Hey all,
Merry Christmas and happy holidays. I hope you were able to unplug, recharge, and spend real time with people who matter. This year-end letter marks the first annual letter for Vertical Breakdowns (formerly Network Effects). I wanted to use this moment to discuss three things:
The story behind Vertical Breakdowns
New initiatives for 2026
The mission statement
Background of Vertical Breakdowns
Growing up, I have always been fascinated by technology. I’ve been drawn to understanding the underlying mechanics, incentives, and strategies that power the world’s largest and fastest-growing technology companies.
During university, I spent my summers immersed in private equity and venture capital, learning the nuts and bolts of various technology and tech-enabled services businesses. Along the way, long-form content such as Business Breakdowns and Invest Like the Best has become foundational to my thinking, shaping how I analyze businesses, market structures, and durable competitive advantages. They inspired me to build a platform of my own to document my learnings and connect with a community of like-minded operators and investors.
When I started working as a consultant, where I work closely with principal investors on due diligence and value creation, I couldn’t find quality resources focused on vertical platforms (i.e., software built for specific industries). Upon further digging, I found that vertical platforms are overlooked relative to horizontal applications and heavily discounted by the public markets.
Since March 2025, we have published 35 issues covering 20+ vertical companies, from Clutch (Auto) to BenchSci (Life Sciences), Stan (Creator Economy), EliseAI (Property Management), Slice (Pizzeria), Clio (Legal), Moxie (Medspa), and many more. We’ve unpacked various trends shaping vertical SaaS, including embedded fintech, the collapse of AI capabilities, and new business-in-a-box operating models.
New Initiatives
Before we get into new initiatives, a quick update on my personal life.
Vertical Breakdowns is now based in New York City. I have moved away from Toronto to New York for a new opportunity and to be closer to investors and builders in the vertical software landscape.
If you or people you know are in the area, I would love to meet!
Looking ahead, there are two major themes for 2026:
Public Markets Coverage
Most of our issues to date have taken the form of case studies and deep dives into vertical platforms that are often privately held, where data and financials are limited.
In 2026, we’re looking to expand our coverage to public vertical software markets, where we can collect, aggregate, and benchmark financial metrics and valuations both within vertical platforms and across adjacent categories. This will include coverage of companies like Toast, Airbnb, Veeva, and newly listed companies such as Navan.
Interactions with VSaaS Operators / Investors
Writing in isolation based solely on publicly available information has its limits. Some of the best insights I’ve had this year came from conversations with founders, operators, and investors sharing first-hand experience operating vertical platform businesses.
In 2026, we’ll introduce more interactive formats, including:
Conversations with vertical SaaS founders
Operator‑level breakdowns of go‑to‑market and pricing decisions
Investor perspectives on what actually matters in diligence
Reflection
As I continue to build Vertical Breakdowns, I have found my footing related to the value proposition of the newsletter; therefore, I wanted to use this opportunity to reflect and craft a mission statement for the newsletter.
Vertical Breakdowns is founded to build a community of investors, entrepreneurs, and operators building vertical platforms and marketplaces.
(And to all our readers, thank you so much for supporting the newsletter and me personally throughout 2025, excited to dive into 2026 with y'all)