Acquired LIVE from Chase Center (with Daniel Ek, Emily Chang, Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg)

Acquired Podcast

• Ben Gilbert and David Rosen are the creators of the Acquired podcast. (1m33s)
• Dustin Sedwick is the CMO of JP Morgan payments and a long-time listener of the Acquired podcast. (3m36s)

Acquired Podcast Growth

• Acquired has experienced significant growth since its launch in 2015, primarily through word-of-mouth referrals, with each listener estimated to recommend the podcast to one other person annually. (12m37s)
• On Spotify, Acquired has accumulated over 5 million listening hours, reflecting a threefold increase over the preceding year. (12m45s)

Acquired Podcast Listenership

• Despite not having the highest number of downloads per episode, Acquired's extensive catalog, featuring lengthy episodes like the Microsoft volume 2, has resulted in a substantial cumulative listening time, signifying a strong and dedicated listener base. (13m49s)
• The Chir Show podcast has over 250,000 followers on Spotify. (14m11s)

Podcast Growth

• The podcast has seen growth in listenership worldwide, with countries like Mexico growing five times. (15m22s)
• Spotify has seen its podcast listenership grow from a few million in 2019 to over 150 million today. (16m20s)

Spotify's Growth

• Record companies in Germany unintentionally helped Spotify by "hacking" the system to upload audiobooks and podcasts. (19m22s)
• Spotify may incorporate more video content in the future, but there are concerns that it could detract from the experience. (20m11s)

Mark Zuckerberg and Spotify

• Mark Zuckerberg had previously attempted to launch a music startup before Facebook, which he later realized was a challenging endeavor. (23m51s)
• Daniel Ek and Mark Zuckerberg began a friendship around 2008-2009 and discussed ideas about making music more social. (24m52s)

Spotify and Facebook Collaboration

• Before Spotify's US launch, they collaborated on a product that allowed users to see what their Facebook friends were listening to on Spotify in their newsfeed. (26m16s)
• Although Ek still believes in the social aspect of music, he acknowledges that simply displaying what friends are listening to may not be the ideal social music product. (27m46s)

Mark Zuckerberg's Leadership

• Mark Zuckerberg has meetings with 15-20 people and is good at making sure everyone is heard. (30m46s)
• Spotify's internal saying is "talk is cheap" because they believe it's more expensive to build than to talk. (33m14s)

Spotify's Success

• Spotify became the market leader in podcasting in most markets around the world in 2022, three years after launching in 2019. (35m26s)
• Spotify's success can be attributed to its focus on serving its existing user base with more content, rather than creating separate apps for different forms of audio content. (36m13s)

Spotify's Expansion into Audiobooks

• Spotify's expansion into audiobooks was driven by observing user behavior in Germany, where users were already listening to audiobooks on the platform despite the subpar experience. (37m42s)

Statsig

• Statsig, a product acceleration platform, was founded by former Meta employees and enables companies to build products with a data-driven approach, similar to Facebook's engineering culture. (39m51s)

Cruso Energy

• Cruso Energy employs construction workers, including steel workers, plumbers, and electricians, to build and operate data centers. (41m47s)
• Cruso Energy has gigawatts of power in their development pipeline, which is equivalent to the power of a nuclear reactor. (42m0s)

Acquired Podcast's YouTube Acquisition Rating

• In 2016, on an episode of Acquired, David and Ben gave the acquisition of YouTube by Google a C rating. (46m35s)

YouTube's Revenue

• YouTube's revenue has increased from approximately $5 billion to $35-$40 billion annually. (49m30s)
• YouTube pays out 55% of revenue from long-form content and 45% from Shorts directly to creators. (49m48s)

LinkedIn's Success

• LinkedIn's revenue has increased fivefold to over $16 billion since its acquisition by Microsoft eight years ago, with $5 billion derived from advertising and content, a revenue stream that was virtually nonexistent at the time of the acquisition. (52m44s)
• LinkedIn, despite not being one of the most discussed acquisitions, has experienced significant success, increasing its revenue by five times over eight years and potentially reaching a market cap of over 100 billion dollars if it were an independent company today. (53m55s)

Microsoft's Acquisition of LinkedIn

• Microsoft's acquisition of LinkedIn was a surprise, with no prior leaks or reporting, and the announcement prompted a flurry of activity, including a hastily arranged interview with Satya Nadella and Jeff Weiner. (54m7s)

SpaceX's Growth

• SpaceX has significantly increased its launch capabilities, going from 26 successful launches in 2020 to a projected 118 launches in the current year. (56m22s)

Taylor Swift's Success

• Taylor Swift generated approximately $550 million in free cash flow in the past 12 months. (58m56s)
• Taylor Swift made over $100 million from Spotify streaming alone in the past year. (59m59s)
• The Eras Tour grossed $1.1 billion in 2023. (1h1m8s)
• Taylor Swift is considered by some to be the Rolling Stones of this generation. (1h5m7s)

JP Morgan Payments

• JP Morgan payments processes roughly 25% of global payments, amounting to $10 trillion daily. (1h8m5s)
• JP Morgan payments utilizes AI to combat fraud and has the largest financial blockchain ecosystem globally. (1h9m40s)

Jensen Huang and Mark Zuckerberg on Entrepreneurship

• Jensen Huang stated that if he knew how difficult starting Nvidia would be, he would not have done it. He explained that entrepreneurship is challenging and that ignorance of these challenges is a superpower. (1h11m10s)
• Mark Zuckerberg agreed with Jensen Huang's statement, adding that the early days of a startup are particularly challenging due to the volatility and the constant fear of failure. (1h14m26s)

Mark Zuckerberg's Philosophy

• Mark Zuckerberg explained that the phrase "path maos" on his shirt means "learning through suffering" and represents the idea that people discover what is important to them by facing challenges. (1h16m34s)
• Mark Zuckerberg believes that true values are revealed through difficult decisions and challenges, rather than simply being written down. (1h17m39s)

Meta's Vision

• Zuckerberg views Meta (formerly Facebook) as a "social connection company" focused on building the future of human connection, rather than just a social media company. (1h19m11s)
• Zuckerberg envisions a future where glasses with holographic displays will enable realistic social experiences and AI interactions, allowing for a more immersive and less distracting form of communication. (1h20m22s)

Meta's New Device

• A prototype of a new device with novel RF protocols and all-day battery life is nearing completion. (1h23m17s)
• The speaker initially viewed a collaboration with EssilorLuxottica, the maker of Ray-Ban glasses, as a practice project. (1h23m56s)

Meta's AI Integration

• The speaker received a phone call on a Saturday prompting the integration of Meta AI into the glasses and expedited shipping to test its viability. (1h26m25s)

Mark Zuckerberg on Technology

• Mark Zuckerberg believes that a company's strength in technology is crucial for its ability to adapt and build new things. (1h28m47s)
• Zuckerberg emphasizes the importance of having a technically proficient team, from the CEO and board of directors to the management team, to be considered a true technology company. (1h30m39s)

Mark Zuckerberg's Strategy

• Zuckerberg views his strategy as focused on rapid iteration and learning, aiming to outpace competitors by quickly incorporating feedback and improving products. (1h31m59s)
• There is a certain personality type that puts their work out before it is completely finished in order to get feedback. (1h34m7s)

Mark Zuckerberg on Product Creation

• It is important to have conviction in your values and beliefs when building a product, but it is also important to be focused on your customers and what they want. (1h37m42s)
• Mark Zuckerberg believes that product creation is a combination of invention and discovery, and that both are important for success. (1h37m21s)

Social Media Feed

• The concept of a social media feed, where users receive updates, was first created in 2006. (1h38m51s)

Meta's Open-Source Technology

• Meta has benefited greatly from open-source technology, with open compute saving the company billions of dollars. (1h40m41s)
• Meta believes in open-sourcing technology as it creates better ecosystems when more people use them. (1h43m35s)

Facebook's Mobile App Development

• Facebook on mobile was initially built using HTML5, which was believed to offer advantages in terms of development speed and cross-platform compatibility. (1h45m17s)
• However, the HTML5 approach proved to be a mistake, as it resulted in subpar performance and user experience compared to native apps. (1h46m10s)
• Facebook decided to rewrite its mobile apps from scratch using native code, which coincided with a period of significant growth in mobile usage and a decline in monetizable web traffic. (1h46m24s)

Meta's Market Cap

• Meta's market cap was cut in half for a year and a half. (1h49m54s)

Meta's Political Environment

• The political environment changed dramatically after 2016, leading to negative sentiment towards Meta. (1h50m48s)
• Meta should have been clearer about distinguishing between corporate and political crises and pushing back on unfounded allegations. (1h53m25s)

Meta's Role in Misinformation

• Meta has faced criticism for its role in the spread of misinformation, but academic research has not definitively proven a causal link between social media use and societal harm. (1h55m58s)

Mark Zuckerberg's Decision to Decline Yahoo's Offer

• In 2006, Mark Zuckerberg declined a billion-dollar acquisition offer from Yahoo for Facebook, despite pressure from his management team and board of directors, because he believed in the company's long-term potential. (1h57m24s)

Mark Zuckerberg's Restructuring of Facebook's Governance

• Following the Yahoo offer, Zuckerberg restructured Facebook's governance to give himself more control and prevent his removal, ensuring the company could pursue his long-term vision. (1h58m41s)

Mark Zuckerberg's Early Projects

• Mark Zuckerberg built 12 different products before Facebook, treating them as fun projects rather than a company. (2h0m22s)

Mark Zuckerberg on Flexibility

• Zuckerberg believes that maintaining flexibility in a company is crucial, especially in the early stages when pivoting and changing direction is easier with a smaller team. (2h0m43s)

Mark Zuckerberg on Reality Labs

• Zuckerberg believes that Reality Labs will be one of the most successful products in history, comparing its potential impact to the shift from phones to smartphones. (2h2m52s)

Social Media's Impact

• Social media products are used by over 3 billion people daily because they are useful and help people connect, build businesses, and form communities. (2h5m2s)

Mark Zuckerberg's New Priorities

• The speaker wants to shift the focus of their company to build products that are not only good but also awesome, inspiring, and uplifting, similar to the feeling of working on inspiring projects with inspiring people. (2h5m52s)
• The COVID-19 pandemic and the political climate in the United States led to a period of reflection for the speaker, during which they were able to consider these new priorities for their company. (2h9m20s)

Mark Zuckerberg's Doubling Down on AI and Reality Labs

• Mark Zuckerberg believes that doubling down on AI and Reality Labs was the right decision, even though it was painful in the short term and coincided with a recession. (2h10m32s)

Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook's Future

• Zuckerberg believes that Facebook will continue to grow in importance and that the company's name should not be tied to a single app, especially as they expand into other areas like AI, AR, and VR. (2h12m26s)

Mark Zuckerberg's Choice of the Name "Meta"

• Zuckerberg chose the name "Meta" because it represents the company's commitment to building the future and aligns with their vision and mission. (2h15m2s)

Mark Zuckerberg's Personal Challenges

• Mark Zuckerberg has increased the frequency of his personal challenges from annually to weekly, engaging in activities such as t-shirt design, sculpture making, and mixed martial arts. (2h15m59s)

Mark Zuckerberg on Apple

• Zuckerberg views Apple as his primary competitor, believing the tech industry's future hinges on an ideological battle between open and closed platform models. (2h18m24s)

Mark Zuckerberg's Advice to New Founders

• Zuckerberg advises new founders to pursue their passions and learn from both successes and failures, emphasizing the importance of forging a unique path. (2h20m35s)

Mark Zuckerberg's Custom-Made Shirt

• David and an unknown speaker gifted Mark Zuckerberg a custom-made shirt with GPS coordinates printed on the back. (2h21m9s)
• The first set of coordinates represents Zuckerberg's Kirkland house where the first line of code for Facebook was written. (2h21m33s)
• The second set of coordinates represents the Chase Center, the venue where the event is taking place. (2h21m35s)