Acquired

Acquired is the number one show on Apple Podcasts across all categories. Holy.

Amazing illustration of how the escapement works in a mechanical watch. The hairspring causes the balance wheel oscillate, which knocks the pallet fork back and forth. Tick tock. The pallet fork then releases the escape wheel to turn, driving the gear train.

CROSSOVER EPISODE We talked to the co-hosts of the Acquired podcast Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal about what they've learned about what it takes to make a great company, like TSMC, Nvidia, Starbucks, and so on. https://lnkd.in/ecCJwUV3

What’s so special about ROLEX? It’s the most private company we’ve ever studied on Acquired. They’re estimated to do over $10B / year in sales… making just mechanical watches. They manage to sell over a million watches a year… at an average price point of $13,000. And today is an era where we not only have cheap, accurate quartz watches, but smartwatches that offer 100x the functionality! So in the LinkedIn post for this one, I wanted to explore *how* Rolex became the Rolex we know today. 1) ⏱️ Chronometer-certified Even before Rolex’s founding in 1905, Hans Wilsdorf had a habit of testing the accuracy of pocket watches. When Rolex made a big bet on the future of wrist watches, they spent years working with Aegler, the company that makes their movements, to ensure they were as accurate as the best pocket watches... which nobody else was doing. 100 years later on every Rolex watch today, you'll see "Superlative Chronometer Officially Certified," promising the wearer that their wrist watch is held to the highest-possible mechanical timekeeping standards. 2) 🦪 Oyster An accurate watch is still a useless watch if water and dust gets in. Every Swiss watch company in the 1920s was racing to figure out the solution. Hans Wilsdorf spotted a patent that he immediately acquired for Rolex's unique "Oyster" waterproofing mechanism. The screw-down crown, bezel, and case back all held together tightly by threads ensured the watch was element-proof. 3) 👴 Perpetual But there's still a problem! As soon as you unscrew the crown to wind your watch, it's vulnerable again! If only there were some way to keep the watch running without requiring winding... Enter the perpetual rotor. Invented by Rolex in the early 1930s, it was a genius insight. The rotor captured kinetic energy from the wearer moving their wrist all day and stored it as potential energy by winding the watch. No need to wind your watch manually! The killer feature combination had finally arrived: accurate, waterproof, and self-winding. 4) 🏛️ Worn by those who command the world Rolex is the greatest company we've ever studied at brand positioning. Beginning in the 1960s, they ran marketing campaigns showing that "If you were..." doing things like scuba diving, climbing mountains, or speaking at the UN, you'd be wearing a Rolex. They also placed Rolex in the hands of world leaders, stating, "A Rolex will never change the world. We leave that to the people who wear them." For the last 6 decades, Rolex continues to market WHO you could be by wearing their watches. Of course, this is in addition to touting the features and capabilities from their clever engineering and exacting manufacturing standards. There's so much more to what makes Rolex Rolex. David and I dove in for the full 5 hours here! https://lnkd.in/dm5CrGZ7

Tomorrow.

New ACQ2! Friend-of-the-pod Guillermo Rauch joins to talk Vercel's origin story, the modern web development landscape, and how AI changed everything. Vercel passed $100m in ARR last May and is growing at 80%. And v0 is a hint at the future: building websites with just English. https://lnkd.in/gg6PS4mi

New ACQ2! Friend-of-the-pod Guillermo Rauch joins to talk Vercel's origin story, the modern web development landscape, and how AI changed everything. Vercel passed $100m in ARR last May and is growing at 80%. And v0 is a hint at the future: building websites with just English. https://lnkd.in/gg6PS4mi

We're preparing for the Super Bowl the only way we know how. With the full history and strategy of the NFL. ...but on Armchair Expert! Very fun to do a more casual + conversational version of the standard Acquired storytelling format with Dax and Monica. https://lnkd.in/g2BYdkWx

The Untold Story of Mars Inc: Reflections from a Former Martian Over the break, I listened to Acquired's fascinating deep dive into Mars Inc.'s chocolate story (all 3 hours and 53 minutes 🙂 ) and had to share my thoughts. As someone who spent 11 formative years at Mars, this episode wasn't just business history – it was a walk down memory lane. The podcast's detailed profile of Forrest Mars Jr. particularly resonated with me. Hearing Ben and David's insights gave me a fresh perspective on the visionary leader I once had the privilege of experiencing a private tour of his unique Las Vegas home, built above the Ethel M. chocolate factory. My time at Mars shaped my professional DNA in countless ways. The principles, experiences, and relationships I built there continue to influence my approach to business today. It's remarkable how many of those lessons remain relevant in my current endeavours. To my fellow Martians out there: if you haven't tuned in yet, I highly recommend it. And to Ben and David at Acquired: thank you for capturing the essence of a company that's so much more than just chocolate. #Mars #Leadership #BusinessHistory #CorporateCulture #Acquired #ProfessionalGrowth Damien Byrne terry shannon Campbell Vidgen Nic Fry ☕️ Dale Coghlan Mitch Glanville Peter West Jane Hwang Melanie Chen Gary Clarke Peter Marshall Tim Scotcher Scott Charles Craig Sargeant Kathryn Pearce Andrew Loader Emma Lyons Brenton Roberts Craig Jackson Gregory Beddoe Nigel Harrison Anthony Howard Scott Lowe Brendan O'Kane Sally Brown Sue Kelly Andrew Sampson Adam Trevaskis Alan Sharp Tim Inkster Stephen Britton Catriona Giffard Peta Johnson Anthony Dean Karen Rose Matthew Graham Andrew Fox. (FAHRI) (GAICD) and I have reached the maximum mention limit... https://lnkd.in/giM3wJ9x

Insane that NVIDIA and TSMC's relationship was on the rocks back in 2009 given the tens of billions of dollars they've done together since. Morris Chang, on how he and Jensen fixed it over pizza and salads: