Business & startups

Asia's super-apps and the everything-app dream

In much of Asia, a single app handles messaging, payments, shopping, and more. Explore how WeChat and its rivals became indispensable, and why Western companies keep trying and failing to build the same thing.

12 min

Economic moats: why some companies can't be dislodged

Network effects, switching costs, and economies of scale can make a company almost impossible to unseat. Explore what a durable competitive advantage really is and how the strongest businesses defend their turf.

12 min

How private equity really works

Behind the leveraged buyout: how private-equity firms use borrowed money to acquire companies, the returns they chase, and the fierce debate over whether they create value or strip it for parts.

12 min

The loss-leader playbook: burning money to win

Some companies lose money for years on purpose. Unpack the strategy of subsidizing growth to capture a market, drive out rivals, and lock in customers — and when it builds an empire versus a bonfire of cash.

12 min

Why McDonald's is really a real-estate company

The secret behind the fast-food giant isn't burgers — it's property. Explore how the franchise-plus-real-estate model built one of the world's most valuable brands and reshaped how businesses scale.

12 min

Theranos and the anatomy of a startup lie

How a charismatic founder raised billions for blood-testing technology that never worked, the culture of secrecy and hype that sustained it, and what the collapse revealed about Silicon Valley's appetite for a good story.

12 min

Nokia's fall from the top of the world

Nokia sold more phones than anyone on Earth, then lost it all within a few years. Examine how the dominant player misread the smartphone shift and how quickly a seemingly unassailable lead can evaporate.

12 min

The rise and implosion of WeWork

How a company that leased and subleased office space convinced the world it was a world-changing tech startup, ballooned to a $47 billion valuation, and unravelled spectacularly when it tried to go public.

12 min