The hottest Vertical Integration Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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The Beginning of the End for Big Corporate Medicine

BIG by Matt Stoller • 42285 implied HN points • 10 Feb 26
🏥 Health Politics Vertical Integration
  1. Huge vertically integrated health firms—wholesalers, insurers, PBMs, and provider chains—create conflicts of interest that drive up costs, steer care toward profit, and undermine clinicians' independence.
  2. A new bipartisan bill would force structural separation so companies must choose between being insurers/PBMs/wholesalers or owning providers, and it would empower enforcement to block future rollups.
  3. Momentum is building at both state and federal levels—through laws, FTC actions, and public support—to break up or tightly regulate Big Medicine and return power to patients and clinicians.

Resilience Series Part 3: Bakkafrost

Business Breakdowns • 334 implied HN points • 26 Sep 23
đź’Ľ Business Vertical Integration
  1. Bakkafrost is a family-run salmon farming company with extensive vertical integration.
  2. The company owns every part of the operation, from fish eggs to processing, creating a resilient ecosystem.
  3. Despite challenges like a new 20% salmon tax, Bakkafrost remains focused on expansion and diversification for long-term growth.

Vertical Integration and the Make-or-Buy Decision: Electricity and Cruise Boats

Knowledge Problem • 78 implied HN points • 02 Mar 23
đź’Ľ Business Vertical Integration
  1. Asset specificity plays a key role in determining firm boundaries and decisions on vertical integration or contracting out.
  2. The consideration of asset specific costs and transaction costs affects the make-or-buy decision for firms.
  3. Using existing assets can be a cost-effective solution for firms, reducing the need for specialized assets and influencing decisions on vertical integration.

Starship, Starlink, and some SpaceX-conomics

The efficient frontier • 78 implied HN points • 11 Jun 23
đź•ą Technology Vertical Integration
  1. The economics of Starship are more complex than perceived, involving pricing, competition, and opportunity costs.
  2. Price and cost are not the same; in markets like space launches, firms charge markups and earn positive profits.
  3. Opportunity costs play a role in decisions, with each slot allocation affecting revenues from different sources like Starlink satellites.
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Quicktake: Vertical integration is an overused term (Space industry case)

Intersections (by Filip) • 0 implied HN points • 23 May 24
đź•ą Technology Vertical Integration
  1. Vertical integration in the space industry is a popular but overused term
  2. SpaceX, despite being associated with vertical integration success, actually works with third parties at different levels
  3. Vertical integration may be beneficial in specific market conditions or for cultural reasons, but it can also be expensive and not always the best strategy