Acquired artwork

Acquired

by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal

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

216 episodes

Podcast overview

About this podcast

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

Episodes216total
Frequencyabout 1.7 episodes per monthCalculated from 216 episodes published between Oct 2015 and Aug 2026.
Categories / tags
TechnologyBusinessInvestingPodcastEnglish

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Acquired

How can I listen to Acquired?

You can listen to Acquired on Apple Podcasts and directly on this site.

How often does Acquired release episodes?

Acquired publishes about 1.7 episodes per month, based on episode dates available in the RSS feed.

Where can I find old episodes of Acquired?

Older episodes of Acquired are available in the paginated archive, sorted from newest to oldest.

How many episodes of Acquired are available?

216 episodes of Acquired are listed in this archive.

Episodes

Latest first
S4 Ep. 3Feb 26, 20191h 8min
Instagram Revisited (with Emily White)

We enter the wayback machine and revisit the subject of Acquired’s second ever episode, Facebook’s bombshell 2012 acquisition of Instagram...

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S4 Ep. 3Feb 19, 201940 min
Special: Spotify + Gimlet/Anchor Quick Take + Worldwide Meetup Details!

Spotify + Gimlet/Anchor Quick Take!We continue to experiment on Acquired, this time with a quick-take on Spotify’s bombshell...

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S4 Ep. 2Feb 3, 20191h 20min
ARM & SoftBank

We dive into the crazy, little-known story of how this small, former PC-maker in Cambridge, England dethroned Intel, saved Apple from...

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S4 Ep. 1Jan 21, 20191h 20min
ESPN

Booyah! Acquired, the worldwide leader in acquisitions and IPOs, kicks off Season 4 with a classic: ESPN. How did a failed former TV...

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S3 Ep. 10Dec 17, 20181h 47min
Tencent

We close out Season 3 and our China mini-series with a monster episode on Tencent, the Shenzhen-based social networking and entertainment...

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S3 Ep. 9Nov 25, 20181h 22min
Netflix (Part 2)

We complete our two-part Netflix special with the company’s bold transition to streaming, including of course the most (in)famous spin-out...

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S3 Ep. 8Nov 12, 20181h 24min
Netflix (Part 1)

In a world ravaged by late fees and lack of rewinding, one man two men from a sleepy California beach town make a stand against tyranny,...

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S3 Ep. 7Oct 29, 20181h 7min
Venmo (live with Andrew Kortina)

Ben & David are joined by special guest and Venmo cofounder Andrew Kortina for our first-ever SF live show! In front of a packed house we...

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S3 Ep. 6Oct 2, 20181h 9min
Behance (with Scott Belsky)

Ben and David are joined by Adobe’s Chief Product Officer, Behance founder, Benchmark partner, author, and product luminary, Scott Belsky,...

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S3 Ep. 5Sep 24, 20181h 32min
Alibaba

We continue our China Tech series with perhaps the most incredible entrepreneurial journey in history: Alibaba and its indefatigable...

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S3 Ep. 4Sep 11, 20181h 21min
Recode (with Kara Swisher)

In this special episode Ben & David head to Recode’s SF office and sit down in the red chair with the one & only Kara Swisher! Kara tells...

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S3 Ep. 3Aug 20, 20181h 32min
The Sonos IPO

Ben and David are (almost) live on the scene covering the plucky Southern California “camera company”… uh wait, wrong episode… we mean...

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S3 Ep. 2Aug 6, 20181h 11min
The Xiaomi IPO

Acquired kicks off our China tech mini-series by teaming up with the best in the business: Hans and Zara from GGV’s 996 Podcast! Together...

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S3 Ep. 1Jul 17, 20181h 57min
Tesla

Acquired kicks off Season 3 with a gangbuster two-hour extravaganza on America’s most successful automotive startup since The Ford Motor...

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S2 Ep. 10Jun 18, 20181h 5min
The Rover-DogVacay Merger (with Rover CEO Aaron Easterly)

Acquired wraps up Season 2 with our first “elusive” private-private merger: Rover.com and its 2017 combination with rival pet care...

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S2 Ep. 9Jun 6, 20181h 22min
GitHub

We’re live on the scene the day following the biggest announcement in the open source software world since well, open source software:...

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S2 Ep. 8May 21, 20181h 19min
T-Mobile / Sprint

If you thought the telecom business was boring, think again! Acquired brings you an episode packed with more drama than an entire season of...

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S2 Ep. 7May 4, 20181h 12min
PowerPoint

Acquired returns with a classic, delving into Microsoft’s first acquisition ever: Forethought Inc, the makers of PowerPoint. Hate it or...

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S2 Ep. 6Apr 6, 20181h 43min
Spotify’s Direct Listing

Acquired wraps up a big few weeks of coverage with not an IPO or an M&A or a fundraising round, but what’s still the largest tech exit in...

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S2 Ep. 5Mar 26, 20181h 35min
The Dropbox IPO

Acquired is live on the scene following Dropbox’s public market debut. From playing a central role in the early days of Y Combinator, to...

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