Acquired by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal
Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal
Categories: Technology
Listen to the last episode:
Microsoft. After nearly a decade of Acquired episodes, we are finally ready to tackle the most valuable company ever created. The company that put a computer on every desk and in every home. The company that invented the software business model. The company that so thoroughly and completely dominated every conceivable competitor that the United States government intervened and kneecapped it… yet it’s STILL the most valuable company in the world today.
This episode tells the story of Microsoft in its heyday, the PC Era. We cover its rise from a teenage dream to the most powerful business and technology force in history — the 20-year period from 1975 to 1995 that took Bill and Paul from the Lakeside high school computer room to launching Windows 95 alongside Jay Leno and the Rolling Stones. From BASIC to DOS, Windows, Office, Intel, IBM, Xerox PARC, Apple, Steve Jobs, Steve Ballmer… it’s all here, and it’s all amazing. Tune in and enjoy… Microsoft.
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Links:
- Congress changing copyright law in 1980 to include “computer programs”
- Acquired “classic” on Microsoft’s 1987 acquisition of Forethought / PowerPoint
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Note: references to Fortune in ServiceNow sponsor sections are from Fortune ©2023. Used under license.
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.
Previous episodes
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312 - Microsoft Sun, 21 Apr 2024
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311 - Renaissance Technologies Sun, 17 Mar 2024
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310 - Hermès Mon, 19 Feb 2024
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309 - Novo Nordisk (Ozempic) Sun, 21 Jan 2024
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308 - Holiday Special 2023 Sun, 17 Dec 2023
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307 - Visa Sun, 26 Nov 2023
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306 - Charlie Munger Sun, 29 Oct 2023
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305 - NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang Sun, 15 Oct 2023
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304 - Nvidia Part III: The Dawn of the AI Era (2022-2023) Tue, 05 Sep 2023
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303 - Costco Sun, 20 Aug 2023
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302 - Nike Mon, 24 Jul 2023
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301 - Porsche (with Doug DeMuro) Mon, 26 Jun 2023
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300 - Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi Mon, 12 Jun 2023
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299 - Lockheed Martin Mon, 29 May 2023
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298 - Spotify CEO Daniel Ek Wed, 17 May 2023
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297 - Benchmark’s Mitch Lasky and Blake Robbins on The Art of Business in Gaming Tue, 25 Apr 2023
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296 - Short: The Death of Sega Mon, 17 Apr 2023
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295 - Nintendo: The Console Wars Tue, 11 Apr 2023
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294 - Interview: Hamilton Helmer & Chenyi Shi on How to Build an AWS-Like Second Business Mon, 03 Apr 2023
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293 - Sessions: David Senra (Founders Podcast) Wed, 29 Mar 2023
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292 - Nintendo's Origins Wed, 15 Mar 2023
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291 - LVMH Tue, 21 Feb 2023
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290 - The NFL Wed, 25 Jan 2023
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289 - Holiday Special 2022 Sun, 18 Dec 2022
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288 - Stratechery (with Ben Thompson) Mon, 05 Dec 2022
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287 - Enron Mon, 28 Nov 2022
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286 - Qualcomm Mon, 14 Nov 2022
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285 - Benchmark Part II: The Dinner Mon, 17 Oct 2022
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284 - ACQ Sessions: Jason Calacanis Tue, 04 Oct 2022
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283 - Benchmark Part I Tue, 27 Sep 2022
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282 - Amazon Web Services Mon, 05 Sep 2022
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281 - Howard Marks & Andrew Marks: Something of Value Mon, 29 Aug 2022
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280 - Amazon.com Tue, 16 Aug 2022
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279 - From NFL to Startup COO to Congressman Regulating Crypto (with Rep. Anthony Gonzalez) Mon, 01 Aug 2022
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278 - Walmart Mon, 18 Jul 2022
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277 - The Playbook: Lessons from 200+ Company Stories Sun, 19 Jun 2022
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276 - American Dynamism (with Katherine Boyle) Sun, 05 Jun 2022
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275 - Capital-Efficient Growth (with Zoom CEO Eric Yuan & Veeva CEO Peter Gassner) Thu, 19 May 2022
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274 - Arena Show Part II: Brooks Running (with CEO Jim Weber) Sun, 15 May 2022
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273 - Arena Show Part I: Idea Dinner + YC Continuity Thu, 12 May 2022
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272 - Nvidia Part II: The Machine Learning Company (2006-2022) Wed, 20 Apr 2022
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271 - Platforms and Power (with Hamilton Helmer and Chenyi Shi) Tue, 05 Apr 2022
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270 - Nvidia Part I: The GPU Company (1993-2006) Sun, 27 Mar 2022
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269 - Altimeter (with Brad Gerstner) Mon, 14 Mar 2022
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268 - SONY Mon, 07 Mar 2022
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267 - Super Pumped (with Brian Koppelman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt) Mon, 21 Feb 2022
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266 - The Browser (with Brendan Eich, Chief Architect of Netscape + Mozilla and CEO of Brave) Mon, 14 Feb 2022
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265 - Peloton Thu, 10 Feb 2022
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264 - Taylor Swift (Acquired’s Version) Sun, 23 Jan 2022
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231 - CAA (with Michael Ovitz) Tue, 21 Dec 2021