Listen to Acquired

16 December 2024

M&M’s, Snickers, Milky Way, Double Mint, Ben’s Rice, Pedigree, Whiskas, VCA, Banfield… all the brands you know, owned by the company you know nothing about: Mars, Incorporated. And Mars itself is 100% owned and deeply intertwined with the Mars family, who are currently the second wealthiest (and perhaps first most secretive!) family in the United States. Tune in for one of the 20th century’s most incredible entrepreneurial stories across candy and pet care, and one that’s all the more incredible because it’s so little-known!

Sponsors:

Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘24 Season partners:

Links:

Carve Outs:

Dandelion Chocolate and the Dandelion Advent CalendarTesla Model Y + repair serviceSiloHome Alone

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‍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.

18 November 2024

IKEA

IKEA may be the most singular company we’ve ever studied on Acquired. They’re a globally scaled, $50B annual revenue company with no direct competitors — yet have only ~5% market share. They’re one of the largest retailers in the world — yet sell only their own products. They generate a few billion in free cash flow every year — yet have no shareholders. And oh yeah, they also sell hot dogs cheaper than Costco! (Sort of.)

Tune in for an episode flat-packed with counterintuitive lessons about how this folksy mail order business from the Swedish countryside came into your living rooms (and bedrooms and dining rooms and kitchens and bathrooms and patios and garages and backyards) all over the globe!

Sponsors:

Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘24 Season partners:

J.P. Morgan PaymentsStatsigCrusoe

Links:

Please take our 2024 Acquired Survey if you have a minute. It'd mean the world to us!The Testament of a Furniture DealerOur past episodes on Costco, Walmart, Amazon, LVMH and HermèsWorldly Partners Multi-Decade IKEA StudyEpisode sources

Carve Outs:

DetroitersThe 11-inch iPad ProThe QB SchoolIce Cube at the World Series

More Acquired:

‍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.

28 October 2024

Meta

Meta is a company everyone knows (literally, everyone). But, somehow, it’s also a company that few people feel they actually understand. Their products are used by more humans than any other’s in history — almost half of the entire world’s population daily. But… what is Meta? Why do they do what they do? How do they do what they do? Ask ten people and you’ll likely get ten very different sets of answers.

Today, we dive deeper than we’ve ever gone trying to find Acquired’s answers to those questions. And after months of research and 6+ hours of incredible stories about how they (and really “they” being Mark himself) bet it all and win time and time again in the face of overwhelming odds, we arrive at our answers. Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Threads, AI, Oculus, Orion, it’s all here. Tune in for one of the greatest corporate stories of all time: Meta, a Mark Zuckerberg Production.

Sponsors:

Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘24 Season partners:

Links:

Carve Outs:

More Acquired:

‍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.

30 September 2024

Acquired LIVE from Chase Center (with Daniel Ek, Emily Chang, Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg)

Here it is: the complete video of the most unbelievable night of Acquired’s nine-year life… our sold out live show at the Chase Center in San Francisco. We joked during the months (months!) of preparation leading up to this event that it was like planning a wedding for 6,000 Acquired fans, and the guest list included Jamie Dimon, Daniel Ek, Emily Chang, Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg… no pressure! But thanks to our amazing partnership with J.P. Morgan Payments, together we were able to make something incredible. Tune in and enjoy the celebration!

Sponsors:

Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘24 Season partners:

J.P. Morgan PaymentsStatsigCrusoe

Links:

Mike Taylor, the truly incomparable performer of Who Got the Truth?Mike Amiri (who designed Mark’s shirt)

More Acquired:

Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store!

Photo Credit: Mark Zuckerberg by Jeff Sainlar / Meta

‍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.

18 September 2024

The Mark Zuckerberg Interview

Mark is the iconic founder CEO of our time. At Chase Center on September 10, 2024, he did an unprecedented thing: a live conversation in front of 6,000 people on Meta’s company strategy, sharing stories from early Facebook history, and his thoughts on the future of AI, VR, and AR. Mark was remarkably candid in our discussion, and gave us a window into his real and intense daily demeanor leading Meta. (And his other life endeavors!)

We can't wait to release the complete video of the whole night, including our surprise conversations with Daniel Ek, Emily Chang, and cameo appearances from Jensen Huang and Mike Taylor (the incredible singer of “Who Got the Truth?”). That’s coming in a couple weeks, but for now: enjoy this conversation with Mark Zuckerberg.

Sponsors:

Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘24 Season partners:

J.P. Morgan PaymentsStatsigCrusoe

Links:

Mike Amiri (who designed Mark’s shirt!)

More Acquired:

Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store!

Photo Credit: Mark Zuckerberg by Jeff Sainlar / Meta

‍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.

08 August 2024

Chase Center + Summer Update

Summer greetings from Acquired! Two items for this “mini-episode”:

now available

Carve Outs:

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‍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.

22 July 2024

Microsoft Volume II

In 1999, Microsoft became the most valuable company in the world. And in 2019, Microsoft became the most valuable company in the world, again. But… what happened in the twenty years in between? The answer, as we discovered in our research, is probably not what you think.

In this episode we explore and analyze the browser wars and the DOJ case, Windows XP through 8, Surface, Xbox, search, Yahoo!, Bing, the iPhone, Nokia, mobile, social, Facebook… and oh yeah, a little thing called Azure and the enterprise — which ended up becoming so big that no failures mattered. Tune in for Microsoft, Volume II.

Chase Center Live Show in SF:

Sign up here to for the pre-sale list before tickets are available to the public. See you there!!

Sponsors:

Many thanks to our fantastic Season 14 partners:

J.P. Morgan PaymentsServiceNowPilot

Links:

Bill Gurley on Android’s “Less Than Free” business modelAll episode sources

Carve Outs:

Meta Ray-BansOzlo SleepbudsM3 Macbook AirModel Y

More Acquired:

Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Check out the latest swag 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.

04 June 2024

Starbucks (with Howard Schultz)

Starbucks. You’d be hard pressed to name any brand that’s more ubiquitous in the world today. With nearly half a billion global customer purchases per week across its stores and 3rd party retail channels, a significant portion of the human population gets their daily fix in the green and white paper cup. (Including our own Ben Gilbert who famously enjoys his daily spinach feta wrap. :)

But it wasn’t always this way. Long before the frappuccinos and the PSLs and the cake pops, Starbucks was just a small-time Seattle roaster that only sold beans — and was started not by Howard Schultz but rather the guys who later ran Peet’s (!). Starting from six tiny stores when Howard took over in 1987, this quirky coffee company named after a character from Moby Dick has scaled to nearly 40,000 locations worldwide.

Today, in a first for Acquired, the protagonist himself joins us as a third cohost to tell the whole story of Starbucks. And Howard is in the perfect moment to do this — after three separate stints as CEO he’s now retired, off the board of directors, and in his own words “not coming back.” So place a mobile order (or not! as you’ll hear Howard speak about), sit back with your own favorite Starbucks items, and enjoy.

Sponsors:

ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acqsnaiagents
Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress
Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta

The Biggest Thing We’ve Ever Done:

San Francisco. September 10, 2024. Mark your calendars.

Links:

Howard’s letter “The Soul of a Brand”Worldly Partners’ multi-decade Starbucks analysisStarbucks S-1

More Acquired!:

Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch 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.

22 April 2024

Microsoft Volume I

Microsoft. After nearly a decade of Acquired episodes, we are finally ready to tackle the most valuable company ever created. The company that put a computer on every desk and in every home. The company that invented the software business model. The company that so thoroughly and completely dominated every conceivable competitor that the United States government intervened and kneecapped it… yet it’s STILL the most valuable company in the world today.

This episode tells the story of Microsoft in its heyday, the PC Era. We cover its rise from a teenage dream to the most powerful business and technology force in history — the 20-year period from 1975 to 1995 that took Bill and Paul from the Lakeside high school computer room to launching Windows 95 alongside Jay Leno and the Rolling Stones. From BASIC to DOS, Windows, Office, Intel, IBM, Xerox PARC, Apple, Steve Jobs, Steve Ballmer… it’s all here, and it’s all amazing. Tune in and enjoy… Microsoft.

Sponsors:

ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acqsnaiagents
Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress
Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta

Links:

Congress changing copyright law in 1980 to include “computer programs”Acquired “classic” on Microsoft’s 1987 acquisition of Forethought / PowerPointQuartr's charts on Microsoft's revenues, market cap, IBM comparison, and moreAll episode sources

Carve Outs:

LGRAndré 3000’s new album + GQ InterviewMeta Ray-BansVisual Designer Julia RundbergSummer Health

More Acquired!:

Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch 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.

18 March 2024

Renaissance Technologies

Renaissance Technologies is the best performing investment firm of all time. And yet no one at RenTec would consider themselves an “investor”, at least in any traditional sense of the word. It’d rather be more accurate to call them scientists — scientists who’ve discovered a system of math, computers and artificial intelligence that has evolved into the greatest money making machine the world has ever seen. And boy does it work: RenTec’s alchemic colossus has posted annual returns in the firm’s flagship Medallion Fund of 68% gross and 40% net over the past 34 years, while never once losing money. (For those keeping track at home, $1,000 invested in Medallion in 1988 would have compounded to $46.5B today… if you’d been allowed to keep it in.) Tune in for an incredible story of the small group of rebel mathematicians who didn’t just beat the market, but in the words of author Greg Zuckerman “solved it.”

Sponsors:

ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acqsnaiagents
Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress
Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta

Links:

The Man Who Solved the MarketThe QuantsBloomberg’s 2016 RenTec profileQuartr's visualization of RenTec's returnsAll episode sources

Carve Outs:

Modern Treasury’s Transfer Conference RegistrationThe New LookCole Haan x Acquired!Class of Palm Beach (and the Mini Kelly inside the Birkin!!)

More Acquired!:

Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch 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.