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61 companies
Blockbuster
Video Rental & Entertainment
Blockbuster didn't fail because it missed Netflix. The company knew about Netflix, even considered acquiring them for $50 million. Blockbuster failed...
Basecamp
Software / Project Management
Basecamp has operated with voluntary caloric restriction for 25 years. The company maintains 50-60 employees while serving millions of customers and g...
BlackBerry
Mobile Phones & Software
In 2008, BlackBerry had an $84 billion market cap and 20% of the global smartphone market. By 2016, less than 1% market share and $3 billion market ca...
Boeing
Aerospace Manufacturing
Boeing held 80% of the commercial aviation market in 1970. By 2024, it had surrendered half that share to Airbus while two 737 MAX crashes killed 346...
Berkshire Hathaway
Conglomerate / Insurance / Investments
Warren Buffett's genius isn't picking stocks - it's designing ecosystems. Berkshire Hathaway comprises 60+ wholly owned businesses spanning insurance,...
Best Buy
Retail Electronics
The electronics retailer that survived where Circuit City died - then learned that distributing power isn't the same as distributing accountability....
BHP Group
Mining
BHP Group is one of the world's largest mining companies, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, extracting iron ore, copper, coal, nickel, and petrol...
British East India Company
Trading & Colonial Enterprise
The British East India Company represents extreme organizational longevity through adaptive sensing - 274 years of continuous operation (1600-1874) th...
Bank of America
Banking / Financial Services
Bank of America appears in the book as one of the distressed companies that Berkshire Hathaway invested in during the 2008 financial crisis. Buffett's...
BBC World Service
Media/Broadcasting
The British Broadcasting Corporation's World Service, launched in 1932 as the BBC Empire Service, has broadcast news in 42 languages to audiences exce...
BioNTech
Biotechnology
BioNTech proved that genetic drift in markets can shift entire industries overnight. The German biotechnology company, alongside Moderna, demonstrated...
Bombardier
Aerospace
Canadian aerospace company that developed the C Series aircraft program before selling it to Airbus in 2018 for effectively zero dollars. The Bombardi...
Bridgewater Associates
Hedge Fund
World's largest hedge fund ($150B AUM) that attempted to engineer prosocial leadership through 'radical transparency' - all meetings recorded, constan...
Buffer
Technology / Social Media Tools
The social media company that made transparency so radical it became a competitive advantage. Buffer publishes everything: real-time revenue dashboar...
ByteDance
Technology / Social Media
The Chinese tech giant that proves you can work 996, dominate video, and still lose the productivity war to biology. ByteDance (owner of TikTok/Douyi...
B&M European Value Retail
Retail
B&M is a variety retailer offering branded products at discount prices. Operating over 1,000 stores across the UK and Europe, it focuses on fast-movin...
BAE Systems
Aerospace & Defense
BAE Systems is a British multinational defense, security, and aerospace company and one of the world's largest defense contractors, designing and manu...
Baidu
Technology
Baidu is China's leading search engine and AI company, investing heavily in artificial intelligence, autonomous driving through Apollo, and cloud comp...
Bain & Company
Management Consulting
Bain & Company revolutionized consulting by applying the marginal value theorem to client relationships. Founded in 1973 when Bill Bain left BCG, the...
Banc of California, Inc.
Regional Banking
Banc of California is a bank holding company operating through its subsidiary Banc of California, N.A., serving businesses and individuals throughout...
BancFirst Corporation
Regional Banking
BancFirst is an Oklahoma-based bank holding company providing a full range of commercial banking services through its subsidiary BancFirst. The compan...
Banco Bradesco
Banking
Banco Bradesco S.A. is one of Brazil's largest private banks, offering retail banking, credit cards, insurance, and investment products through an ext...
Banco Santander
Financial Services
Santander is a Spanish banking group and one of the largest banks in Europe. The company serves over 150 million customers across Europe and the Ameri...
Bandai Namco Holdings Inc.
Gaming & Entertainment
Bandai Namco is a major entertainment company formed from the merger of Bandai and Namco, known for video games, toys, and anime properties. The compa...
Bang & Olufsen
Consumer Electronics/Audio
Danish consumer electronics company that exemplifies good genes signaling through design constraints. B&O's BeoLab 8000 speakers (1992) fit high-fidel...
Bank of China Limited
Banking & Finance
Bank of China is one of China's oldest and most internationalized banks, with extensive overseas operations. The company provides commercial banking,...
Bank of Marin Bancorp
Regional Banking
Bank of Marin Bancorp is the holding company for Bank of Marin, a California-based community bank serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The company prov...
Barclays
Banking
Barclays is a British multinational investment bank and financial services company with operations in retail banking, wealth management, corporate ban...
BASF
Chemicals
BASF is the world's largest chemical producer, creating chemistry solutions for nearly every industry including automotive, agriculture, construction,...
Bayer
Pharmaceuticals
Bayer is a global life science company with core competencies in healthcare and agriculture, developing innovative products in pharmaceuticals, crop s...
BBVA
Financial Services
BBVA is a Spanish multinational financial services company. The bank operates retail banking, wholesale banking, and asset management across Europe, A...
Bear Stearns
Investment Banking
Investment bank sold to JPMorgan in March 2008 when bankruptcy loomed. Unlike Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns received government-facilitated rescue. Em...
Ben & Jerry's
Food & Beverage
Ben & Jerry's is mentioned as a Unilever acquisition that demonstrates brand modularity - Unilever can integrate acquired brands without requiring who...
Beyond Meat
Food - Plant-Based
Beyond Meat creates plant-based meat substitutes designed to replicate taste and texture of animal meat.
Bitcoin Network
Cryptocurrency / Financial Technology
A radically decentralized cryptocurrency network where no central authority controls the network and consensus emerges from distributed nodes followin...
BlackRock
Asset Management
BlackRock dominates asset management with network effects and economies of scale across $10+ trillion AUM. Platform economics through Aladdin risk man...
Block
Financial Technology
Block operates Square payment processing and Cash App peer-to-peer payments. Two-sided network effects with platform economics enabling cross-selling.
BMW
Automotive
German automotive manufacturer that partnered with Henkel on adhesive co-development for automotive lightweighting. The BMW i3 extensively uses adhesi...
BNP Paribas
Banking
BNP Paribas is a leading European bank with international reach, serving individual customers, corporates, and institutional investors across more tha...
BNSF Railway
Transportation/Railroad
Freight railroad acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 2010 for $44 billion. Competes in freight transport via rail infrastructure, operating as independe...
BNSF Railway
Transportation/Railroad
Railroad company acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 2010 for $44 billion - Berkshire's largest acquisition ever. Operates 32,000 route miles across 28...
BOE Technology Group
Display Technology
BOE is the world's largest manufacturer of LCD and OLED display panels, supplying screens for smartphones, tablets, monitors, and televisions to Apple...
Bolt
Mobility & Delivery
Estonian mobility and delivery platform competing with Uber across Europe and Africa. Offers ride-hailing, food delivery, and scooter sharing services...
boohoo group
Retail
boohoo is a leading online fashion retailer targeting young consumers. The company operates multiple brands including boohoo, PrettyLittleThing, and N...
Booking Holdings
Online Travel
Booking Holdings operates online travel platforms including Booking.com and Priceline. Two-sided network effects where more properties attract more tr...
Boot Barn Holdings, Inc.
Specialty Retail - Western Wear
Boot Barn is the nation's leading lifestyle retailer of western and work-related footwear, apparel, and accessories. The company operates over 380 sto...
Borders Books
Retail / Books
Bookstore chain that went bankrupt in 2011, unable to compete with Amazon. Example of competitive displacement.
Bose
Consumer Electronics/Audio
American audio equipment company that exemplifies dishonest signaling. Bose positions as premium audio ($1,000 headphones, $3,000 speakers) through he...
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
Management Consulting
Boston Consulting Group represents the traditional consulting model that Bill Bain departed from in 1973. BCG's approach was to work with any client w...
BP
Oil and Gas / Energy
BP is a case study in how organizational alarm systems fail catastrophically. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion killed 11 workers, spilled 4.9 mill...
Braintree
Financial Technology / Payments
The payments company that chose enterprises over developers - and proved there's more than one way to win in fintech. Founded in 2007, Braintree zigg...
Bridge Bancorp, Inc.
Regional Banking
Bridge Bancorp is the parent company of BNB Bank, a community-oriented financial services company serving Long Island and the greater New York metropo...
Bristol Myers Squibb
Biopharmaceuticals
Bristol Myers Squibb operates biopharmaceuticals with first-mover advantage in cancer and cardiovascular therapies. Vertical integration across drug d...
British American Tobacco
Tobacco
British American Tobacco is a multinational tobacco company producing cigarettes, heated tobacco products, and vaping devices under brands including D...
Broadcom
Semiconductors & Infrastructure Software
Broadcom demonstrates vertical integration in semiconductor design and enterprise software through strategic acquisitions. Platform economics emerge f...
Brookline Bancorp, Inc.
Regional Banking
Brookline Bancorp is a bank holding company serving customers throughout New England with a full range of banking services. Through its bank subsidiar...
Bryn Mawr Bank Corporation
Regional Banking
Bryn Mawr Bank Corporation is a bank holding company providing full-service retail and commercial banking, trust, wealth management, and insurance ser...
BT Group
Telecommunications
BT Group is a leading telecommunications and network provider in the UK, offering fixed-line services, broadband, mobile, and TV products through bran...
BWX Technologies, Inc.
Nuclear Technology & Services
BWX Technologies is a leading supplier of nuclear components and fuel to the U.S. government and provides technical and management services to support...
BYD
Electric Vehicles/Batteries
Chinese electric vehicle and battery manufacturer headquartered in Shenzhen. Pioneered affordable EVs leveraging Shenzhen's manufacturing ecosystem. R...
BYD Company
Automotive
BYD is a global leader in electric vehicles and rechargeable batteries, pioneering the transition to sustainable transportation with vertically integr...