They may use lot's of cash, they may be plowing, they may be relentless but their track record is decidedly mixed. Building franchises from smaller seedlings is

They may use lot's of cash, they may be plowing, they may be relentless but their track record is decidedly mixed. Building franchises from smaller seedlings is hard and risky. Not comparable with Berkshire Hathaway that focuses on low risk investments. They are more acting like venture funds. Amazon, Apple and Microsoft have managed to build some new profitable businesses over time with Amazon having done the greatest leap. The advertisement giants seem to struggle to gain traction - lots of projects but revenue streams less impressive.