$299Precedent Set · one-time · Excel, JSON, PowerPoint, Word, PDF

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5 of 31 records, free, exactly as they appear in the set. 12 more verified records are in the purchased files.

CompanyFork dateThe forkOptionsChoiceStated rationaleWhat happenedJudgment analystSources
7-Eleven
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verified
1979Whether to build a dedicated exclusive fresh-food supply network rather than sell generic fresh food
  • Contractual exclusive supply network Build dedicated factories and delivery chains via exclusive contracts, not owned assets
  • Own the factories outright Vertically integrate with company-owned plants on the balance sheet
  • Buy generic fresh food Source from contract manufacturers selling to any retailer
Contractual exclusive supply networkIt captures coordination benefits of owning the chain while leaving plants on someone else's books, making it harder to copy5 years · 2024-02
NDF factory count: 172 factories across Japan
reversibility low
verdict held
Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. — official corporate website (2024-08); Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. — Annual Report / IR Document (2018)
Amazon
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verified
2013Whether to keep renting the last mile from third-party carriers or build Amazon's own end-to-end delivery network
  • Keep renting third-party carriers Continue relying on partners like UPS, FedEx and USPS for delivery.
  • Build own delivery network Expand fulfillment into a global end-to-end first-mile to last-mile network.
Build own delivery networkRising customer demand for faster delivery, combined with reliance on third-party carriers and shipping being Amazon's largest expense, made outsourced fulfillment a threat to the Prime promise5 years · 2026-05
network opened to outside firms; competitor shares fell: Amazon launched Amazon Supply Chain Services, sending UPS shares down nearly 10% and FedEx more than 9%
reversibility low
verdict held
The Motley Fool (citing Bloomberg) (2016-02); Amazon Science (amazon.science) (2024-08); Supply Chain 24/7 (citing Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index) (2024-04); Sifted / Buy With Prime analysis (2023-06); GeekWire (2026-05)
Amazon
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verified
2003Whether to reconceive Amazon's internal infrastructure plumbing as a product sold to outside companies
  • Keep infrastructure internal only Use the reusable internal services solely to unstick Amazon's own engineers
  • Sell infrastructure as a product Build external cloud services from scratch and rent them to outside companies
Sell infrastructure as a productAmazon hit the infrastructure wall first at a scale no one else had reached, so it built the standardized services first and let early customers fund the depth of the stack5 years · 2024
AWS vs North America retail operating income: North America retail produced $25.0 billion, less than AWS's $39.8 billion
reversibility low
verdict held
Fortune (2022); TechCrunch (2016-07); Amazon.com, Inc. — SEC EDGAR (2025-02)
Apple
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verified
2008-04Whether to buy chip-design talent to bring silicon in-house or keep sourcing chips from vendors
  • Acquire chip-design talent Buy P.A. Semi's engineers to build custom mobile silicon
  • Keep sourcing vendor chips Continue running the iPhone on a vendor-designed SoC
Acquire chip-design talentTo fold P.A. Semi's engineering talent into Apple to help build custom chips for the iPod, iPhone, and future mobile devices5 years · 2012-09
Fully custom microarchitecture: With the A6 in 2012, Apple built a fully custom microarchitecture called Swift, departing from licensed ARM cores entirely
reversibility low
verdict held
Apple Inc. (via Wikipedia citing Apple WWDC 2008 transcript) (2008-06); Wikipedia (2024); Wikipedia (2024)
ASML
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verified
2012-10-17Whether to keep orchestrating irreplaceable suppliers at arm's length or take equity in them
  • Keep arm's-length orchestration Continue coordinating critical suppliers through contracts only
  • Take equity in suppliers Buy suppliers outright or take funded stakes to lock them in
Take equity in suppliersTo accelerate development of EUV lithography technology and lock in irreplaceable single-source suppliers5 years · 2018
EUV chips in market: EUV-made chips reached smartphones by 2018
reversibility low
verdict held
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission / ASML Holding NV (2012-10); ASML Holding NV (2016-11); U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission / ASML Holding NV (2013-05); Carl Zeiss SMT (2025-04)

What is in the set

ExcelSortable records, outcomes and sources
JSONDrop it into your AI workspace
PowerPointOne record per slide, action titles, source lines
WordEditable, with the source appendix
PDFThe reading copy
  • Fork date at the precision the record supports, never sharper.
  • The fork, the options, the choice in the form the company faced them.
  • Stated rationale as the company gave it or the record documents it, not our theory.
  • Capital committed where the record states it; blank where it does not.
  • Outcomes at one, three and five years or latest, each dated and cited.
  • Reversibility and verdict as analyst judgments, marked as such.
  • Every source, with dates and links, per record and in an appendix.

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