Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! <a href="https://glow.fm/acquired/" rel= "payment">https://glow.fm/acquired/</a> (works best on mobile) 5 years and 100+ episodes into Acquired, there’s been one question we get asked more than any other: what are the best acquisitions of all-time, and what can we learn from them? We thought it was time to formalize our answers. So here it is, the Acquired Greatest Hits album. :) We also put together an accompanying blog post, which goes into greater detail on the numbers and methodology behind out rankings. You can find it here: <a href= "https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/acquired-top-ten-the-best-acquisitions-of-all-time"> https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/acquired-top-ten-the-best-acquisitions-of-all-time</a> Feel free to share with your friends or on social media! Sponsor: <ul> <li>Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for being our banner sponsor for Acquired Season 6. You can learn more about SVB here: <a href= "https://www.svb.com/next">https://www.svb.com/next</a></li> <li>Thank you as well to Wilson Sonsini - You can learn more about WSGR at: <a href= "https://www.wsgr.com/">https://www.wsgr.com/</a></li> </ul>

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! https://glow.fm/acquired/ (works best on mobile) 5 years and 100+ episodes into Acquired, there’s been one question we get asked more than any other: what are the best acquisitions of all-time, and what can we learn from them? We thought it was time to formalize our answers. So here it is, the Acquired Greatest Hits album. :) We also put together an accompanying blog post, which goes into greater detail on the numbers and methodology behind out rankings. You can find it here: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/acquired-top-ten-the-best-acquisitions-of-all-time Feel free to share with your friends or on social media! Sponsor: Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for being our banner sponsor for Acquired Season 6. You can learn more about SVB here: https://www.svb.com/next Thank you as well to Wilson Sonsini - You can learn more about WSGR at: https://www.wsgr.com/ 

Acquired

The Top 10 Acquisitions of All-Time

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! <a href="https://glow.fm/acquired/">https://glow.fm/acquired/</a> (works best on mobile) We're joined by Wade Foster, cofounder & CEO of Zapier, a company that basically hasn’t raised capital, doesn’t have an office, doesn’t have salespeople, and whose product consists solely of connecting other people’s products. And yet today they are doing well over $50M in profitable ARR, have hundreds of employees and thousands of hyper-passionate customers, and are one of the most interesting private SaaS companies in the world. We’re super excited for Wade to join us and dive into the full story of this came to be! This episode is a preview of the hour-long LP-only show.

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! https://glow.fm/acquired/ (works best on mobile) We're joined by Wade Foster, cofounder & CEO of Zapier, a company that basically hasn’t raised capital, doesn’t have an office, doesn’t have salespeople, and whose product consists solely of connecting other people’s products. And yet today they are doing well over $50M in profitable ARR, have hundreds of employees and thousands of hyper-passionate customers, and are one of the most interesting private SaaS companies in the world. We’re super excited for Wade to join us and dive into the full story of this came to be! This episode is a preview of the hour-long LP-only show.

LP Show Preview: Remote Work, No-Code, and Products that Sell Themselves (w/ Zapier CEO Wade Foster)

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! <a href="https://glow.fm/acquired/" rel= "payment">https://glow.fm/acquired/</a> (works best on mobile) The wait is over. Acquired returns with a very special Part II of the Sequoia Capital story, joined by the very best person in the world to help us tell it - Doug Leone. Since 1996, Doug has served as Sequoia’s Global Managing Partner, in charge of overseeing the firm’s incredible expansion from a single, $150m early-stage fund focused on Northern California to the multi-billion dollar global powerhouse it is today. Doug is incredibly candid and insightful about all that has gone into building the modern Sequoia: from winning Google and missing Facebook, to the enormous (and enormously successful) bet on decentralized expansion in China and India, to the firm’s “proudest moment” at the depth of the dot com bust. This episode is an absolute must-listen for anyone in the tech, startup and venture ecosystems today. Thank you to Doug and all of the Sequoia team for joining us to make it happen!   Note: <ul class="ul1"> <li class="li1">You can listen to Part I of our Sequoia story, which dives deep into the history and background of the firm, here: <a href= "https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/sequoia-capital-part-1">https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/sequoia-capital-part-1</a></li> </ul>   Sponsor: <ul class="ul1"> <li class="li1">Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for being our banner sponsor for Acquired Season 6. You can learn more about SVB here: <a href="https://www.svb.com/next">https://www.svb.com/next</a></li> <li class="li1">Thank you as well to Wilson Sonsini - You can learn more about WSGR at: <a href= "https://www.wsgr.com/">https://www.wsgr.com/</a></li> </ul>   Sources: <ul class="ul1"> <li class="li1"><a href= "https://www.brunswickgroup.com/sequoia-capital-doug-leone-silicon-valley-i11786/"> https://www.brunswickgroup.com/sequoia-capital-doug-leone-silicon-valley-i11786/</a></li> <li class="li1"><a href= "https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/doug-leone/">https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/doug-leone/</a></li> <li class="li1"><a href= "https://www.sequoiacap.com/newsletter/2018-06-20-doug-leone"> https://www.sequoiacap.com/newsletter/2018-06-20-doug-leone</a></li> <li class="li1"><a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Er4QcNdjVU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Er4QcNdjVU</a></li> <li class="li1"><a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-leone-a2714/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-leone-a2714/</a></li> <li class="li1"><a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cl8X02Xd1I">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cl8X02Xd1I</a></li> <li class="li1"><a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrJgwKiEpaI">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrJgwKiEpaI</a></li> </ul>

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! https://glow.fm/acquired/ (works best on mobile) The wait is over. Acquired returns with a very special Part II of the Sequoia Capital story, joined by the very best person in the world to help us tell it - Doug Leone. Since 1996, Doug has served as Sequoia’s Global Managing Partner, in charge of overseeing the firm’s incredible expansion from a single, $150m early-stage fund focused on Northern California to the multi-billion dollar global powerhouse it is today. Doug is incredibly candid and insightful about all that has gone into building the modern Sequoia: from winning Google and missing Facebook, to the enormous (and enormously successful) bet on decentralized expansion in China and India, to the firm’s “proudest moment” at the depth of the dot com bust. This episode is an absolute must-listen for anyone in the tech, startup and venture ecosystems today. Thank you to Doug and all of the Sequoia team for joining us to make it happen!   Note: You can listen to Part I of our Sequoia story, which dives deep into the history and background of the firm, here: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/sequoia-capital-part-1   Sponsor: Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for being our banner sponsor for Acquired Season 6. You can learn more about SVB here: https://www.svb.com/next Thank you as well to Wilson Sonsini - You can learn more about WSGR at: https://www.wsgr.com/   Sources: https://www.brunswickgroup.com/sequoia-capital-doug-leone-silicon-valley-i11786/ https://www.sequoiacap.com/people/doug-leone/ https://www.sequoiacap.com/newsletter/2018-06-20-doug-leone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Er4QcNdjVU https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-leone-a2714/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cl8X02Xd1I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrJgwKiEpaI 

Sequoia Capital Part II (with Doug Leone)

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! <a href="https://glow.fm/acquired/" rel= "payment">https://glow.fm/acquired/</a> (works best on mobile) We kick off Season 6 with a long-awaited Acquired Classic: Facebook’s $22B purchase of WhatsApp in 2014, which still ranks as the largest acquisition of a private VC-backed startup in history. Yet despite that enormous pricetag and all its associated fanfare, as we sit here 5+ years later WhatsApp actually generates LESS revenue than the meager ~$20m it was bringing in at the time of acquisition. Was this this worst acquisition of all-time, or a brilliant strategic chess move by Mark Zuckerberg & co? Tune in as we render Acquired’s judgement!  Note: Unfortunately David’s audio quality in this episode was impacted by a technical glitch which we didn’t discover until after recording. Our editors worked super hard to fix in post-production, but it’s still not totally perfect. We hope you’ll give it a listen regardless, and we’re working on getting a transcript made ASAP, which we’ll post to the website when it’s ready. Thanks for bearing with us, -Ben & David   Carve Outs: <ul> <li>Ben: Computer glasses: <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/s?k=computer+glasses">https://www.amazon.com/s?k=computer+glasses</a></li> <li>David: Reebok Floatrides: <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/Reebok-Forever-Floatride-Energy-Black/dp/B07NYBRQ96/"> https://www.amazon.com/Reebok-Forever-Floatride-Energy-Black/dp/B07NYBRQ96/</a></li> </ul>   Sponsor: <ul> <li>Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for being our banner sponsor for Acquired Season 6. You can learn more about SVB here: <a href= "https://www.svb.com/next">https://www.svb.com/next</a></li> <li>Thank you as well to Wilson Sonsini - You can learn more about WSGR at: <a href= "https://www.wsgr.com/">https://www.wsgr.com/</a> </li> </ul>   Sources: <ul> <li><a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhatsApp">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhatsApp</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/02/19/exclusive-inside-story-how-jan-koum-built-whatsapp-into-facebooks-new-19-billion-baby/#64c1c94b2fa1"> https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/02/19/exclusive-inside-story-how-jan-koum-built-whatsapp-into-facebooks-new-19-billion-baby/#64c1c94b2fa1</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/03/04/inside-the-facebook-whatsapp-megadeal-the-courtship-the-secret-meetings-the-19-billion-poker-game/#63d8b5c4350f"> https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/03/04/inside-the-facebook-whatsapp-megadeal-the-courtship-the-secret-meetings-the-19-billion-poker-game/#63d8b5c4350f</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.wired.com/2015/09/whatsapp-serves-900-million-users-50-engineers/"> https://www.wired.com/2015/09/whatsapp-serves-900-million-users-50-engineers/</a></li> <li><a href= "https://youtu.be/v6PbymjXsto">https://youtu.be/v6PbymjXsto</a></li> <li><a href= "https://youtu.be/X4YsJt4rIOI">https://youtu.be/X4YsJt4rIOI</a></li> <li><a href= "https://overcast.fm/+WorS9-a74">https://overcast.fm/+WorS9-a74</a></li> <li><a href= "https://youtu.be/-2CAWS7M_0w">https://youtu.be/-2CAWS7M_0w</a></li> <li><a href= "https://youtu.be/X4YsJt4rIOI">https://youtu.be/X4YsJt4rIOI</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.wired.co.uk/article/whats-app-owner-founder-jan-koum-facebook"> https://www.wired.co.uk/article/whats-app-owner-founder-jan-koum-facebook</a> </li> <li><a href= "https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/whatsapp-brian-acton-delete-facebook-stanford-lecture"> https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/whatsapp-brian-acton-delete-facebook-stanford-lecture</a> </li> <li><a href= "https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2018/09/26/exclusive-whatsapp-cofounder-brian-acton-gives-the-inside-story-on-deletefacebook-and-why-he-left-850-million-behind/#7475a0213f20"> https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2018/09/26/exclusive-whatsapp-cofounder-brian-acton-gives-the-inside-story-on-deletefacebook-and-why-he-left-850-million-behind/#7475a0213f20</a> </li> <li><a href= "https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-06-28/tencent-rules-china-the-problem-is-the-rest-of-the-world"> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-06-28/tencent-rules-china-the-problem-is-the-rest-of-the-world</a>  </li> <li><a href= "https://techcrunch.com/2013/07/16/whatsapp-free/">https://techcrunch.com/2013/07/16/whatsapp-free/</a></li> <li><a href= "http://allthingsd.com/tag/jan-koum/">http://allthingsd.com/tag/jan-koum/</a></li> <li><a href= "http://allthingsd.com/20130510/whatsapp-ceo-jan-koum-hates-advertising-and-the-tech-rumor-mill-full-dive-video/"> http://allthingsd.com/20130510/whatsapp-ceo-jan-koum-hates-advertising-and-the-tech-rumor-mill-full-dive-video/</a> </li> <li><a href= "https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/31/whatsapp-hits-1-5-billion-monthly-users-19b-not-so-bad/"> https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/31/whatsapp-hits-1-5-billion-monthly-users-19b-not-so-bad/</a></li> <li><a href= "https://blog.whatsapp.com/10000633/Building-for-People-and-Now-Businesses"> https://blog.whatsapp.com/10000633/Building-for-People-and-Now-Businesses</a></li> <li><a href= "https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/05/whatsapp-business-app/">https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/05/whatsapp-business-app/</a> </li> <li><a href= "https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/21/whatsapp/">https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/21/whatsapp/</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/whatsapp-founder-plans-to-leave-after-broad-clashes-with-parent-facebook/2018/04/30/49448dd2-4ca9-11e8-84a0-458a1aa9ac0a_story.html"> https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/whatsapp-founder-plans-to-leave-after-broad-clashes-with-parent-facebook/2018/04/30/49448dd2-4ca9-11e8-84a0-458a1aa9ac0a_story.html</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.wsj.com/articles/whatsapp-backs-off-controversial-plan-to-sell-ads-11579207682"> https://www.wsj.com/articles/whatsapp-backs-off-controversial-plan-to-sell-ads-11579207682</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.wsj.com/articles/behind-the-messy-expensive-split-between-facebook-and-whatsapps-founders-1528208641?mod=article_inline"> https://www.wsj.com/articles/behind-the-messy-expensive-split-between-facebook-and-whatsapps-founders-1528208641?mod=article_inline</a> </li> <li><a href= "https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/06/05/whatsapp-co-founder-stresses-independence-from-facebook/?mod=article_inline"> https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/06/05/whatsapp-co-founder-stresses-independence-from-facebook/?mod=article_inline</a></li> <li><a href= "https://bgr.com/2020/01/17/whatsapp-ads-2020-facebook-canceled-plans-to-bring-ads-to-status-bar/"> https://bgr.com/2020/01/17/whatsapp-ads-2020-facebook-canceled-plans-to-bring-ads-to-status-bar/</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.vox.com/2018/5/8/17329524/whatsapp-new-ceo-facebook-cofounder-jan-koum-departs"> https://www.vox.com/2018/5/8/17329524/whatsapp-new-ceo-facebook-cofounder-jan-koum-departs</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/chdaniels/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/chdaniels/</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkoum/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkoum/</a></li> </ul>

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! https://glow.fm/acquired/ (works best on mobile) We kick off Season 6 with a long-awaited Acquired Classic: Facebook’s $22B purchase of WhatsApp in 2014, which still ranks as the largest acquisition of a private VC-backed startup in history. Yet despite that enormous pricetag and all its associated fanfare, as we sit here 5+ years later WhatsApp actually generates LESS revenue than the meager ~$20m it was bringing in at the time of acquisition. Was this this worst acquisition of all-time, or a brilliant strategic chess move by Mark Zuckerberg & co? Tune in as we render Acquired’s judgement!  Note: Unfortunately David’s audio quality in this episode was impacted by a technical glitch which we didn’t discover until after recording. Our editors worked super hard to fix in post-production, but it’s still not totally perfect. We hope you’ll give it a listen regardless, and we’re working on getting a transcript made ASAP, which we’ll post to the website when it’s ready. Thanks for bearing with us, -Ben & David   Carve Outs: Ben: Computer glasses: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=computer+glasses David: Reebok Floatrides: https://www.amazon.com/Reebok-Forever-Floatride-Energy-Black/dp/B07NYBRQ96/   Sponsor: Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for being our banner sponsor for Acquired Season 6. You can learn more about SVB here: https://www.svb.com/next Thank you as well to Wilson Sonsini - You can learn more about WSGR at: https://www.wsgr.com/    Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhatsApp https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/02/19/exclusive-inside-story-how-jan-koum-built-whatsapp-into-facebooks-new-19-billion-baby/#64c1c94b2fa1 https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/03/04/inside-the-facebook-whatsapp-megadeal-the-courtship-the-secret-meetings-the-19-billion-poker-game/#63d8b5c4350f https://www.wired.com/2015/09/whatsapp-serves-900-million-users-50-engineers/ https://youtu.be/v6PbymjXsto https://youtu.be/X4YsJt4rIOI https://overcast.fm/+WorS9-a74 https://youtu.be/-2CAWS7M_0w https://youtu.be/X4YsJt4rIOI https://www.wired.co.uk/article/whats-app-owner-founder-jan-koum-facebook  https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/whatsapp-brian-acton-delete-facebook-stanford-lecture  https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2018/09/26/exclusive-whatsapp-cofounder-brian-acton-gives-the-inside-story-on-deletefacebook-and-why-he-left-850-million-behind/#7475a0213f20  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-06-28/tencent-rules-china-the-problem-is-the-rest-of-the-world   https://techcrunch.com/2013/07/16/whatsapp-free/ http://allthingsd.com/tag/jan-koum/ http://allthingsd.com/20130510/whatsapp-ceo-jan-koum-hates-advertising-and-the-tech-rumor-mill-full-dive-video/  https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/31/whatsapp-hits-1-5-billion-monthly-users-19b-not-so-bad/ https://blog.whatsapp.com/10000633/Building-for-People-and-Now-Businesses https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/05/whatsapp-business-app/  https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/21/whatsapp/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/whatsapp-founder-plans-to-leave-after-broad-clashes-with-parent-facebook/2018/04/30/49448dd2-4ca9-11e8-84a0-458a1aa9ac0a_story.html https://www.wsj.com/articles/whatsapp-backs-off-controversial-plan-to-sell-ads-11579207682 https://www.wsj.com/articles/behind-the-messy-expensive-split-between-facebook-and-whatsapps-founders-1528208641?mod=article_inline  https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/06/05/whatsapp-co-founder-stresses-independence-from-facebook/?mod=article_inline https://bgr.com/2020/01/17/whatsapp-ads-2020-facebook-canceled-plans-to-bring-ads-to-status-bar/ https://www.vox.com/2018/5/8/17329524/whatsapp-new-ceo-facebook-cofounder-jan-koum-departs https://www.linkedin.com/in/chdaniels/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkoum/ 

WhatsApp

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! <a href="https://glow.fm/acquired/" rel= "payment">https://glow.fm/acquired/</a> (works best on mobile)  You can hear a preview of our most recent LP show, an interview with Webflow cofounder and CEO Vlad Magdalin, at the end of this episode. To get access to the rest of that conversation and many more with top founders, operators and investors, click the link to subscribe and become an Acquired LP.   Season 5, Episode 10: The Lean Startup and the Long-Term Stock Exchange (with Eric Ries) Acquired closes out Season 5 and 2019 with a radical look into both the past and future decades of startup company building, investing and - yes, exiting - in conversation with legendary Lean Startup author Eric Ries. Nine years on from pioneering the now-canonical concepts of product-market fit, minimum viable products, and pivots during the aftermath of the financial crisis, Eric’s new venture at the Long-Term Stock Exchange represents an equally ambitious attempt to rewrite the orthodoxy of how companies and their investors manage liquidity, governance and alignment around longterm value creation. Like Lean Startup a decade before it, can LTSE help address some of the endemic problems in this generation’s startup ecosystem — excessive capital raising, stay-private-longer, dual-class founder hegemony, extreme illiquidity and quarterly earnings myopia? Tune in to find out! Sponsor: <ul> <li>Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring all of Acquired Season 5. You can get in touch with Lewis Hower, who you heard at the beginning of this podcast, here: <a href="http://bit.ly/2SCsbbs">http://bit.ly/2SCsbbs</a></li> </ul>

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! https://glow.fm/acquired/ (works best on mobile)  You can hear a preview of our most recent LP show, an interview with Webflow cofounder and CEO Vlad Magdalin, at the end of this episode. To get access to the rest of that conversation and many more with top founders, operators and investors, click the link to subscribe and become an Acquired LP.   Season 5, Episode 10: The Lean Startup and the Long-Term Stock Exchange (with Eric Ries) Acquired closes out Season 5 and 2019 with a radical look into both the past and future decades of startup company building, investing and - yes, exiting - in conversation with legendary Lean Startup author Eric Ries. Nine years on from pioneering the now-canonical concepts of product-market fit, minimum viable products, and pivots during the aftermath of the financial crisis, Eric’s new venture at the Long-Term Stock Exchange represents an equally ambitious attempt to rewrite the orthodoxy of how companies and their investors manage liquidity, governance and alignment around longterm value creation. Like Lean Startup a decade before it, can LTSE help address some of the endemic problems in this generation’s startup ecosystem — excessive capital raising, stay-private-longer, dual-class founder hegemony, extreme illiquidity and quarterly earnings myopia? Tune in to find out! Sponsor: Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring all of Acquired Season 5. You can get in touch with Lewis Hower, who you heard at the beginning of this podcast, here: http://bit.ly/2SCsbbs 

The Lean Startup and the Long-Term Stock Exchange (with Eric Ries)

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! <a href= "https://glow.fm/acquired/" rel= "payment">https://glow.fm/acquired/</a> (works best on mobile) Coming to you live from the University of Washington, Ben and David are joined by hundreds of awesome Seattle listeners (and a few non-Seattle listeners!) to cover the meteoric rise of trucking industry disruptor and hometown hero Convoy. How did Dan and Convoy go from nervously conducting market research at truck stops on I-5 to one of the largest logistics companies and fastest-growing startups in the world in just four short years, raising over $650m (not a typo) along the way? Tune in to find out! Special thank you to the Paul Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington and to Pioneer Square Labs for generously sponsoring the show venue.    Carveouts:  <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Mystery: <a href= "https://mystery.sh/">https://mystery.sh</a> </li> </ul> Sponsor:  <ul> <li>Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring all of Acquired Season 5. You can get in touch with Minh Le, who you heard at the beginning of this podcast, here: <a href="http://bit.ly/2txmq4e">http://bit.ly/2txmq4e</a></li> </ul>

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! https://glow.fm/acquired/ (works best on mobile) Coming to you live from the University of Washington, Ben and David are joined by hundreds of awesome Seattle listeners (and a few non-Seattle listeners!) to cover the meteoric rise of trucking industry disruptor and hometown hero Convoy. How did Dan and Convoy go from nervously conducting market research at truck stops on I-5 to one of the largest logistics companies and fastest-growing startups in the world in just four short years, raising over $650m (not a typo) along the way? Tune in to find out! Special thank you to the Paul Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington and to Pioneer Square Labs for generously sponsoring the show venue.    Carveouts:  Mystery: https://mystery.sh  Sponsor:  Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring all of Acquired Season 5. You can get in touch with Minh Le, who you heard at the beginning of this podcast, here: http://bit.ly/2txmq4e 

Convoy (with CEO Dan Lewis)

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! <a href= "https://glow.fm/acquired/" rel= "payment">https://glow.fm/acquired/</a> (works best on mobile)   Attend the Seattle Live Show with Dan Lewis, Co-Founder and CEO of Convoy: <a href= "http://acquired.fm/liveshow">http://acquired.fm/liveshow</a>    We take Acquired to the Old Town Road to cover the amazing story behind the biggest global sensation of 2019 — and the highest valued private startup in the world — TikTok. How did a mid-30 year old UX architect at enterprise software giant SAP wind up creating Gen Z’s favorite social app that’s now rivaling Instagram in global MAU? Why is a 2017 merger of two Chinese companies being branded a US national security threat and retroactively placed under review by CFIUS? And perhaps most importantly, why is TikTok such an important product & technology innovation that all of us should be learning from? Tune in for all the answers!   Carve Outs: <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Ben: Track 34 on Ghosts IV by Nine Inch Nails: <a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF_ceFugJjQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF_ceFugJjQ</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">David: Nintendo Switch Lite <a href= "https://www.nintendo.com/switch/lite/">https://www.nintendo.com/switch/lite/</a> and Knives Out <a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGqiHJTsRkQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGqiHJTsRkQ</a> </li> </ul>   Sponsor: <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring all of Acquired Season 5. You can get in touch with Dan Hardman, who you heard at the beginning of this podcast, here: <a href="http://bit.ly/35yIrNH">http://bit.ly/35yIrNH</a></li> </ul>   Sources: <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/18/technology/tiktok-alex-zhu-interview.html"> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/18/technology/tiktok-alex-zhu-interview.html</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bytedance-tiktok-exclusive/exclusive-chinas-bytedance-moves-to-ringfence-its-tiktok-app-amid-u-s-probe-sources-idUSKBN1Y10OH"> https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bytedance-tiktok-exclusive/exclusive-chinas-bytedance-moves-to-ringfence-its-tiktok-app-amid-u-s-probe-sources-idUSKBN1Y10OH</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/10/arts/TIK-TOK.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article"> https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/10/arts/TIK-TOK.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/19/style/high-school-tiktok-clubs.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article"> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/19/style/high-school-tiktok-clubs.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/technology/tiktok-facebook-youtube.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article"> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/technology/tiktok-facebook-youtube.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/business/china-toutiao-censorship.html"> https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/business/china-toutiao-censorship.html</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/17/business/media/a-social-network-frequented-by-children-tests-the-limits-of-online-regulation.html"> https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/17/business/media/a-social-network-frequented-by-children-tests-the-limits-of-online-regulation.html</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTyg2E44pBA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTyg2E44pBA</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.linkedin.com/in/keepsilence/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/keepsilence/</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/12/10/18129126/tiktok-app-musically-meme-cringe"> https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/12/10/18129126/tiktok-app-musically-meme-cringe</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2018/1/26/16937712/karma-is-a-bitch-riverdale-kreayshawn-meme"> https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2018/1/26/16937712/karma-is-a-bitch-riverdale-kreayshawn-meme</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/2/17644260/musically-rebrand-tiktok-bytedance-douyin"> https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/2/17644260/musically-rebrand-tiktok-bytedance-douyin</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/tiktok-video-app-growth-867587/"> https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/tiktok-video-app-growth-867587/</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical.ly">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical.ly</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ByteDance">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ByteDance</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TikTok#cite_note-TechCrunch-32"> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TikTok</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-musically-2016-5"> https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-musically-2016-5</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://supchina.com/2017/09/13/can-pop-music-connect-teens-china-world-musical-ly-co-founder-louis-yang-wants-find/"> https://supchina.com/2017/09/13/can-pop-music-connect-teens-china-world-musical-ly-co-founder-louis-yang-wants-find/</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://supchina.com/podcast/ep-28-the-worlds-most-valuable-startup-bytedance-maker-of-tiktok-toutiao/"> https://supchina.com/podcast/ep-28-the-worlds-most-valuable-startup-bytedance-maker-of-tiktok-toutiao/</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://supchina.com/podcast/ep-55-kuaishou-the-anti-douyin-tiktok/"> https://supchina.com/podcast/ep-55-kuaishou-the-anti-douyin-tiktok/</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://supchina.com/podcast/ep-56-not-just-tiktok-a-short-history-of-chinese-short-video-abroad/"> https://supchina.com/podcast/ep-56-not-just-tiktok-a-short-history-of-chinese-short-video-abroad/</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://supchina.com/2019/09/25/the-difference-between-tiktok-and-douyin/"> https://supchina.com/2019/09/25/the-difference-between-tiktok-and-douyin/</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://pandaily.com/toutiaos-buy-1b-purchase-musical-ly/"> https://pandaily.com/toutiaos-buy-1b-purchase-musical-ly/</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-internet-livestreaming-idUSKBN17E0EV"> https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-internet-livestreaming-idUSKBN17E0EV</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTyg2E44pBA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTyg2E44pBA</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey15v81pwII">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey15v81pwII</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3038639/alex-zhus-journey-failed-startup-tiktok-chief"> https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3038639/alex-zhus-journey-failed-startup-tiktok-chief</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/zuckerberg-musically-tiktok-china-facebook"> https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/zuckerberg-musically-tiktok-china-facebook</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/12/instagram-reels/">https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/12/instagram-reels/</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.techinasia.com/douyin-rise-in-china">https://www.techinasia.com/douyin-rise-in-china</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptKqFafZgCk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptKqFafZgCk</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://technode.com/2017/05/17/kwai-kuaishou-chinas-biggest-social-video-sharing-app/"> https://technode.com/2017/05/17/kwai-kuaishou-chinas-biggest-social-video-sharing-app/</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://technode.com/2018/05/10/how-douyin-became-the-most-popular-app-in-the-world/"> https://technode.com/2018/05/10/how-douyin-became-the-most-popular-app-in-the-world/</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://blog.ycombinator.com/the-hidden-forces-behind-toutiao-chinas-content-king/"> https://blog.ycombinator.com/the-hidden-forces-behind-toutiao-chinas-content-king/</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.techinasia.com/douyin-rise-in-china">https://www.techinasia.com/douyin-rise-in-china</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics">https://www.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://wallaroomedia.com/blog/social-media/tiktok-statistics/"> https://wallaroomedia.com/blog/social-media/tiktok-statistics/</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "http://money.com/money/5497929/how-tiktok-makes-money-tiktok-owner/"> http://money.com/money/5497929/how-tiktok-makes-money-tiktok-owner/</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/104b-goliath-the-unknown-35-year-old-behind-the-world-s-most-valuable-startup-20181001-p5072r.html"> https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/104b-goliath-the-unknown-35-year-old-behind-the-world-s-most-valuable-startup-20181001-p5072r.html</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://medium.com/@mattprd/how-tiktok-is-changing-the-world-and-youre-missing-it-fa283338649a"> https://medium.com/@mattprd/how-tiktok-is-changing-the-world-and-youre-missing-it-fa283338649a</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bytedance-musically/chinas-bytedance-scrubs-musical-ly-brand-in-favor-of-tiktok-idUSKBN1KN0BW"> https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bytedance-musically/chinas-bytedance-scrubs-musical-ly-brand-in-favor-of-tiktok-idUSKBN1KN0BW</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/10/25/is-snap-getting-too-cozy-with-bytedances-tiktok.aspx"> https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/10/25/is-snap-getting-too-cozy-with-bytedances-tiktok.aspx</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.eugenewei.com/blog/2019/2/19/status-as-a-service"> https://www.eugenewei.com/blog/2019/2/19/status-as-a-service</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/30/how-tiktok-holds-our-attention"> https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/30/how-tiktok-holds-our-attention</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/10/style/what-is-tik-tok.html"> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/10/style/what-is-tik-tok.html</a></li> </ul>

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! https://glow.fm/acquired/ (works best on mobile)   Attend the Seattle Live Show with Dan Lewis, Co-Founder and CEO of Convoy: http://acquired.fm/liveshow    We take Acquired to the Old Town Road to cover the amazing story behind the biggest global sensation of 2019 — and the highest valued private startup in the world — TikTok. How did a mid-30 year old UX architect at enterprise software giant SAP wind up creating Gen Z’s favorite social app that’s now rivaling Instagram in global MAU? Why is a 2017 merger of two Chinese companies being branded a US national security threat and retroactively placed under review by CFIUS? And perhaps most importantly, why is TikTok such an important product & technology innovation that all of us should be learning from? Tune in for all the answers!   Carve Outs: Ben: Track 34 on Ghosts IV by Nine Inch Nails: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF_ceFugJjQ  David: Nintendo Switch Lite https://www.nintendo.com/switch/lite/ and Knives Out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGqiHJTsRkQ    Sponsor: Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring all of Acquired Season 5. You can get in touch with Dan Hardman, who you heard at the beginning of this podcast, here: http://bit.ly/35yIrNH   Sources: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/18/technology/tiktok-alex-zhu-interview.html  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bytedance-tiktok-exclusive/exclusive-chinas-bytedance-moves-to-ringfence-its-tiktok-app-amid-u-s-probe-sources-idUSKBN1Y10OH  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/10/arts/TIK-TOK.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/19/style/high-school-tiktok-clubs.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/technology/tiktok-facebook-youtube.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/business/china-toutiao-censorship.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/17/business/media/a-social-network-frequented-by-children-tests-the-limits-of-online-regulation.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTyg2E44pBA https://www.linkedin.com/in/keepsilence/ https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/12/10/18129126/tiktok-app-musically-meme-cringe https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2018/1/26/16937712/karma-is-a-bitch-riverdale-kreayshawn-meme https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/2/17644260/musically-rebrand-tiktok-bytedance-douyin https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/tiktok-video-app-growth-867587/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical.ly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ByteDance  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TikTok https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-musically-2016-5  https://supchina.com/2017/09/13/can-pop-music-connect-teens-china-world-musical-ly-co-founder-louis-yang-wants-find/  https://supchina.com/podcast/ep-28-the-worlds-most-valuable-startup-bytedance-maker-of-tiktok-toutiao/ https://supchina.com/podcast/ep-55-kuaishou-the-anti-douyin-tiktok/ https://supchina.com/podcast/ep-56-not-just-tiktok-a-short-history-of-chinese-short-video-abroad/  https://supchina.com/2019/09/25/the-difference-between-tiktok-and-douyin/  https://pandaily.com/toutiaos-buy-1b-purchase-musical-ly/  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-internet-livestreaming-idUSKBN17E0EV  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTyg2E44pBA  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey15v81pwII  https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3038639/alex-zhus-journey-failed-startup-tiktok-chief  https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/zuckerberg-musically-tiktok-china-facebook  https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/12/instagram-reels/  https://www.techinasia.com/douyin-rise-in-china  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptKqFafZgCk  https://technode.com/2017/05/17/kwai-kuaishou-chinas-biggest-social-video-sharing-app/  https://technode.com/2018/05/10/how-douyin-became-the-most-popular-app-in-the-world/  https://blog.ycombinator.com/the-hidden-forces-behind-toutiao-chinas-content-king/  https://www.techinasia.com/douyin-rise-in-china  https://www.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics  https://wallaroomedia.com/blog/social-media/tiktok-statistics/  http://money.com/money/5497929/how-tiktok-makes-money-tiktok-owner/ https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/104b-goliath-the-unknown-35-year-old-behind-the-world-s-most-valuable-startup-20181001-p5072r.html https://medium.com/@mattprd/how-tiktok-is-changing-the-world-and-youre-missing-it-fa283338649a https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bytedance-musically/chinas-bytedance-scrubs-musical-ly-brand-in-favor-of-tiktok-idUSKBN1KN0BW https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/10/25/is-snap-getting-too-cozy-with-bytedances-tiktok.aspx https://www.eugenewei.com/blog/2019/2/19/status-as-a-service https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/30/how-tiktok-holds-our-attention https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/10/style/what-is-tik-tok.html 

TikTok

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! <a href="https://glow.fm/acquired/" rel= "payment">https://glow.fm/acquired/</a> (works best on mobile) Attend the Seattle Live Show with Dan Lewis, Co-Founder and CEO of Convoy! <a href= "http://acquired.fm/liveshow">http://acquired.fm/liveshow</a>   The Flywheel is strong with this one. We dive deep into the origins of one of the boldest business strategy decisions of our time: Disney CEO Bob Iger’s attempt to buck the Innovator’s Dilemma - and forego billions of dollars in cashflow from Netflix and pay TV providers - in order to establish a direct distribution relationship with its customers for the first time in the company’s history. Is this the force awakening within the house that Walt built, or a phantom menace that will drag Disney to the dark side of unprofitability? Tune in to find out!   Links: <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-Annual-Report.pdf"> https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-Annual-Report.pdf</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/wp-content/uploads/q4-fy17-earnings-transcript.pdf"> https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/wp-content/uploads/q4-fy17-earnings-transcript.pdf</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/q4-fy19-earnings.pdf"> https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/q4-fy19-earnings.pdf</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">The Disney flywheel: <a href= "https://kottke.org/15/06/walt-disneys-corporate-strategy-chart"> https://kottke.org/15/06/walt-disneys-corporate-strategy-chart</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><img src= "https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/show/81165/E1A2D8B9-3CAD-47D9-8C9A-4E6D8A8A27C8.jpeg" alt="The Disney Flywheel" width="600" height="525" /></li> </ul>   Sources:  <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;">The Ride of a Lifetime by Bob Iger: <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/Ride-Lifetime-Lessons-Learned-Company-ebook/dp/B07PF6XTD8"> https://www.amazon.com/Ride-Lifetime-Lessons-Learned-Company-ebook/dp/B07PF6XTD8</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/22/style/disney-bob-iger-book.html"> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/22/style/disney-bob-iger-book.html</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Iger">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Iger</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/bob-iger-bets-company-hollywood-s-future-streaming-1247663"> https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/bob-iger-bets-company-hollywood-s-future-streaming-1247663</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-kevin-mayer-deliver-the-future-of-disney-11573272027"> https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-kevin-mayer-deliver-the-future-of-disney-11573272027</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-11-07/inside-disney-bob-iger-on-star-wars-pixar-and-more"> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-11-07/inside-disney-bob-iger-on-star-wars-pixar-and-more</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><a href= "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bob-iger-the-ride-of-a-lifetime/id1264843400?i=1000451721143"> https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bob-iger-the-ride-of-a-lifetime/id1264843400?i=1000451721143</a> </li> </ul>   Carveouts:  <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;">David: The Ride of a Lifetime</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Ben: The Imagineering Story on Disney+: <a href= "https://www.disneyplus.com/series/the-imagineering-story/6ryoXv1e1rWW"> https://www.disneyplus.com/series/the-imagineering-story/6ryoXv1e1rWW</a></li> </ul>   Sponsor:  Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring all of Acquired Season 5. You can get in touch with Dan Hardman, who you heard at the beginning of this podcast, here: <a href="http://bit.ly/35yIrNH">http://bit.ly/35yIrNH</a>

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! https://glow.fm/acquired/ (works best on mobile) Attend the Seattle Live Show with Dan Lewis, Co-Founder and CEO of Convoy! http://acquired.fm/liveshow   The Flywheel is strong with this one. We dive deep into the origins of one of the boldest business strategy decisions of our time: Disney CEO Bob Iger’s attempt to buck the Innovator’s Dilemma - and forego billions of dollars in cashflow from Netflix and pay TV providers - in order to establish a direct distribution relationship with its customers for the first time in the company’s history. Is this the force awakening within the house that Walt built, or a phantom menace that will drag Disney to the dark side of unprofitability? Tune in to find out!   Links: https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/2018-Annual-Report.pdf https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/wp-content/uploads/q4-fy17-earnings-transcript.pdf https://www.thewaltdisneycompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/q4-fy19-earnings.pdf The Disney flywheel: https://kottke.org/15/06/walt-disneys-corporate-strategy-chart    Sources:  The Ride of a Lifetime by Bob Iger: https://www.amazon.com/Ride-Lifetime-Lessons-Learned-Company-ebook/dp/B07PF6XTD8 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/22/style/disney-bob-iger-book.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Iger https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/bob-iger-bets-company-hollywood-s-future-streaming-1247663  https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-kevin-mayer-deliver-the-future-of-disney-11573272027  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-11-07/inside-disney-bob-iger-on-star-wars-pixar-and-more  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bob-iger-the-ride-of-a-lifetime/id1264843400?i=1000451721143    Carveouts:  David: The Ride of a Lifetime Ben: The Imagineering Story on Disney+: https://www.disneyplus.com/series/the-imagineering-story/6ryoXv1e1rWW   Sponsor:  Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring all of Acquired Season 5. You can get in touch with Dan Hardman, who you heard at the beginning of this podcast, here: http://bit.ly/35yIrNH

Disney, Plus

We're loading up the Acquired live experience and trucking north (for David at least) for our first independent live show in Seattle! Hot on the heels of the company's recent $400m fundraise at a $2.7B valuation, we'll be joined by Convoy CEO Dan Lewis to dive deep into the origins of this massive transportation logistics disruptor.  Register to attend here: <a href= "http://acquired.fm/liveshow">http://acquired.fm/liveshow</a> Date: December 17th, 2019 Time: 5:00-8:00pm (subject to change) Location: TBD, Seattle Hope to see many of you there! -Ben & David

We're loading up the Acquired live experience and trucking north (for David at least) for our first independent live show in Seattle! Hot on the heels of the company's recent $400m fundraise at a $2.7B valuation, we'll be joined by Convoy CEO Dan Lewis to dive deep into the origins of this massive transportation logistics disruptor.  Register to attend here: http://acquired.fm/liveshow Date: December 17th, 2019 Time: 5:00-8:00pm (subject to change) Location: TBD, Seattle Hope to see many of you there! -Ben & David

Seattle Live Show Announcement: Convoy!

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! <a href="https://glow.fm/acquired/" rel= "payment">https://glow.fm/acquired/</a> (works best on mobile) On this episode of the Limited Partner bonus show, we are joined by Chetan Puttagunta, General Partner on Benchmark, talking his investment philosophies, enterprise technology trends, and the uniqueness of Benchmark. How is this firm with only five partners and no associates so repeatably successful? Chetan shares the story of his very first investment, MongoDB, and lessons learned from his other investments and board positions in Elastic, Sketch, Duffel, Mulesoft, and many others. Chetan also helps us understand how he balances staying open-minded enough to let founders shape his vision of the future (and not the other way around), while staying educated on areas where he thinks the future is bright. This episode is a preview of the hour-long LP-only show.

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! https://glow.fm/acquired/ (works best on mobile) On this episode of the Limited Partner bonus show, we are joined by Chetan Puttagunta, General Partner on Benchmark, talking his investment philosophies, enterprise technology trends, and the uniqueness of Benchmark. How is this firm with only five partners and no associates so repeatably successful? Chetan shares the story of his very first investment, MongoDB, and lessons learned from his other investments and board positions in Elastic, Sketch, Duffel, Mulesoft, and many others. Chetan also helps us understand how he balances staying open-minded enough to let founders shape his vision of the future (and not the other way around), while staying educated on areas where he thinks the future is bright. This episode is a preview of the hour-long LP-only show.

LP Show Preview: Chetan Puttagunta, General Partner at Benchmark

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! <a href="https://glow.fm/acquired/" rel= "payment">https://glow.fm/acquired/</a> (works best on mobile)   It’s an IPO, it’s a bailout, it’s an... acquisition? We’re joined by the one and only Dan Primack from Axios to recount the epic saga of the We Company in all its tragic glory. How did this business somehow go from chopping up commercial real estate to elevating global consciousness to rewarding its ousted CEO with a $1.7B “platinum parachute”, all while the company can’t afford severance for thousands of soon-to-be laid-off employees? Where did it all go wrong? And most importantly, who gets the Gulfstream G650??   Sponsor:  Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring all of Acquired Season 5. You can get in touch with Claire Lee, who you heard at the beginning of this podcast, here: <a href="http://bit.ly/2pPSyy2">http://bit.ly/2pPSyy2</a> and read 2019’s Startup Outlook report here: <a href= "https://www.svb.com/startup-outlook-report-2019">https://www.svb.com/startup-outlook-report-2019</a> and take this year’s survey here: <a href="http://bit.ly/2BFneEK">http://bit.ly/2BFneEK</a>

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! https://glow.fm/acquired/ (works best on mobile)   It’s an IPO, it’s a bailout, it’s an... acquisition? We’re joined by the one and only Dan Primack from Axios to recount the epic saga of the We Company in all its tragic glory. How did this business somehow go from chopping up commercial real estate to elevating global consciousness to rewarding its ousted CEO with a $1.7B “platinum parachute”, all while the company can’t afford severance for thousands of soon-to-be laid-off employees? Where did it all go wrong? And most importantly, who gets the Gulfstream G650??   Sponsor:  Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring all of Acquired Season 5. You can get in touch with Claire Lee, who you heard at the beginning of this podcast, here: http://bit.ly/2pPSyy2 and read 2019’s Startup Outlook report here: https://www.svb.com/startup-outlook-report-2019 and take this year’s survey here: http://bit.ly/2BFneEK 

The WeWork “Acquisition” (with Dan Primack)

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! <a href="https://glow.fm/acquired/" rel= "payment">https://glow.fm/acquired/</a> (works best on mobile)   We’re joined by the legendary Nolan Bushnell, founder not only of Atari, but also the only person ever to hire Steve Jobs, the recipient of Sequoia Capital’s first-ever investment, and the creator of Chuck E. Cheese, the canonical GPS navigation arrow, and a little project that would go on to become Pixar. We cover it all in this special episode!   Links: <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Spacewar!, the first video game: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacewar!">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacewar!</a> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">The meaning of Atari: <a href= "https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/atari">https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/atari</a></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Nolan’s current project, St. Noire: <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/St-Noire-Hosted-Cinematic-Exclusive/dp/B07P693BG1"> https://www.amazon.com/St-Noire-Hosted-Cinematic-Exclusive/dp/B07P693BG1</a></li> </ul>   Sponsor: <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;">Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring all of Acquired Season 5. You can get in touch with Al Guerrero, who you heard at the beginning of this podcast, here: <a href="https://bit.ly/2AjQZtJ">https://bit.ly/2AjQZtJ</a> and read his Medium posts on eSports here: <a href= "https://medium.com/@alguerrero1111/why-venture-capital-is-flooding-into-esports-teams-ba179d9fc428"> https://medium.com/@alguerrero1111/why-venture-capital-is-flooding-into-esports-teams-ba179d9fc428</a> and mobile gaming here <a href= "https://medium.com/@alguerrero1111/mobile-gaming-founders-blazing-new-trails-3ac12be54e36"> https://medium.com/@alguerrero1111/mobile-gaming-founders-blazing-new-trails-3ac12be54e36</a> </li> </ul>

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! https://glow.fm/acquired/ (works best on mobile)   We’re joined by the legendary Nolan Bushnell, founder not only of Atari, but also the only person ever to hire Steve Jobs, the recipient of Sequoia Capital’s first-ever investment, and the creator of Chuck E. Cheese, the canonical GPS navigation arrow, and a little project that would go on to become Pixar. We cover it all in this special episode!   Links: Spacewar!, the first video game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacewar!  The meaning of Atari: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/atari Nolan’s current project, St. Noire: https://www.amazon.com/St-Noire-Hosted-Cinematic-Exclusive/dp/B07P693BG1   Sponsor: Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring all of Acquired Season 5. You can get in touch with Al Guerrero, who you heard at the beginning of this podcast, here: https://bit.ly/2AjQZtJ and read his Medium posts on eSports here: https://medium.com/@alguerrero1111/why-venture-capital-is-flooding-into-esports-teams-ba179d9fc428 and mobile gaming here https://medium.com/@alguerrero1111/mobile-gaming-founders-blazing-new-trails-3ac12be54e36  

Season 5, Episode 5: Atari (with Nolan Bushnell)

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! <a href="https://glow.fm/acquired/" rel= "payment">https://glow.fm/acquired/</a> (works best on mobile)   Acquired dives into the history behind storied venture firm Sequoia Capital and its legendary founder, Don Valentine. Part 1 tells Don’s story, starting from humble beginnings born to uneducated parents in Yonkers, NY, through shaping the fabric of Silicon Valley first as head of Sales & Marketing at both Fairchild and National Semiconductor, and then for generations to come via his pioneering concept of “company building” at Sequoia Capital. No matter where you sit in the ecosystem today, Don and the companies he helped build laid the foundation for nearly everything technology has become over the past 60 years.   Links: <ul> <li>Silicon Valley’s “Traitorous Eight”: <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traitorous_eight">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traitorous_eight</a></li> <li>Don Valentine’s lecture at Stanford GSB: <a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKN-abRJMEw&t=2555s">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKN-abRJMEw&t=2555s</a></li> <li>Berkeley’s oral history with Don: <a href= "http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/roho/ucb/text/valentine_donald.pdf"> http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/roho/ucb/text/valentine_donald.pdf</a></li> </ul>   Carve Outs: <ul> <li>Ben: The Business Roundtable on The Daily: <a href= "https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/21/podcasts/the-daily/business-roundtable-corporate-responsibility.html"> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/21/podcasts/the-daily/business-roundtable-corporate-responsibility.html</a></li> <li>David: Amazon Music on 25 years of “Ready to Die”: <a href= "https://youtu.be/Dsna1nIZzB4">https://youtu.be/Dsna1nIZzB4</a></li> </ul>   Sponsor: <ul> <li>Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring Acquired Season 5. You can learn more about SVB here: <a href= "https://www.svb.com/next">https://www.svb.com/next</a></li> </ul>   Sources: <ul> <li><a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traitorous_eight">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traitorous_eight</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Silicon-Valley-Shockley-racist-semiconductor-lab-13164228.php"> https://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Silicon-Valley-Shockley-racist-semiconductor-lab-13164228.php</a></li> <li><a href= "https://signallake.com/innovation/Valentine101409.pdf">https://signallake.com/innovation/Valentine101409.pdf</a></li> <li><a href= "http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/roho/ucb/text/valentine_donald.pdf"> http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/roho/ucb/text/valentine_donald.pdf</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.amazon.com/dp/0875849385/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_ZB8IDb7NNAFAH"> https://www.amazon.com/dp/0875849385/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_ZB8IDb7NNAFAH</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.amazon.com/Troublemakers-Silicon-Valleys-Coming-Age-ebook/dp/B06ZZ1YDTX/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr="> https://www.amazon.com/Troublemakers-Silicon-Valleys-Coming-Age-ebook/dp/B06ZZ1YDTX/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.scaruffi.com/svhistory/arun3.html">https://www.scaruffi.com/svhistory/arun3.html</a></li> <li><a href= "http://www.ianhathaway.org/blog/2019/7/31/vc-an-american-history">http://www.ianhathaway.org/blog/2019/7/31/vc-an-american-history</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.axios.com/sequoia-capital-shakes-up-leadership-1513300220-7d255e34-f4bf-4178-af62-ec68023726e3.html"> https://www.axios.com/sequoia-capital-shakes-up-leadership-1513300220-7d255e34-f4bf-4178-af62-ec68023726e3.html</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.slideshare.net/lebret/a-history-of-venture-capital-lebret-vers-11"> https://www.slideshare.net/lebret/a-history-of-venture-capital-lebret-vers-11</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=47240">https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=47240</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.inc.com/magazine/19850501/7289_pagen_5.html">https://www.inc.com/magazine/19850501/7289_pagen_5.html</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.amazon.com/VC-American-History-Tom-Nicholas-ebook/dp/B07QV2YM3X/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr="> https://www.amazon.com/VC-American-History-Tom-Nicholas-ebook/dp/B07QV2YM3X/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=</a></li> <li><a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKN-abRJMEw&t=2555s">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKN-abRJMEw&t=2555s</a></li> </ul>

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! https://glow.fm/acquired/ (works best on mobile)   Acquired dives into the history behind storied venture firm Sequoia Capital and its legendary founder, Don Valentine. Part 1 tells Don’s story, starting from humble beginnings born to uneducated parents in Yonkers, NY, through shaping the fabric of Silicon Valley first as head of Sales & Marketing at both Fairchild and National Semiconductor, and then for generations to come via his pioneering concept of “company building” at Sequoia Capital. No matter where you sit in the ecosystem today, Don and the companies he helped build laid the foundation for nearly everything technology has become over the past 60 years.   Links: Silicon Valley’s “Traitorous Eight”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traitorous_eight Don Valentine’s lecture at Stanford GSB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKN-abRJMEw&t=2555s Berkeley’s oral history with Don: http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/roho/ucb/text/valentine_donald.pdf   Carve Outs: Ben: The Business Roundtable on The Daily: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/21/podcasts/the-daily/business-roundtable-corporate-responsibility.html David: Amazon Music on 25 years of “Ready to Die”: https://youtu.be/Dsna1nIZzB4   Sponsor: Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring Acquired Season 5. You can learn more about SVB here: https://www.svb.com/next   Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traitorous_eight https://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Silicon-Valley-Shockley-racist-semiconductor-lab-13164228.php https://signallake.com/innovation/Valentine101409.pdf http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/roho/ucb/text/valentine_donald.pdf https://www.amazon.com/dp/0875849385/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_ZB8IDb7NNAFAH https://www.amazon.com/Troublemakers-Silicon-Valleys-Coming-Age-ebook/dp/B06ZZ1YDTX/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= https://www.scaruffi.com/svhistory/arun3.html http://www.ianhathaway.org/blog/2019/7/31/vc-an-american-history https://www.axios.com/sequoia-capital-shakes-up-leadership-1513300220-7d255e34-f4bf-4178-af62-ec68023726e3.html https://www.slideshare.net/lebret/a-history-of-venture-capital-lebret-vers-11 https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=47240 https://www.inc.com/magazine/19850501/7289_pagen_5.html https://www.amazon.com/VC-American-History-Tom-Nicholas-ebook/dp/B07QV2YM3X/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKN-abRJMEw&t=2555s 

Sequoia Capital (Part 1)

Special announcement: we're hosting a meetup in San Francisco! It's been too long and and we can't wait to see many of you. It will be Wednesday, September 25 2019, exact time and location TBD but likely starting at 6pm. You can register at <a href= "https://www.acquired.fm/meetup">https://www.acquired.fm/meetup</a>  The event is free, but space will be limited so please only register if you know you can make it.  Hope to see many of you there! -Ben and David

Special announcement: we're hosting a meetup in San Francisco! It's been too long and and we can't wait to see many of you. It will be Wednesday, September 25 2019, exact time and location TBD but likely starting at 6pm. You can register at https://www.acquired.fm/meetup  The event is free, but space will be limited so please only register if you know you can make it.  Hope to see many of you there! -Ben and David 

San Francisco Meetup Announcement!

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! <a href="https://glow.fm/acquired/" rel= "payment">https://glow.fm/acquired/</a> (works best on mobile)   Ben and David cover the series of three 2004 Google acquisitions that formed the core of Google Maps as we know and love it today: Where 2 Technologies, Keyhole and ZipDash. From nearly zero adoption between the three companies at the time of acquisition to well over 1 billion users today, does Google Maps merit admission to the hallowed Acquired A+ pantheon? Tune in to find out!   Links: <ul> <li dir="ltr"> Bret Taylor on “Satellite Mode”: <a href= "https://twitter.com/btaylor/status/1099370126678253569?lang=en">https://twitter.com/btaylor/status/1099370126678253569?lang=en</a>  </li> <li dir="ltr"> Justin O’Beirne’s great pieces on Apple vs Google maps: <a href= "https://www.justinobeirne.com/">https://www.justinobeirne.com</a>  </li> </ul>   Carve Outs: <ul> <li dir="ltr"> Ben: Marc Andreessen on The Moment with Brian Koppelman: <a href= "https://overcast.fm/+BgXAjz54o">https://overcast.fm/+BgXAjz54o</a> </li> <li dir="ltr"> David: The Expanse books: <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077L6GJWW/">https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077L6GJWW/</a>  </li> </ul>   Sponsor: Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring Acquired Season 5. You can learn more about SVB here: <a href= "https://www.svb.com/next">https://www.svb.com/next</a> and get in touch with Matt Trotter here: <a href= "https://www.svb.com/profile/matt-trotter">https://www.svb.com/profile/matt-trotter</a>

Join the Acquired Limited Partner program! https://glow.fm/acquired/ (works best on mobile)   Ben and David cover the series of three 2004 Google acquisitions that formed the core of Google Maps as we know and love it today: Where 2 Technologies, Keyhole and ZipDash. From nearly zero adoption between the three companies at the time of acquisition to well over 1 billion users today, does Google Maps merit admission to the hallowed Acquired A+ pantheon? Tune in to find out!   Links: Bret Taylor on “Satellite Mode”: https://twitter.com/btaylor/status/1099370126678253569?lang=en  Justin O’Beirne’s great pieces on Apple vs Google maps: https://www.justinobeirne.com    Carve Outs: Ben: Marc Andreessen on The Moment with Brian Koppelman: https://overcast.fm/+BgXAjz54o David: The Expanse books: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077L6GJWW/    Sponsor: Thanks to Silicon Valley Bank for sponsoring Acquired Season 5. You can learn more about SVB here: https://www.svb.com/next and get in touch with Matt Trotter here: https://www.svb.com/profile/matt-trotter

Google Maps

Acquired goes behind the scenes of the best (and worst) acquisitions and IPOs of all time. From the Instagram A+'s to the AOL-Time Warner fails, what can we learn from their journeys and apply to our own organizations and careers in business and in tech?

hubhopper

Acquired

hubhopper