Episode 24: Skype

An acquisition so wild and crazy, they had to do it again. And
again. Ben & David cover tech’s perhaps most-traded asset,
Skype (which also happens to be a fantastic business). How do we
even know which deal to grade? Tune in to find out… 


Sponsors:


WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25

Sierra: https://bit.ly/acquiredsierra

Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry

Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25


 




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Topics covered include: 

Community spotlight: Slack community member Swyx’s financial
data research startup Sentieo! 

Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis’s meeting in
the 1990’s at Swedish telecom company Tele2

Zennström & Friis’s introduction to talented Estonian
developers Jaan Tallinn, Ahti Heinla, and Priit Kasesalu as part
of Tele2’s efforts to jump into the dot com “portal mania” 

Skype’s origins in the technology powering Zennström, Friis
and the Estonians’ first startup endeavor together: the
peer-to-peer file sharing platform Kazaa

The “complicated” legal, technological and ownership
situation for Kazaa and Skype 

Skype’s “unique” corporate culture, including a swimming pool
in the board room and shots for initiating new employees 

The  first Skype acquisition: eBay’s 2005 deal to
acquire the company for $2.6B, just two years after launch

Culture clash between eBay and Skype management, and further
legal drama regarding Skype technology ownership post-acquisition

The  second Skype acquisition: eBay’s 2009 decision to
spin the company out to a private investor consortium including
Silver Lake and the newly-formed Andreessen Horowitz 

 The third (and final?) Skype acquisition: Microsoft’s
$8.5B purchase of the company in 2011

Skype as a “crossover” product with viable market
opportunities both in consumer and enterprise

Bill Gurley’s “Keys to the 10X Revenue Club” and the power of
Skype’s organic customer acquisition model



  Followups: 


 The Google iPhone… err, Pixel! 



  Hot Takes: 


 AT&T’s $85B mega-acquisition of Time Warner… making
America great again, or rebuilding the T-1000? 

 The New York Times acquiring The Wirecutter



  The Carve Out: 


Ben: Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny

David:  SOMA the Musical starring our very own Acquired
listener, the brilliant and talented Jake Saper!