Acquired

It’s a(nother) new era for Nvidia.We thought we’d closed the Acquired book on Nvidia back in April 2022. The story was all wrapped up: Jensen & crew had set out on an amazing journey to accelerate the world’s computing workloads. Along the way they’d discovered a wondrous opportunity (machine learning powered social media feed recommendations). They forged incredible Power in the CUDA platform, and used it to triumph over seemingly insurmountable adversity — the stock market penalty-box.But, it turned out that was only the precursor to an even wilder journey. Over the past 18 months Nvidia has weathered one of the steepest stock crashes in history ($500B+ market cap wiped away peak-to-trough!). And, it has of course also experienced an even more fantastical rise — becoming the platform that’s powering the emergence of perhaps a new form of intelligence itself… and in the process becoming a trillion-dollar company.Today we tell another chapter in the amazing Nvidia saga: the dawn of the AI era. Tune in!Sponsors:Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: Scalable, clean and low-cost cloud AI compute from Crusoe (and listen to our recent ACQ2 interview with CEO Chase Lochmiller) Your product growth powered by Statsig Free access to our episode research on Blinkist plus our favorite books on Ben & David’s Bookshelf More Acquired!: Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes Join the Slack Subscribe to ACQ2 Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more ACQ hats are back in stock in the ACQ Merch Store! Links: Asianometry on AI Hardware Episode sources Carve Outs: Alias Moana ‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

Costco is not only Charlie Munger’s favorite company of all time (plus he’s on the board, natch), it’s an absolutely fascinating study in how seemingly opposite characteristics can combine to create incredible company value. For instance: Costco has the cheapest prices of any major retailer in America — and also the wealthiest customer base. They pay their hourly workers 30% above the industry norm (and give them excellent healthcare + 401k benefits) — and are almost 3x more profitable on labor than Walmart. Speaking of Walmart, Costco stocks 40x fewer SKUs than their Bentonville-based rivals — yet sells an average of 15x more volume of each. And oh yeah, practically all of Costco’s C-Suite started their careers as baggers and checkout clerks! Tune in for a mind-bending exploration of one of the world’s most iconic — and iconically unique — companies.Sponsors:Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: Your product growth powered by Statsig Free access to our episode research on Blinkist plus our favorite books on Ben & David’s Bookshelf Scalable, clean and low-cost cloud AI compute from Crusoe (and listen to our recent ACQ2 interview with CEO Chase Lochmiller) More Acquired!: Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes Join the Slack Subscribe to ACQ2 Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more Links: The Science of Hitting Warren Buffett’s Costco joke Episode sources Carve Outs: Tifosi sunglasses Dwells “take off everything” Jeremy Giffon on Invest Like the Best Dogpatch David Lidsky’s great piece on Acquired in Fast Company ‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

Nike — it’s perhaps the most iconic and most prolific brand of the modern era. On any given day, swooshes adorn the feet of more people on earth than any other footwear company — by a long shot.If you read Shoe Dog or watched Air, you may think you know its history. But Shoe Dog ends in 1980, and Air… well let’s just say it’s an enjoyable piece of fiction. And it turns out (as always) that the real story is filled with far more drama, twists and business lessons than either of those works.We’ve been wanting to cover Nike for a long time, and thanks to our LPs who voted to choose this episode it’s finally here. So lace up your Vaporflys, Air Maxes, Dunks or Jordans (or your Monarchs, hey we don’t judge), head out for a long run or walk and enjoy!Sponsors:Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: Free access to Blinks of our episode research on Blinkist Scalable, clean and low-cost cloud AI compute from Crusoe All of your product growth powered by StatsigRegister for Statsig’s SF Event with Ben and David! More Acquired!: Get email updates (+ hints on the next episode topic) Join the Slack Subscribe to ACQ2 Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more Links:Episode sourcesCarve Outs: Marc Andreessen on Lex Fridman and on Ben Thompson Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) ‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

Nobody’s perfect — including Porsche. Despite that phrase appearing in their famous 1983 magazine advertisement, they managed to get damn-close to the perfect luxury business (even Bernard Arnault would be jealous!). Porsche is both quality AND quantity, owning the most prestigious brand in its market, while at the same time churning out almost half a million mass-market soccer mom/dad SUVs per year. And like any good luxury brand, it’s packed with enough juicy family drama and creeping takeovers to fill a Netflix series.Yet, behind it all lies perhaps the darkest origin story we’ve ever told on Acquired. Not only was Porsche was started by Nazis, Adolf Hitler himself was deeply involved in its early fortunes. And, following WWII, the Allies simply looked past these facts and essentially bestowed a license to generate wealth on Porsche and its owners — setting the stage for them to become one of the top ~15 wealthiest families in the world today.Joining us to explore it all is perhaps the very most-qualified person in the person in the world: the one & only Doug DeMuro. Not only is Doug the largest independent car reviewer on YouTube with millions of subscribers (we’re HUGE fans), he previously worked at Porsche corporate and owns a legendary Porsche Carrera GT — which served as the recording backdrop for this episode. Make sure you tune in to watch the video version! :)ACQ2 Show + LP Program: Subscribe to the shiny new ACQ2! Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more. Sponsors:Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: …in touch with Tiny! (just tell them Ben & David sent you) Vanta: a free trial + $1,000 off any compliance audit product Pilot: 20% off your company’s first six months of service Links: Doug’s YouTube channel (which we HIGHLY recommend) Cars & Bids Episode sources Carve Outs: ResortPass Seinfeld Cast Charlie Rose Interview Compilation WhistlinDiesel ‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi dropped by the Acquired studio for an Eats delivery, so we broke out the cameras and asked him to hang out for a wide-ranging conversation. :) We talk about his 20 years working with Barry Diller, starting his career at Allen & Company, how the Uber CEO search process ACTUALLY went down… and oh yeah, the massive transformation that’s happened at Uber over the past few years. When Dara took over the company it was bleeding huge sums of cash, losing share to competitors and embroiled in one of the biggest corporate controversies in recent memory. Fast forward to today and it’s turned cashflow positive while also having tripled revenue to over $30B (on $120B in GMV) and solidified its rideshare dominance in the US. And in perhaps the biggest change, it’s done it all while staying out of the headlines. Tune in!ACQ2 Show + LP Program: Subscribe to our interview show, ACQ2! Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more. Sponsors:Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: 20% off Common Room’s Team plan for 2023 Up to 10% off your first year of business insurance with Vouch A free trial of PitchBook + links to research reports! LinksBen & David on My First MillionNote: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

Today we bring you two absolutely incredible stories. The first is Lockheed’s legendary Skunk Works division — the elite team of aviation geniuses who produced some of the greatest airplanes in history: the U-2, the Stealth Fighter, and the incomparable SR-71 Blackbird. The second story is arguably even more important, but not widely known! It's the secret and true origins of Silicon Valley — and Lockheed’s primary role in it. We take you from WWII to the Cold War, all the way to today to unpack and analyze the industry dynamics of defense contractors in the modern era. Tune in and prepare to be blown away by what you’ll learn about the history of our industry!ACQ2 Show + LP Program: Subscribe to the shiny new ACQ2! Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more. Sponsors:Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: Pilot: 20% off your company’s first six months of service Vanta: A free trial + $1,000 off any compliance audit product …in touch with Tiny! (just tell them Ben & David sent you) Links: Ben Rich’s Skunk Works Kelly’s 14 Rules of Skunk Works LMSC’s “Seven Tenets” Steve Blank’s Secret History of Silicon Valley Episode sources Carve Outs: Nier: Automata The Blackbird speed check story EGO Lawn Tools (just in time for Fathers’ Day!) ‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

We sit down with Spotify CEO Daniel Ek live in Stockholm at Spotify’s amazing HQ studio (check out the video version of this episode — which plays natively on Spotify!). This was an incredibly special and timely conversation: for those who haven’t been paying attention over the past few years, after revolutionizing music Spotify has now ALSO completely transformed our own industry in podcasting. Starting from way behind with ~zero market share in 2018, Spotify has now aggregated the listener market and amazingly surpassed Apple as the world’s largest podcast platform — including close to home with the Acquired audience, where it has 60%+ market share among you all!We discuss the origins of this “second act” strategy with Daniel, the vision to move from a music company to an audio company, and what’s coming next with Spotify’s entry into Audiobooks. And of course we relive some key moments from the Acquired canon that Daniel was involved in, including his pivotal conversations with Taylor Swift and her team convincing her to come back to streaming following the release of 1984. Tune in!ACQ2 Show + LP Program: Subscribe to our interview show, ACQ2! Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more. Sponsors:Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: All of your product growth powered by Statsig Up to 10% off your first year of business insurance with Vouch A free trial of PitchBook + links to research reports! LinksFollow Daniel on TwitterNote: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

We sit down Benchmark’s legendary gaming investors Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins (now also of the excellent Gamecraft podcast fame) to discuss the history and future of gaming business models. This episode is the perfect bookend to our Nintendo/Sega gaming series this season on Acquired — no one is more qualified than Mitch and Blake to breakdown how the business side of the industry has evolved so radically from the Periscope quarter-drop days to the forever games and platform based publishers of today.Regardless if you’re a gamer, understanding the incredible innovation that’s taken place over the past two decades in gaming and what it portends for other industries is critical for any founder and investor to understand. Tune in!ACQ2 Show + LP Program: Subscribe to our interview show, ACQ2! Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more. Sponsors:Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: All of your product growth powered by Statsig Up to 10% off your first year of business insurance with Vouch A free trial of PitchBook + links to research reports! Links The Gamecraft Podcast Mitch and Blake on Twitter The Genius of the System Mitch’s old “Investing in Content” blog post That Game Company and Sky Riot and the League of Legends dota-allstars.com growth hack Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

Sega and the Genesis was THE underdog story of the early 90’s. In a single console generation, Sega went from ~zero to 50% US market share and dethroned Nintendo’s seemingly invincible global monopoly. But — somehow — it all then died. Two console generations later Sega was out of the hardware game entirely, and the company was sold off for pieces to a pachinko manufacturer. How on earth did this happen??Today we’re launching Acquired Shorts in order to tell this story and others like it: side tales from the “Acquired Cinematic Universe” that are too brief for a full episode, but too good to leave in the vault. We’d love to hear your thoughts on the format (and this episode). Please send us your feedback in Slack, email or Twitter!ACQ2 Show + LP Program: Subscribe to our interview show, ACQ2! Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more. Sponsors:Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: Up to 10% on your first year of business insurance with Vouch A free trial of PitchBook + links to research reports! Links: The shortest and most famous speech in video game industry history Episode sources Carve Outs: Daryl Morey on Invest Like the Best Succession Starship 6 Days to Air Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

In the 1980’s Nintendo was on top of the world, with the NES achieving over 90% market share of home video games globally. So how did they fall ALL the way down to ~10% in just a few short console generations? And how did they then build themselves back up (and down and up again) to the top of the world again? Spoiler: it all hinged on one very small, yet very large and durable platform… the Game Boy. Fire up your favorite portable entertainment device and tune in for the epic story of Nintendo’s fall from grace and journey back to the top — capped off by our robust discussion of where they go from here, and whether this 130+ year old company may still (!) be misunderstood and mis-valued.ACQ2 Show + LP Program: Subscribe to the shiny new ACQ2! Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more. Sponsors:Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: Pilot: 20% off your company’s first six months of service Vanta: $1,000 off any compliance audit product …in touch with Tiny! (just tell them Ben & David sent you) Links: Our EA episode with Trip Hawkins Matthew Ball on why “Nintendo as Disney” is a flawed analogy Crossroads Capital’s investor letters outlining their Nintendo thesis Episode sources Carve Outs: Kara Swisher in Vanity Fair (and our old episode with her!) Hardcore History (finally!) The Tetris movie Daryl Morey on Invest Like the Best ‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

7 Powers author Hamilton Helmer and his Strategy Capital colleague Chenyi Shi join us again to discuss their latest research on a topic that’s highly relevant to the recent Acquired canon: how to build a second business line. This incredibly important “transforming” question faces every great company who has achieved initial product success (as well as their investors). Do we continue solely along the established path, or do we attempt to grow new branches on the tree? Some companies grow new businesses with tremendous success — Amazon and AWS, Nintendo and video games, Nvidia and CUDA — yet many others fail miserably. For the first time Hamilton and Chenyi share their research-based playbook on how companies should approach this decision and choose wisely. Tune in!ACQ2 Show + LP Program: Subscribe to the shiny new ACQ2! Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more. Sponsors:Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: Up to 10% on your first year of business insurance with Vouch Free trial of PitchBook + links to research reports! Link to Hamilton's 2-Axis ChartNote: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

ACQ Sessions returns with David Senra of the Founders Podcast. David is one of our very favorite people in the world — it’s impossible to spend an hour (or 3!) with him and not come away inspired to go take over the world. This conversation is an “extended, IRL version” of monthly calls that we do together where we share stories, swap life and podcast advice, and just genuinely enjoy sharing time with someone who shares our outlook and enthusiasm for the history of entrepreneurship. Pull up a chair, grab a beverage (or energy drink in David’s case) and join us!ACQ2 Show + LP Program: Subscribe to the shiny new ACQ2! Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more. Sponsors:Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: Up to 10% on your first year of business insurance with Vouch One week of free PitchBook access! Links: Go subscribe to Founders! Some of our favorite episodes: Bernard Arnault, Brunello Cucinelli, Edwin Land, Kobe Bryant Topics: (00:01) - Intro (03:30) - David’s time with Charlie Munger (06:00) - Henry Flagler after Standard Oil (09:00) - What makes a great biography, and how to capture all sides of complex characters? (11:30) - Studying history is a form of leverage to achieve success (13:30) - How do we figure out what the true story is for an episode we're doing? (21:00) - Silicon Valley should focus more on durability than growth (22:00) - How David Senra got into reading biographies and podcasting (26:10) - What were each of their influences before starting Acquired and Founders? (36:00) - How to suck less over time (38:00) - What motivates, Ben, David, and David to get better? (45:30) - Dead ends: business model changes, paid podcasts, changing the name to “Adapting”, and Senra's “Autotelic” (52:00) - “You’re not advertising to a standing army, you’re advertising to a moving parade” (56:30) - Comparison of podcasting business models (01:00:40) - Senra’s insane Readwise "healthy twitter" habit (01:05:00) - Is it possible for the ultra-wealthy not to mess up their kids? (01:15:30) - The fleeting moments you get to spend with your kids (01:17:30) - The value of building relationships with best-in-class peers (01:20:00) - How the book publishing industry works (01:29:15) - How to differentiate yourself as an investor in 2023? (01:39:00) - The greatest historical examples as content marketing (02:02:30) - The best businesses are cults (and Senra starts one on the episode) (02:07:30) - Senra gives feedback to Ben and David on Acquired episode format (02:16:00) - Steve Jobs’ 1997 product matrix (02:17:30) - The moral imperative to market products that help people (02:23:30) - Ray Kroc and Steve Jobs: deeply flawed founders (02:24:00) - The founders we idolize are world-builders (02:28:30) - When yachts and jets are underpriced assets (02:32:30) - How to compete when money is cheap vs. when there are real interest rates (02:40:00) - When Ben and David have fixed broken episodes in post-productio (02:45:00) - Why masters of craft are so interesting to study (02:46:00) - Should you listen to advice? (02:53:00) - The Cuban experience immigrating to Miami (02:53:30) - Senra’s first job detailing cars (03:01:30) - College entrepreneurship programs (03:04:30) - Ben’s experience learning UNIX as a kid (03:09:00) - David remembers Tim Ferriss guest lecturing in college Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

You may think you know the Nintendo story: a plumber named Mario, a princess named Zelda… and didn’t they buy the Seattle Mariners at some point? We thought we knew it too. And then we started researching and were blown away.The lovable Disney-like Nintendo that we know today is a 130 year-old a playing card company (i.e. gambling), forged in the shadowy world of the Yakuza and shaped by a four-generation cycle of bitter family betrayal. And its unlikely transformation into a global multi-billion dollar media monopoly was led by an iron-fisted patriarch who — amazingly — never played a video game in his life! Get ready for one of our favorite stories Acquired has ever told — we couldn’t make this one up if we tried!ACQ2 Show + LP Program: Subscribe to the shiny new ACQ2! Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more. Sponsors:Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: Pilot: 20% off your company’s first six months of service Vanta: $1,000 off any compliance audit product …in touch with Tiny! (just tell them Ben & David sent you)  Links: Our Atari episode with Nolan Bushnell Video of id Software’s legendary PC “port” of Super Mario Brothers 3 Episode sources Carve Outs: Everything Everywhere All At Once Michael Lewis on Tim Ferriss and on CSPAN

We tell the full history of LVMH, and how Bernard Arnault turned a $15m investment in a bankrupt French textile company into the world’s largest individual fortune. It’s a story that’s equal parts Berkshire Hathaway, Steve Jobs and Barbarians at the Gate… and wholly under-appreciated for the genius business model innovations that enabled it. Whatever industry you operate or invest in, there’s so much to be learned from Bernard and LVMH’s complete reshaping of the luxury sector over the past three and a half decades. And oh yeah, it also involves Nazi spies, Italian family murders, Rupert Murdoch, Rihanna becoming a billionaire, Jay-Z’s champagne feuds and Beyoncé wearing a 128 carat diamond. Tune in! :) Sponsors:Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: Pilot: 20% off your company’s first six months of service Vanta: $1,000 off any compliance audit product RevenueCat: In-App Subscriptions Made Easy Links: Bryan Burrough in Vanity Fair: Gucci and Goliath  Episode sources Carve Outs: The Gamecraft Podcast Doug DeMuro buys a Carrera GT  The Peloton Tread  The Eureka Theory of History Is Wrong

The NFL — it’s almost synonymous with America today. And its history is a fascinating lens to explore the nation’s development over the last 100 years, from WWII to TV and suburbs to the Internet and social media. What began as a quasi-illicit league in small midwestern towns is now the single largest media property in the world today by revenue. And whether you watch football or not, this is one incredible business story. Acquired is ready for some football — let’s kick this Season off right! Sponsors:Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: Pilot: 20% off your company’s first six months of service Mystery: one completely free event Vanta: $1,000 off any compliance audit product Links:  Sports Illustrated’s oral history of the famous Joe Namath “pool photo”  Episode sources Carve Outs: The Menu Peyton’s Places ‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.  

Cozy up to the fire and join Acquired as we do our annual strategic review of the show and our business “in public”. We recap our perspectives on Acquired’s big moments from the past year, a bit of commentary on the current state of the tech ecosystem, and what lies ahead for us in 2023. Plus as always at the holidays, we do an extended carve out session on our favorite things from the past year. Huge thank you to all of you for making 2022 an amazing year here in Acquired-land, and here’s to even bigger and better things to come in 2023! If you want more Acquired, you can follow our public LP Show feed here in the podcast player of your choice (including Spotify!). Sponsors:1Password: https://bit.ly/acquired1passwordRevelo: https://bit.ly/acquiredrevelo Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvantaCarveouts!: Jerry Seinfeld on The Tim Ferriss Show Project Hail Mary  The Psychology of Money  The Power Law Made in America Made in Japan The Godfather (book)  Masters of Doom  Stevie Case vs. the World How All this Happened Resonant Arc All-In Founders Podcast MKBHD’s Waveform Podcast The Verge  Huberman Lab - What Alcohol Does to your Body Smartless T-Swift’s Midnights  Olivia Rodrigo Andor Black Panther Top Gun Maverick Everything Everywhere All At Once The White Lotus The Vow Flighty Roborock S7 Max  Apple Keyboard with TouchID Elgato AV gear, especially sound panels and the Cam Link 4K Capri  ‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

Ben Thompson joins Acquired to discuss the business of Stratechery itself and celebrate 10 years (!) of the internet’s best strategy analysis destination. Even beyond Stratechery’s enormous impact itself on business and tech over the years, Ben’s work inspired a whole generation of business content creators — this show very much included — and it was super special for us to give the Acquired treatment to one of our own heroes. We cover the full history of Ben pioneering the subscription internet media business model (indeed SubStack’s seed round pitch was “Stratechery-in-a-box”), and how + why he’s evolved the business since and is now doubling down both on podcasting and a broader vision of the Stratechery Plus bundle… including for the first time content not made by Ben himself! Tune in and enjoy. If you want more Acquired, you can follow our public LP Show feed here in the podcast player of your choice (including Spotify!). Sponsors:1Password: https://bit.ly/acquired1passwordRevelo: https://bit.ly/acquiredrevelo Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvantaLinks: John Gruber’s Daring Fireball Ben’s very first Stratechery post Subscribe to Stratechery Plus ‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

The FTX fraud has dominated headlines now for weeks, during which we’ve debated if and how Acquired could uniquely add to the conversation. Then we realized there was an angle so perfect that we had to drop everything and enter Acquired research overdrive: Enron. Travel back with us to the granddaddy fraud of them all, 2001’s then-largest bankruptcy in US history and the impetus for the famous Sarbanes-Oxley Act. So much of Enron’s history parallels FTX that the uncanniness is almost unbelievable — right down to the same CEO running the two bankruptcies. Sit back and enjoy this crazy tale of villainy, greed, and the nature of humans and money. Maybe just don’t take notes on this one… If you want more Acquired, you can follow our public LP Show feed here in the podcast player of your choice (including Spotify!). Sponsors:1Password: https://bit.ly/acquired1passwordRevelo: https://bit.ly/acquiredrevelo Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvantaLinks: Book Andy Fastow as a speaker for your next corporate event! 🤔  Episode sources Carveouts!: Enron: The Musical Andor  Brooks Addiction Walkers  Hoka Slides JCal on the Tim Ferriss Show New shirts are live in the ACQ Merch Store! ‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

Qualcomm, or “Quality Communications” — despite being one of the largest technology companies in the world, few people know the absolutely amazing technological and business history behind it. Seriously, this story is on par with Nvidia, TSMC and all the great semiconductor giants. Without this single fabless company based in San Diego, there’s almost no chance you’d be consuming this episode on whatever device you’re currently listening on — a fact that enables them to earn an incredible estimated $20 for every new phone sold in the world. We dive into this story live at the perfect venue: our first-ever European live show at Solana’s Breakpoint conference in beautiful Lisbon, Portugal! If you want more Acquired, you can follow our public LP Show feed here in the podcast player of your choice (including Spotify!). Links:  The Qualcomm Equation  Principles of Communications Engineering by Irwin Jacobs and John Wozencraft  Episode sources Sponsors:1Password: https://bit.ly/acquired1passwordRevelo: https://bit.ly/acquiredrevelo Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

We sit down with all five current Benchmark GPs for one of their legendary weekly dinners, during which we ask all of the unresolved burning questions from Part 1. How do THEY think about Benchmark v3? What are their day-to-day emotions trying to keep the equal partnership “bending toward greatness? Why is there no growth fund? What does it take to become the next Benchmark GP? Why is there a secret Principal program? We cover all these and much, much more. We also recorded the whole thing on video — which we highly recommend watching even if you normally only listen to the audio feed! If you want more Acquired, you can follow our public LP Show feed here in the podcast player of your choice (including Spotify!).Links: Please take our 2022 Acquired Survey if you have a minute. It'd mean the world to us! Dad hats are live in the Acquired Merch Store!  Sponsors:1Password: https://bit.ly/acquired1passwordRevelo: https://bit.ly/acquiredrevelo Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta ‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.