech and consulting. Mainframes, software, cloud, research.

Interactive Brokers

Electronic brokerage firm pioneering automated trading. Thomas Peterffy literally built his own trading terminal.

Finance

Intuit

Financial software company: TurboTax, QuickBooks, Mailchimp, Credit Karma. Makes tax season bearable.

Finance

Intuitive Surgical

Maker of the da Vinci surgical robot system. Pioneered robotic surgery. Installed base of 9,000+ systems.

Healthcare

Invisalign (Align Technology)

Clear dental aligners that revolutionized orthodontics. Stanford MBA project turned dental disruption.

Healthcare

IPL (Indian Premier League)

World's richest cricket league. Combines Bollywood, sports, and business in India's most-watched event.

Sports

IPSY

Beauty subscription box service delivering personalized makeup samples monthly.

Consumer Goods

John Deere

World's largest agricultural machinery manufacturer. The green tractor is as iconic as the golden arches.

Industrial

Kaspi.kz

Kazakhstan's super-app: payments, e-commerce, banking. Used by 70%+ of the country's population.

Finance

Krispy Kreme

Iconic doughnut chain known for the 'Hot Now' sign and glazed doughnuts. 1,400+ shops in 35+ countries.

Food & Beverage

Lamborghini

Italian luxury sports cars. Owned by Audi/VW.

Levi's

American denim and apparel. Levi's jeans.

Professional network. Jobs, recruiting, B2B sales.

Lockheed Martin

World's largest defense contractor. Makes F-35, stealth bombers, satellites, and missile defense systems.

Aerospace & Defense

Lyft

Ride-hailing platform and Uber's main US competitor. The friendly pink mustache alternative.

Transportation

Mailchimp

Email marketing platform that grew from a side project into a $12B company — entirely bootstrapped.

Technology

Marriott International

Largest hotel chain. 6,500+ properties, 1.2M+ rooms.

Match Group

Owns Tinder, Hinge, Match.com, OkCupid, and dozens of dating apps. The monopoly of love.

Media

McKinsey & Company

World's most prestigious management consulting firm. Advises 80% of Fortune 500 companies.

Consulting

Meituan

China's largest food delivery and local services platform. Combines DoorDash + Groupon + Yelp.

Food & Beverage

Mercado Libre

Latin America's largest e-commerce and fintech platform. The 'Amazon + PayPal of Latin America.'

E-commerce

Merck & Co

Global pharmaceutical company. Maker of Keytruda (cancer), Gardasil (HPV vaccine), and many more.

Healthcare

Mitsubishi Corporation

Japan's largest trading company (sogo shosha). Interests in everything from coal to KFC Japan.

Diversified

Moderna

mRNA technology company that developed a COVID vaccine in just 2 days. Pioneering mRNA therapeutics.

Healthcare

Mojang

Creator of Minecraft, the best-selling video game of all time (300M+ copies sold).

Entertainment

Moncler

Italian luxury fashion brand famous for premium down jackets. From mountaineering gear to luxury fashion.

Fashion & Luxury

Moody's

One of the 'Big Three' credit rating agencies. Their ratings can move markets and sink countries.

Finance

MyProtein

Europe's #1 online sports nutrition brand. Protein supplements and fitness nutrition.

Consumer Goods

Napster

P2P file sharing. Revolutionized music; legal issues. Later brand sold.

Nestlé Nespresso

Premium capsule coffee. Nespresso machines and pods.

Nubank

World's largest digital bank with 100M+ customers, mostly in Brazil. No branches, no fees.

Finance

Olympic Games (IOC)

International Olympic Committee. Organizes the Summer and Winter Olympics, the world's biggest sporting event.

Sports

Patek Philippe

Swiss luxury watchmaker. The most prestigious watch brand. 'You never actually own a Patek Philippe.'

Fashion & Luxury

Peloton

Connected fitness company: bikes, treadmills, and streaming workouts. COVID darling that crashed 95% from peak.

Consumer Goods

Pernod Ricard

World's second-largest wine and spirits company: Absolut, Jameson, Glenlivet, Chivas Regal, Malibu.

Food & Beverage

PGA Tour

Premier professional golf tour. Currently battling LIV Golf (Saudi-backed rival).

Sports

Pinduoduo

Chinese e-commerce platform that gamified shopping. Briefly surpassed Alibaba in market cap.

Technology

Visual discovery and bookmarking platform. 480M+ monthly users saving ideas for everything.

Media

Play-Doh (Hasbro)

Modeling compound originally invented as wallpaper cleaner. Became one of the most iconic children's toys.

Consumer Goods

Polaroid

Invented instant photography. Edwin Land, Steve Jobs' hero, created the iconic instant camera.

Media

Qantas

Australia's flag carrier airline. One of the oldest and safest airlines in the world. Never had a fatal jet crash.

Transportation

Qualcomm

Designs mobile phone chips (Snapdragon) and holds essential wireless technology patents (CDMA, 5G).

Technology

Qualtrics

Experience management platform. Family basement startup sold to SAP for $8B, taken public, then private again.

Technology

Rakuten

Japan's largest e-commerce platform. Also mobile carrier, fintech, and Viber messaging.

Technology

Ramp

Corporate card and spend management platform that saves companies money. The anti-rewards credit card.

Finance

Red Bull

Energy drink. Highest market share globally; extreme sports and media.

Restoration Hardware (RH)

Luxury home furnishings company. Gary Friedman transformed it from a catalog retailer into a luxury brand.

Fashion & Luxury

Robinhood

Commission-free stock trading app that democratized investing. Central to the GameStop/meme stock saga.

Finance

Ryanair

Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers. Ultra-low-cost carrier that charges for everything.

Transportation

SAP

Enterprise software. ERP, CRM, cloud. European tech giant.

Scale AI

AI data labeling and infrastructure company. Provides training data for AI models used by OpenAI, Meta, and the US military.

Technology

Sequoia Capital

Legendary VC firm that backed Apple, Google, Oracle, Cisco, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, and many more.

Finance

Shell

Oil and gas supermajor. British-Dutch.

Sherwin-Williams

Largest paint and coatings company in the world. 'Cover the Earth' with 4,700+ company-owned stores.

Industrial

Shutterstock

Stock photography and media platform. Jon Oringer started by photographing everything himself (30,000 photos).

Media

Slack

Workplace messaging platform that replaced email for millions. Born from a failed video game.

Technology

SmileDirectClub

Direct-to-consumer clear aligners. Went from $9B IPO to bankruptcy in 4 years.

Healthcare

Spotter

YouTube content licensing company. Buys catalog rights from creators, paying upfront for future ad revenue.

Standard Oil Company

Oil monopoly. Broken up by Supreme Court; legacy companies include Exxon, Chevron.

Take-Two Interactive

Video game publisher: Grand Theft Auto (Rockstar Games), NBA 2K, Red Dead Redemption, Civilization.

Entertainment

Union Pacific

One of the largest railroad companies in North America. Operates 32,000+ miles of track across 23 states.

Transportation

UnitedHealth Group

Largest healthcare company in the US by revenue ($370B+). Insurance (UnitedHealthcare) and health services (Optum).

Healthcare

Universal Music Group

World's largest music company: Taylor Swift, Drake, Billie Eilish, The Beatles, and hundreds more artists.

Entertainment

Valve Corporation

Steam platform, Half-Life, Portal. Bellevue game company.

Vanguard

World's largest mutual fund company. John Bogle invented the index fund and democratized investing.

Finance

Verizon Communications

US telecom. Wireless, Fios, enterprise.

Vespa (Piaggio)

Italian scooter manufacturer. The Vespa is an icon of Italian style, featured in Roman Holiday and pop culture.

Automotive

ViacomCBS (Paramount)

Media conglomerate: CBS, Paramount Pictures, MTV, Nickelodeon, Showtime. Declining legacy media.

Media

Virgin Galactic

Space tourism company offering suborbital flights. Branson's dream of civilian spaceflight.

Aerospace & Defense

Vitol

World's largest independent oil trader. Most people have never heard of this $400B+ revenue company.

Energy

Wayfair

Online furniture and home goods retailer. Built 250+ niche websites before consolidating into Wayfair.

Retail

WeChat (Tencent)

China's super-app: messaging, payments, social media, mini-programs. 1.3B users. Everything app.

Technology

Wikipedia

Free, editable encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation.

Xiaomi

Chinese electronics company making smartphones, smart home devices, and now EVs. Known as 'China's Apple.'

Technology

Y Combinator

World's most influential startup accelerator. Alumni include Airbnb, Stripe, Dropbox, Reddit, and DoorDash.

Technology

Zoho

Indian SaaS company offering 55+ business apps. Bootstrapped, profitable, headquartered in a village.

Technology

Zoom

Video conferencing platform that became a verb during COVID-19. 'You're on mute.'

Technology

Adyen

Dutch payment processing platform for enterprise businesses (Uber, Spotify, Microsoft are clients).

Finance

Amadeus IT

Travel technology company. The invisible backbone behind airline and hotel booking systems worldwide.

Technology

American Airlines

World's largest airline by fleet size and destinations. Major US carrier.

American Tower

Owns and operates 225,000+ cell towers worldwide. The landlord of the wireless age.

Telecommunications

Anchorage Digital

Federally chartered crypto bank offering custody, trading, and staking for institutions.

Finance

Applied Materials

Largest supplier of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Makes the machines that make chips.

Technology

Aravind Eye Care System

Indian hospital chain. World's largest eye-care provider; millions of low-cost or free surgeries.

Archaea Energy

Renewable natural gas company converting landfill methane into pipeline-quality gas.

Energy

Argenx

Belgian biotech company developing antibody therapies for autoimmune diseases. Vyvgart is their breakthrough drug.

Healthcare

ARM

British semiconductor and software design company. ARM processors dominate mobile and tablet CPUs.

Technology

AutoZone

Largest auto parts retailer in the US with 7,000+ stores. Legendary capital allocator.

Retail

Bajaj Finance

India's largest non-banking financial company. Consumer lending, mortgages, and insurance.

Finance

BASF

Largest chemical producer in the world. German multinational.

Basic-Fit

Europe's largest low-cost fitness chain with 1,400+ gyms across 6 countries.

Fitness

Bertelsmann

German media, services and education. RTL, Penguin Random House, BMG, Arvato.

Bird

Electric scooter rental company. App-based, scan-and-ride in cities.

Brookfield Asset Management

Canadian alternative asset manager ($900B+ AUM). Real estate, infrastructure, renewable energy, and PE.

Finance

Cadence

Electronic design automation (EDA) software for designing semiconductors. Critical to every chip ever made.

Technology

Car2Go

Carsharing with Smart and Mercedes. By-the-minute, app-based.

Casey's General Stores

Third-largest convenience store chain in the US (2,600+ stores). Biggest pizza chain you've never heard of.

Retail

Charter Communications

Second-largest cable operator in the US (Spectrum brand). 30M+ customers.

Telecommunications

Chemed

Healthcare services: hospice care (VITAS) and plumbing (Roto-Rooter). Unusual combination.

Healthcare

Cintas

Largest uniform rental company in North America. Also provides facility services, first aid, and fire protection.

Industrial

CME Group

World's largest financial derivatives exchange. Trades futures and options on everything from corn to bitcoin.

Finance

Compass

Real estate brokerage using technology to empower agents. Controversial growth-at-all-costs approach.

Real Estate

CompoSecure

Makes premium metal credit cards (the heavy ones) for banks like JPMorgan Chase.

Finance

D.R. Horton

Largest homebuilder in the US by volume. Builds more homes than any other company in America.

Real Estate

Databricks

Unified data analytics and AI platform. Created Apache Spark. The data lakehouse pioneer.

Technology

Datadog

Cloud monitoring and analytics platform. Essential infrastructure for modern software development.

Technology

Deutsche Post

World's largest postal and courier company. DHL Express subsidiary.

Dexcom

Continuous glucose monitoring systems for diabetes management. Revolutionary medical device.

Healthcare

Dino Polska

Polish supermarket chain with 2,300+ stores. One of the fastest-growing retailers in Europe.

Retail

Doximity

Professional network for physicians. 80%+ of US doctors are on the platform.

Healthcare

Ecolab

Water, hygiene, and infection prevention company. Cleans everything from hotel rooms to hospitals.

Healthcare

Embraer

Brazilian aerospace company. Third-largest commercial aircraft manufacturer. Regional jet leader.

Aerospace & Defense

EQT

Swedish private equity firm with Nordic roots. Thematic investing in healthcare, tech, and services.

Finance

Foxconn

Largest contract electronics manufacturer. Makes iPhone, iPad, and much of consumer electronics.

Freitag lab.ag

Bags and accessories from recycled truck tarps and materials. Zurich.

Gartner

World's leading IT research and advisory company. Publishes the famous 'Magic Quadrant' reports.

Technology

Gensler

World's largest architecture and design firm with 53 offices across the globe.

Industrial

Groupon

Deals and local commerce marketplace. Daily deals model.

Harvard Business Publishing

Publisher of Harvard Business Review, HBS case studies, and business education content.

Media

HEICO

Aerospace and electronic components maker. 'The Berkshire Hathaway of aerospace parts.'

Aerospace & Defense

HelloFresh

World's largest meal kit delivery company. Sends pre-portioned ingredients with recipes to your door.

Food & Beverage

Hindustan Unilever

Indian consumer goods. Subsidiary of Unilever.

Hotmail

Early webmail. Acquired by Microsoft; became Outlook.com.

Humble Bundle

Pay-what-you-want game bundles. Often charity component.

Logitech

PC and mobile peripherals. Keyboards, mice, webcams, speakers.

London Stock Exchange Group

Operates the London Stock Exchange, owns Refinitiv (financial data), and FTSE Russell (indexes).

Finance

LSEG

London Stock Exchange Group. Operates the LSE and provides financial data (Refinitiv).

Finance

Lufthansa

Largest German airline. Star Alliance founding member.

Markel

Specialty insurance and investment holding company often called 'the baby Berkshire Hathaway.'

Finance

Mineral Resources

Australian mining services and lithium producer. Supplies materials for the EV battery revolution.

Industrial

MongoDB

NoSQL database platform used by 47,000+ companies. Challenged Oracle's relational database dominance.

Technology

Motorola Solutions

Communication equipment for first responders and public safety. The 'other Motorola' (not phones).

Telecommunications

Mozilla

Firefox browser, open source. Mozilla Foundation and Corp.

MTN Group

Africa's largest mobile telecom operator with 290M+ subscribers across 19 countries.

Telecommunications

Nexstar Media

Largest local TV station owner in the US. Owns 200+ stations reaching 68% of US households.

Media

NextEra Energy

World's largest generator of renewable energy (wind and solar). Also owns Florida Power & Light.

Energy

Nokia

Finnish telecom and tech. Phones, networks, licensing.

Novocure

Oncology company using electrical fields (TTFields) to treat cancer. Revolutionary approach to tumor treatment.

Healthcare

Orangetheory Fitness

Boutique fitness franchise based on heart rate-based interval training. 1,500+ studios worldwide.

Consumer Goods

Panasonic

Japanese electronics and industrial. Consumer electronics, batteries, automotive, appliances.

Panera Bread Bakery

Bakery-cafe fast casual. 2,000+ locations in US and Canada.

Pebble Technology

Smartwatch. Record Kickstarter; later acquired, brand discontinued.

Petco

Pet supplies and services retailer with 1,500+ stores. Part of the $300B US pet industry.

Retail

Rec Room

Social gaming platform where users build and play games together in VR and on other platforms.

Entertainment

Renault

French automaker. Alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi.

Roku

Streaming device and platform company. Powers the connected TV advertising ecosystem.

Media

Roper Technologies

Diversified technology company that acquires niche software businesses. The 'Constellation Software of the US.'

Technology

Sega

Video game developer and publisher. Sonic, arcade heritage.

Siemens Energy

Energy technology company making gas turbines, wind turbines, and grid infrastructure.

Energy

Skype

Voice and video calls over internet. Acquired by Microsoft.

Snap-on

Premium tools and equipment for professional mechanics. The iconic tool truck visits shops weekly.

Industrial

Swatch

Swiss watch brand. Response to quartz crisis; accessible Swiss.

Titan Company

India's largest watch and jewelry company.

Fashion & Luxury

Toast

Restaurant management platform: POS, online ordering, payroll, and marketing for restaurants.

Technology

Trane Technologies

Climate technology company making HVAC systems, refrigeration, and building management solutions.

Industrial

Twilio

Cloud communications platform. APIs that let developers add calling, messaging, and video to apps.

Technology

Vistra Corp

Electricity generation company. Largest competitive power producer in the US. AI data center power demand play.

Energy

Warby Parker

Online and retail prescription glasses. Disruptive eyewear.

Watsco

Largest distributor of HVAC equipment in North America. Albert Nahmad's quiet compounding machine.

Industrial

Wise

International money transfer service using peer-to-peer matching to offer real exchange rates.

Finance

Wix

Website builder platform used by 250M+ users. Israeli-founded drag-and-drop web design tool.

Technology

Xerox

Print and document technology. Invented photocopier.

Abbot Downing

Wells Fargo brand serving ultra-high-net-worth clients (investable assets over $50M).

Abril

Fashion brand created via Open Business model from a consortium of small textile companies in Costa Rica.

Agilent

Life sciences and diagnostics company. Lab instruments for pharma, chemical, and food analysis.

Healthcare

Amphenol

Connector and sensor manufacturer for military, telecom, and industrial applications.

Industrial

Arthur J. Gallagher

Fourth-largest insurance broker in the world. Aggressive acquirer (60+ deals per year).

Finance

Atlas Copco

Swedish industrial company making compressors, vacuum solutions, and power tools.

Industrial

Blacksocks

European sock subscription service. Three pairs three times a year.

Brainpool

German TV production company. Crowdfunded film Stromberg.

Brilliance China Auto

Chinese automobile manufacturer. Passenger cars and automotive components.

CDnow

Online music retailer. Dot-com bubble; acquired by Bertelsmann, later Amazon.

CEWE Color

Leading European photo service and online printing. Photo gifts and photofinishing.

Denner

Swiss discount supermarket. Third-largest chain; owned by Migros.

DigitalBridge

Digital infrastructure investment firm. Manages cell towers, data centers, and fiber networks.

Finance

DUFL

Ship, clean, and store business clothing for travelers. Virtual closet.

Easy Smart Grid

Smart grid solution for integrating renewable generation and flexibility markets.

Entegris

Semiconductor materials and contamination control. Essential to chip manufacturing purity.

Technology

FELFEL

Fresh food delivery to companies via on-site fridges. Good Food at Work.

Floor & Decor

Specialty hard-surface flooring retailer. Warehouse-format stores with wide selection and low prices.

Retail

Flyeralarm

Large European online printing. Flyers, brochures, 24h delivery.

Hilti

Construction and building maintenance products. Power tools, anchors, software.

HomeBuy

UK government shared-equity home ownership schemes.

Informa

Events, research, and publishing company. Runs major trade shows and owns academic publishers.

Media

InterDigital

Wireless and video technology research company. Holds patents essential to 3G/4G/5G and HEVC.

Technology

JCDecaux

Largest outdoor advertising company. Street furniture, bus shelters, bikes.

Kingspan

Irish building materials company specializing in insulation. Climate-friendly construction.

Industrial

Lifco

Swedish serial acquirer of niche businesses in dental, demolition, and systems solutions.

Industrial

Max Havelaar

Fairtrade International / Fairtrade certification mark.

McFit

Largest low-cost gym chain in Germany and Europe. No-frills fitness.

Miele

German high-end domestic appliances. Laundry, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, connected devices.

Mobility Carsharing

Swiss carsharing cooperative. 2,900+ vehicles, 1,500 sites.

Payback

India's largest multi-brand loyalty program. 100M+ members.

Renishaw

Precision measurement and healthcare equipment maker. British engineering excellence.

Healthcare

Richelieu Foods

Private label food manufacturing. Frozen pizza, dressings, sauces.

SBB

Swiss national railway. SBB CFF FFS.

Shiprocket

India's largest e-commerce logistics platform. Enables shipping for D2C brands across India.

Transportation

SlideShare

Hosting for presentations and documents. Now LinkedIn SlideShare.

Somfy

Motorized systems for blinds, gates, awnings. Home automation.

Streetline

Smart parking and urban management. Sensor-based.

Tchibo

German coffee retailer. Weekly changing non-coffee products.

Tetra Pak

Food packaging and processing. Cartons, filling machines.

Ubitricity

EV charging solutions. Lamppost charging; acquired by Shell.

Vulcan Materials

Largest US producer of construction aggregates (crushed stone, sand, gravel). Supplies the stuff roads are made of.

Industrial

Wyndham Hotels

World's largest hotel franchisor with 9,200+ hotels (Super 8, Days Inn, Ramada, La Quinta).

Hospitality

Würth

German B2B assembly and fastening materials. Screws, tools, chemical products, 125,000+ products.