Oct 20, 2026 · 30 min · 14 segments
Here on the island we often see Mark scuba diving off the beach in a fruitless search for sunken treasure. Ironically, it appears that he has now stumbled upon some floating treasure in the form of…
Well, there are a lot of businesses out there that are just transactions with no physical product.
This means that their asset light and therefore can have a high return on capital employed.
But I often think, what is there to stop somebody else being able to just slip in with a thinner margin? Again, where's the barrier to entry or the moat? And I send some money internationally.
They have size and first mover advantage, but I would have that nagging feeling that a disruptor may emerge.
And there's things like banks, insurance, YouGov, that's a research business, software businesses, and then recruitment.
But if we look at how we transport physical products around the world, I can't foresee ships being superseded unless the oceans run dry and we bring in Pacific Atlantic or Indian motorways or highways for our American audience.
I do my first year of travelling outside of Europe, and most people limit themselves to our European neighbours.
What we do witness first-hand, as I continually say in this, is the rapid advances being made in emerging, or what we still wrongly call, in some cases, the third world countries.
When I was in Kuala Lumpur, KL, in our hotel, there were Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, and lots of Kenyans.
Now, I don't want to be unkind, but they were not your stereotypical build of your average East African middle-distance runner.
They were, as a collective, packing a bit of timber or had seen what I like to call the foot pump furry.
Well, there are a lot of businesses out there that are just transactions with no physical product.
This means that their asset light and therefore can have a high return on capital employed.
But I often think, what is there to stop somebody else being able to just slip in with a thinner margin? Again, where's the barrier to entry or the moat? And I send some money internationally.
They have size and first mover advantage, but I would have that nagging feeling that a disruptor may emerge.
And there's things like banks, insurance, YouGov, that's a research business, software businesses, and then recruitment.
But if we look at how we transport physical products around the world, I can't foresee ships being superseded unless the oceans run dry and we bring in Pacific Atlantic or Indian motorways or highways for our American audience.
I do my first year of travelling outside of Europe, and most people limit themselves to our European neighbours.
What we do witness first-hand, as I continually say in this, is the rapid advances being made in emerging, or what we still wrongly call, in some cases, the third world countries.
When I was in Kuala Lumpur, KL, in our hotel, there were Indians, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, and lots of Kenyans.
Now, I don't want to be unkind, but they were not your stereotypical build of your average East African middle-distance runner.
They were, as a collective, packing a bit of timber or had seen what I like to call the foot pump furry.
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