Ben & David "pour over" the 1992 IPO of the legendary Seattle coffee company with the help of Dan Levitan, who served as lead investment banker on the IPO and who would later co-found the venture capital firm Maveron with Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz. Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25 Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26 More Acquired! Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups fro...
Apr 03, 2017•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Episode 33: Overture (with the Internet History Podcast!) Ben & David dive deep into the early days of internet search, with the help of the best in the internet history business: Brian McCullough from the Internet History Podcast ! We are huge fans of IHP at Acquired, so this was a real treat to collaborate with Brian and the great work he does over there. In this episode we cover the story of how a small incubator in Southern California spawned perhaps the greatest tech business model of a...
Mar 13, 2017•1 hr 34 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Snap! Acquired is live on the scene reporting from the "Super Bowl" of 2017 tech events: Snap Inc's hugely anticipated (and just plain huge) IPO. What does the future hold for this plucky “camera company”? Will Snap's IPO endure as tech's most important picture-frame since the 2012 debut of Facebook , or is it destined to fade as just another snapshot? We debate! Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25 Statsig: ht...
Mar 04, 2017•1 hr 30 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Topics covered include: The global surge in 2012 of entrepreneurs starting ridesharing companies, nowhere moreso than China Didi CEO Cheng Wei and investor Wang Gang’s backgrounds at Alibaba, first entrepreneurial effort in Momo, and Momo’s pivot to Didi Dache The culling of the ridesharing herd in China down to Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache through brutal competition and involvement of the “big three” Chinese internet companies Rise of the Chinese messaging apps and associated mobile payments, an...
Mar 01, 2017•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Topics covered include: P.A. Semi’s original moniker ("Palo Alto Semiconductor”) and its celebrity founder (in the semiconductor world) Dan Dobberpuhl History of the back and forth tradeoffs between Intel’s powerful x86 chips and low power alternatives like ARM processors Dobberpuhl’s technology breakthroughs throughout his career that enabled true low-power + high-performance chips The initial target markets for P.A. Semi’s chips (surprise: NOT mobile phones) P.A. Semi’s first foray into a pote...
Jan 24, 2017•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Ben & David wrap up 2016 with a review of the top tech themes we discussed on the show this year, and look forward to which themes we think will be relevant in the coming year. Can our hosts predict the future? Tune-in in 2018 to find out! Note: we apologize for the less-than-amazing audio quality on this one. We’re still working on tuning our remote recording setup! Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25 Sta...
Jan 11, 2017•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Ben & David welcome very special guest Tom Alberg, board member and first lead investor in Amazon.com, to cover the IPO of "earth’s most customer-centric company". From longterm thinking to flywheels to riding big waves, this episode is chock full of lessons and stories from the journey of building one of tech’s most iconic franchises. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did recording it! Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Anthropic: https:/...
Dec 31, 2016•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Topics covered include: Brian’s history working across “both sides of the aisle” as both a startup founder and corporate development leader at a big company, how perspective from each informs the other, and the importance of learning “customer empathy” How Microsoft approaches M&A from an organizational perspective, and the importance of fit with the company’s product roadmap How Brian approaches strategic investments at Microsoft, and the evolution over time of the Microsoft (and large tech...
Dec 16, 2016•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Topics covered include: Marvel’s corporate origins as "Timely Publications”, created in 1939 by pulp magazine publisher Martin Goodman in NYC, with the publication of Marvel Comics #1 Creation of enduring characters such as Captain America, the Fantastic 4, Spider Man, The X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk and more Adoption in 1961 of the "Marvel Comics” brand, and writer-editor Stan Lee ’s transition of the company towards focusing on edgier characters and stories targeted at older audiences Marv...
Dec 05, 2016•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Hey Acquired listeners. A note about this show: we recorded this episode the night before the 2016 Election Day in the US. At the time, the biggest change we saw coming was adding a new type of content to Acquired in analyzing IPO’s, which we introduce in this episode. Two days later, we woke up to a very different world than the one we were expecting. Reflecting on what’s happened, and the past few months of our show, we wanted to say two things: First, we want to apologize for our cavalier att...
Nov 11, 2016•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 25
An acquisition so wild and crazy, they had to do it again. And again. Ben & David cover tech’s perhaps most-traded asset, Skype (which also happens to be a fantastic business). How do we even know which deal to grade? Tune in to find out… Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25 Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26 More Acquired! Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episo...
Nov 02, 2016•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Ben & David broadcast live from the 2016 GeekWire Summit covering one of the all-time greats, Apple’s 1996 acquisition of NeXT. This episode has it all: the Steve Jobs hero story, Apple, I.M. Pei, Ross Perot, Aaron Sorkin, Nobel Laureates and… Gil Amelio? Does NeXT rank atop the best acquisitions ever? Our own heroes cast their votes. Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25 Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstat...
Oct 23, 2016•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 23
CFO of Zillow Group Kathleen Philips joins Ben and David to cover the show’s first true “merger” versus “acquisition" (only took 22 episodes!), Zillow’s 2015 combination with Trulia to form Zillow Group. Note: our audio glitches unfortunately continued on this episode, and quality is rough. We recommend listening on speakers vs headphones if you’re able. We apologize and will be back to normal quality next time! Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Anth...
Oct 14, 2016•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Ben and David go inside the M&A press with Bloomberg’s technology M&A reporter and host of the Deal of the Week Podcast , Alex Sherman . If you’ve ever wondered how stories about big deals get broken or what “according to people familiar with the matter” really means, tune in for the behind-the-scenes scoop! Note: A technical glitch with our recording setup created occasional short silences between Alex’s comments and Ben & David’s. It shouldn’t impact listenability, but we apologize...
Sep 27, 2016•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Ben & David examine Google’s 2005 purchase of Android for a rumored $50M, undeniably one of the best technology acquisitions of all time. But will it top the list of these tough graders? Tune in to find out. Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25 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...
Sep 16, 2016•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Ben & David break down Jet.com’s meteoric rise, culminating in Walmart’s blockbuster $3B+ acquisition of the company just two years after its founding. Will we look back on this deal as an ‘Instagram-like’ bargain or a ‘Pets.com'-sized blunder? And most importantly, can *anyone* compete with Amazon going forward? We speculate wildly. Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25 Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstats...
Aug 29, 2016•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Ben & David are joined by special guest Taylor Barada , VP and Head of Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships at Adobe, to discuss how large tech acquirers approach buying companies. This episode is full of great insights for startups & entrepreneurs who might find themselves navigating the M&A process, as well as anyone curious about the craft of dealmaking and the strategic approach of large acquirers. Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit....
Aug 22, 2016•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Topics covered include: Community Showcase: the Nexcast podcasting platform from listener Brian Sanders, along with their podcast chronicling the team’s journey building the company Waze’s origin in cofounder & CTO Ehud Shabtai’s desire to hack his portable GPS navigation unit Waze CEO Noam Bardin’s retrospective blog post on the Waze journey Waze’s Palo Alto office and the bizarre Silicon Valley phenomenon of tech companies being located in retail storefronts Apple’s ill-fated launch of App...
Aug 03, 2016•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 17
The meta show: Ben and David turn their gaze inward and examine the podcasting industry through E. W. Scripps’ recent acquisitions of the Midroll podcast advertising network and Stitcher podcast client. Featuring discussion of our own product process and metrics at Acquired. Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25 Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26 More Acquired! Get email updates with hints on next episode...
Jul 12, 2016•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Ben and David return to make their first foray into enterprise software, covering Salesforce’s $2.5B acquisition of ExactTarget in 2013 with the help of special guest and ExactTarget cofounder & CEO, Scott Dorsey . Technical note: due to an issue we didn’t catch during recording, audio quality is significantly lower than usual for this episode (especially David’s voice). We apologize but hope you’ll give it a chance anyway— Scott offers great wisdom & insights, and the ExactTarget succes...
Jul 05, 2016•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Ben and David cover the 3-day-old acquisition of LinkedIn by Microsoft for $26.2 billion. They cover LinkedIn’s founding story by Reid Hoffman, break down their core businesses, analyze recent stock behavior, and speculate on the future of the company inside Microsoft. The big question - were they worth the price tag? Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25 Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26 More Acquired! ...
Jun 16, 2016•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Ben and David are joined by Todd Bishop, technology reporter and co-founder of GeekWire , to discuss Facebook's 2011 acquisition of Push Pop Press. Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25 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 ! © Copyright 2015-2026 ACQ, LLC Highlights In...
Jun 06, 2016•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Ben and David tackle their first failed acquisition: Facebook's 2013 offer to buy Snapchat. They cover the fascinating story of Snapchat's creation and growth, their blossoming business model, how it would be different inside of Facebook, and what the future holds. Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25 Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26 More Acquired! Get email updates with hints on next episode and follo...
May 23, 2016•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Ben and David return to technology acquisitions by examining a classic: eBay's 2002 purchase of PayPal. Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25 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 ! © Copyright 2015-2026 ACQ, LLC Items mentioned in the show: How the 'PayPal Mafia' redef...
May 09, 2016•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Ben and David deviate entirely from the stated purpose of the show, tackling this non-technology acquisition that is so recent, we have no idea if it went well yet. But, the April 2016 acquisition of Virgin America by Alaska Airlines was so fascinating, we had to do it! Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25 Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26 More Acquired! Get email updates with hints on next episode and ...
Apr 27, 2016•57 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Ben and David continue the cloud productivity saga with Google Docs. They examine the suite of acquisitions made by Google with a focus on Writely in 2006. They tackle: The nuts and bolts of the Upstartle (company behind Writely) acquisition, founded by Sam Schillace, Steve Newman and Claudia Carpenter. SaaS offerings in cloud productivity today. Was this a good idea for Google? Google's future bets. A new section: The Carve Out! Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bi...
Mar 29, 2016•51 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Ben and David have special guest Kurt DelBene on to discuss Microsoft's acquisition of Acompli, Sunrise, and Wunderlist. Kurt is the EVP of Corporate Strategy and Planning at Microsoft, and joins to discuss Microsoft’s cloud-first, mobile-first strategy, and the importance of being cross-platform in the modern era. They cover: How the app of Outlook Mobile on iPhone and Android came to be. How to decide whether to build vs. buy, and how it plays into the strategy for Office. How to preserve a cu...
Feb 29, 2016•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Ben and David test the widely-held belief that YouTube was one of the most successful tech acquisitions of all time. In today's world of next-generation video platforms, mobile video, streaming, and chord-cutting, was it actually a great purchase by Google? As discussed in the show, here is Sequoia's original YouTube investment memo - a rarely-shared gold mine for anyone interested in startup investing. Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Anthropic: ht...
Feb 03, 2016•53 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Riding closely on the tails of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ben and David cover Disney's 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm. In the episode, they mention Walt Disney's original flywheel diagram, seen below. Sponsors: Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25 Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25 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 Mer...
Jan 19, 2016•42 min•Season 1Ep. 6
In the last episode of 2015, Ben and David discuss Apple's acquisition of Siri. Notable topics include: The founding of Siri by Dag Kittlau, Adam Cheyer, and Chris Brigham. Scott Forstall on the Apple side, and the end of his time at the company. The other Apple acquisitions around Siri, including Topsy, Novauris Technologies, OttoCat. Cue, Spotsetter, VocalIQ, and Perceptio. The team Apple built around Siri post-acquisition, including Alex Acero from Microsoft Research. Speculation on the futur...
Dec 14, 2015•47 min•Season 1Ep. 5
