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Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal

Acquired

Starbucks. You’d be hard pressed to name any brand that’s more ubiquitous in the world today. With nearly half a billion global customer purchases per week across its stores and 3rd party retail channels, a significant portion of the human population gets their daily fix in the green and white paper cup. (Including our own Ben Gilbert who famously enjoys his daily spinach feta wrap. :)

But it wasn’t always this way. Long before the frappuccinos and the PSLs and the cake pops, Starbucks was just a small-time Seattle roaster that only sold beans — and was started not by Howard Schultz but rather the guys who later ran Peet’s (!). Starting from six tiny stores when Howard took over in 1987, this quirky coffee company named after a character from Moby Dick has scaled to nearly 40,000 locations worldwide.

Today, in a first for Acquired, the protagonist himself joins us as a third cohost to tell the whole story of Starbucks. And Howard is in the perfect moment to do this — after three separate stints as CEO he’s now retired, off the board of directors, and in his own words “not coming back.” So place a mobile order (or not! as you’ll hear Howard speak about), sit back with your own favorite Starbucks items, and enjoy.

Sponsors:

WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24

The Biggest Thing We’ve Ever Done:

San Francisco. September 10, 2024. • Mark your calendars.

Links:

Howard’s letter “The Soul of a Brand”Worldly Partners’ multi-decade Starbucks analysisStarbucks S-1

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© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

© Copyright 2024 ACQ, LLC

‍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.

Starbucks (with Howard Schultz)

In 1999, Microsoft became the most valuable company in the world. And in 2019, Microsoft became the most valuable company in the world, again. But… what happened in the twenty years in between? The answer, as we discovered in our research, is probably not what you think.

In this episode we explore and analyze the browser wars and the DOJ case, Windows XP through 8, Surface, Xbox, search, Yahoo!, Bing, the iPhone, Nokia, mobile, social, Facebook… and oh yeah, a little thing called Azure and the enterprise — which ended up becoming so big that no failures mattered. Tune in for Microsoft, Volume II.

Chase Center Live Show in SF:

Sign up here • to for the pre-sale list before tickets are available to the public. See you there!!

Sponsors:

Many thanks to our fantastic Season 14 partners:

J.P. Morgan PaymentsServiceNowPilot
Links:

Bill Gurley on Android’s “Less Than Free” business modelAll episode sources
Carve Outs:

Meta Ray-BansOzlo SleepbudsM3 Macbook AirModel Y
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in the ACQ Merch Store • !

Note: references to Fortune in ServiceNow sponsor sections are from Fortune ©2023. Used under license.

© Copyright 2024 ACQ, LLC

‍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.

Microsoft Volume II

M&M’s, Snickers, Milky Way, Double Mint, Ben’s Rice, Pedigree, Whiskas, VCA, Banfield… all the brands you know, owned by the company you know nothing about: Mars, Incorporated. And Mars itself is 100% owned and deeply intertwined with the Mars family, who are currently the second wealthiest (and perhaps first most secretive!) family in the United States. Tune in for one of the 20th century’s most incredible entrepreneurial stories across candy and pet care, and one that’s all the more incredible because it’s so little-known!

Sponsors:

Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘24 Season partners:

J.P. Morgan PaymentsCrusoeStatsig

Links:

Hershey’s M&M response: Hershey-etsOur past episodes on Berkshire Hathaway, LVMH, and Novo NordiskWorldly Partners Multi-Decade Mars StudyEpisode sources

Carve Outs:

Dandelion Chocolate and the Dandelion Advent CalendarTesla Model Y + repair serviceSiloHome Alone

More Acquired:

Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store!

‍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.

Mars Inc. (the chocolate story)

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?

Sponsors:

WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24

More Acquired!:

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© Copyright 2015-2025 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?

Sponsors:

WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24

More Acquired!:

Get email updates • with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
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© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

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.

Sponsors:

WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24

More Acquired!:

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© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

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.

Sponsors:

WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24

More Acquired!:

Get email updates • with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
Join the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store • !

© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

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.

Sponsors:

WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24

More Acquired!:

Get email updates • with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
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© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

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.

Sponsors:

WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24

More Acquired!:

Get email updates • with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
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© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

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.

Sponsors:

WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24

More Acquired!:

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© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

Episode 7: YouTube

Acquired is live on the scene following Dropbox’s public market debut. From playing a central role in the early days of Y Combinator, to having Steve Jobs famously label the company a “feature not a product”, to pivoting from consumers to enterprise to developers and back again, the silicon valley history runs deep with this one. What twists and turns lie ahead for Dropbox as a public company? We speculate!

Sponsors:

WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Huntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntress
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24

More Acquired!:

Get email updates • with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
Join the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store • !

© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

Links:

 Dropbox’s Y Combinator applicationOriginal Dropbox demo video
Carve Outs:

 • Ben: 
 Raytracing comes to DirectX • David: 
Lazy Game Reviews

Season 2, Episode 5: The Dropbox IPO

Season 2, Episode 5: The Dropbox IPO

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