Kirby - 6:30 am on Aug 24, 2004 (gmt 0)

>companies that actually produce real things

When Warren Buffet, the 2nd richest man in America, was asked what the best (profitable) business model was, he replied, "A toll road".

Barry Diller of IAC (expedia, hotels.com, lendingtree, match.com, etc.) said recently that he makes money by finding where transactions take place and putting himself in the middle.

Bill Gates took a page out of Warren Buffet's book by licensing software.

Everytime someone makes a call on a CDMA phone, Qualcomm makes money on royalties, so they spun off their handset division because producing real things wasnt as profitable.