FTX (with Sam Bankman-Fried & Mario Gabriele)

Last Acquired left the plucky Rec Room crew in our 2018 "Part I" episode, they were a seed stage startup making a VR game that users loved but grew slowly and barely monetized. Fast forward to today, and they're now a multi-platform social "place" with millions of active users, 500%+ YoY growth and hosting a robust creator economy that's rivaled only by their oft-compared metaverse cousin Roblox in dynamics and efficiency. And oh yeah, they're now a $1B+ company after a new $100m fundraise from existing investors Sequoia and Index, which they're announcing today. We figured it was high time to revisit Nick & crew for a Part II... Sponsors:Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig25ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsnMore Acquired!Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLCThe Rec Room Playbook is available on our website at https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/rec-room-part-ii-with-ceo-nick-fajtLinks:Our "Part I" episode with Nick on Rec Room's seed round:  https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/season-2-episode-2raising-a-seed-round-with-against-gravity-ceo-nick-fajtRec Room! https://recroom.comCarve Outs:Invent and Wander:  https://www.amazon.com/Invent-Wander-Collected-Writings-Introduction-ebook/dp/B08BCCT6MW/Resonant Arc on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFzWAEPDGiY34bGpwM_DWmAHow The Economic Machine Works by Ray Dalio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHe0bXAIuk0

24 Mar 20211h 56min

We dive into the history behind Meituan, the juggernaut Chinese "super-app" which dominates China's services economy, offering consumers everything from food delivery, restaurant reviews, travel booking, bike-sharing, movie ticketing, and countless other entertainment and lifestyle services all at the touch of a button. Already China's 3rd largest tech company by market cap (behind just Tencent and Alibaba), Meituan did $15 billion in net revenue in FY2019 and continues to grow rapidly. What makes it so special, and how were they able to become the market leader in such a competitive space? This story is packed with lessons that apply equally beyond China tech to high-growth company building and investing everywhere. Sponsors:Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig25ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsnMore Acquired!Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLCThe Meituan Playbook is available on our website at https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/meituanLinks:Meituan's English language walkthrough video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wxgQVjDviQThe Tech Buzz China podcast: https://www.techbuzzchina.comGGV's Evolving for the Next Billion podcast: https://nextbn.ggvc.com/podcasts/Bernard Leong's Analyse Asia: https://analyse.asia Carve Outs:Extraterrestrial:  https://www.amazon.com/Extraterrestrial-First-Intelligent-Beyond-Earth-ebook/dp/B081TTY4NX/John Luttig's newsletter: https://luttig.substack.com

10 Mar 20212h 21min

For the entire 20th Century, you’d be hard pressed to find a better business than an American newspaper — Warren Buffett famously described them as “franchises” — and no American newspaper stood taller than the New York Times. Controlled by a single family bound by a legal oath “to maintain the editorial independence and integrity of The New York Times and to continue it as an independent newspaper, entirely fearless, free of ulterior influence and unselfishly devoted to the public welfare”, the Times served as the paper of record for generations of Americans and people around the world. But no good thing lasts forever, and the dawn of the 21st Century saw both the Times and this once-mighty industry devastated by the dual disruptive forces of the internet and the 2008 financial crisis. And yet by 2021, The Times, essentially alone of its former peers, has reemerged from the American newspaper wreckage and transformed itself into a thriving digital business with an order of magnitude more subscribers than its print heyday. Curious how it all happened? We dive into 170 years of history to find out! Sponsors:Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig25ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsnMore Acquired!Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLCThe New York Times Company Playbook is available on our website at https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/the-new-york-times-companyLinks:The 2014 NYT Innovation Report: https://archive.org/details/pdfy-59s-4-I2qSvG6MnA/mode/2upMine Safety Disclosures’ NYT presentation: https://minesafetydisclosures.com/blog/newyorktimesCarve Outs:Ben:Titan by Ron Chernow:  https://www.amazon.com/Titan-Life-John-Rockefeller-Sr-ebook/dp/B000XUDGHGIteratively: https://iterative.lyDavid:Sabaa Tahir’s Ember in the Ashes series: https://www.amazon.com/Ember-Ashes-3-Book/dp/B074VDZB17

18 Feb 20213h 7min

We cover Sequoia Capital a lot on this show. Not only across our now four(!) dedicated episodes, but across a stunning nearly 50% of recent season companies where Sequoia was a primary or only investor — the most of any venture firm by an enormous margin. Today in this very special episode, we dive into the principles that have led to the firm's 49 years of unparalleled success in venture, and the playbook behind how they identify markets and companies that create outcomes worthy of the firm's namesake tree.Sponsors:Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig25ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsnMore Acquired!Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLCThe Sequoia Capital Playbook is available on our website at https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/special-sequoia-capitals-investment-playbook-with-alfred-linLinks:Our two-part Sequoia history: Part I: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/sequoia-capital-part-1Part II:  https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/sequoia-capital-part-ii-with-doug-leoneDon Valentine's talk at Stanford GSB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKN-abRJMEw&t=2555sOur conversation about Sequoia's Black Swan Memo with Roelof Botha: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/sequoias-black-swan-memo

1 Feb 202156min

We had to do it. After 12 years and 3,000,000x appreciation, we kick off Season 8 with the best investment of all-time and our biggest episode ever: Bitcoin. From the first bitcoin transaction of 10k for two Papa John's pizzas (worth about $350m today!!) to $40k+ BTC and maybe the moon beyond, we cover the whole crazy, improbable journey of how a single 8-page PDF document changed the world of money — and perhaps the world itself — forever. Sponsors:Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig25ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsnMore Acquired!Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLCThe Bitcoin Playbook is available on our website at https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/bitcoinLinks:Satoshi's Whitepaper: https://www.bitcoin.com/bitcoin.pdfMatt Huang's "Bitcoin for the Open-Minded Skeptic": https://www.paradigm.xyz/Bitcoin_For_The_Open_Minded_Skeptic.pdfNellie Bowles's "Everyone Is Getting Hilariously Rich and You’re Not":  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/style/bitcoin-millionaires.htmlSquare’s $50m investment in BTC:  https://images.ctfassets.net/2d5q1td6cyxq/5sXNrlEh2mEnTvvhgtYOm2/737bcfdc15e2a1c3cbd9b9451710ce54/Square_Inc._Bitcoin_Investment_Whitepaper.pdfEpisode Sources: Full list of episode sources available here:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/16QCDNm2qzG3Bn5h1j1KXisxL_JGT7egDx7czX9ThHLY/edit?usp=sharing

19 Jan 20213h 12min

As regular listeners know, we typically cover some of the biggest companies who often receive the most media attention (see Airbnb and DoorDash). But today's episode is a little different. In our conversation with Courtland Allen of Indie Hackers, the largest community of startup founders, we dive into the stories of underdogs. What happens when there are millions of people doing small business entrepreneurship? How does anyone having access to the globally addressable market of 3 billion internet users open the door for the niche-est of products? We tell the story of Courtland’s own “Indie Hacker” journey, how he came to found Indie Hackers itself, and the lessons learned along the way. Sponsors:Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig25ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsnMore Acquired!Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLCPlaybook Themes from this episode are available on our website at https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/special-acquired-x-indie-hackersLinks:Indie Hackers: https://www.indiehackers.com

17 Des 20201h 49min

Over 13 years after its founding, one of the defining startup companies of the past decade finally makes its public debut — and boy was it a big one. But for all the hype (and all the legitimately great things Airbnb has accomplished), this is a company that looks very different today than in the past. Even before COVID, Airbnb's once-exponential bookings growth had declined to linear levels while the company's costs continued to balloon at accelerating rates. What’s going on here? Are public investors smart to bet on a permanent shift in travel behavior coming out of the pandemic? Or is this a case of unrealistic expectations? As always, we dive in. Sponsors:Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig25ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsnMore Acquired!Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLCPlaybook Themes from this episode are available on our website at https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/airbnbCarve Outs:David — San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker: https://www.sfballet.org/productions/nutcracker-online/Ben — Star Wars Lofi HipHop:  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5iu1sp3UBb1rjf8KNKETtJ?si=WxPdJcRpSnelHN9qh0xYSw

11 Des 20202h 38min

Live from the scene of its blockbuster IPO, we recount the crazy, roller coaster journey of this "Palo Alto delivery company". From Sand Hill darling during their Series A and B fundraises to all but left-for-dead during the great unicorn massacre of 2015/16, DoorDash has clawed their way back from the brink and emerged as America's dominant meal delivery service, and its only unit-economic positive standalone logistics player. Is this the dawn of the next great Amazon-like story, or is the company simply benefiting from temporary tailwinds due to the pandemic? As always, we dive DEEP to find out. Sponsors:Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig25ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsnMore Acquired!Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLCPlaybook Themes from this episode are available on our website at https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/doordashCarve Outs:David:Hades on the Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/hades-switch/Ben:Watchmen on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/watchmenSuccession on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/successionPalm Springs: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9484998/

10 Des 20202h 58min