The Walt Disney Company: An Entertainment Empire

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Show Notes

(00:02:23) - (First question) - Overview of Disney and their size and scale today 

(00:04:11) - Which parts of Disney’s business are the biggest overall

(00:05:15) - Major milestones across Disney’s one hundred year history 

(00:07:17) - What lead to their decision to buy ABC and subsequently ESPN 

(00:08:00) -
Disney’s Original Flywheel
; How Disney’s flywheel compounds on top of itself

(00:10:11) - Characterizing their competitors and the markets they play in  

(00:12:58) - Overview of Disney’s theme park business 

(00:15:07) - Fixed costs, growth, and thoughts about volume for their theme parks

(00:17:40) - Their cable business and the drivers of growth and success for it 

(00:20:24) - Whether or not they consider streaming as a part of their cable business

(00:21:33) -
Netflix: The Original
; What’s different about Disney+ compared to Netflix and why they’re losing money 

(00:23:14) - Disney+ verses Netflix in the competitive landscape 

(00:24:45) - How far Disney can extend their content offering without degrading their brand

(00:27:42) - Overview of Disney’s movie business and its growth levers 

(00:29:04) -
Creativity, Inc.
; A revenue case study of the Cars franchise

(00:33:08) - Company culture in running an effective enterprise as big as Disney 

(00:35:43) - The recent leadership transition and his thoughts on it as an investor

(00:37:24) - Reasons behind the Marvel acquisition in 2009

(00:40:05) - What will have to go right if Disney became the next trillion dollar company

(00:43:32) - Possible reasons why Disney could fail over the coming decade  

(00:45:56) - Lessons for builders and investors when studying Disney’s story

(00:48:54) - Learn more about Disney;
Creativity, Inc.
,
The Ride of a Lifetime