Acquired

Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal•acquired.fm

Technology

Business

Investing

Every company has a story. Learn the playbooks that built the world’s greatest companies — and how you can apply them.

Last refreshed: May 19th, 2026 at 5:25 PM ⓘ

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Episodes

Episode 4: Bungie (with Xbox Co-Founder Ed Fries)

Ben and David are joined by Former Microsoft VP and Co-Founder of Xbox, Ed Fries, to discuss the Bungie acquisition and the development of Halo. Highlights include: Ed’s call with Steve Jobs after the acquisition, and sharing the stage with Steve and Bungie Co-Founder Alex Seropian at the Macworld Keynote. Bungie today, and the unlikely path to get there led by Harold Ryan. How to find something that all parties want to get a deal done, the creation Peter Tamte’s spin-out Mac gaming studio, and ...

Nov 30, 2015•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 4

Episode 3: Twitch

Ben and David discuss Amazon's acquisition of Twitch in 2014. Unlike previous episodes, this recent acquisition still has a lot of open questions, and Amazon hasn't publicly reported growth of Twitch since the purchase. Ben and David talk about Justin Kan's original product with Justin.tv, and the transformation into the Twitch that Emmett Shear is running today. Sponsors: Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25 Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Statsig: ht...

Nov 16, 2015•55 min•Season 1Ep. 3

Episode 2: Instagram

Ben and David discuss Facebook's acquisition of Instagram in 2012. Was it a success? If so, what are the criteria that made it work? What lessons can be learned for other acquisitions in the future? Sponsors: Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25 Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26 More Acquired! Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes Join the Slack Subscribe to ACQ2 Merch S...

Nov 01, 2015•45 min•Season 1Ep. 2

Episode 1: Pixar

Ben and David discuss Disney's acquisition of Pixar in 2006. Was it a success? If so, what are the criteria that made it work? What lessons can be learned for other acquisitions in the future? Sponsors: Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25 Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26 More Acquired! Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes Join the Slack Subscribe to ACQ2 Merch Store !...

Oct 15, 2015•40 min•Season 1Ep. 1

Trailer: What is Acquired?

Every company has a story. Learn the playbooks that built the world’s greatest companies — and how you can apply them. The episodes are deep and heavily-researched, uncovering the full histories behind household names you thought you already knew like Rolex, Amazon, Starbucks, or NVIDIA. Enjoy!

Oct 01, 2015•3 min

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