Acquired Episode 15: ExactTarget (acquired by Salesforce) with Scott Dorsey
Acquired5 Heinä 2016

Acquired Episode 15: ExactTarget (acquired by Salesforce) with Scott Dorsey

Ben and David return to make their first foray into enterprise software, covering Salesforce’s $2.5B acquisition of ExactTarget in 2013 with the help of special guest and ExactTarget cofounder & CEO, Scott Dorsey. Technical note: due to an issue we didn’t catch during recording, audio quality is significantly lower than usual for this episode (especially David’s voice). We apologize but hope you’ll give it a chance anyway— Scott offers great wisdom & insights, and the ExactTarget success story is a inspiring one underdog entrepreneurs, especially (but not limited to!) anyone located in the Midwest or elsewhere outside of traditional "Silicon Valley-style” tech hubs.

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© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC


Topics covered include:
  • The decision to start ExactTarget post-internet bubble and in Indianapolis, with zero software experience between Scott and cofounders Chris Baggott & Peter McCormick
  • Raising initial money from friends & family, followed by early investment and mentoring from Indianapolis venture pioneer Bob Compton
  • Building and scaling a great sales organization within a technology company
  • The importance of focusing early on a clearly defined target market (SMBs in the case of ExactTarget), and then “stair-stepping” up as the product and business scale grow over time
  • ExactTarget’s unsuccessful first IPO filing during the financial crisis
  • Building a "capital-efficient” early stage company, and the value of raising growth capital at the right time to step on the accelerator
  • The value of “secondary” investments allowing founders, employees & early investors to “stay hungry” by achieving some liquidity along the way
  • When and how to expand internationally and the importance of strategic resellers
  • ExactTarget’s second successful IPO filing and life as a public company with quarterly financial reporting to Wall Street
  • How the acquisition process played out with Salesforce and other bidders (including reference to ExactTarget’s incredible SEC filing detailing the entire negotiation—scroll down to "Background and Reasons for the ExactTarget Board’s Recommendation”, starting at the bottom of page 13)
  • Approaching the difficult task of integrating a major acquisition involving thousands of people
  • The fun story of ExactTarget’s winning Microsoft as a large customer—including actual sledgehammers
  • Scott’s new Indianapolis-based venture studio, High Alpha
  • Plus as always the "hard hitting" analysis across acquisition category, what would have happened otherwise, tech themes—and final grading

The Carve Out

Followups:

  • Instagram’s incredible user numbers announcement: 500M monthly active users / 300M daily active users

Jaksot(205)

The Lyft IPO

The Lyft IPO

Call it the playoffs. Call it the Olympics. Call it March Madness. No matter which sports analogy you borrow, it falls short of capturing what Lyft's IPO yesterday kicked off in the tech world. A generational changing of the guard from the FAANG to the APLUSS (Airbnb, Pinterest, Lyft, Uber, Slack, Stripe). A breaking of the liquidity dam that's kept capital, technology and talent locked up in a small number of Silicon Valley winners for longer than ever in history. And most importantly, a public market avenue for investing in the largest single market created since the advent of the internet. Acquired is live on the scene recounting and analyzing the history of Lyft (and ridesharing broadly) in every exquisite detail!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, LLCLinks:Lyft’s S-1:  https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1759509/000119312519059849/d633517ds1.htmDonate to Homobiles: http://bit.ly/2TM40nAÂCarve Outs:Ben: Bill Gurley on "Runnin' Down a Dream" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmYekD6-PZ8David: "Cricket Fever" on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80222770

30 Maalis 20192h 20min

Season 4, Episode 3: Instagram Revisited (with Emily White)

Season 4, Episode 3: Instagram Revisited (with Emily White)

We enter the wayback machine and revisit the subject of Acquired’s second ever episode, Facebook’s bombshell 2012 acquisition of Instagram — this time with the help of then-Facebook executive Emily White, who moved over post-acquisition to become Instagram’s first business head. Together with Kevin and Mike, Emily helped build Instagram's business model, which today accounts for nearly 1/4 of all of Facebook’s revenue. Is this still Acquired’s canonical A+ with an extra 3.5 years of hindsight? Spoiler alert: yes.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, LLCCarve Outs:Ben: Sam Harris on the Joe Rogan Experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ5_hAEsLkUDavid: Boom Town by Sam Anderson:  https://www.amazon.com/Boom-Town-Fantastical-Basketball-World-class-ebook/dp/B077RHYC4G

26 Helmi 20191h 15min

Spotify + Gimlet/Anchor Quick Take + Worldwide Meetup Details!

Spotify + Gimlet/Anchor Quick Take + Worldwide Meetup Details!

Spotify + Gimlet/Anchor Quick Take!We continue to experiment on Acquired, this time with a quick-take on Spotify’s bombshell dual-acquisition of Anchor and Gimlet Media. While we may give these deals the full Acquired treatment in the future, we wanted to share our quick thoughts with you all sooner rather than later while the Acquired research department (aka Ben & David’s free time) works through the current episode backlog. Let us know if you like this format and we’ll do more in the future!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, LLC

19 Helmi 201940min

Season 4, Episode 2: ARM & SoftBank

Season 4, Episode 2: ARM & SoftBank

We dive into the crazy, little-known story of how this small, former PC-maker in Cambridge, England dethroned Intel, saved Apple from bankruptcy, became the blueprint for the largest investment fund in history, and of course now powers just about every device you use today. From Issac Newton to the Apple Newton, the Vision Fund and beyond, ARM has had an impact on the technology industry that cannot be overstated!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, LLCLinks:The Nokia 6110: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_6110Fast Company on SoftBank and how the ARM acquisition happened:  https://www.fastcompany.com/90285552/the-most-powerful-person-in-silicon-valley

3 Helmi 20191h 27min

Season 4, Episode 1: ESPN

Season 4, Episode 1: ESPN

Booyah! Acquired, the worldwide leader in acquisitions and IPOs, kicks off Season 4 with a classic: ESPN. How did a failed former TV weatherman end up building the world’s most valuable media company on top of a dump (quite literally) in Bristol, Connecticut? We follow the incredible entrepreneurial journey from Getty Oil diversification strategy to Berkshire Hathaway home run to Disney crown jewel. This Is Awesome, Baby!!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, LLCLinks:ESPN’s first moments on air: https://www.espnfrontrow.com/2018/12/espn-remembers-lee-leonard/The Outsiders Book:  https://www.amazon.com/Outsiders-Unconventional-Radically-Rational-Blueprint-ebook/dp/B009G1T74O/Carve Outs:Ben: Numbers Geek with Steve Ballmer: The Basketball Box Score Mystery  https://www.geekwire.com/2019/numbers-geek-steve-ballmer-basketball-box-score-mystery/David: Fast Company on Masa, “The most powerful person in Silicon Valley”  https://www.fastcompany.com/90285552/the-most-powerful-person-in-silicon-valley

21 Tammi 20191h 26min

Season 3, Episode 10: Tencent

Season 3, Episode 10: Tencent

We close out Season 3 and our China mini-series with a monster episode on Tencent, the Shenzhen-based social networking and entertainment powerhouse. We dive deep into the story of Pony Ma and his cofounders’ incredible journey from making software for pagers(!) to QQ, WeChat, League of Legends, Fortnite, Snapchat and even Tesla. This is one finale you don’t want to miss!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, LLCCarve Outs:Ben: President Obama’s OG podcast! https://bit.ly/2BqXxHJDavid: Kara Swisher’s interview with the Google Walkout organizers: https://bit.ly/2RwuskZDavid (bonus!): Allen Iverson on the Players’ Tribune: https://bit.ly/2EkrRHQ

17 Joulu 20181h 53min

Season 3, Episode 9: Netflix (Part 2)

Season 3, Episode 9: Netflix (Part 2)

We complete our two-part Netflix special with the company’s bold transition to streaming, including of course the most (in)famous spin-out in business history. Rising from the ashes of Qwikster, we chronicle Netflix’s rebirth as a media company and long journey back to the top of the FAANG mountaintop!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, LLCLinks:Netflix’s Qwikster apology video: https://youtu.be/c8Tn8n5CIPkSNL parody of the apology video: https://bit.ly/2PWEyyZEvolution of Netflix home page: https://read.bi/2KvHdteThe Chaos Monkey: https://bit.ly/1qkqDxZ Benedict Evans’ chart of FAANG stocks: https://bit.ly/2r3D72A Carve Outs:Ben: Kevin Rose interviews Matthew Walker on sleep: https://bit.ly/2LpIl5vDavid: Justin O’Beirne on Apple’s new Maps: https://bit.ly/2zrQ76Z

25 Marras 20181h 29min

Season 3, Episode 8: Netflix (Part 1)

Season 3, Episode 8: Netflix (Part 1)

In a world ravaged by late fees and lack of rewinding, one man two men from a sleepy California beach town make a stand against tyranny, daringly dethrone an evil empire and… oh who are we kidding, they just copied Amazon’s business plan for books and applied it to movie rentals. But as always there is much more to the story than that! We dive into the fascinating, true, and oft-untold history of Netflix in our first two-part special on Acquired. Part 1 covers Netflix’s original DVD rental business from founding to 2009, and next time on Part 2 we’ll cover the (rocky) transition to streaming from 2010 to present. Buckle up for a wild ride!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, LLCLinks: Netflix’s original logoCarve Outs:Ben: The Good Place on… Netflix!David:  The Broken Earth Series by N. K. Jemisin

12 Marras 20181h 31min

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