10 Years of Acquired (with Michael Lewis)

Why has Acquired — seemingly against all odds — “worked”? It's a
puzzling question: episodes are four hours long, they come out
infrequently, and they usually don’t have guests or video. Hardly
the standard-issue playbook for podcasting success! And yet well
over a million smart, curious and exceedingly busy humans share
their (your!) valuable time with us every month. Why? This is the
exact paradox that has been rolling around in the head of Michael
Lewis (yes, that Michael Lewis) since he found the show earlier
this year.


So we asked Michael to be our guest "interlocutor" and share what
he thinks is going on here, while we share ten lessons we've
stolen (graciously) from companies we've studied and brought into
Acquired itself. He takes us through the entire Acquired journey:
how we started, why we've never hired anyone or raised money, how
we pick episodes, what our business model actually is, why we
focus on quality and enjoyment over maximizing enterprise value,
and ultimately why we’re all — you, him, us — kindred spirits
together. Oh, and just for fun, we recorded this episode where
another special journey began — the garage where Google was
founded.


Thank you for an incredible decade together… here's to the next
one!





Sponsors:


Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘25 Season partners:


J.P. Morgan Payments (you can watch our full show with them
at AWS re:Invent here!)

WorkOS

Sentry

Shopify



Thank-yous:


First, to Google for loaning us the garage. The sawhorse
table desk, PC and CRT monitor on display in the background were
all Google originals courtesy of the Google Founders Collection
at the Computer History Museum. So cool!

Second, to our friends at Shep Films for helping us seriously
up our game on production quality this episode!



Our Favorite Michael Lewis Books:


Home Game

Moneyball

Liar’s Poker

The Blind Side

The Undoing Project (as referenced by Michael in the
beginning, about Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky)



Carve Outs:


Books: 

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Science, the Endless Frontier by Vannevar Bush

Last Man Standing: The Ascent of Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan
Chase by Duff McDonald

The Art of Spending Money by Morgan Housel

Emperors of Chocolate by Joel Glenn Brenner

Morris Chang's Autobiography



Podcasts: 

Against the Rules

Revisionist History

SmartLess

The Daily

The Bill Simmons Podcast

Graham Duncan on Invest Like the Best

Glue Guys



Video: 

Jay Kelly

The Rehearsal

Doug DeMuro

Tires

F1 The Movie

Andor

Fallout

Severance

Silo



Video Games: 

Sea of Stars

Kirby and the Forgotten Land



Products: 

ARTEZA Rollerball Pen 0.7mm Fine

Rotring 800 Mechanical Pencil

Fujifilm X100VI

Uniqlo Socks!

On Running Shoes

Rimowa Luggage



Parenting: 

Guided Access on iPad

Toy Story

SlumberPod

Bluey Experience in NYC





More Acquired:


Get email updates and vote on future episodes!

Join the Slack

Subscribe to ACQ2

Check 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.