Here's What It Takes to Make a Great Company
People love listening to stories about making it big, and there are no shortage of success stories in the world of global business. There's TSMC, which has grown to become the most important producer of semiconductors. There's Hermès, which has been a power player in luxury consumer goods for over a hundred years now. Or how about Starbucks, Berkshire Hathaway, Renaissance Technologies, or Ikea? The list goes on and on. But what actually makes a company great? And why do some businesses succeed where others fail? The Acquired podcast has become a must-listen for their study of some of the most interesting companies in the world. In this episode, we speak with Acquired co-hosts Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, about what makes a business truly great.
Read More:
The Five Habits of Highly Successful Companies
Companies to Watch in 2025
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Marketplace lessons from Uber, Airbnb, Bumble, and more | Ramesh Johari (Stanford professor, startup advisor)
Ramesh Johari is a professor at Stanford University focusing on data science methods and practice, as well as the design and operation of online markets and platforms. Beyond academia, Ramesh has advised some incredible startups, including Airbnb, Uber, Bumble, and Stitch Fix. Today we discuss:
• What exactly a marketplace is, if you boil it down
• What you need to get right to build a successful marketplace
• How to optimize any marketplace
• An easy litmus test to see if there’s an opportunity to build a marketplace in the space
• The role of data science in successful marketplaces
• Ramesh’s philosophy on experimentation and AI
• Advice on implementing rating systems
• Why learning isn’t free
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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/marketplace-lessons-from-uber-airbnb-bumble-and-more-ramesh-johari-stanford-professor-startup/
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Where to find Ramesh Johari:
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rameshjohari/
• Website: https://web.stanford.edu/~rjohari/
• X: https://twitter.com/rameshjohari
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Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Ramesh’s background
(04:31) A brief overview of what a marketplace is
(08:10) The role of data science in marketplaces
(11:21) Common flaws of marketplaces
(16:43) Why every founder is a marketplace founder
(20:26) How Substack increased value to creators by driving demand
(20:58) An example of overcommitting at eBay
(22:24) An easy litmus test for marketplaces
(25:52) Thoughts on employees vs. contractors
(28:02) How to leverage data scientists to improve your marketplace
(34:10) Correlation vs. causation
(35:27) Decisions that should be made using data
(39:29) Ramesh’s philosophy on experimentation
(41:06) How to find a balance between running experiments and finding new opportunities
(44:11) Badging in marketplaces
(46:04) The “superhost” badge at Airbnb
(49:59) How marketplaces are like a game of Whac-A-Mole
(52:41) How to shift an organization’s focus from impact to learning
(55:43) Frequentist vs. Bayesian A/B testing
(57:50) The idea that learning is costly
(1:01:55) The basics of rating systems
(1:04:41) The problem with averaging
(1:07:14) Double-blind reviews at Airbnb
(1:08:55) How large language models are affecting data science
(1:11:27) Lightning round
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Referenced:
• Riley Newman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rileynewman/
• Upwork (formerly Odesk): https://www.upwork.com/
• Ancient Agora: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Agora_of_Athens
• Trajan’s Market: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trajan%27s_Market
• Kayak: https://www.kayak.com/
• UrbanSitter: https://www.urbansitter.com/
• Thumbtack: https://www.thumbtack.com/
• Substack: https://substack.com/
• Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/
• Coase: “The Nature of the Firm”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nature_of_the_Firm
• Stitch Fix: https://www.stitchfix.com/
• A/B Testing with Fat Tails: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/710607
• The ultimate guide to A/B testing | Ronny Kohavi (Airbnb, Microsoft, Amazon): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-ab-testing-ronny-kohavi-airbnb-microsoft-amazon/
• Servaes Tholen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/servaestholen/
• Bayesian A/B Testing: A More Calculated Approach to an A/B Test: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/bayesian-ab-testing
• Designing Informative Rating Systems: Evidence from an Online Labor Market: https://arxiv.org/abs/1810.13028
• Reputation and Feedback Systems in Online Platform Markets: https://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/stadelis/Annual_Review_Tadelis.pdf
• How to Lie with Statistics: https://www.amazon.com/How-Lie-Statistics-Darrell-Huff/dp/0393310728
• David Freedman’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/David-Freedman/author/B001IGLSGA
• Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Thousand-Weeks-Management-Mortals/dp/0374159122
• The Alpinist on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Alpinist-Peter-Mortimer/dp/B09KYDWVVC
• Only Murders in the Building on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/series/only-murders-in-the-building-ef31c7e1-cd0f-4e07-848d-1cbfedb50ddf
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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
The Acquired Podcast Hosts: How They Started and Grew a Multimillion Dollar Podcast
Episode 440: Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) and Sam Parr (@TheSamParr) are joined by the Acquired podcast (@AcquiredFM) hosts, Ben Gilbert (@gilbert) and David Rosenthal (@djrosent) to talk about scaling to a large podcast, the company they would like to own, the CEO's you don't want to compete against, and the 100+ year history of Nintendo. Plus, a YouTube Premium subscription giveaway!
Want to see more MFM? Subscribe to the MFM YouTube channel here.
Vote for MFM to win a Webby: mfmpod.com/webby
Click here to sign up for our event in Austin, TX on Saturday April 29th: mfmpod.com/atx
Check Out Sam's Stuff:
* Hampton
* Ideation Bootcamp
* Copy That
Check Out Shaan's Stuff:
* Power Writing Course
* Daily Newsletter
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Links:
*Acquired podcast
*Wait But Why
*Marques Brownlee
*Nintendo
*NVIDIA
* Do you love MFM and want to see Sam and Shaan's smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.
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Show Notes:
(01:45) - Intro to Acquired
(01:58) - What to do when your schtick runs out
(10:00) - How to scale to a big podcast
(14:05) - How big do you have to be to be at the top of the business category?
(23:55) - What commonalities are there between weird companies?
(27:40) - How to tell a real from a fake contrarian
(34:45) - Nintendo
(37:45) - Which company would you most want to own?
(40:45) - Who would you least want to compete against?
(52:30) - Business ideas
(56:40) - Will you ever sell Acquired?
(58:20) - Best ways to make money as a podcast
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Past guests on My First Million include Rob Dyrdek, Hasan Minhaj, Balaji Srinivasan, Jake Paul, Dr. Andrew Huberman, Gary Vee, Lance Armstrong, Sophia Amoruso, Ariel Helwani, Ramit Sethi, Stanley Druckenmiller, Peter Diamandis, Dharmesh Shah, Brian Halligan, Marc Lore, Jason Calacanis, Andrew Wilkinson, Julian Shapiro, Kat Cole, Codie Sanchez, Nader Al-Naji, Steph Smith, Trung Phan, Nick Huber, Anthony Pompliano, Ben Askren, Ramon Van Meer, Brianne Kimmel, Andrew Gazdecki, Scott Belsky, Moiz Ali, Dan Held, Elaine Zelby, Michael Saylor, Ryan Begelman, Jack Butcher, Reed Duchscher, Tai Lopez, Harley Finkelstein, Alexa von Tobel, Noah Kagan, Nick Bare, Greg Isenberg, James Altucher, Randy Hetrick and more.
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Additional episodes you might enjoy:
• #224 Rob Dyrdek - How Tracking Every Second of His Life Took Rob Drydek from 0 to $405M in Exits
• #209 Gary Vaynerchuk - Why NFTS Are the Future
• #178 Balaji Srinivasan - Balaji on How to Fix the Media, Cloud Cities & Crypto
* #169 - How One Man Started 5, Billion Dollar Companies, Dan Gilbert's Empire, & Talking With Warren Buffett
• #218 - Why You Should Take a Think Week Like Bill Gates
• Dave Portnoy vs The World, Extreme Body Monitoring, The Future of Apparel Retail, "How Much is Anthony Pompliano Worth?", and More
• How Mr Beast Got 100M Views in Less Than 4 Days, The $25M Chrome Extension, and More
A conversation with David and Ben from the Acquired podcast
David Rosenthal and Ben Gilbert — of the Acquired podcast — invited me to San Francisco for a discussion on our mutual obsession: spending every waking hour studying the history of entrepreneurship and sharing those lessons on our podcasts.
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Follow Acquired in your podcast player here or at Acquired.fm
This episode is brought to you by: Tiny: Tiny is the easiest way to sell your business. Tiny provides quick and straightforward exits for Founders. Get in touch with Tiny by emailing hi@tiny.com.
[3:00] David’s time with Charlie Munger
[5:30] Henry Flagler after Standard Oil
[8:30] What makes a great biography, and how to capture all sides of complex characters?
[11:00] Studying history is a form of leverage to achieve success
[13:00] How do we figure out what the true story is for an episode we're doing?
[20:30] Silicon Valley should focus more on durability than growth
[21:30] How David got into reading biographies and podcasting
[25:40] What were each of their influences before starting Acquired and Founders?
[35:30] How to suck less over time
[37:30] What motivates, Ben, David, and David to get better?
[45:00] Dead ends: business model changes, paid podcasts, changing the name to “Adapting”, and Senra's “Autotelic”
[51:30] “You’re not advertising to a standing army, you’re advertising to a moving parade”
[56:00] Comparison of podcasting business models
[1:00:10] Senra’s insane Readwise "healthy twitter" habit
[1:04:30] Is it possible for the ultra-wealthy not to mess up their kids?
[1:14:30] The fleeting moments you get to spend with your kids
[1:17:00] The value of building relationships with best-in-class peers
[1:19:30] How the book publishing industry works
[1:28:45] How to differentiate yourself as an investor in 2023?
[1:38:30] The greatest historical examples as content marketing
[2:02:00] The best businesses are cults (and Senra starts one on the episode)
[2:07:00] Senra gives feedback to Ben and David on Acquired episode format
[2:15:30] Steve Jobs’ 1997 product matrix
[2:17:00] The moral imperative to market products that help people
[2:23:00] Ray Kroc and Steve Jobs: deeply flawed founders
[2:23:30] The founders we idolize are world-builders
[2:28:00] When yachts and jets are underpriced assets
[2:32:00] How to compete when money is cheap vs. when there are real interest rates
[2:39:30] When Ben and David have fixed broken episodes in post-production
[2:44:30] Why masters of craft are so interesting to study
[2:45:30] Should you listen to advice?
[2:51:00] David’s first job detailing cars
[2:52:30] The Cuban experience immigrating to Miami
[3:01:00] College entrepreneurship programs
[3:04:00] Ben’s experience learning UNIX as a kid
[3:08:30] David remembers Tim Ferriss guest lecturing in college
If you have scrolled this far and still haven't followed Acquired in your podcast player please do so here!
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Founders Notes gives you the ability to tap into the collective knowledge of history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. Use it to supplement the decisions you make in your work. Get access to Founders Notes here.
----
“I have listened to every episode released and look forward to every episode that comes out. The only criticism I would have is that after each podcast I usually want to buy the book because I am interested so my poor wallet suffers. ” — Gareth
Be like Gareth. Buy a book: All the books featured on Founders Podcast
Acquired’s Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal on private markets, ZIRP impact, future of Amazon | E1706
Acquired co-hosts Ben and David are BACK to discuss the state of the VC market and YC shutting down its Continuity Fund (6:20) before diving into industries that benefitted from ZIRP (26:35). They also break down which social apps they want to own and why (45:29). Then, Ben and Jason wrap up the show by discussing the future of Amazon and Starfish Space, a new space startup (1:11:48)
(0:00) Nick tees up today’s topics
(1:36) David’s time at Stanford
(6:20) Ben’s private market snapshot
(8:49) Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub - Apply in 5 minutes for six figures in discounts at http://aka.ms/thisweekinstartups
(10:19) David’s private market snapshot
(16:19) Reacting to YC closing down its Continuity Fund
(25:35) QuickNode - Go to http://quicknode.com/ and use the code TWIST for a free month on their feature-packed Build Plan
(26:35) Industries that benefitted from ZIRP
(35:08) House of Macadamias - Get 20% off at https://houseofmacadamias.com/twist by using code TWIST20
(36:36) How compelling is AI?
(45:29) Owning either Instagram, Linked In, or YouTube
(48:15) Rational and Wildcard: Who is likely to acquire TikTok?
(53:44) Twitter product development
(1:00:51) Reclaiming lost time
(1:11:48) The future of Amazon
(1:19:57) Apple to spend $1B on producing theatrical releases + Project Titan
(1:25:21) SOTD: Keeping satellites on course with Starfish Space
FOLLOW Ben: https://twitter.com/gilbert
FOLLOW David: https://twitter.com/djrosent
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
Subscribe to our YouTube to watch all full episodes:
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FOUNDERS! Subscribe to the Founder University podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/founder-university/id1648407190
VC market overview, Vision Fund impact, Amazon's core businesses & more with Acquired | E1530
Acquired's Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal join the show to discuss how they think about public market investments (1:43), VC token sales (27:25), a VC market overview (45:40), the Vision Fund's impact on Silicon Valley (1:00:33), and Amazon's core pillars! (1:13:21)
(0:00) Jason intros today's guests and topics: Crossover Pod with Acquired!
(1:43) Private markets overview, Jay Trading, Ben's investment thesis for TSMC and Shopify
(13:44) Embroker - Use code TWIST to get an extra 10% off insurance at https://Embroker.com/twist
(14:52) Jason makes two live Jay Trades, better solutions for employee stock options
(26:14) Dell - Apply for Dell for Startups and get an additional 10% off Dell Latitude products at https://dell.com/twist
(27:25) Crypto regulation, VC token sales
(39:33) Zapier - Try for free today at https://zapier.com/TWIST
(41:02) The burden of going public, final ideas on digital asset regulation
(45:40) Major takeaways from PitchBook's Q2 US VC Monitor: exit value collapse, deal volume down, seed not impacted as much, signs of life in the early-stage
(1:00:33) Reflecting on Masa's precarious position and the impact that SoftBank's Vision Fund has had on the VC industry
(1:13:21) Ranking the most impressive pillars of Amazon's business: AWS, Prime, marketplace, advertising
EP 23: Non-Crypto Talk with Zach Weinberg plus Interview with Acquired Podcast’s Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal
Time Stamps:
(1:18) Introducing Zach Weinberg
(2:44) Web2 celebrity status
(7:22) Frozen tech market
(10:33) Investor perspective
(14:06) Current market state
(25:07) Advising founders
(34:24) Bill Magnuson Story
(38:13) Founder characteristics)
(42:37) Zach vs Keith Rabois
(49:13) Acquired FM intro
(50:09) Acquired FM history
(1:04:43) The state of podcasts
(1:08:48) Logan’s backstory
(1:23:52) Creating episodes
(1:33:55) Three priorities of Acquired
(1:46:28) Acquired’s best moments
(1:49:10) Production process
(1:54:36) Increasing blast radius
(2:00:29 State of venture
(2:08:14) The Tiger/SoftBank approach
(2:17:37) Parting thoughts
Links:
Keith Rabois – Barrels and Ammunition clip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75fyGOBy38c
-Zach Weinberg vs Keith Rabois - https://medium.com/@KirbyAWallace/fact-checking-a-vcs-tweets-about-covid-19-clinical-trials-86cdef1b0ff4
-Acquired FM - https://www.acquired.fm/
Mixed and edited: Justin Hrabovsky
Produced: Andrew Nadeau and Rashad Assir
Executive Producer: Josh Machiz
Music Griff Lawson
🎙 Listen to the show
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Follow on Socials
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About the Show
A Saturday morning podcast hosted by Logan Bartlett (Partner and Managing Director at Redpoint Ventures) covering the tech news with his friends and other people with industry expertise.
Executive Producer: Rashad Assir
Producer: Leah Clapper
Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky
Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA
🎥 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCugS0jD5IAdoqzjaNYzns7w?sub_confirmation=1
Follow on Socials
📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theloganbartlettshow
📱 X - https://twitter.com/loganbartshow
🎬 Clips on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theloganbartlettshow
About the Show
Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode of The Logan Bartlett Show, we sit down with the people behind today’s most important startups and extract the tactics, lessons, and frameworks they’ve learned the hard way. Conversations span hiring to GTM, product, growth, fundraising and everything in between - collectively forming the ultimate playbook to make you a better CEO, investor or board member.
Tap follow and enable notifications to stay ahead of the game.
NYT’s Glossier hit piece, VC winters, Activist CEOs and Podcast live events with Acquired’s David Rosenthal | E1472
Today, Acquired’s David Rosenthal joins us. We discuss their recent Climate Pledge Arena Show (1:37), the new fundraising environment, and what the best founders and VC firms are doing (21:29), and we dig into the New York Times' latest hit piece on Glossier CEO Emily Weiss (37:40). We wrap with an optimistic look at what Australian billionaire and Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes is doing to take on Australia's biggest polluter (1:00:59).
(00:00) Cold open
(1:37) David Rosenthal from Acquired catches up with Jason and Molly
(12:01) Coda - The All-in-one doc for teams, get a $1,000 credit at https://coda.io/twist
(13:18) Crypto downturn, good for crypto in the long run?
(20:11) Lemon.io - Get 15% off your first 4 weeks of developer time at https://Lemon.io/twist
(21:29) “VC Winter” warnings for founders
(36:24) Reforge - Apply for their next cohort at https://reforge.com/twist
(37:40) Glossier hit piece - NYT decides to dunk on Glossier founder Emily Weiss
(53:13) Jason reveals his workshop process for comedy
(56:38) Founders’ response to NYT hit piece on Emily Weiss
(1:00:59) Mike Cannon-Brookes trying to buy AGL, Australia's largest energy producer
(1:13:05) Teasing tomorrow’s show: GameStop earnings
Portfolio construction, Sequoia's transition & Fast with Acquired.FM + The Dropout: This Week in Streaming with Lon Harris | E1429
First, Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal from Acquired join Jason to talk portfolio construction (13:41), Roelof Botha succeeding Doug Leone at Sequoia (30:58), and to debate the takeaway from Fast's demise (52:22). Then Lon Harris from Inside Streaming joins to discuss the final two episodes of The Dropout (1:24:16)!
(00:00) Jason intros today’s show
(1:31) Catching up w/ the http://acquired.fm guys: David Rosenthal and Ben Gilbert
(12:25) Fiverr - Sign up for https://Fiverr.com/Business free for the first year and save 10% on your purchase with promo code JASON
(13:41) Ben on investing in tech
(21:39) Ourcrowd - Check out the deal of the week at https://ourcrowd.com/twist
(22:46) How David thinks about his capital allocation
(29:41) Notion - Get started for free at https://notion.com/thisweekinstartups
(30:58) Talking about Doug Leone’s retirement
(52:22) Talking about the elephant in the room: Fast.co shutdown
(1:24:16) Talking with Lon Harris about the finale of “The Dropout”
Check out Acquired: https://www.acquired.fm
FOLLOW Acquired:
https://twitter.com/gilbert
https://twitter.com/djrosent
https://twitter.com/AcquiredFM
FOLLOW Lon: https://twitter.com/lons
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood
FTC antitrust revision, 5G rollout pause + David Rosenthal's $2.8M fund: Angel S6 E2 | E1364
First Jason and Molly cover how 5G rollouts are causing problem with airlines (2:03) and Lina Khan’s remarks on reworking antitrust regulation to not only consider deals inflicting consumer harm, but those lessening competition (10:10).
Then, David Rosenthal for Season 6 Episode 2 of Angel (29:00)
- David’s been a VC for a while, but he just launched a new $2.8M fund part-time with Nat Manning
- We get into why his small fund size is actually so significant and represents new possibilities in venture
- How he uses his podcast and community to get dealflow
- What he thinks you need before starting your own VC fund
(00:00) Jason intros the show
(02:03) Verizon and AT&T are running into 5G rollout challenges with airlines and the FAA
(08:57) Ourcrowd - Check out the deal of the week at https://ourcrowd.com/angel
(10:10) Lina Khan's new view on antitrust
(18:51) Embroker - Get an extra 10% off insurance for your business at https://Embroker.com/twist
(20:10) Revisiting the $MSFT - $ATVI acquisition through the lens of "game share"
(22:07) Lina Kahn is considering expanding the view of antitrust for its impact on labor
(27:28) LinkedIn Marketing - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at https://linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups
(29:00) Welcoming David Rosenthal to the show
(31:57) Size & mandate of David Rosenthal's new fund, Kindergarten Ventures
(34:47) How the Acquired community fuels David's investing
(38:37) Can you start a fund without brand?
(41:06) How to navigate pro-rata as a small fund?
(42:40) Using SPVs to lead follow-on investing
(44:18) How a part-time investing is Kindergarten's secret weapon
(47:02) Choosing 506 C vs. traditional fund structure
(52:59) Raising Kindergarten VC
(54:48) "AWS" options for venture funds
(55:45) Why a $2.8M venture fund is finally possible
(1:02:31) Investing with a fund vs. being an angel
(1:05:45) David's take of the crypto ecosystem and how he evaluates crypto deals
(1:10:14) What aspect of investing has been the most difficult to learn?
(1:15:34) Best way to pitch David
FOLLOW David: https://twitter.com/djrosent
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
FOLLOW Molly: https://twitter.com/mollywood
Podcasting, crypto and favorite finds with Acquired’s Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal | E1337
David and Ben from Acquired.FM join Jason to talk about their favorite podcast moments from 2021 (1:29), valuations across startups & crypto (35:50), top content recommendations (1:10:00) and so much more!
Creating a new venture fund: formation, follow-on strategies & more with Acquired | E1258
Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal from Acquired join to discuss David's new venture fund Kindergarten Ventures (00:56), how to structure a VC fund (12:16), Jason's super pro-rata strategy (30:17), podcasting (35:50), and they tease the next episode on "The Mount Rushmore of Venture Capital" (56:11) & more!
Acquired.FM’s Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal on Berkshire vs. Bitcoin, Amazon acquires James Bond IP, and more! | E1222
Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal of Acquired join Jason to talk about Bitcoin's recent price action (5:55), the cognitive dissonance of liking both Bitcoin and Berkshire (14:27), Amazon's acquisition of MGM (39:34), and more!
Startup Bracketology: selecting the world’s best private company with Acquired FM PLUS future of VC | E1191
Check out Acquired: https://www.acquired.fm
FOLLOW Ben: https://twitter.com/gilbert
FOLLOW David: https://twitter.com/djrosent
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
News! Bitcoin hits $50K, monetizing Clubhouse, drafting the Mount Rushmore of Tech CEOs & more with Acquired FM | E1175
Check out Acquired: https://www.acquired.fm
FOLLOW Ben: https://twitter.com/gilbert
FOLLOW David: https://twitter.com/djrosent
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
E1132: News! Jack Dorsey vs. Ted Cruz, Google’s antitrust lawsuit, Expensify email, Amazon deep dive & much more with Acquired’s Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal
Check out Acquired: https://www.acquired.fm
FOLLOW Ben: https://twitter.com/gilbert
FOLLOW David: https://twitter.com/djrosent
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal of Acquired - Lessons on Early Stage Investing and Getting Acquired - [Invest Like the Best, EP.196]
My guests today are Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal. Ben and David are investors but also the duo behind the Acquired podcast, which is one of my favorite podcasts that dives deep into business history and famous acquisitions. I recommend you check it out.
In this conversation, we review of some of the greatest corporate acquisitions of all time and also discuss investing lessons Ben and David have learned across their careers. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Ben and David.
This episode is brought to you by Koyfin, one of the fastest growing fintech startups. I discovered Koyfin earlier this year when I asked twitter for the best Bloomberg alternative, and the overwhelming winner was an intriguing new product called Koyfin.
Koyfin has tons of high-quality data, powerful functionality, and a nice clean interface. If you’re an individual investor, research analyst, portfolio manager, or financial advisor, you should definitely check them out. Sign up for free at koyfin.com
This episode of Invest Like The Best is also sponsored by Assure. Assure is changing the way investors manage private transactions.
With Assure, investors can eliminate nearly all the admin cost of private investment. On top of that, they handle all the backend, legal, taxes, accounting, and compliance. All of it, with a straightforward one-time fee.
Learn more and try Assure for yourself at https://www.assure.co/patrick.
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
Sign up for the book club and new email newsletter called “Inside the Episode” at InvestorFieldGuide.com/bookclub.
Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
Show Notes
(2:29) – (First question) – What they look for in new founders based on more experienced managers they’ve worked with
(5:07) – Difference between emerging vs legacy market
(9:17) – Research steps to determine if a market can get big enough to invest in
(12:08) – Working with other firms for doing an initial investment round
(15:42) – Recent trends in the supply of capital and number of founders in the VC space
(18:56) – Lessons they have learned studying corporate transactions
(24:13) – How do startups transform once they are acquired to increase their multiples so much
(28:10) – What they learned from deliberations that take place within the acquiring company
(30:39) – Most interesting deal for them to unpack
(32:44) – What are features of a business that is difficult for others to replicate
(35:52) – Any company that are intimidated to go up against
(37:37) – Who would they follow
(38:52) – Blake Robbins Podcast Episode
(39:09) – Missing pieces in their skill set
(41:43) – Early green shoots
(44:40) – Lessons from Alaska Airlines acquisition and the value of scarcity
(47:07) – Kindest thing anyone has done for them
Learn More
For more episodes go to InvestorFieldGuide.com/podcast.
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Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_oshag
#108 with Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal - Brainstorming with the Acquired Podcast
Shaan Puri (@ShaanVP) hosts the pod today with guests Ben Gilbert (@gilbert) and David Rosenthal (djrosent) from the Aquired podcast (@acquiredfm). In today’s episode you’ll hear: Shaan asks Ben and David to give some background on themselves and the Acquired podcast (0:30), Shaan gives four personalities that every company needs to succeed (11:00), the Acquired guys pitch an idea for an Airbnb that says whether or not the location has wifi (18:00), the Acquired guys talk about making your own stock index (29:10), Shaan talks about putting solar panels into space and beaming energy back down to earth (39:00), the guys talk about different ways to mitigate tax liability (48:10), the Acquired guys asks Shaan to tell the story of Bebo (62:10). This episode is presented by Tempo! Check them out at tempo.fit and use code "TempoHustle" for $100 off. Have you joined our private FB group yet? It's a page where people share each others million dollar ideas or what they're already working on: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion.
See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
E1101: News! Apple vs. Epic Games, TikTok CEO resigns, SPACs, Unicorn IPOs & more with Acquired’s Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal
Check out Acquired: https://www.acquired.fm
FOLLOW Ben: https://twitter.com/gilbert
FOLLOW David: https://twitter.com/djrosent
FOLLOW Jason: https://linktr.ee/calacanis
Thanks to our partners...
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E1062: News Roundtable! Acquired.FM Co-Hosts Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal on Clubhouse’s pre-launch $100M valuation, Joe Rogan to Spotify, Uber layoffs, food delivery wars, Facebook buys GIPHY & more!
0:31 Jason intros today's news roundtable guests Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal
6:54 Clubhouse raises Series A from a16z at a $100M valuation pre-launch
11:12 How do $2M in secondary shares play into Clubhouse's situation?
14:08 How Clubhouse achieved "VC-Market Fit"
18:49 Was this investment worth it considering massive former outliers in the consumer social space (Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat)? Or did a16z pay too high of a price?
26:08 Bull/bear cases for founders selling secondary shares pre-launch
33:29 What impact did raising $100M for Mahalo pre-launch have on Jason?
37:18 Joe Rogan to Spotify, guess the acquisition price & macro-impact on the podcast industry
46:09 How massive is this for Spotify's position in the podcast industry? Did Apple drop the ball?
51:28 Jason to Dara: Uber should buy Dominos
52:16 How much podcast market share will Spotify have in the coming years? Will this be viewed as the landmark deal?
57:03 Uber layoffs, potential GrubHub acquisition, does the food delivery business model work?
1:04:57 Why the on-demand food delivery industry has a product-market-price fit issue, should life-long bureaucrats impact capitalist policy?
1:12:03 Who emerges victorious from the food delivery dog fight?
1:15:28 How being too reliant on one revenue stream could kill many ad-based media publications
1:24:38 Facebook's GIPHY acquisition
1:25:55 Twitter thread by GIPHY crowdfunding investor who never received their return, why Syndicate/Crowdfunding leads need to stand up for their investors to downstream firms
THREAD: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1262574661239312384.html
1:37:20 How GIPHY's weak relationship with their DAUs led to little negotiating leverage
1:39:05 Predictions for Clubhouse's eventual business model
Marketplaces Deep Dive with Ramesh Johari
We're joined by Stanford professor and senior advisor to Airbnb, Uber, Stitch Fix, and Wave Capital, Ramesh Johari, who is one of the world's leading experts in marketplaces. Ramesh has been advising David and his partners at Wave since day one, and we're super excited to bring his incredible experience and insights to all of our ACQ2 listeners. In this conversation we dive deep into nearly every aspect of starting, building and then operating a marketplace at scale. Whether you are a marketplace entrepreneur, employee, investor, or just curious about how some of the most powerful businesses of our time work, this is not one to miss!
Sponsors:
Sierra: https://bit.ly/acquiredsierra