Every company has a story.

Learn the playbooks that built the world’s greatest companies — and how you can apply them as a founder, operator, or investor.

Microsoft. After nearly a decade of Acquired episodes, we are finally ready to tackle the most valuable company ever created. The company that put a computer on every desk and in every home. The company that invented the software business model. The company that so thoroughly and completely dominated every conceivable competitor that the United States government intervened and kneecapped it… yet it’s STILL the most valuable company in the world today.This episode tells the story of Microsoft in its heyday, the PC Era. We cover its rise from a teenage dream to the most powerful business and technology force in history — the 20-year period from 1975 to 1995 that took Bill and Paul from the Lakeside high school computer room to launching Windows 95 alongside Jay Leno and the Rolling Stones. From BASIC to DOS, Windows, Office, Intel, IBM, Xerox PARC, Apple, Steve Jobs, Steve Ballmer… it’s all here, and it’s all amazing. Tune in and enjoy… Microsoft.Sponsors:Many thanks to our fantastic Season 14 partners:<ul><li><a href="https://bit.ly/acquiredJPMP4pod">J.P. Morgan Payments</a></li><li><a href="https://bit.ly/acquiredsn">ServiceNow</a></li><li><a href="https://bit.ly/acquiredpilot24">Pilot</a></li></ul>Links:<ul><li><a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title17-section101&num=0&edition=prelim">Congress changing copyright law in 1980 to include “computer programs”</a></li><li><a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=acquired+forethought+podcast&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8">Acquired “classic” on Microsoft’s 1987 acquisition of Forethought / PowerPoint</a></li><li><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MAMEaKuZxGAJ3Gj7d8dkul9EdmqPLdmP355R-zMn1pg/edit?usp=sharing">All episode sources</a></li></ul>Carve Outs:<ul><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLx053rWZxCiYWsBETgdKrQ">LGR</a></li><li>André 3000’s <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/33Ek6daAL3oXyQIV1uoItD?si=Axxs2iVRQdSkdAH_4PEi6g">new album</a> + <a href="https://www.gq.com/story/men-of-the-year-2023-andre-3000-profile">GQ Interview</a></li><li><a href="https://www.meta.com/smart-glasses/shop-all/">Meta Ray-Bans</a></li><li><a href="https://www.juliarundberg.com">Visual Designer Julia Rundberg</a></li><li><a href="https://www.summerhealth.com">Summer Health</a></li></ul>More Acquired:<ul><li><a href="https://www.acquired.fm/email">Get email updates</a> with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes</li><li><a href="http://acquired.fm/slack">Join the Slack</a></li><li><a href="https://pod.link/acquiredlp">Subscribe to ACQ2</a></li><li>Check out the latest swag <a href="https://www.acquired.fm/store">in the ACQ Merch Store</a>!</li></ul>Note: references to Fortune in ServiceNow sponsor sections are from Fortune ©2023. Used under license. ‍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.

Acquired

Microsoft

Renaissance Technologies is the best performing investment firm of all time. And yet no one at RenTec would consider themselves an “investor”, at least in any traditional sense of the word. It’d rather be more accurate to call them scientists — scientists who’ve discovered a system of math, computers and artificial intelligence that has evolved into the greatest money making machine the world has ever seen. And boy does it work: RenTec’s alchemic colossus has posted annual returns in the firm’s flagship Medallion Fund of 68% gross and 40% net over the past 34 years, while never once losing money. (For those keeping track at home, $1,000 invested in Medallion in 1988 would have compounded to $46.5B today… if you’d been allowed to keep it in.) Tune in for an incredible story of the small group of rebel mathematicians who didn’t just beat the market, but in the words of author Greg Zuckerman “solved it.”Sponsors:Many thanks to our fantastic Season 14 partners:<ul><li><a href="https://bit.ly/acquiredJPMP3pod">J.P. Morgan Payments</a></li><li><a href="https://bit.ly/acquiredsn">ServiceNow</a></li><li><a href="https://bit.ly/acquiredpilot24">Pilot</a></li></ul>Links:<ul><li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Solved-Market-Revolution/dp/073521798X">The Man Who Solved the Market</a></li><li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Quants-Whizzes-Conquered-Street-Destroyed/dp/0307453383">The Quants</a></li><li><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-21/how-renaissance-s-medallion-fund-became-finance-s-blackest-box?embedded-checkout=true">Bloomberg’s 2016 RenTec profile</a></li><li><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HrVvsp7STlJKP4HgiSw1uyD6toc4AYImNR8q8ulNCFc/edit?usp=sharing">All episode sources</a></li></ul>Carve Outs:<ul><li><a href="https://bit.ly/acqtransfer">Modern Treasury’s Transfer Conference Registration</a></li><li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18177528/">The New Look</a></li><li><a href="https://bit.ly/3PmJjhV">Cole Haan x Acquired!</a></li><li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/classofpalmbeach/">Class of Palm Beach</a> (and the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C3bCE12uAwD/?hl=en">Mini Kelly inside the Birkin</a>!!)</li></ul>More Acquired:<ul><li><a href="https://www.acquired.fm/email">Get email updates</a> with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes</li><li><a href="http://acquired.fm/slack">Join the Slack</a></li><li><a href="https://pod.link/acquiredlp">Subscribe to ACQ2</a></li><li>Check out the latest swag <a href="https://www.acquired.fm/store">in the ACQ Merch Store</a>!</li></ul>Note: references to Fortune in ServiceNow sponsor sections are from Fortune ©2023. Used under license. ‍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.

Renaissance Technologies

In luxury, there’s Hermès… and there’s everyone else. Stewarded by one French family over six generations, Hermès sells the absolute pinnacle of the French luxury dream. Loyal clients will wait years simply for the opportunity to buy one of the company’s flagship Birkin or Kelly bags. Unlike every other luxury brand, Hermès:<ul><li>Doesn’t increase supply to meet demand (hence the waitlists)</li><li>Doesn’t loudly brand their products (IYKYK)</li><li>Doesn’t do celebrity endorsements (stars buy their bags just like everyone else)</li><li>Doesn’t even have a marketing department! (they barely advertise at all)</li></ul>And yet everyone knows who they are and what they represent. But, despite all their iconoclasm, this is not a company that’s stood still for six generations. Unbeknownst to most, Hermès has completely reinvented itself at least three times in its 187-year history. Including most recently (and most dramatically) by the family’s current leaders, who responded to LVMH and Bernard Arnault’s 2010 takeover attempt by pursuing a radical strategy — scaling hand craftsmanship. And in the process they turned the company from a sleepy, ~$10B family enterprise into a $200B market cap European giant. Tune in for one incredible story!Sponsors:Many thanks to our fantastic Season 14 partners:<ul><li><a href="https://bit.ly/acquiredJPMP2pod">J.P. Morgan Payments</a></li><li><a href="https://bit.ly/acquiredsn">ServiceNow</a></li><li><a href="https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta">Vanta</a></li></ul>Links:<ul><li>Visuals for: <ul><li>00:23: <a href="https://images1.bonhams.com/image?src=Images/live/2014-06/02/94558567-11-1.jpg">Haut a Courroies</a>, the “high-belted bag” to carry saddles and boots</li><li>00:45: <a href="https://assets.hermes.com/is/image/hermesproduct/chaine-d-ancre-bracelet-very-large-model--101995B%2000-worn-2-0-0-800-800_g.jpg">Chaine d'ancre</a>, “Chain of anchors”</li><li>00:49: <a href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/61/ac/84/61ac84114c03ee8f818d84a7e5684a80.jpg">Jeu des Omnibus et Dames blanches</a>, “White ladies at play”</li><li>00:53: <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QjlwKL9D4MU/UHLsucReiJI/AAAAAAAABXA/s_45ULViyQo/s1600/IMG_1615.JPG">Screen printing each color on a scarf individually</a></li><li>00:57: <a href="https://blog.fashionphile.com/hermes-oranges/">The Hermès oranges</a></li><li>01:06 <a href="https://www.hermes.com/us/en/content/106196-kelly/">Sac à Dépêches (today: the Kelly Bag)</a></li><li>01:07 <a href="https://i.huffpost.com/gen/1457564/thumbs/o-GRACE-KELLY-BAG-570.jpg?8">Grace Kelly photo in LIFE Magaine</a></li><li>01:26: <a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aaLc5iBboXo/V7yawv5AlsI/AAAAAAAAHuc/fTrGbwc-1Gc9FYwBVpTLMCF-r-T7cFj0ACLcB/s1600/Beginning%2Bwith%2Bthreads%2Bover%2Ban%2Bedge.jpg">Steps to sew a saddle stitch</a></li><li>01:48 <a href="https://www.hermes.com/us/en/content/106191-birkin/">the Birkin Bag</a></li><li>03:17 <a href="https://www.hermes.com/us/en/category/petit-h/#%7C">Pettit h</a></li></ul></li><li><a href="https://youtu.be/g6HOhqaVXW0?si=rdX6cEfgMQpWo31g">The saddle stitch (video)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.thedashingrider.com/hermes-inside-the-saddlery/">Inside the Saddlery at the Faubourg</a></li><li><a href="https://assets-finance.hermes.com/s3fs-public/node/pdf_file/2023-05/1684143348/hermes-urd-2022-en_01.pdf">Hermès 2022 Annual Report</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htlh8IpER5g">Axel Dumas Interview</a></li><li><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/13S39Z-7vF4WE8jbFJq_uK3aR-YDV84oBKK-w1cVUi3o/edit?usp=sharing">All episode sources</a></li></ul>Carve Outs:<ul><li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Charger-Compact-MacBook-Pixelbook/dp/B0C4DGBHY2">Anker GaN Prime 100W charger</a></li><li><a href="https://hq.getmatter.com">Matter</a></li><li><a href="https://www.perplexity.ai">Perplexity</a></li><li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Score-Takes-Care-Itself-Philosophy/dp/1591843472">The Score Takes Care of Itself</a></li></ul>More Acquired:<ul><li><a href="https://www.acquired.fm/email">Get email updates</a> with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes</li><li><a href="http://acquired.fm/slack">Join the Slack</a></li><li><a href="https://pod.link/acquiredlp">Subscribe to ACQ2</a></li><li>Check out the latest swag <a href="https://www.acquired.fm/store">in the ACQ Merch Store</a>!</li></ul>‍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.

Hermès

Last year Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical company behind Ozempic and Wegovy, overtook LVMH to become Europe’s most valuable company. And the pull for Acquired to finally tackle healthcare (18% of US GDP!) became too strong for us to resist. While we didn’t know much about Novo Nordisk before diving in, our first thought was, “wow, seems like these new diabetes and obesity drugs mean serious trouble for big insulin companies.”And then… we realized that Novo Nordisk IS the big insulin company. And in a story befitting of Steve Jobs and Apple, they’d just disrupted themselves with the drug equivalent of an iPhone moment. Once we dug further, we quickly realized this company has it all: an incredible 100+ year history filled with Nobel Prizes, bitter personal rivalries, board room dramas, a generation-defining silicon valley innovation, lone voices persevering against all odds — and oh yeah, the world’s largest charitable foundation at its helm. Tune in for one incredible story!Sponsors:Many thanks to our fantastic Season 14 partners:<ul><li><a href="https://bit.ly/acquiredJPMP1pod">J.P. Morgan Payments</a></li><li><a href="https://bit.ly/acquiredsn">ServiceNow</a></li><li><a href="https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta">Vanta</a></li></ul>More Acquired:<ul><li><a href="https://www.acquired.fm/email">Get email updates</a> with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes</li><li><a href="http://acquired.fm/slack">Join the Slack</a></li><li><a href="https://pod.link/acquiredlp">Subscribe to ACQ2</a></li><li>Check out the latest swag <a href="https://www.acquired.fm/store">in the ACQ Merch Store</a>!</li></ul>Links:<ul><li><a href="https://www.drugchannels.net/2022/02/still-not-skyrocketing-new-cms-data.html">Chart: US Healthcare Spend by Category</a></li><li><a href="https://www.drugchannels.net/2019/03/new-2019-economic-report-on-us.html">Chart: US Distribution and Reimbursement System (for pharmaceutical drugs)</a></li><li><a href="https://diabetesjournals.org/view-large/figure/3430167/dci180019f3.jpeg">Chart: Insulin Supply Chain</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LGqQJFdoWM">YouTube Talk: What People Get Wrong about the Finances of the Drug Industry</a></li><li><a href="https://atelfo.github.io/2023/12/23/biopharma-from-janssen-to-today.html">Alex Telford: The pharma industry from Paul Janssen to today: why drugs got harder to develop and what we can do about it</a></li><li><a href="https://www.outofpocket.health/p/lets-talk-about-obesity-drugs?fromEmail=true">Out-of-Pocket Health: Obesity Drugs</a></li><li><a href="https://www.outofpocket.health/p/all-of-the-main-problems-with-us-healthcare">Out-of-Pocket Health: US Healthcare System Problems</a></li><li><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p_8e_gxDTqUln5a79QTtu0e5hZesqrdQqYeTPnzGJ7Y/edit?usp=sharing">All episode sources</a></li></ul>Carve Outs:<ul><li><a href="https://www.noxgear.com/tracer2">Noxgear Tracer 2 running vest</a></li><li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15282746/">Drops of God</a></li><li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wool-Hugh-Howey/dp/1476733953">Wool by Hugh Howey</a></li><li><a href="https://www.sfballet.org/productions/mere-mortals/">Mere Mortals at San Francisco Ballet</a></li><li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21867434/">Blackberry</a></li></ul>‍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 Gilbert and David Rosenthal

Acquired by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal

Episodes