31 business models · visualised in 3D

UNDERSTAND EVERY BUSINESS FOR THE FIRST TIME

Stop staring at numbers you don't understand. See how Nvidia owns the language of AI. Understand why McDonald's is really a landlord. Feel what it means to own the road every dollar travels.

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The problem
BEFORE TYCOON
200-page 10-K reports that take 15 hours to read — and still leave you confused
You know the ticker but not the business — you're investing in a symbol, not a company
Generic financial metrics with no context — what does 74% gross margin actually mean?
The solution
AFTER TYCOON
60 seconds to understand the business model — with a 3D scene that makes it impossible to forget
You understand the moat — why customers can't leave, where the money really comes from
Data from real SEC filings — updated automatically, explained in human language
New research asset
THE HYPE VS REALITY INDEX

A deliberately opinionated ranking of which companies have the hottest story relative to the coldest fundamentals, and which names look far stronger than the crowd gives them credit for. Built to be argued with. Built to be shared.

OPEN THE INDEX → SEE THE CALMER VERSION
Questions every investor asks
TYCOON ANSWERS THESE

Before you invest, you need answers. Not opinions. Not predictions. Just clarity.

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Am I overpaying?
We show you the moat quality behind the price. A high P/E is not a bubble if the switching costs are permanent.
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Where does the money actually come from?
Not the revenue line — the specific mechanism. Visa charges a toll on every swipe. McDonald's charges rent to franchisees.
Can a competitor copy this?
We explain the structural moat — regulatory, network, switching cost, or brand. Some are copyable. Most of the best ones aren't.
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Will this still matter in 20 years?
Verisign has renewed every .com since 1995. Visa has processed every swipe for 60 years. We flag what is structural vs cyclical.
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What do the numbers actually mean?
We translate gross margin, ROIC, and free cash flow into plain language — contextualised against the specific business model.
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Which business model fits how I think?
Take the 5-question investor profile quiz. We match you to toll collectors, moat hunters, landlords, or compounders.
Your Empire
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PICK A BUSINESS. OWN THE STORY.

Every card reveals the metaphor that unlocks the business. Explore to earn XP. Save your favourites to build your empire.

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⚙️ Advanced Screener
ADBE
NASDAQ · Creative Software
"The creative tools that became the industry standard — and the format that became the wall"
Adobe
A designer with ten years of Photoshop files cannot switch to a competitor. Not because Photoshop is irreplaceable …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
AMZN
NASDAQ · E-Commerce & Cloud
"The everything store that turned its warehouse into the internet's landlord"
Amazon
Amazon started as a bookstore. It became the everything store. Then it became the infrastructure the everything store …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
AXP
NYSE · Financial Services
"The private members club that also owns the payment network"
American Express
Visa processes payments. American Express owns the entire relationship. The network, the bank, the loyalty program — all …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
AAPL
NASDAQ · Tech
"The walled garden that charges admission"
Apple
Apple doesn't sell you a phone. It sells you a passport to a garden — and once you're …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
AZO
NYSE · Auto Parts Retail
"The only parts store your mechanic will ever call"
AutoZone
AutoZone doesn't sell car parts. It sells the certainty that the part will be there when the mechanic …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
BR
NYSE · Capital Markets Infrastructure
"The postal service of Wall Street"
Broadridge
Broadridge doesn't manage money. It doesn't trade stocks. It does one thing: it makes sure every letter between …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
CME
NASDAQ · Financial Exchanges
"The casino that never loses — it takes a cut from every bet"
CME Group
CME Group owns the markets where the world bets on oil prices, interest rates, corn harvests, and currency …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
CWST
NASDAQ · Waste Management
"The garbage collector you cannot fire"
Casella Waste Systems
Garbage collection is a natural monopoly. You cannot have two garbage trucks on the same street — the …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
CTAS
NASDAQ · Business Services
"The laundry service that dresses corporate America"
Cintas
Every week, a Cintas truck arrives. It picks up the dirty uniforms — the mechanic's overalls, the restaurant …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
KO
NYSE · Consumer Staples
"The tax collector on thirst"
Coca Cola
Coca-Cola doesn't make beverages. It collects a tax on thirst. In 200+ countries, every time someone reaches for …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
CPRT
NASDAQ · Auto Remarketing
"The auctioneer of everything the insurance company wrote off"
Copart
Every car crash creates a Copart customer. The insurance company writes off the vehicle, pays the claim, and …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
COST
NASDAQ · Warehouse Retail
"The retailer that figured out the membership fee is the business and the warehouse is just the excuse"
Costco
Costco sells a $6 rotisserie chicken at a loss. It sells a $1.50 hot dog at a loss. …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
FAST
NASDAQ · Diversified Technology
"The hardware store inside every factory"
Fastenal
A factory runs on machines. Machines run on bolts, screws, nuts, and fasteners. When a bolt fails on …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
FDX
NYSE · Logistics
"The power grid for physical goods"
FedEx
When you flip a switch, you don't think about the power grid. The electricity just arrives. FedEx is …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
GOOGL
NASDAQ · Digital Advertising & Cloud
"The auctioneer of human intent — you tell Google what you want, Google sells that information to the highest bidder"
Google
Every time someone types into Google, they reveal something precious — what they want, right now, in this …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
ICE
NYSE · Financial Exchanges & Data
"The landlord of American capitalism"
Ice-NYSE Corp
Every company that goes public on the NYSE pays ICE. Every bond that trades on ICE's fixed income …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
IBP
NYSE · Building Services
"The company inside every wall"
Installed Building Products
Every new house built in America has insulation inside its walls. Someone had to install it. That someone …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
MCD
NYSE · Reit
"The landlord who approves your menu"
McDonalds
McDonald's will tell you it's in the burger business. <strong>It's lying.</strong> McDonald's is in the real estate business. …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
META
NASDAQ · Digital Advertising
"The surveillance machine that gave you a free toy to play with"
Meta
Facebook is not the product. You are the product. Meta gave you a free social network, a free …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
MIDD
NASDAQ · Commercial Kitchen Equipment
"The company that cooks inside every kitchen that feeds the world"
Middleby Corporation
You have never heard of Middleby. But every time you eat at a restaurant chain, a Middleby oven, …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
MCO
NYSE · Credit Rating Agency
"The judge you pay to rule in your favour"
Moody's Corporation
Every company that wants to borrow money from the bond market must first get a Moody's rating. The …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
OTIS
NYSE · Industrial Equipment
""
Otis
📖 Read this company +50 XP
PLTR
NYSE · Enterprise Software
"The Oracle — connecting what nobody else can read"
Palantir
The Oracle at Delphi didn't know the future. It knew something more valuable: how to connect fragments of …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
POOL
NASDAQ · Distribution
"The wholesaler that every pool needs but nobody thinks about"
Pool Corporation
You never think about Pool Corporation. But every pool installer, every pool service technician, every pool repair company …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
ROL
NYSE · Pest Control Services
"The exterminator that never runs out of pests"
Rollins
Pests don't retire. They don't go on holiday. They don't care about recessions. Every home, every restaurant, every …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
ROP
NASDAQ · Diversified Technology
"The acquirer of invisible monopolies"
Roper Technologies
Roper Technologies has a simple strategy: find software businesses that are the only viable option in their niche, …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
CRM
NYSE · Enterprise Software
"The garden that grows itself — every module you add makes leaving more expensive"
Salesforce
No company has ever voluntarily left Salesforce after five years. Not because the product is perfect. Because the …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
SAP
NYSE · Enterprise Software
"The enterprise software that costs $50M to install and $500M to remove"
Sap
SAP runs the back office of 87% of Forbes Global 2000 companies. Finance, supply chain, HR, manufacturing — …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
TPL
NYSE · Land & Natural Resources
"The landlord who owns the ground beneath the oil"
Texas Pacific Land
Texas Pacific Land doesn't drill. It doesn't pump. It doesn't refine. It just owns the ground — 873,000 …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
VRSN
NASDAQ · Internet Infrastructure
"The landlord of every .com address on the internet"
Verisign
Every time someone registers a .com domain, Verisign gets paid. Not because they built the internet — because …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
V
NYSE · Financial
"The highway with toll booths"
Visa
Visa doesn't lend money. It doesn't take risk on your purchases. It just owns the road — and …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
NVDA
NASDAQ · Semiconductors
"`The Only Language Intelligence Speaks`"
Nvidia
In the 1400s, <strong>Latin was the only language that mattered</strong>. Not because it was the best language — …
📖 Read this company +50 XP
MSFT
NASDAQ · tech
"The operating system of corporate America"
Microsoft
Coming soon to Tycoon.
📖 Coming soon +50 XP
🔒
Microsoft
Coming soon
LVMH
EPA · consumer
"The museum that sells the paintings"
LVMH
Coming soon to Tycoon.
📖 Coming soon +50 XP
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LVMH
Coming soon
BRK
NYSE · finance
"The holding company that never sells"
Berkshire Hathaway
Coming soon to Tycoon.
📖 Coming soon +50 XP
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Berkshire Hathaway
Coming soon
NEE
NYSE · energy
"The utility that bet on the wind"
NextEra Energy
Coming soon to Tycoon.
📖 Coming soon +50 XP
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NextEra Energy
Coming soon
UNH
NYSE · finance
"The gatekeeper between you and your doctor"
UnitedHealth
Coming soon to Tycoon.
📖 Coming soon +50 XP
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UnitedHealth
Coming soon
What investors say
FOR THE FIRST TIME, I UNDERSTOOD.

Tycoon doesn't replace research. It makes research human.

BR:TERMINAL // 09:42:17
"I've been investing for 12 years. I always said I understood Visa. Then I saw the highway with toll booths. I had never actually understood Visa. The difference between knowing a fact and understanding a business — Tycoon showed me that."
Marco D.
Value investor · 12 years
BR:TERMINAL // 14:08:33
"I opened the McDonald's page expecting a fast food company. What I found was a real estate business that uses burgers to justify the rent. I bought the stock the same day. I never would have without seeing the landlord city."
Sarah K.
Portfolio manager · London
BR:TERMINAL // 11:22:05
"Broadridge. I had never heard of it. Tycoon showed me the sorting room, the regulatory monopoly, the 16 consecutive dividend increases. It's now my largest position. The invisible businesses are always the best ones."
James T.
Self-directed investor · New York
How it works
THE TYCOON METHOD
STEP 01
🎯
FIND YOUR PROFILE
Take the 5-question investor profile quiz. We match you to the business models that fit how you think about investing.
STEP 02
🏙️
EXPLORE IN 3D
Every company has a custom 3D scene that shows exactly how the business works. Click anything to see the economics.
STEP 03
📋
READ THE VERDICT
The Tycoon verdict distils the moat, the risks, and the key numbers into plain language. No jargon. No hedging.
+50 XP
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