IKEA may be the most singular company we’ve ever studied on Acquired. They’re a globally scaled, $50B annual revenue company with no direct competitors — yet have only ~5% market share. They’re one of the largest retailers in the world — yet sell only their own products. They generate a few billion in free cash flow every year — yet have no shareholders. And oh yeah, they also sell hot dogs cheaper than Costco! (Sort of.) Tune in for an episode flat-packed with counterintuitive lessons about how this folksy mail order business from the Swedish countryside came into your living rooms (and bedrooms and dining rooms and kitchens and bathrooms and patios and garages and backyards) all over the globe! Sponsors: Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘24 Season partners: * J.P. Morgan Payments * Statsig * Crusoe Links: * Please take our 2024 Acquired Survey if you have a minute. It'd mean the world to us! * The Testament of a Furniture Dealer * Our past episodes on Costco, Walmart, Amazon, LVMH and Hermès * Worldly Partners Multi-Decade IKEA Study * Episode sources Carve Outs: * Detroiters * The 11-inch iPad Pro * The QB School * Ice Cube at the World Series 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: 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.

Meta is a company everyone knows (literally, everyone). But, somehow, it’s also a company that few people feel they actually understand. Their products are used by more humans than any other’s in history — almost half of the entire world’s population daily. But… what is Meta? Why do they do what they do? How do they do what they do? Ask ten people and you’ll likely get ten very different sets of answers. Today, we dive deeper than we’ve ever gone trying to find Acquired’s answers to those questions. And after months of research and 6+ hours of incredible stories about how they (and really “they” being Mark himself) bet it all and win time and time again in the face of overwhelming odds, we arrive at our answers. Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Threads, AI, Oculus, Orion, it’s all here. Tune in for one of the greatest corporate stories of all time: Meta, a Mark Zuckerberg Production. Sponsors: Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘24 Season partners: * J.P. Morgan Payments * Statsig * Crusoe * Huntress Links: * Please take our 2024 Acquired Survey if you have a minute. It'd mean the world to us! https://acquired.fm/survey * Our past episodes on Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, Snapchat, the Snap IPO, TikTok, NVIDIA, Microsoft, and the Mark Zuckerberg Interview * Worldly Partners: Meta multi-decade study * Episode sources Carve Outs: * Ben Cohen’s piece on NotebookLM * Mr. McMahon * The Dwarkesh Podcast 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: 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.

Here it is: the complete video of the most unbelievable night of Acquired’s nine-year life… our sold out live show at the Chase Center in San Francisco. We joked during the months (months!) of preparation leading up to this event that it was like planning a wedding for 6,000 Acquired fans, and the guest list included Jamie Dimon, Daniel Ek, Emily Chang, Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg… no pressure! But thanks to our amazing partnership with J.P. Morgan Payments, together we were able to make something incredible. Tune in and enjoy the celebration! Sponsors: Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘24 Season partners: * J.P. Morgan Payments * Statsig * Crusoe Links: * Mike Taylor, the truly incomparable performer of Who Got the Truth? * Mike Amiri (who designed Mark’s shirt) 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! Photo Credit: Mark Zuckerberg by Jeff Sainlar / Meta ‍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.

Mark is the iconic founder CEO of our time. At Chase Center on September 10, 2024, he did an unprecedented thing: a live conversation in front of 6,000 people on Meta’s company strategy, sharing stories from early Facebook history, and his thoughts on the future of AI, VR, and AR. Mark was remarkably candid in our discussion, and gave us a window into his real and intense daily demeanor leading Meta. (And his other life endeavors!) We can't wait to release the complete video of the whole night, including our surprise conversations with Daniel Ek, Emily Chang, and cameo appearances from Jensen Huang and Mike Taylor (the incredible singer of “Who Got the Truth?”). That’s coming in a couple weeks, but for now: enjoy this conversation with Mark Zuckerberg. Sponsors: Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘24 Season partners: * J.P. Morgan Payments * Statsig * Crusoe Links: * Mike Amiri (who designed Mark’s shirt!) 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! Photo Credit: Mark Zuckerberg by Jeff Sainlar / Meta ‍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.

Summer greetings from Acquired! Two items for this “mini-episode”: 1. Tickets are now available for our live show at Chase Center in San Francisco, with special guests including Mark Zuckerberg (!). The show is Tuesday, September 10th, with doors opening at 5 PM for an hour of mingling with other listeners before the show starts at 6 PM. Huge thank you to the J.P. Morgan Payments team for being our incredible partner in making this happen. Tickets are almost gone so make sure you grab one ASAP — you don’t want to miss this night! https://acquired.fm/sf 2. We also figured this is a good excuse to update you all on the state of Acquired — after an incredible first half of the year (including WSJ’s profile of the show) we are taking the rest of the summer off to recharge, parent our young children, and prepare for the big night in September. We hope you’re having a great summer, and we’ll see you live in the fall! Carve Outs: * Thule Urban Glide 3 * Disney’s Aulani Resort * Meller sunglasses * Quarterback and Receiver on Netflix More Acquired: * Subscribe to ACQ2 * Join the Slack: https://acquired.fm/slack ‍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.

In 1999, Microsoft became the most valuable company in the world. And in 2019, Microsoft became the most valuable company in the world, again. But… what happened in the twenty years in between? The answer, as we discovered in our research, is probably not what you think. In this episode we explore and analyze the browser wars and the DOJ case, Windows XP through 8, Surface, Xbox, search, Yahoo!, Bing, the iPhone, Nokia, mobile, social, Facebook… and oh yeah, a little thing called Azure and the enterprise — which ended up becoming so big that no failures mattered. Tune in for Microsoft, Volume II. Chase Center Live Show in SF: * Sign up here to for the pre-sale list before tickets are available to the public. See you there!! Sponsors: Many thanks to our fantastic Season 14 partners: * J.P. Morgan Payments * ServiceNow * Pilot Links: * Bill Gurley on Android’s “Less Than Free” business model * All episode sources Carve Outs: * Meta Ray-Bans * Ozlo Sleepbuds * M3 Macbook Air * Model Y 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.

Starbucks. You’d be hard pressed to name any brand that’s more ubiquitous in the world today. With nearly half a billion global customer purchases per week across its stores and 3rd party retail channels, a significant portion of the human population gets their daily fix in the green and white paper cup. (Including our own Ben Gilbert who famously enjoys his daily spinach feta wrap. :) But it wasn’t always this way. Long before the frappuccinos and the PSLs and the cake pops, Starbucks was just a small-time Seattle roaster that only sold beans — and was started not by Howard Schultz but rather the guys who later ran Peet’s (!). Starting from six tiny stores when Howard took over in 1987, this quirky coffee company named after a character from Moby Dick has scaled to nearly 40,000 locations worldwide. Today, in a first for Acquired, the protagonist himself joins us as a third cohost to tell the whole story of Starbucks. And Howard is in the perfect moment to do this — after three separate stints as CEO he’s now retired, off the board of directors, and in his own words “not coming back.” So place a mobile order (or not! as you’ll hear Howard speak about), sit back with your own favorite Starbucks items, and enjoy. Sponsors: Many thanks to our fantastic Season 14 partners: * J.P. Morgan Payments * * ServiceNow * Pilot The Biggest Thing We’ve Ever Done: * San Francisco. September 10, 2024. Mark your calendars. Links: * Howard’s letter “The Soul of a Brand” * Worldly Partners’ multi-decade Starbucks analysis * Starbucks S-1 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! ** Future capabilities of biometric payments are under development; features and timelines are subject to change at the bank’s sole discretion.* 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.

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: ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acqsnaiagents Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta Links: * Congress changing copyright law in 1980 to include “computer programs” * Acquired “classic” on Microsoft’s 1987 acquisition of Forethought / PowerPoint * Quartr's charts on Microsoft's revenues, market cap, IBM comparison, and more * 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 * Merch Store! © Copyright 2015-2024 ACQ, LLC ‍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.

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: ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acqsnaiagents Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta 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 * Merch Store! © Copyright 2015-2024 ACQ, LLC ‍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.

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: ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acqsnaiagents Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta More Acquired!: * Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes * Join the Slack * Subscribe to ACQ2 * Merch Store! © Copyright 2015-2024 ACQ, LLC Links: * See our episode page for visuals! * The saddle stitch (video) * Inside the Saddlery at the Faubourg * Hermès 2022 Annual Report * Axel Dumas Interview * All episode sources Carve Outs: * Anker GaN Prime 100W charger * Matter * Perplexity * The Score Takes Care of Itself ‍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.

Last year Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical company behind Ozempic and Wegovy, overtook LVMH to become Europe’s most valuable company. And the pull for Acquired to finally tackle healthcare (18% of US GDP!) became too strong for us to resist. While we didn’t know much about Novo Nordisk before diving in, our first thought was, “wow, seems like these new diabetes and obesity drugs mean serious trouble for big insulin companies.” And then… we realized that Novo Nordisk IS the big insulin company. And in a story befitting of Steve Jobs and Apple, they’d just disrupted themselves with the drug equivalent of an iPhone moment. Once we dug further, we quickly realized this company has it all: an incredible 100+ year history filled with Nobel Prizes, bitter personal rivalries, board room dramas, a generation-defining silicon valley innovation, lone voices persevering against all odds — and oh yeah, the world’s largest charitable foundation at its helm. Tune in for one incredible story! Sponsors: ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acqsnaiagents Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta More Acquired!: * Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes * Join the Slack * Subscribe to ACQ2 * Merch Store! © Copyright 2015-2024 ACQ, LLC Links: * Chart: US Healthcare Spend by Category * Chart: US Distribution and Reimbursement System (for pharmaceutical drugs) * Chart: Insulin Supply Chain * YouTube Talk: What People Get Wrong about the Finances of the Drug Industry * Alex Telford: The pharma industry from Paul Janssen to today: why drugs got harder to develop and what we can do about it * Out-of-Pocket Health: Obesity Drugs * Out-of-Pocket Health: US Healthcare System Problems * All episode sources Carve Outs: * Noxgear Tracer 2 running vest * Drops of God * Wool by Hugh Howey * Mere Mortals at San Francisco Ballet * Blackberry ‍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.

Ben has some big news. Actually, double big news! On what has become a holiday tradition here at Acquired, we cozy up to the fire to do our annual review of the show “in public”. We reflect on what can only be described as an absolutely mind-blowing 2023 (LVMH! Jensen! Costco! Charlie! Half a million plus listeners!) and look ahead to some big things cooking for 2024. Plus as always, we wrap with extended carve outs (joined this year by some surprise guests) for anyone still shopping for those holiday perfect gifts. Huge thank you to everyone for making 2023 an amazing year again here in Acquired-land, and cheers to even greater things to come in 2023! Sponsors: ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acqsnaiagents Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta More Acquired!: * Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes * Join the Slack * Subscribe to ACQ2 * Merch Store! © Copyright 2015-2024 ACQ, LLC Links / Extended Carve Outs! * The Psychology of Money * The Artist’s Way * Transitions * Thinking, Fast and Slow * Zojirushi hot water heater * Nike Pegasus Trail 4 GORE-TEX * Mill * June Oven * Silo * Alias * Warby Parker Amari glasses * Hoka Ora recovery shoes * Adobe Light Room * The Eureka Theory of Everything is Wrong by Derek Thompson * The Luxury Strategy * Candide * The QB School * MNF ManningCast * The Eras Tour * Uppababy Vista * The Joolz Aer Plus * Coco * At Present ‍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.

To paraphrase Visa founder Dee Hock, how many of you know Visa? Great, all of you. Now, how many of you know how it started? Or, for that matter, who started it? Who runs and governs it? Where is it headquartered? What’s its business model? For the 11th largest market cap company in the world, Visa’s history and strategy is almost shockingly unknown. A huge portion of the world’s population uses their products on a daily basis (you might say Visa is… everywhere people want to be), but very few know the amazing story behind how that came to be. Or why Visa continues to be one of the most incredible and incredibly durable business franchises of all-time. (50%+ net income margins!! On $30B of revenue!) Today we do our part to change that. Tune in for one heck of a journey. Sponsors: ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acqsnaiagents Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta More Acquired!: * Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes * Join the Slack * Subscribe to ACQ2 * Merch Store! © Copyright 2015-2024 ACQ, LLC Links: * Burger King rolling out credit cards in 1993 * Get your BankAmericard MasterCard today! (!?) * Episode sources Carve Outs: * I Think You Should Leave * Mistborn ‍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.

We sit down with the legendary Charlie Munger in the only dedicated longform podcast interview that he has done in his 99 years on Earth. We’ve gotten to have some special conversations on Acquired over the years, but this one truly takes the cake. Over dinner at his Los Angeles home, Charlie reflected with us on his own career and his nearly 50-year partnership at Berkshire Hathaway with Warren Buffett. He offered lessons and advice for investors today, and of course he shared his speech on the virtues of Costco once again (among other favorite investments). We’re so glad that we got the opportunity to record and share this with you all — break out your notebooks, tune in, and enjoy the singular wit and wisdom of Charlie Munger. A transcript is available here. Sponsor: * Special thanks to Tiny for being the exclusive sponsor of this episode. You can get in touch with them here (just tell them Ben & David sent you), and order your very own bronze Charlie bust here. More Acquired!: * Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes * Join the Slack * Subscribe to ACQ2 * 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.

We finally sit down with the man himself: Nvidia Cofounder & CEO Jensen Huang. After three parts and seven+ hours of covering the company, we thought we knew everything but — unsurprisingly — Jensen knows more. A couple teasers: we learned that the company’s initial motivation to enter the datacenter business came from perhaps not where you’d think, and the roots of Nvidia’s platform strategy stretch back beyond CUDA all the way to the origin of the company. We also got a peek into Jensen’s mindset and calculus behind “betting the company” multiple times, and his surprising feelings about whether he’d go on the founder journey again if he could rewind time. We can’t think of any better way to tie a bow on our Nvidia series (for now). Tune in! Sponsors: ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acqsnaiagents Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta More Acquired!: * Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes * Join the Slack * Subscribe to ACQ2 * Merch Store! © Copyright 2015-2024 ACQ, LLC ‍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.