Acquired

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 serviceVanta: 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 WorksKelly’s 14 Rules of Skunk WorksLMSC’s “Seven Tenets”Steve Blank’s Secret History of Silicon ValleyEpisode sourcesCarve Outs:Nier: AutomataThe 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 StatsigUp to 10% off your first year of business insurance with VouchA 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 StatsigUp to 10% off your first year of business insurance with VouchA free trial of PitchBook + links to research reports!LinksThe Gamecraft Podcast Mitch and Blake on TwitterThe Genius of the SystemMitch’s old “Investing in Content” blog post That Game Company and Sky Riot and the League of Legends dota-allstars.com growth hackNote: 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 VouchA free trial of PitchBook + links to research reports!Links:The shortest and most famous speech in video game industry historyEpisode sourcesCarve Outs:Daryl Morey on Invest Like the BestSuccessionStarship6 Days to AirNote: 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 serviceVanta: $1,000 off any compliance audit product …in touch with Tiny! (just tell them Ben & David sent you)Links:Our EA episode with Trip HawkinsMatthew Ball on why “Nintendo as Disney” is a flawed analogyCrossroads Capital’s investor letters outlining their Nintendo thesisEpisode sourcesCarve Outs: Kara Swisher in Vanity Fair (and our old episode with her!) Hardcore History (finally!)The Tetris movieDaryl Morey on Invest Like the Best‍Note: 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 VouchFree 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 VouchOne 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 serviceVanta: $1,000 off any compliance audit product …in touch with Tiny! (just tell them Ben & David sent you) Links:Our Atari episode with Nolan BushnellVideo of id Software’s legendary PC “port” of Super Mario Brothers 3Episode sourcesCarve Outs:Everything Everywhere All At OnceMichael 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 serviceVanta: $1,000 off any compliance audit productRevenueCat: In-App Subscriptions Made EasyLinks:Bryan Burrough in Vanity Fair: Gucci and Goliath Episode sourcesCarve Outs:The Gamecraft PodcastDoug 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 serviceMystery: one completely free eventVanta: $1,000 off any compliance audit productLinks: Sports Illustrated’s oral history of the famous Joe Namath “pool photo” Episode sourcesCarve Outs:The MenuPeyton’s Places‍Note: 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:Thanks to Vanta for being our presenting sponsor for this special episode. Vanta is the leader in automated security compliance – making SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and more a breeze for startups and organizations of all sizes. You might say they’re like the “AWS of security and compliance”! Everyone in the Acquired community can get 10% off using this link.Thank you as well to Tiny and to Brex. If you sign up for Brex using this link, Brex and we will send you a free Acquired t-shirt! :)  Note: New and existing Brex customers are eligible for this promotion. Promotion runs through December 31, 2022, at 11:59pm PT. To receive an Acquired t-shirt, you must create a free Brex account via brex.com/acquired. Brex terms and conditions apply. If you’re an existing customer, send your t-shirt request to hello@acquired.com from your work email. T-shirts will be mailed within 30 days to the address on the Brex account.  Carveouts!:Jerry Seinfeld on The Tim Ferriss ShowProject Hail Mary The Psychology of Money The Power LawMade in AmericaMade in JapanThe Godfather (book) Masters of Doom Stevie Case vs. the WorldHow All this HappenedResonant ArcAll-InFounders PodcastMKBHD’s Waveform PodcastThe Verge Huberman Lab - What Alcohol Does to your BodySmartlessT-Swift’s Midnights Olivia RodrigoAndorBlack PantherTop Gun MaverickEverything Everywhere All At OnceThe White LotusThe VowFlightyRoborock 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:Thank you to our presenting sponsor for all of Season 11, Fundrise. If you’re considering raising a growth round of capital in the next year, you should definitely explore raising some of it with the Fundrise Innovation Fund. Just email notvc@fundrise.com, and tell them Ben & David sent you. And if you’re an individual looking for exposure to private growth-stage technology companies, you can invest in the Innovation Fund here.Thank you as well to Pilot and Tiny! Links:John Gruber’s Daring Fireball Ben’s very first Stratechery postSubscribe 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:Thank you to our presenting sponsor for all of Season 11, Fundrise. If you’re considering raising a growth round of capital in the next year, you should definitely explore raising some of it with the Fundrise Innovation Fund. Just email notvc@fundrise.com, and tell them Ben & David sent you. And if you’re an individual looking for exposure to private growth-stage technology companies, you can invest in the Innovation Fund here.Thank you as well to Vanta. Vanta is the leader in automated security compliance – making SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and more a breeze for startups and organizations of all sizes. Everyone in the Acquired community can get 10% off using this link.And finally thank you also to Pilot! Links: Book Andy Fastow as a speaker for your next corporate event! 🤔 Episode sourcesCarveouts!:Enron: The MusicalAndor Brooks Addiction Walkers Hoka SlidesJCal on the Tim Ferriss ShowNew 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 sourcesSponsors:Thank you to our presenting sponsor for all of Season 11, Fundrise! If you’re considering raising a growth round of capital in the next year, you should definitely explore raising some of it with the Fundrise Innovation Fund. Just email notvc@fundrise.com, and tell them Ben & David sent you. And if you’re an individual looking for exposure to private growth-stage technology companies, you can invest in the Innovation Fund here.Thank you as well to Pilot and to Brex. If you sign up for Brex using this link, Brex and we will send you a free Acquired t-shirt! :)  Note: New and existing Brex customers are eligible for this promotion. Promotion runs through December 31, 2022, at 11:59pm PT. To receive an Acquired t-shirt, you must create a free Brex account via brex.com/acquired. Brex terms and conditions apply. If you’re an existing customer, send your t-shirt request to hello@acquired.com from your work email. T-shirts will be mailed within 30 days to the address on the Brex account.  ‍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 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:Thank you to our presenting sponsor for all of Season 11, Fundrise! If you’re considering raising a growth round of capital in the next year, you should definitely explore raising some of it with the Fundrise Innovation Fund. Just email notvc@fundrise.com, and tell them Ben & David sent you. And if you’re an individual looking for exposure to private growth-stage technology companies, you can invest in the Innovation Fund here.Thank you as well to Pilot.  ‍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 kick off ACQ Sessions with the-behind-the-scenes story of All-in, from the world’s greatest moderator himself Jason Calacanis. ACQ Sessions is our new, occasional “MTV Unplugged” version of Acquired: a great IRL guest, a bottle (or two) of wine, and no script. We talk about everything you’d imagine we would over wine with JCal — All-In, bestie relationships, money & politics in Silicon Valley, who his influences and mentors have been (one surprise — the great Fred Wilson of USV!), what motivates him to keep grinding and why, at age 50+ when he could easily be winding down he’s instead speeding up into the most productive phase of his entire career. Pour a beverage yourself, pull up a comfy seat and join us! If you want more Acquired, you can follow our public LP Show feed here in the podcast player of your choice (including Spotify!).  Sponsors:Thanks to Vanta for being our presenting sponsor for this special episode. Vanta is the leader in automated security compliance – making SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and more a breeze for startups and organizations of all sizes. You might say they’re like the “AWS of security and compliance”! Everyone in the Acquired community can get 10% off using this link.Thank you as well to Brex and to Tiny. ‍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.

Benchmark Capital. We tell the tale of the legendary equal partnership that accomplished something no other venture firm can claim: twice it has produced the highest returning fund of its cycle, each time with a 100% different GP lineup. If ever there were a playbook for successful generational transfer of a generational-defining venture firm, this is it. We spend 3.5+ hours digging into how the dotcom “eBay eBoys” transformed into the rockstar Fab Four of the Uber, Instagram and Snap mobile gold rush (spoiler: not by a straight line!), and what the future holds for Benchmark’s next GP generation. If you’re a student of the venture game from any angle — founder, GP, LP, etc — this is a story you need to tune in for! If you want more Acquired, you can follow our public LP Show feed here in the podcast player of your choice (including Spotify!). Sponsors:Thank you to our presenting sponsor for all of Season 11, Fundrise! If you’re considering raising a growth round of capital in the next year, you should definitely explore raising some of it with the Fundrise Innovation Fund. Just email notvc@fundrise.com, and tell them Ben & David sent you. And if you’re an individual looking for exposure to private growth-stage technology companies, you can invest in the Innovation Fund here.Thank you as well to Pilot and NZS Capital! You can register for the  next NZS Talkback here. Links: Benchmark’s website circa 1997 Benchmark’s website circa 2000Benchmark’s website today Episode sourcesCarve Outs:Bill Gurley’s Runnin’ Down a Dream talkSmartless Podcast Mitch Lasky on Invest like the BestUrsula Le Guin’s Earthsea Cycle‍Note: 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.

So, how DID an online book retailer end up building the infrastructure layer that powers the entire internet? (Or at least 39% of it, per latest market share data.) While many myths, legends, and some downright falsehoods exist, the real answer to that question deserves a full Acquired episode of its very own. So here it is: the story of Amazon Web Services. Who’s got the truth? Tune in and find out. :) If you want more Acquired, you can follow our newly public LP Show feed here in the podcast player of your choice (including Spotify!). Sponsors:Thank you to our presenting sponsor for all of Season 11, Fundrise! If you’re considering raising a growth round of capital in the next year, you should definitely explore raising some of it with the Fundrise Innovation Fund. Just email notvc@fundrise.com, and tell them Ben & David sent you. And if you’re an individual looking for exposure to private growth-stage technology companies, you can invest in the Innovation Fund here.Thank you as well to Pilot and NZS Capital! You can register for the  next NZS Talkback here. Links: Steve Yegge’s Platforms Rant (so good!) Ben Thompson on AWS and Snowflake Episode sourcesCarve Outs:Moon KnightJohn Carmack on The Lex Fridman Podcast‍Note: 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 legendary investor Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital and his son Andrew who, while less-well-known, is also an incredibly accomplished investor in a very different arena: early-stage VC. The purpose of the conversation was to discuss their joint work together on Howard’s all-time most popular memo, “Something of Value”, which made the then-shocking argument that Value and Growth investing are not diametric opposites but rather two sides of the same investing coin. We of course dive deep into that, and also cover plenty of fun Oaktree and investing history, as well as Andrew’s favorite topic: selling (or not selling, as the case may be). This is not one to miss! 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 Original “Something of Value” Memo Howard and Andrew on Oaktree’s “The Memo” podcastSponsors:Thanks to Vanta for being our presenting sponsor for this special episode. Vanta is the leader in automated security compliance – making SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and more a breeze for startups and organizations of all sizes. You might say they’re like the “AWS of security and compliance”! Everyone in the Acquired community can get 10% off using this link.Thank you as well to Brex and to Tiny. ‍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.

Amazon. No company has impacted the internet — and all of modern life — more than this one. We’ve waited seven years to do this episode, and are so, so excited to finally dive into every nook and cranny of this legendary company. And of course because we’re Acquired and this is Amazon, we couldn’t contain it all to just one episode… even a 4+ hour one! So today we focus on Amazon.com the retail business, and we’ll have another full episode on AWS coming soon. And because all great series are trilogies, to fully understand Amazon we highly recommend starting first with our previous episode on Walmart, which truly is the giant’s shoulder that Jeff Bezos stood upon. Let’s go!! **Big News** We've got merch! Check it out at https://www.acquired.fm/store ! If you want more Acquired, you can follow our newly public LP Show feed here in the podcast player of your choice (including Spotify!). Sponsors:Thank you to our presenting sponsor for all of Season 11, Fundrise! If you’re considering raising a growth round of capital in the next year, you should definitely explore raising some of it with the Fundrise Innovation Fund. Just email notvc@fundrise.com, and tell them Ben & David sent you. And if you’re an individual looking for exposure to private growth-stage technology companies, you can invest in the Innovation Fund here.Thank you as well to Pilot and NZS Capital! You can register for the  NZS Talkback here. Links:Jeff’s first public Amazon interview Our early-Acquired-days interview with Tom Alberg Episode sourcesCarve Outs:Rick Rubin on the Lex Fridman PodcastUrsula Le Guin Dissect Season 2 on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Elden Ring (again) ‍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.