Power Compounders and Transformers
Dice@dice
+3.9%
since Oct 6
The idea
I believe the biggest gains come from owning companies that get structurally more powerful over time, not just more profitable, the ones sitting in the money flow, running the app store, or building network effects that compound. The core holds proven toll collectors and platforms, weighted heaviest, while a smaller sleeve bets on companies mid-transformation that the market still prices like their older, weaker business. I keep a cash buffer, avoid any single name becoming a huge bet, and plan to hold for years.
What it owns
- These companies own the rails that money flows across, collecting a fee on every transaction without taking the risk, so their power compounds as long as the network stays the default route. · VisaIt owns the rail that most of the world's card spending runs across and collects a fee on every transaction., MastercardMoney flows through it on every card transaction without it taking credit risk, so it collects fees as long as card networks keep their grip on payments., S&P GlobalIt owns standards the market cannot easily route around, bond issuers pay for ratings and investors pay for indexes and data., Moody'sCompanies pay it to access the bond market at a decent price, so money flows through it by default as long as the two-ratings norm persists., Intercontinental ExchangeIt owns exchanges where trading must happen and sells the data that trading produces, collecting a double toll on the same flow.27%
- Every new buyer and seller makes the network more valuable to everyone already on it, creating a flywheel that competitors struggle to replicate. · MercadoLibreIt operates a marketplace with a payments arm in Latin America, owning both the buyer-seller relationship and capturing value as money flows through twice per transaction., AirbnbEvery new host makes the platform better for guests and vice versa, creating a two-sided network effect that competitors struggle to replicate., UberEnough drivers keep a car close and enough riders keep driving profitable, creating a liquidity network effect per city that is brutal to replicate., Booking HoldingsIt aggregates travel demand so completely that hotels pay for access to its customers, so money flows through it as the intermediary.18%
- Other companies build on these products, so external developers' work makes the platform more valuable over time. · MicrosoftDevelopers and enterprises build on Azure and Office, making the platform more valuable as every tool built on top deepens the ecosystem., AppleIt owns the iPhone and collects a cut when millions of developers earn money on its app store, making the platform toll a structural advantage as long as regulators permit it., AlphabetMoney flows through it whenever a developer ships an app or an advertiser buys attention across Android and its ad ecosystem.18%
- When users earn revenue through the product, they adopt faster and pay more, so the platform's growth compounds doubly. · ShopifyMillions of merchants run their businesses on it and the company earns a slice of their sales, so merchant growth drives revenue growth., ToastIt became the rail that restaurant money runs through, from payments to payroll to lending, so restaurants stay as they add more products., RobloxIt pays creators to build games that bring in players, so its users' effort to make money makes the platform more valuable., AppLovinIt makes app developers money by filling their ad space, and the more developers plug in, the better its ad targeting gets.17%
- These companies started as component suppliers and are becoming platform owners where the market may not yet have repriced the shift to recurring software revenue. · Axon EnterpriseIt is shifting from hardware to a platform where police departments store evidence and run workflows, with recurring software revenue potentially underpriced by the market., SamsaraIt is shifting from fleet tracking hardware to a data platform for physical operations, with customers adopting more applications on top of sensors., CoinbaseIt is building toward being crypto's infrastructure layer through custody, stablecoins and its Base chain, so more money flows through it beyond trading.12%
- Cash8%