Acquired Episode 17: Waze

Topics covered include:

• Community Showcase: the Nexcast • podcasting platform from listener Brian Sanders, along with their podcast chronicling the team’s journey building the company • • Waze’s origin in cofounder & CTO Ehud Shabtai’s desire to hack his portable GPS navigation unit • Waze CEO Noam Bardin’s retrospective blog post • on the Waze journey Waze’s Palo Alto office • and the bizarre Silicon Valley phenomenon of tech companies being located in retail storefronts • Apple’s ill-fated launch of Apple Maps • as part of iOS 6 at WWDC 2012, Apple’s subsequent apology letter • , and Scott Forstall’s ultimate ouster • from the company • The climax of the mobile platform wars… which it turns out Apple and Google both won Apple, Facebook, and Google all vying to acquire Waze • throughout 2013 Google’s renewed design ethos under Larry Page • Ben and David spontaneously agree (surprise) to create on a new category of acquisition for the show • The increasing strategic value of data and data assets as technology enters the age of machine learning • The coming mega trend of autonomous vehicles, and the role Israeli startups are playing in it • (including the globalization of startups & innovation) • The disruptive power of network and data-based business models • Emergence of native as *the* definitive advertising medium on mobile, including ability to close the advertising loop via location-based products and services

Sponsors:

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The Carve Out:

• Ben: Weezer’s “Summer Elaine and Drunk Dori” on Song Exploder • • David: Simon Sinek’s “Start with Why” TED Talk Followups:

• None this week… coverage of Instagram Stories • to come next time!