Sega and the Genesis was THE underdog story of the early 90’s. In a single console generation, Sega went from ~zero to 50% US market share and dethroned Nintendo’s seemingly invincible global monopoly. But — somehow — it all then died. Two console generations later Sega was out of the hardware game entirely, and the company was sold off for pieces to a pachinko manufacturer. How on earth did this happen??

Today we’re launching Acquired Shorts in order to tell this story and others like it: side tales from the “Acquired Cinematic Universe” that are too brief for a full episode, but too good to leave in the vault. We’d love to hear your thoughts on the format (and this episode). Please send us your feedback in Slack, email or Twitter!

ACQ2 Show + LP Program:

• Subscribe to our interview show, ACQ2!
• Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more.

Sponsors:

Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get:

• Up to 10% on your first year of business insurance with Vouch
• A free trial of PitchBook + links to research reports!

Links:

• The shortest and most famous speech in video game industry history
• Episode sources

Carve Outs:

• Daryl Morey on Invest Like the Best
• Succession
• Starship
• 6 Days to Air

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 the 1980’s Nintendo was on top of the world, with the NES achieving over 90% market share of home video games globally. So how did they fall ALL the way down to ~10% in just a few short console generations? And how did they then build themselves back up (and down and up again) to the top of the world again? Spoiler: it all hinged on one very small, yet very large and durable platform… the Game Boy. Fire up your favorite portable entertainment device and tune in for the epic story of Nintendo’s fall from grace and journey back to the top — capped off by our robust discussion of where they go from here, and whether this 130+ year old company may still (!) be misunderstood and mis-valued.

ACQ2 Show + LP Program:

• Subscribe to the shiny new ACQ2!
• Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more.

Sponsors:

Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get:

• Pilot: 20% off your company’s first six months of service
• Vanta: $1,000 off any compliance audit product
• …in touch with Tiny! (just tell them Ben & David sent you)

Links:

• Our EA episode with Trip Hawkins
• Matthew Ball on why “Nintendo as Disney” is a flawed analogy
• Crossroads Capital’s investor letters outlining their Nintendo thesis
• Episode sources

Carve Outs:

• Kara Swisher in Vanity Fair (and our old episode with her!)
• Hardcore History (finally!)
• The Tetris movie
• Daryl Morey on Invest Like the Best

‍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.

7 Powers author Hamilton Helmer and his Strategy Capital colleague Chenyi Shi join us again to discuss their latest research on a topic that’s highly relevant to the recent Acquired canon: how to build a second business line. This incredibly important “transforming” question faces every great company who has achieved initial product success (as well as their investors). Do we continue solely along the established path, or do we attempt to grow new branches on the tree? Some companies grow new businesses with tremendous success — Amazon and AWS, Nintendo and video games, Nvidia and CUDA — yet many others fail miserably. For the first time Hamilton and Chenyi share their research-based playbook on how companies should approach this decision and choose wisely. Tune in!

ACQ2 Show + LP Program:

• Subscribe to the shiny new ACQ2!
• Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more.

Sponsors:

Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get:

• Up to 10% on your first year of business insurance with Vouch
• Free trial of PitchBook + links to research reports!

ssl.webflow.com/5c29380b1110ec92a203aa84/642c3b165bd52ec4b2b3baff_Screenshot%202023-04-04%20at%207.55.48%20AM.png">Link to Hamilton's 2-Axis Chart

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.

ACQ Sessions returns with David Senra of the Founders Podcast. David is one of our very favorite people in the world — it’s impossible to spend an hour (or 3!) with him and not come away inspired to go take over the world. This conversation is an “extended, IRL version” of monthly calls that we do together where we share stories, swap life and podcast advice, and just genuinely enjoy sharing time with someone who shares our outlook and enthusiasm for the history of entrepreneurship. Pull up a chair, grab a beverage (or energy drink in David’s case) and join us!

ACQ2 Show + LP Program:

• Subscribe to the shiny new ACQ2!
• Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more.

Sponsors:

Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get:

• Up to 10% on your first year of business insurance with Vouch
• One week of free PitchBook access!

Links:

• Go subscribe to Founders! Some of our favorite episodes: Bernard Arnault, Brunello Cucinelli, Edwin Land, Kobe Bryant

Topics:

• (00:01) - Intro
• (03:30) - David’s time with Charlie Munger
• (06:00) - Henry Flagler after Standard Oil
• (09:00) - What makes a great biography, and how to capture all sides of complex characters?
• (11:30) - Studying history is a form of leverage to achieve success
• (13:30) - How do we figure out what the true story is for an episode we're doing?
• (21:00) - Silicon Valley should focus more on durability than growth
• (22:00) - How David Senra got into reading biographies and podcasting
• (26:10) - What were each of their influences before starting Acquired and Founders?
• (36:00) - How to suck less over time
• (38:00) - What motivates, Ben, David, and David to get better?
• (45:30) - Dead ends: business model changes, paid podcasts, changing the name to “Adapting”, and Senra's “Autotelic”
• (52:00) - “You’re not advertising to a standing army, you’re advertising to a moving parade”
• (56:30) - Comparison of podcasting business models
• (01:00:40) - Senra’s insane Readwise "healthy twitter" habit
• (01:05:00) - Is it possible for the ultra-wealthy not to mess up their kids?
• (01:15:30) - The fleeting moments you get to spend with your kids
• (01:17:30) - The value of building relationships with best-in-class peers
• (01:20:00) - How the book publishing industry works
• (01:29:15) - How to differentiate yourself as an investor in 2023?
• (01:39:00) - The greatest historical examples as content marketing
• (02:02:30) - The best businesses are cults (and Senra starts one on the episode)
• (02:07:30) - Senra gives feedback to Ben and David on Acquired episode format
• (02:16:00) - Steve Jobs’ 1997 product matrix
• (02:17:30) - The moral imperative to market products that help people
• (02:23:30) - Ray Kroc and Steve Jobs: deeply flawed founders
• (02:24:00) - The founders we idolize are world-builders
• (02:28:30) - When yachts and jets are underpriced assets
• (02:32:30) - How to compete when money is cheap vs. when there are real interest rates
• (02:40:00) - When Ben and David have fixed broken episodes in post-productio
• (02:45:00) - Why masters of craft are so interesting to study
• (02:46:00) - Should you listen to advice?
• (02:53:00) - The Cuban experience immigrating to Miami
• (02:53:30) - Senra’s first job detailing cars
• (03:01:30) - College entrepreneurship programs
• (03:04:30) - Ben’s experience learning UNIX as a kid
• (03:09:00) - David remembers Tim Ferriss guest lecturing in college

You may think you know the Nintendo story: a plumber named Mario, a princess named Zelda… and didn’t they buy the Seattle Mariners at some point? We thought we knew it too. And then we started researching and were blown away.

The lovable Disney-like Nintendo that we know today is a 130 year-old a playing card company (i.e. gambling), forged in the shadowy world of the Yakuza and shaped by a four-generation cycle of bitter family betrayal. And its unlikely transformation into a global multi-billion dollar media monopoly was led by an iron-fisted patriarch who — amazingly — never played a video game in his life! Get ready for one of our favorite stories Acquired has ever told — we couldn’t make this one up if we tried!

ACQ2 Show + LP Program:

• Subscribe to the shiny new ACQ2!
• Become an LP and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more.

Sponsors:Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get:

• Pilot: 20% off your company’s first six months of service
• Vanta: $1,000 off any compliance audit product
• …in touch with Tiny! (just tell them Ben & David sent you) 

Links:

• Our Atari episode with Nolan Bushnell
• Video of id Software’s legendary PC “port” of Super Mario Brothers 3
• Episode sources

Carve Outs:

• Everything Everywhere All At Once
• Michael Lewis on Tim Ferriss and on CSPAN

We tell the full history of LVMH, and how Bernard Arnault turned a $15m investment in a bankrupt French textile company into the world’s largest individual fortune. It’s a story that’s equal parts Berkshire Hathaway, Steve Jobs and Barbarians at the Gate… and wholly under-appreciated for the genius business model innovations that enabled it. Whatever industry you operate or invest in, there’s so much to be learned from Bernard and LVMH’s complete reshaping of the luxury sector over the past three and a half decades. And oh yeah, it also involves Nazi spies, Italian family murders, Rupert Murdoch, Rihanna becoming a billionaire, Jay-Z’s champagne feuds and Beyoncé wearing a 128 carat diamond. Tune in! :) 

Sponsors:

Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get:

• Pilot: 20% off your company’s first six months of service
• Vanta: $1,000 off any compliance audit product
• RevenueCat: In-App Subscriptions Made Easy

Links:

• Bryan Burrough in Vanity Fair: Gucci and Goliath
•  Episode sources

Carve Outs:

• The Gamecraft Podcast
• Doug DeMuro buys a Carrera GT
•  The Peloton Tread
•  The Eureka Theory of History Is Wrong

The NFL — it’s almost synonymous with America today. And its history is a fascinating lens to explore the nation’s development over the last 100 years, from WWII to TV and suburbs to the Internet and social media. What began as a quasi-illicit league in small midwestern towns is now the single largest media property in the world today by revenue. And whether you watch football or not, this is one incredible business story. Acquired is ready for some football — let’s kick this Season off right! 

Sponsors:

Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get:

• Pilot: 20% off your company’s first six months of service
• Mystery: one completely free event
• Vanta: $1,000 off any compliance audit product

Links:

•  Sports Illustrated’s oral history of the famous Joe Namath “pool photo”
•  Episode sources

Carve Outs:

• The Menu
• Peyton’s Places

‍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.  

Cozy up to the fire and join Acquired as we do our annual strategic review of the show and our business “in public”. We recap our perspectives on Acquired’s big moments from the past year, a bit of commentary on the current state of the tech ecosystem, and what lies ahead for us in 2023. Plus as always at the holidays, we do an extended carve out session on our favorite things from the past year. Huge thank you to all of you for making 2022 an amazing year here in Acquired-land, and here’s to even bigger and better things to come in 2023! 

If you want more Acquired, you can follow our public LP Show feed here in the podcast player of your choice (including Spotify!). 

Sponsors:

• Thanks to Vanta for being our presenting sponsor for this special episode. Vanta is the leader in automated security compliance – making SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and more a breeze for startups and organizations of all sizes. You might say they’re like the “AWS of security and compliance”! Everyone in the Acquired community can get 10% off using this link.
• Thank you as well to Tiny and to Brex. If you sign up for Brex using this link, Brex and we will send you a free Acquired t-shirt! :) 
  • Note: New and existing Brex customers are eligible for this promotion. Promotion runs through December 31, 2022, at 11:59pm PT. To receive an Acquired t-shirt, you must create a free Brex account via brex.com/acquired. Brex terms and conditions apply. If you’re an existing customer, send your t-shirt request to hello@acquired.com from your work email. T-shirts will be mailed within 30 days to the address on the Brex account. 

Carveouts!:

• Jerry Seinfeld on The Tim Ferriss Show
• Project Hail Mary
•  The Psychology of Money
•  The Power Law
• Made in America
• Made in Japan
• The Godfather (book)
•  Masters of Doom
•  Stevie Case vs. the World
• How All this Happened
• Resonant Arc
• All-In
• Founders Podcast
• MKBHD’s Waveform Podcast
• The Verge
•  Huberman Lab - What Alcohol Does to your Body
• Smartless
• T-Swift’s Midnights
•  Olivia Rodrigo
• Andor
• Black Panther
• Top Gun Maverick
• Everything Everywhere All At Once
• The White Lotus
• The Vow
• Flighty
• Roborock S7 Max
•  Apple Keyboard with TouchID
• Elgato AV gear, especially sound panels and the Cam Link 4K
• Capri 

‍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 Thompson joins Acquired to discuss the business of Stratechery itself and celebrate 10 years (!) of the internet’s best strategy analysis destination. Even beyond Stratechery’s enormous impact itself on business and tech over the years, Ben’s work inspired a whole generation of business content creators — this show very much included — and it was super special for us to give the Acquired treatment to one of our own heroes. We cover the full history of Ben pioneering the subscription internet media business model (indeed SubStack’s seed round pitch was “Stratechery-in-a-box”), and how + why he’s evolved the business since and is now doubling down both on podcasting and a broader vision of the Stratechery Plus bundle… including for the first time content not made by Ben himself! Tune in and enjoy. 

If you want more Acquired, you can follow our public LP Show feed here in the podcast player of your choice (including Spotify!). 

Sponsors:

• Thank you to our presenting sponsor for all of Season 11, Fundrise. If you’re considering raising a growth round of capital in the next year, you should definitely explore raising some of it with the Fundrise Innovation Fund. Just email notvc@fundrise.com, and tell them Ben & David sent you. And if you’re an individual looking for exposure to private growth-stage technology companies, you can invest in the Innovation Fund here.
• Thank you as well to Pilot and Tiny! 

Links:

• John Gruber’s Daring Fireball
• Ben’s very first Stratechery post
• Subscribe to Stratechery Plus

‍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.

The FTX fraud has dominated headlines now for weeks, during which we’ve debated if and how Acquired could uniquely add to the conversation. Then we realized there was an angle so perfect that we had to drop everything and enter Acquired research overdrive: Enron. Travel back with us to the granddaddy fraud of them all, 2001’s then-largest bankruptcy in US history and the impetus for the famous Sarbanes-Oxley Act. So much of Enron’s history parallels FTX that the uncanniness is almost unbelievable — right down to the same CEO running the two bankruptcies. Sit back and enjoy this crazy tale of villainy, greed, and the nature of humans and money. Maybe just don’t take notes on this one… 

If you want more Acquired, you can follow our public LP Show feed here in the podcast player of your choice (including Spotify!). 

Sponsors:

• Thank you to our presenting sponsor for all of Season 11, Fundrise. If you’re considering raising a growth round of capital in the next year, you should definitely explore raising some of it with the Fundrise Innovation Fund. Just email notvc@fundrise.com, and tell them Ben & David sent you. And if you’re an individual looking for exposure to private growth-stage technology companies, you can invest in the Innovation Fund here.
• Thank you as well to Vanta. Vanta is the leader in automated security compliance – making SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and more a breeze for startups and organizations of all sizes. Everyone in the Acquired community can get 10% off using this link.
• And finally thank you also to Pilot! 

Links:

• Book Andy Fastow as a speaker for your next corporate event! 🤔
•  Episode sources

Carveouts!:

• Enron: The Musical
• Andor
•  Brooks Addiction Walkers
•  Hoka Slides
• JCal on the Tim Ferriss Show
• New shirts are live 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.