Acquired
About this creator
Acquired is a long-form business podcast that breaks down the companies, acquisitions, and strategic decisions behind iconic businesses.
Why they're in the library
Included for clear, credible perspective as long-form business podcast that breaks down the companies, acquisitions, and strategic decisions behind iconic businesses.
Showing 168 digests for Acquired.
Founder interviews
Podcast
How Brendan Eich built the browser three times: Netscape, Firefox, and Brave
Acquired
February 15, 2022
Founder interviews
10
Business models
7
Product-market fit
5
The third-party tracking problem was baked into the browser since 1994.
Brave pays users 70% of ad revenue — without ever seeing their data.
Chrome's dominance is structurally incompatible with genuine user privacy.
Peloton's rise, collapse, and the Barry McCarthy turnaround
Acquired
February 10, 2022
Case studies
9
Business models
8
Unit economics
7
Peloton's pandemic boom masked fatal demand forecasting failures.
Raising bike price by $1,000 unlocked ultra-low churn and strong LTV.
Barry McCarthy — Netflix CFO, Spotify CFO — takes over as wartime CEO.
How Taylor Swift rewired the music industry's power dynamics
Acquired
January 23, 2022
Business models
9
Case studies
8
Negotiation
6
Artists earn ~$400 per million streams — a fraction of CD-era income
Taylor forced Apple to reverse its global artist-payout policy in 24 hours
Re-recording her catalog actively devalues $300M in masters held by a rival
Founder interviews
Podcast
How Michael Ovitz built CAA and reshaped Hollywood
Acquired
December 21, 2021
Founder interviews
10
Business models
7
Pitching investors
5
Packaging complete film bundles gave talent unprecedented power over studios and earnings
Jurassic Park deal: Ovitz negotiated 50% participation for creatives versus studio ownership model
CAA's team-based approach and relentless communication system scaled representation to 45 of 50 top directors
How FTX built the fastest-growing crypto exchange in two years
Acquired
December 15, 2021
Case studies
9
Competitive analysis
7
Hiring & recruitment
5
Incumbent exchanges were losing customer profits to broken liquidation engines weekly.
FTX launched by seeding its own liquidity via Alameda to solve the volume catch-22.
Brand deals are brand investment, not customer acquisition — a deliberate distinction.
Competitive analysis
Podcast
Seven Powers: A Framework for Competitive Advantage
Acquired
December 8, 2021
Competitive analysis
10
Business models
6
Power requires both a benefit competitors lack and a barrier preventing imitation—most startups miss the second part
Seven specific sources of competitive advantage emerge only during market takeoff when strategies can still be established
Counter positioning lets new entrants win because incumbents cannot cannibalize their profitable existing business models
Founder interviews
Podcast
How Packy McCormick built Not Boring into a solo media and venture empire
Acquired
December 3, 2021
Founder interviews
10
Business models
7
Bootstrapping
5
One person, no employees: how Not Boring runs a newsletter and venture fund simultaneously
Rejecting subscriptions and pioneering paid deep dives turned a media ghetto into a moat
Why joining a VC firm full-time would immediately destroy most of Packy's value
Standard Oil Part II: breakup, philanthropy, and Rockefeller's legacy
Acquired
October 18, 2021
Case studies
10
Bootstrapping
6
Business models
5
The antitrust breakup made Rockefeller personally richer than before it happened.
Rockefeller and Frederick Gates invented modern institutional philanthropy from scratch.
Facebook buying Instagram mirrors Standard Oil's Cleveland Massacre almost exactly.
Competitive analysis
Podcast
Michael Mauboussin on moats, skill vs luck, and decision-making
Acquired
October 5, 2021
Competitive analysis
9
Unit economics
7
Deep work & focus
5
As skill levels converge, luck explains more outcomes — even in investing.
Stock prices embed expectations; reverse-engineering them beats building your own model.
Intangible investment now dwarfs capex, making traditional accounting misleading.
How Rockefeller built Standard Oil into America's first great monopoly
Acquired
September 22, 2021
Origin stories
10
Business models
7
Rockefeller reached 90% market share without ever drilling a single well.
The trust structure invented here became the template for all modern corporations.
Secret railroad deals and pipeline ownership made Standard's monopoly legally untouchable for 21 years.
How TSMC built an unassailable monopoly in semiconductor manufacturing
Acquired
September 7, 2021
Origin stories
9
Business models
7
Competitive analysis
5
Founded at 56 with no equity, Morris Chang invented an industry that didn't yet exist
TSMC's flywheel turned cheap manufacturing into a monopoly no government can replicate
Every iPhone, Nvidia GPU, and AI chip depends on one company on a contested island
Founder interviews
Podcast
Kevin Rose: from Digg and Web 2.0 to crypto and NFTs
Acquired
August 30, 2021
Founder interviews
9
Fundraising & VC
6
True believers always outperform investors who chase paradigm-shift trends.
Digg's real founding story — Wikipedia has it completely wrong.
How to tell a legitimate crypto project from a pump-and-dump.
The Rise and Philosophy of Andreessen Horowitz
Acquired
July 27, 2021
Origin stories
9
Fundraising & VC
6
How a16z pioneered the hands-on venture capital operating partnership model
From Opsware experience to reshaping expectations for founder support
Building the largest and most influential venture capital firm through founder advocacy
Solana: building a high-speed censorship-resistant financial network
Acquired
July 19, 2021
Origin stories
9
Business models
6
Proof of history gives validators a cryptographic clock, eliminating fork delays
50,000 TPS today; hardware ceiling near 700,000 — Visa is already in the rearview
The goal isn't digital gold — it's a peer-to-peer network no one can censor
Ethereum: how a teenager built the world computer
Acquired
July 6, 2021
Origin stories
9
Competitive analysis
7
Business models
6
Bitcoin is a calculator; Ethereum is a programmable computer with money built in.
A $150M DAO hack forced a chain-splitting hard fork that redefined Ethereum's philosophy.
ICOs, DeFi, and NFTs each bootstrapped the network through chaos before going mainstream.