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Acquired

By: Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal
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  • Summary

  • Every company has a story. Learn the playbooks that built the world’s greatest companies — and how you can apply them as a founder, operator, or investor.
    Copyright 2023 ACQ, LLC
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Episodes
  • Microsoft

    Microsoft
    Apr 22 2024

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

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

    Sponsors:

    Many thanks to our fantastic Season 14 partners:

    • J.P. Morgan Payments
    • ServiceNow
    • Pilot

    Links:

    • Congress changing copyright law in 1980 to include “computer programs”
    • Acquired “classic” on Microsoft’s 1987 acquisition of Forethought / PowerPoint
    • All episode sources

    Carve Outs:

    • LGR
    • André 3000’s new album + GQ Interview
    • Meta Ray-Bans
    • Visual Designer Julia Rundberg
    • Summer Health

    More Acquired:

    • Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
    • Join the Slack
    • Subscribe to ACQ2
    • Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store!

    Note: references to Fortune in ServiceNow sponsor sections are from Fortune ©2023. Used under license.


    ‍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.
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    4 hrs and 23 mins
  • Renaissance Technologies

    Renaissance Technologies
    Mar 18 2024

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

    Sponsors:

    Many thanks to our fantastic Season 14 partners:

    • J.P. Morgan Payments
    • ServiceNow
    • Vanta

    Links:

    • The Man Who Solved the Market
    • The Quants
    • Bloomberg’s 2016 RenTec profile
    • Quartr's visualization of RenTec's returns
    • All episode sources

    Carve Outs:

    • Modern Treasury’s Transfer Conference Registration
    • The New Look
    • Cole Haan x Acquired!
    • Class of Palm Beach (and the Mini Kelly inside the Birkin!!)

    More Acquired:

    • Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
    • Join the Slack
    • Subscribe to ACQ2
    • Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store!

    Note: references to Fortune in ServiceNow sponsor sections are from Fortune ©2023. Used under license.


    ‍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.
    Show More Show Less
    3 hrs and 10 mins
  • Hermès

    Hermès
    Feb 20 2024
    In luxury, there’s Hermès… and there’s everyone else. Stewarded by one French family over six generations, Hermès sells the absolute pinnacle of the French luxury dream. Loyal clients will wait years simply for the opportunity to buy one of the company’s flagship Birkin or Kelly bags. Unlike every other luxury brand, Hermès:Doesn’t increase supply to meet demand (hence the waitlists)Doesn’t loudly brand their products (IYKYK)Doesn’t do celebrity endorsements (stars buy their bags just like everyone else)Doesn’t even have a marketing department! (they barely advertise at all)And yet everyone knows who they are and what they represent. But, despite all their iconoclasm, this is not a company that’s stood still for six generations. Unbeknownst to most, Hermès has completely reinvented itself at least three times in its 187-year history. Including most recently (and most dramatically) by the family’s current leaders, who responded to LVMH and Bernard Arnault’s 2010 takeover attempt by pursuing a radical strategy — scaling hand craftsmanship. And in the process they turned the company from a sleepy, ~$10B family enterprise into a $200B market cap European giant. Tune in for one incredible story!Sponsors:Many thanks to our fantastic Season 14 partners:J.P. Morgan PaymentsServiceNowVantaNVIDIA GTC (Code "ACQUIRED" for 20% off)Links:Visuals for: Quartr's Hermès: Two Centuries of Craftsmanship and Excellence (with graphs)00:23: Haut a Courroies, the “high-belted bag” to carry saddles and boots00:45: Chaine d'ancre, “Chain of anchors”00:49: Jeu des Omnibus et Dames blanches, “White ladies at play”00:53: Screen printing each color on a scarf individually00:57: The Hermès oranges01:06: Sac à Dépêches (today: the Kelly Bag)01:07: Grace Kelly photo in LIFE Magaine01:26: Steps to sew a saddle stitch01:48: The Birkin Bag03:17: Petit hThe saddle stitch (video)Inside the Saddlery at the FaubourgHermès 2022 Annual ReportAxel Dumas InterviewAll episode sourcesCarve Outs:Anker GaN Prime 100W chargerMatterPerplexityThe Score Takes Care of ItselfMore Acquired:Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store!‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.
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    4 hrs and 11 mins
Economics Personal Finance
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