Costco (Audio)

Costco is not only Charlie Munger’s favorite company of all time (plus he’s on the board, natch), it’s an absolutely fascinating study in how seemingly opposite characteristics can combine to create incredible company value. For instance: Costco has the cheapest prices of any major retailer in America — and also the wealthiest customer base. They pay their hourly workers 30% above the industry norm (and give them excellent healthcare + 401k benefits) — and are almost 3x more profitable on labor than Walmart. Speaking of Walmart, Costco stocks 40x fewer SKUs than their Bentonville-based rivals — yet sells an average of 15x more volume of each. And oh yeah, practically all of Costco’s C-Suite started their careers as baggers and checkout clerks! Tune in for a mind-bending exploration of one of the world’s most iconic — and iconically unique — companies. Sponsors: Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: Your product growth powered by Statsig https://bit.ly/statsigacquired Free access to our episode research on Blinkist, plus our favorite books on Ben & David’s Bookshelf https://bit.ly/BlinkistCostco https://bit.ly/BlinkistBookshelf Scalable, clean and low-cost cloud AI compute from Crusoe, and listen to our recent ACQ2 interview with CEO Chase Lochmiller https://bit.ly/acquiredcrusoe https://bit.ly/CrusoeACQ2 More Acquired!: Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes https://www.acquired.fm/email Join the Slack http://acquired.fm/slack Subscribe to ACQ2 https://pod.link/acquiredlp Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more https://acquired.fm/lp Links: The Science of Hitting https://thescienceofhitting.com Warren Buffett’s Costco joke https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1sTs8wkAbw Episode sources https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tHtjZQmYr6MMUG-a_eOTi_swzWwbUlVohluwCf572s8/edit?usp=sharing Carve Outs: Tifosi sunglasses https://tifosioptics.com Dwells “take off everything” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwFmq69m3WA Jeremy Giffon on Invest Like the Best https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/79714195/giffon-special-situations-in-private-markets?tab=transcript Dogpatch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogpatch,_San_Francisco David Lidsky’s great piece on Acquired in Fast Company https://www.fastcompany.com/90927453/acquired-number-1-tech-podcast-sensation Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions. © Copyright ACQ, LLC