Acquired

Ben and David cover the 3-day-old acquisition of LinkedIn by Microsoft for $26.2 billion. They cover LinkedIn’s founding story by Reid Hoffman, break down their core businesses, analyze recent stock behavior, and speculate on the future of the company inside Microsoft. The big question - were they worth the price tag? Sponsors: Legora: https://bit.ly/acquiredlegora Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredva...

Ben and David are joined by Todd Bishop, technology reporter and co-founder of GeekWire , to discuss Facebook's 2011 acquisition of Push Pop Press.  Sponsors: Legora: https://bit.ly/acquiredlegora Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredservicenow26 Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26 More Acquired! Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups fr...

Ben and David tackle their first failed acquisition: Facebook's 2013 offer to buy Snapchat. They cover the fascinating story of Snapchat's creation and growth, their blossoming business model, how it would be different inside of Facebook, and what the future holds. Sponsors: Legora: https://bit.ly/acquiredlegora Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredservicenow26 St...

Ben and David return to technology acquisitions by examining a classic: eBay's 2002 purchase of PayPal. Sponsors: Legora: https://bit.ly/acquiredlegora Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredservicenow26 Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26 More Acquired! Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes Join the Slack Subscribe t...

Ben and David deviate entirely from the stated purpose of the show, tackling this non-technology acquisition that is so recent, we have no idea if it went well yet. But, the April 2016 acquisition of Virgin America by Alaska Airlines was so fascinating, we had to do it! Sponsors: Legora: https://bit.ly/acquiredlegora Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredservicenow...

Ben and David continue the cloud productivity saga with Google Docs. They examine the suite of acquisitions made by Google with a focus on Writely in 2006. They tackle: The nuts and bolts of the Upstartle (company behind Writely) acquisition, founded by Sam Schillace, Steve Newman and Claudia Carpenter. SaaS offerings in cloud productivity today. Was this a good idea for Google? Google's future be...

Ben and David have special guest Kurt DelBene on to discuss Microsoft's acquisition of Acompli, Sunrise, and Wunderlist. Kurt is the EVP of Corporate Strategy and Planning at Microsoft, and joins to discuss Microsoft’s cloud-first, mobile-first strategy, and the importance of being cross-platform in the modern era. They cover:  How the app of Outlook Mobile on iPhone and Android came to be. How to...

Ben and David test the widely-held belief that YouTube was one of the most successful tech acquisitions of all time. In today's world of next-generation video platforms, mobile video, streaming, and chord-cutting, was it actually a great purchase by Google?  As discussed in the show, here is Sequoia's original YouTube investment memo - a rarely-shared gold mine for anyone interested in startup inv...

Riding closely on the tails of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ben and David cover Disney's 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm. In the episode, they mention Walt Disney's original flywheel diagram, seen below. Sponsors: Legora: https://bit.ly/acquiredlegora Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredservicenow26 Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26 More Acquired! Get emai...

In the last episode of 2015, Ben and David discuss Apple's acquisition of Siri. Notable topics include:  The founding of Siri by Dag Kittlau, Adam Cheyer, and Chris Brigham. Scott Forstall on the Apple side, and the end of his time at the company. The other Apple acquisitions around Siri, including Topsy, Novauris Technologies, OttoCat. Cue, Spotsetter, VocalIQ, and Perceptio. The team Apple built...

Ben and David are joined by Former Microsoft VP and Co-Founder of Xbox, Ed Fries, to discuss the Bungie acquisition and the development of Halo. Highlights include:  Ed’s call with Steve Jobs after the acquisition, and sharing the stage with Steve and Bungie Co-Founder Alex Seropian at the Macworld Keynote. Bungie today, and the unlikely path to get there led by Harold Ryan. How to find something...

Ben and David discuss Amazon's acquisition of Twitch in 2014. Unlike previous episodes, this recent acquisition still has a lot of open questions, and Amazon hasn't publicly reported growth of Twitch since the purchase. Ben and David talk about Justin Kan's original product with Justin.tv, and the transformation into the Twitch that Emmett Shear is running today. Sponsors: Legora: https://bit.ly/a...

Ben and David discuss Facebook's acquisition of Instagram in 2012. Was it a success? If so, what are the criteria that made it work? What lessons can be learned for other acquisitions in the future? Sponsors: Legora: https://bit.ly/acquiredlegora Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredservicenow26 Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26 More Acquired! Get email up...

Ben and David discuss Disney's acquisition of Pixar in 2006. Was it a success? If so, what are the criteria that made it work? What lessons can be learned for other acquisitions in the future? Sponsors: Legora: https://bit.ly/acquiredlegora Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredservicenow26 Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26 More Acquired! Get email updates...

Every company has a story. Learn the playbooks that built the world’s greatest companies — and how you can apply them. The episodes are deep and heavily-researched, uncovering the full histories behind household names you thought you already knew like Rolex, Amazon, Starbucks, or NVIDIA. Enjoy!