Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi

Ben & David welcome very special guest Tom Alberg, board member and first lead investor in Amazon.com, to cover the IPO of "earth’s most customer-centric company". From longterm thinking to flywheels to riding big waves, this episode is chock full of lessons and stories from the journey of building one of tech’s most iconic franchises. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we did recording it! Sponsors:Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentryServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsnHuntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress  More Acquired!:Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLCTopics covered include: Tom’s “prolific” bio from the Amazon S-1Jeff Bezos’s journey from a Vice President at the New York hedge fund D. E. Shaw to founding Amazon in a Bellevue, WA garage in the summer of 1994Jeff’s longterm thinking as evident in the early days of Amazon, and his approach that "failure is ok, but not trying things is not ok” Raising the seed money for Amazon before product launch, how Tom met Jeff and decided to invest despite the “high” valuationTom's (and Jeff’s) focus on the power of targeting large and growing markets Amazon’s actual overnight success after launching the website: according to Tom at the time, "By the second or third week… It was clear there was a trend here.”How Amazon’s venture round, led by John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins, came together in the spring of 1996 Amazon’s torrid growth through 1996, Jeff’s mantra of “get big fast” to win the land grab of online book selling, and the board’s decision to prepare for a public offering in the spring of 1997 How Frank Quattrone and Bill Gurley, then of Deutsche Bank, won the lead position for the Amazon IPO, beating out more storied firms such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley Development of the flywheel concept within Amazon, as an outgrowth of maniacal focus on creating superior customer experienceAmazon's public offering on May 15, 1997 at $18 per share (effectively $1.50 relative to today’s stock price after splits), raising $54M at a market capitalization of $438M — and subsequently trading down during the first few months following the IPO  Amazon and Jeff’s management of investor perceptions of the company, and ability to sell the longterm vision over short term profits — “you get the investors you ask for” The creation of the first annual letter to Amazon shareholders included in the company’s 1997 annual report (and republished every year since), and then-CFO Joy Covey’s role and contributions to it Raising convertible debt just before the peak of the dotcom bubble and subsequent ability to survive the burst, and the impact of the downturn on Amazon culture  The Carve Out: Ben: the band The Album LeafDavid: Cormac McCarthy (author of All the Pretty Horses, No Country for Old Men, etc)’s contribution to W. Brian Arthur’s landmark paper about the economics of the internet, “Increasing Returns and the New World of Business”Tom: Michael Lewis’s latest book The Undoing Project, chronicling the Nobel Prize winning partnership between Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky in developing the field of behavioral economics

31 Joulu 20161h 13min

Topics covered include: Brian’s history working across “both sides of the aisle” as both a startup founder and corporate development leader at a big company, how perspective from each informs the other, and the importance of learning “customer empathy” How Microsoft approaches M&A from an organizational perspective, and the importance of fit with the company’s product roadmap How Brian approaches strategic investments at Microsoft, and the evolution over time of the Microsoft (and large technology companies as a whole) perspective on investing in other companiesBalancing the tension between partnering and investing, and what criteria Brian thinks about when evaluating companies Microsoft’s investment in Facebook in 2007 (at a then-crazy-seeming $15B valuation), and more recently Foursquare,  Mesosphere,  CloudFlare and othersThe current state of the tech M&A landscape, and the emergence of private equity as tech company acquirers Potentially changing corporate and foreign tax structures and how they impact acquirers’ thinking around deals (or not!) How Microsoft tracks and evaluates success of acquisitions over time, and lessons learned from successes and failures The increasing number of operating companies (technology and otherwise) looking to invest in startups, and how that landscape has evolved over time Sponsors:Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentryServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsnHuntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress Followups:  Snap Inc.’s rumored IPO filing — and bonus discussion of how VC’s and other investors think about “exiting” their investments in companies that have gone publicHot Takes: Amazon Go!  The Carve Out: Ben: OK Go - The One Moment David: UC Berkeley Oral History with Sequoia Capital founder Don ValentineBrian: Om Malik’s recent piece in the New Yorker: Silicon Valley Has an Empathy VacuumMore Acquired!:Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

16 Joulu 20161h 17min

Topics covered include: Marvel’s corporate origins as "Timely Publications”, created in 1939 by pulp magazine publisher Martin Goodman in NYC, with the publication of Marvel Comics #1Creation of enduring characters such as Captain America, the Fantastic 4, Spider Man, The X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk and moreAdoption in 1961 of the "Marvel Comics” brand, and writer-editor Stan Lee’s transition of the company towards focusing on edgier characters and stories targeted at older audiences Marvel’s first sale in 1968 to the Perfect Film and Chemical Corporation (later Cadence Industries)The company’s “turbulent” corporate history through the 1980’s and associated mergers, acquisitions and lawsuitsMarvel’s reinvention as a film-focused media company in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s with the launch of Marvel StudiosDisney’s ultimate acquisition of the company for $4.2 billion in August 2009, during the depth of the great recession Marvel's—and in particular Marvel Studios’—performance since the acquisition Sponsors:Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentryServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsnHuntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntressFollowups:  People like Spectacles!   Hot Takes: Shoutout to  Hightower & VTS merging  The Carve Out: Ben: WestworldDavid: OverdriveMore Acquired!:Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

5 Joulu 20161h 25min

Hey Acquired listeners. A note about this show: we recorded this episode the night before the 2016 Election Day in the US. At the time, the biggest change we saw coming was adding a new type of content to Acquired in analyzing IPO’s, which we introduce in this episode. Two days later, we woke up to a very different world than the one we were expecting. Reflecting on what’s happened, and the past few months of our show, we wanted to say two things:First, we want to apologize for our cavalier attitude toward this election cycle, and our glossing over the clearly very real problems and deep divide in America that it represented. In the Skype episode, David pretty glibly compared the AT&T - Time Warner merger to "Make America Great Again", arguing that any reactionary force is “on the wrong side of history” and cannot be relevant in a changing world. That was wrong, the sentiment behind it was wrong, and it was insensitive to the very real pain a lot of people are feeling out there on both sides.Second, looking back on this particular episode about the Facebook IPO, we think it actually might present a relevant parable for our country right now and--we hope--some important lessons for the technology industry going forward. For all the wonderful aspects of the tech industry that we celebrate on this show, there is no doubt that it also bears a great deal of responsibility for the current divide in America, and especially in its contribution to wealth inequality. Likewise, for all the wonderful aspects to the Facebook IPO story, as told in this episode, there is a very dark side as well: Facebook shareholders, investment banks and institutional investors raked in billions of dollars at the expense of individual retail investors who lost their shirts.At the same time, Facebook’s perseverance through their “broken IPO", and their determination in overcoming with incredible speed the massive, existential challenge to their business model posed by mobile, is something we think *can be* an inspiration to us all on how to move forward even when that seems hard. We hope you’ll listen to this episode with that in mind and think about how you, we, and the technology industry as a whole can do better in serving everyone in this country and in the world.Thanks for being on this journey with us. We’re sorry for our shortcomings, and we’re going to keep working hard to do better. -Ben & DavidSponsors:Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentryServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsnHuntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntressMore Acquired!:Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLCTopics covered include:Introducing a new content vertical for Acquired: analyzing IPO’s! Facebook turning down early acquisition offers, including including the  famous $1B overture from Yahoo in 2006 The Wikipedia entry on the Facebook IPO referencing it as a “cultural touchstone”Trading of pre-IPO Facebook stock on SecondMarket and SharesPost The infamous 2011 Facebook - Goldman Sachs deal attempting to circumvent then-active SEC regulations on number of permissible shareholders in a private company, and Goldman’s eventual loss of “lead left” status to Morgan Stanley for the ultimate Facebook IPO Facebook’s S-1 filing on February 1, 2012The company’s "small problem" at the time (read: gaping chest wound) with mobileAcquiring Instagram for $1B while on file to go public in April 2012Facebook’s $16B IPO finally taking place on Friday May 18, 2012, priced at $38 per share giving FB an initial market cap of $104BNASDAQ’s “technical glitch” (read: egregious f*&# up)  preventing the stock from trading when it supposed to and resulting in $500M of investor lossesFacebook’s stock tanking following a flat first day of trading, losing 25% of its value during the first month and over 50% 4 months later, leading some to label it “The Biggest IPO Flop Ever"Later revelations that Facebook had  unprecedentedly lowered revenue guidance during its IPO roadshow due to continuing challenges with mobile, resulting in an information asymmetry between its underwriting investment banks and their institutional investor clients versus the investing public at large How, from the ashes of its “broken IPO”, Facebook amazingly rose to fix its mobile problem at lighting speed, going from mobile comprising zero percent of ad revenue to 23% in one quarter, and over 50% one year laterZuckerberg's belief that the difficult IPO process and "terrible first year” as a public company "made our company a lot stronger”… and silicon valley’s bizarre, antithetical and counter-productive take away to “stay private longer” Followups: The scoop on Microsoft’s use of foreign cash to buy Skype, thanks to longtime listener and friend Nick Seguin Hot Takes:Twitter shutting down (or selling?) Vine The Carve Out:Ben: Amazon employee #1 Shel Kaphan on the great Internet History PodcastDavid:  Connectography: Mapping the Future of Global Civilization by Parag Khanna

11 Marras 20161h 27min

An acquisition so wild and crazy, they had to do it again. And again. Ben & David cover tech’s perhaps most-traded asset, Skype (which also happens to be a fantastic business). How do we even know which deal to grade? Tune in to find out… Sponsors:Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentryServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsnHuntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress More Acquired!:Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLCTopics covered include: Community spotlight: Slack community member Swyx’s financial data research startup Sentieo! Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis’s meeting in the 1990’s at Swedish telecom company Tele2Zennström & Friis’s introduction to talented Estonian developers Jaan Tallinn, Ahti Heinla, and Priit Kasesalu as part of Tele2’s efforts to jump into the dot com “portal mania” Skype’s origins in the technology powering Zennström, Friis and the Estonians’ first startup endeavor together: the peer-to-peer file sharing platform KazaaThe “complicated” legal, technological and ownership situation for Kazaa and Skype Skype’s “unique” corporate culture, including a swimming pool in the board room and shots for initiating new employees The  first Skype acquisition: eBay’s 2005 deal to acquire the company for $2.6B, just two years after launchCulture clash between eBay and Skype management, and further legal drama regarding Skype technology ownership post-acquisitionThe  second Skype acquisition: eBay’s 2009 decision to spin the company out to a private investor consortium including Silver Lake and the newly-formed Andreessen Horowitz  The third (and final?) Skype acquisition: Microsoft’s $8.5B purchase of the company in 2011Skype as a “crossover” product with viable market opportunities both in consumer and enterpriseBill Gurley’s “Keys to the 10X Revenue Club” and the power of Skype’s organic customer acquisition model  Followups:  The Google iPhone… err, Pixel!   Hot Takes:  AT&T’s $85B mega-acquisition of Time Warner… making America great again, or rebuilding the T-1000?  The New York Times acquiring The Wirecutter  The Carve Out: Ben: Sam Altman’s Manifest DestinyDavid:  SOMA the Musical starring our very own Acquired listener, the brilliant and talented Jake Saper!

2 Marras 20161h 25min

Ben & David broadcast live from the 2016 GeekWire Summit covering one of the all-time greats, Apple’s 1996 acquisition of NeXT. This episode has it all: the Steve Jobs hero story, Apple, I.M. Pei, Ross Perot, Aaron Sorkin, Nobel Laureates and… Gil Amelio? Does NeXT rank atop the best acquisitions ever? Our own heroes cast their votes. Sponsors:Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentryServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsnHuntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntressMore Acquired!:Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLCTopics covered include: 1980’s era Apple, entering the age of the “workstation”, with John Sculley as CEO and Steve Jobs leading the newly formed SuperMicro division working on building the “BigMac" Jobs’ exile to "Siberia”, and chance meeting with Nobel Laureate Paul Berg that sowed the seeds of NeXTJobs’ resignation from Apple on September 13, 1985 to start NeXT, taking with him SuperMicro division employees Joanna Hoffman, Bud Tribble, George Crow, Rich Page, Susan Barnes, Susan Kare, and Dan'l LewinApple’s subsequent lawsuit against Jobs and,  Steve’s classic quote in response: "It is hard to think that a $2 billion company with 4,300-plus people couldn't compete with six people in blue jeans."NeXT’s “anti lean startup” approach, spending $100k on brand identity and moving into I.M. Pei designed offices Ross Perot’s $20M investment in NeXTThe first NeXT computer (fun unboxing video) product launch, dubbed "The NeXT Introduction” on October 12, 1988 (one of the three scenes in the Aaron Sorkin Steve Jobs movie)The NeXTSTEP operating system as the first “modern” OS (including Object-oriented programming), and like the Mac equally descended from Xerox PARCMajor technologies developed on NeXT computers, including the first web browser and Doom NeXT’s exit from the hardware business and transition to a software-only model with OPENSTEPApple’s  failed internal projects to develop a modern OS, culminating in the acquisition of NeXT in December 1996Steve Jobs’ return to Apple, public lack of faith in the then-current board and management, and maneuvering to return to the CEO roleThe transformation of NeXTSTEP/OPENSTEP into OS X, and ultimately iOS, watchOS, tvOS, etc.   The Carve Out: Ben:  Stewart Butterfield (Cofounder/CEO of Slack) on the The Ezra Klein ShowDavid: DJI and the  Rise of the Robomasters

23 Loka 20161h 9min

CFO of Zillow Group Kathleen Philips joins Ben and David to cover the show’s first true “merger” versus “acquisition" (only took 22 episodes!), Zillow’s 2015 combination with Trulia to form Zillow Group.   Note: our audio glitches unfortunately continued on this episode, and quality is rough. We recommend listening on speakers vs headphones if you’re able. We apologize and will be back to normal quality next time! Sponsors:Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentryServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsnHuntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntressMore Acquired!:Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLCTopics covered include: Zillow and Trulia’s beginnings during the “Web 2.0” era in the mid-2000’s Zillow, Trulia and other online players’ place within the massive US real estate marketThe lengthy “dance" between Zillow and Trulia and earlier aborted merger talks between the twoThe difficulty of "true mergers” among private companies and why the path is easier for public companies Public company shareholders’ influence and role in M&A transactions Details of the blazingly fast negotiations (27 days start to finish!) per disclosures in the  SEC filings (scroll down to "Background of the Mergers”)Structuring the deal and incentivizing Trulia and Zillow mangers to stay and continue growing as separate brandsTrulia cofounder Sami Inkinen’s whereabouts during the merger negotiations The experience going through a lengthy FTC review of the merger, and defining what the relevant “market” is the FTC should be consideringIntroducing our new acquisition category: a “timeline acquisition” ;) (h/t Kathleen)Zillow Group’s overall approach to acquisitions, folding into its broader HR strategy Zillow founder Rich Barton’s startup thesis of searching for "What piece of marketplace information do people crave and don’t have?"  Followups: Snap Inc. Spectacles!   Hot Takes: Twitter-Disney rumors, according to “people familiar with matter”! AppLovin’s journey from bootstrapped startup to $1.4B exit  The Carve Out: Ben: The Marvel Symphonic UniverseDavid:  Shoe Dog by Phil KnightKathleen: The Struts

14 Loka 20161h 17min

Ben and David go inside the M&A press with Bloomberg’s technology M&A reporter and host of the Deal of the Week Podcast, Alex Sherman. If you’ve ever wondered how stories about big deals get broken or what “according to people familiar with the matter” really means, tune in for the behind-the-scenes scoop!   Note: A technical glitch with our recording setup created occasional short silences between Alex’s comments and Ben & David’s. It shouldn’t impact listenability, but we apologize for the awkward pauses! Sponsors:Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentryServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsnHuntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntressMore Acquired!:Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLCTopics covered include: Bloomberg’s own fascinating “history & facts” and origins following the acquisition of storied Wall Street firm Salomon Brothers Bloomberg’s core as a highly profitable technology business (selling terminals to Wall Street firms), with a large media empire built on top of itThe tradable value of breaking M&A news & information to Bloomberg’s terminal customers, and competing on speedHow “sources" work — and industry standard that sources be directly within the companies involved in a dealThe coded language of M&A reporting and gleaning where information is coming from based on a story’s structure and phrasingThe lifecycle of a story—steps from sourcing to writing to release, and reasons (or lack thereof) for why stories run when they doInternal & external PR resources companies use for M&A How Alex prioritizes his time researching and creating stories, and who he’s meeting with to hear about what deals are in the works The difference between ‘news' and ‘analysis', and why news dominates the majority of stories versus deeper analysisMedia and social media business models, their evolution in the messenger world, and speculation on Twitter’s futureHow entrepreneurs can think about interacting with the press and building relationships with the right reporters for their stage and spaceApple’s ‘unique’ approach to press relations   Followups: Instagram announces 500k+ active advertisers, up from 200k in February 2016 Amazon stock price surpasses $800/share  Hot Takes:  Ford acquires Chariot The Yahoo! data breach and  potential impact on their acquisition by Verizon   The Carve Out: Ben: Phil of Drones’ Burning Man 2016 recap videoDavid:  Algorithms to Live By by Brian Christian & Tom Griffiths Alex:  Clinton’s Samantha Bee Problem, by Ross Douthat in the NYT Opinion Pages

27 Syys 20161h 24min