Acquired Podcast Por Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal arte de portada

Acquired

Acquired

De: Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal
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Every company has a story. Learn the playbooks that built the world’s greatest companies — and how you can apply them.Copyright 2025 ACQ, LLC Economía Finanzas Personales
Episodios
  • 10 Years of Acquired (with Michael Lewis)

    10 Years of Acquired (with Michael Lewis)
    Dec 15 2025
    Why has Acquired — seemingly against all odds — “worked”? It's a puzzling question: episodes are four hours long, they come out infrequently, and they usually don’t have guests or video. Hardly the standard-issue playbook for podcasting success! And yet well over a million smart, curious and exceedingly busy humans share their (your!) valuable time with us every month. Why? This is the exact paradox that has been rolling around in the head of Michael Lewis (yes, that Michael Lewis) since he found the show earlier this year.So we asked Michael to be our guest "interlocutor" and share what he thinks is going on here, while we share ten lessons we've stolen (graciously) from companies we've studied and brought into Acquired itself. He takes us through the entire Acquired journey: how we started, why we've never hired anyone or raised money, how we pick episodes, what our business model actually is, why we focus on quality and enjoyment over maximizing enterprise value, and ultimately why we’re all — you, him, us — kindred spirits together. Oh, and just for fun, we recorded this episode where another special journey began — the garage where Google was founded.Thank you for an incredible decade together… here's to the next one!Sponsors:Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘25 Season partners:J.P. Morgan Payments (you can watch our full show with them at AWS re:Invent here!)WorkOSSentryShopifyThank-yous:First, to Google for loaning us the garage. The sawhorse table desk, PC and CRT monitor on display in the background were all Google originals courtesy of the Google Founders Collection at the Computer History Museum. So cool!Second, to our friends at Shep Films for helping us seriously up our game on production quality this episode!Our Favorite Michael Lewis Books:Home GameMoneyballLiar’s PokerThe Blind SideThe Undoing Project (as referenced by Michael in the beginning, about Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky)Carve Outs:Books: The Name of the Wind by Patrick RothfussScience, the Endless Frontier by Vannevar BushLast Man Standing: The Ascent of Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase by Duff McDonaldThe Art of Spending Money by Morgan HouselEmperors of Chocolate by Joel Glenn BrennerMorris Chang's AutobiographyPodcasts: Against the RulesRevisionist HistorySmartLessThe DailyThe Bill Simmons PodcastGraham Duncan on Invest Like the BestGlue GuysVideo: Jay KellyThe RehearsalDoug DeMuroTiresF1 The MovieAndorFalloutSeveranceSiloVideo Games: Sea of StarsKirby and the Forgotten LandProducts: ARTEZA Rollerball Pen 0.7mm FineRotring 800 Mechanical PencilFujifilm X100VIUniqlo Socks!On Running ShoesRimowa LuggageParenting: Guided Access on iPadToy StorySlumberPodBluey Experience in NYCMore Acquired:Get email updates and vote on future episodes!Join 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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    2 h y 48 m
  • Coca-Cola

    Coca-Cola
    Nov 24 2025

    Coca-Cola is… sugar water. And somehow it’s also America, Christmas, summertime, friendship and happiness. Today we tell the story of how The Coca-Cola Company amazingly transmogrified a beverage into emotion in all of our collective psyches, and ALSO built one of the most incredible scale economy businesses of all-time. And oh yeah, there’s also cocaine, WW2, Mad Men, Warren Buffett, James Dean, Bill Cosby, Michael Jackson, Michael Ovitz, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, McDonald’s and Monsanto. So cozy up to the fire with your favorite images of Santa Claus and Polar Bears and enjoy an ice-cold episode of Acquired — always delicious, always refreshing.

    Sponsors:

    Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘25 Season partners:

    • J.P. Morgan Payments
    • WorkOS
    • Shopify
    • Sentry — Link to ACQ Cassette Players, use code “audiophile”

    Links:

    • Sign up for email updates and vote on future episodes!
    • The Hilltop ad / Mad Men finale
    • Pepsi Challenge commercials
    • Pepsi’s Michael Jackson commercials
    • Coke’s Bill Cosby commercials
    • Two liter bottles inflating
    • Worldly Partners’ Multi-Decade Coca-Cola Study
    • For God, Country, and Coca-Cola
    • Secret Formula
    • All episode sources

    Carve Outs:

    • SkiErg
    • Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
    • Claude
    • Nike Vomero Plus
    • Hermanos Gutiérrez

    More Acquired:

    • Get email updates and vote on future episodes!
    • Join the Slack
    • Subscribe to ACQ2
    • Check 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 h y 4 m
  • Trader Joe’s

    Trader Joe’s
    Oct 27 2025

    Trader Joe's breaks every rule of modern retail. They don't do e-commerce. They don't do delivery. No sales, coupons, or loyalty programs. They only stock 4,000 SKUs versus 50,000+ at normal supermarkets. Their parking lots are famously terrible and they're constantly out of your favorite items. Shoppers brave long lines and cramped aisles while overly-friendly employees in Hawaiian shirts try to chat them up. Everything about the Trader Joe's experience seems designed to drive modern consumers away. And yet they generate $2,000+ per square foot in sales — double their nearest competitor in Whole Foods and nearly 4x the industry average — and Americans are obsessed with them. How on earth did a company that so steadfastly refuses to participate in the 21st century build the most beloved grocery chain in America?

    Today we tell the full story: how “Trader” Joe Coulombe started out cloning 7-Elevens in 1960s Los Angeles, pivoted to slinging hard liquor, discovered the enormous market opportunities for California wine and health food before anyone else, and ultimately built perhaps the most counter-positioned business we’ve ever studied on Acquired by doing almost everything differently than the supermarket-CPG industrial complex. Tune in for a wild voyage on the high seas of grocery retail!

    Sponsors:

    Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘25 Season partners:

    • J.P. Morgan Payments (And come see us at AWS re:Invent! Discount code: "ACQUIRED")
    • Sentry
    • WorkOS
    • Shopify

    Links:

    • Sign up for email updates and vote on future episodes!
    • Worldly Partners’ Multi-Decade Trader Joe’s Study
    • Becoming Trader Joe
    • The Secret Life of Groceries
    • Build a Brand Like Trader Joe's
    • All episode sources

    Carve Outs:

    • AirPods Pro 3
    • Mario Kart 8

    More Acquired:

    • Get email updates and vote on future episodes!
    • Join the Slack
    • Subscribe to ACQ2
    • Check 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.
    Más Menos
    3 h y 28 m
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The subject matter is inherently intriguing as they cover historic companies and topics as history is unfolding before us. Additionally, Ben and David provide engaging perspectives, insights, and a storyteller’s approach that is addictively entertaining and invaluably educational. Acquired introduced me to a genre of podcast that I never knew I wanted and now I can’t get enough.

Educational and entertaining

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Acquired is a well crafted, well structured, conversational audiobook that focuses on why a great company worked in the past decade and decades.
My Prefered Episodes: Costco, IKEA, Google, NVIDIA, and TSMC

Story of why Great Businesses work

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Great episode! I learned a ton. It has a ton of information and I can tell a lot of work was put into it!

Acquired: Nike

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These guys do an amazing job capturing the essence of so many different companies. Their preparedness is impressive but even better is how they summarize a 100 plus year data set and deliver the pertinent highlights and insights. Their delivery compliments each other and their passion shines thru making it very engaging.

Engaging

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