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Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal

Acquired

Ben and David discuss Disney's acquisition of Pixar in 2006. Was it a success? If so, what are the criteria that made it work? What lessons can be learned for other acquisitions in the future?

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© Copyright 2015-2024 ACQ, LLC

Episode 1: Pixar

Ben and David discuss Facebook's acquisition of Instagram in 2012. Was it a success? If so, what are the criteria that made it work? What lessons can be learned for other acquisitions in the future?

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Episode 2: Instagram

Ben and David discuss Amazon's acquisition of Twitch in 2014. Unlike previous episodes, this recent acquisition still has a lot of open questions, and Amazon hasn't publicly reported growth of Twitch since the purchase. Ben and David talk about Justin Kan's original product with Justin.tv, and the transformation into the Twitch that Emmett Shear is running today.

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Episode 3: Twitch

Ben and David are joined by Former Microsoft VP and Co-Founder of Xbox, Ed Fries, to discuss the Bungie acquisition and the development of Halo. Highlights include: 

 • Ed’s call with Steve Jobs after the acquisition, and sharing the stage with Steve and Bungie Co-Founder Alex Seropian at the Macworld Keynote.
 • Bungie today, and the unlikely path to get there led by Harold Ryan.
 • How to find something that all parties want to get a deal done, the creation Peter Tamte’s spin-out Mac gaming studio, and orchestrating the division of current Bungie projects and assets with Take-Two, led by Ryan Brandt.
 • Saving a project that’s off schedule and missing the mark, and how Jason Jones led the effort to make Halo 2 a hit at launch.

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Episode 4: Bungie (with Xbox Co-Founder Ed Fries)

In the last episode of 2015, Ben and David discuss Apple's acquisition of Siri. Notable topics include: 

 • The founding of Siri by Dag Kittlau, Adam Cheyer, and Chris Brigham.
 • Scott Forstall on the Apple side, and the end of his time at the company.
 • The other Apple acquisitions around Siri, including Topsy, Novauris Technologies, OttoCat.
 • Cue, Spotsetter, VocalIQ, and Perceptio.
 • The team Apple built around Siri post-acquisition, including Alex Acero from Microsoft Research.
 • Speculation on the future of voice and its role in everyday computing.

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Episode 5: Siri

Riding closely on the tails of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ben and David cover Disney's 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm. In the episode, they mention Walt Disney's original flywheel diagram, seen below.

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Episode 6: Lucasfilm

Ben and David test the widely-held belief that YouTube was one of the most successful tech acquisitions of all time. In today's world of next-generation video platforms, mobile video, streaming, and chord-cutting, was it actually a great purchase by Google? 

As discussed in the show, here is Sequoia's original YouTube investment memo - a rarely-shared gold mine for anyone interested in startup investing.

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Episode 7: YouTube

Ben and David have special guest Kurt DelBene on to discuss Microsoft's acquisition of Acompli, Sunrise, and Wunderlist. Kurt is the EVP of Corporate Strategy and Planning at Microsoft, and joins to discuss Microsoft’s cloud-first, mobile-first strategy, and the importance of being cross-platform in the modern era. They cover: 

 • How the app of Outlook Mobile on iPhone and Android came to be.
 • How to decide whether to build vs. buy, and how it plays into the strategy for Office.
 • How to preserve a culture and a team, and how Javier Soltero came to run all of Outlook at Microsoft.
 • The origin of Outlook on the PC, originally led by Brian MacDonald as “Ren”.
 • How to balance a business with competing priorities, and a decision-making framework for acquisitions in a large company.
 • How to measure the success of an acquisition, and how sometimes, it’s not by measuring revenue at all.

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Episode 8: Acompli, Sunrise, and Wunderlist (w/ Kurt DelBene)

Ben and David continue the cloud productivity saga with Google Docs. They examine the suite of acquisitions made by Google with a focus on Writely in 2006. They tackle:

 • The nuts and bolts of the Upstartle (company behind Writely) acquisition, founded by Sam Schillace, Steve Newman and Claudia Carpenter.
 • SaaS offerings in cloud productivity today.
 • Was this a good idea for Google?
 • Google's future bets.
 • A new section: The Carve Out!

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Episode 9: Writely (Google Docs)

Ben and David deviate entirely from the stated purpose of the show, tackling this non-technology acquisition that is so recent, we have no idea if it went well yet. But, the April 2016 acquisition of Virgin America by Alaska Airlines was so fascinating, we had to do it!

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Items mentioned in the show: 

Louis C.K. - Everything is Amazing and Nobody is HappyAlaska Acquires Virgin America Investor Deck“Measuring The Moat” Paper - Michael J. MauboussinBusiness Adventures - Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street
Carve Out:

Michael Mauboussin: "The Success Equation:Untangling Skill and Luck" | Talks at Google

Episode 3: Twitch

Episode 3: Twitch

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