David Rosenthal
@djrosent
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Sorry for the delay on this one y'all. Jennie and I had a kid between Volumes 1 and 2 😀👶.
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Learning that Walmart sells Rolexes (and they're on Cyber Monday sale!) is the craziest thing I've heard in quite a while.
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If anyone worries a 3.5hr podcast on a defense contractor isn’t relevant to them (as I was before we dove into research) — there is SO much to learn from Lockheed’s Skunk Works philosophy. So glad our LPs had us do this one!.
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The only thing that makes me sad about this release is the finality that it's over. This ep is the culmination of a 12-month journey (starting with LVMH), and I don't think we've ever grown so much, had this much fun, or learned so many things to apply @AcquiredFM itself. Enjoy!.
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Also just for scale/context on RenTec, if you'd invested $1000 in their Medallion Fund in 1988, that would've compounded to $46.5 BILLION today. That is, if you'd been allowed to keep your $ in, which you most certainly wouldn't have been!.
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Picked up my copy of Made in America and was reminded that Sam Walton put his own blurb on the back cover. Legend.
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Pretty sure this is my favorite piece of @AcquiredFM research to date: Phil Knight's commencement address (which was also the ~first draft of Shoe Dog) at my @StanfordGSB graduation in 2014. 🙂 Hard to tell but I think that's me circled in the audience.
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Ok folks, researching our next @AcquiredFM episode on @LockheedMartin (as chosen by LPs!). Prophets of War is good, but pretty light on actual LMT corporate history and clearly has an agenda. What other sources (besides Skunk Works which is up next) should I read/consume?
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I am literally laughing out loud sitting here in my office researching our next episode. I don't think that's ever happened before. Going to be a great one. :).
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One amazing thing about Charlie that's often overlooked: the man is 99 years old and still hosting dinner parties in the same home he's lived in for 60+ years. Just incredible!.
Today: Charlie Munger, in his first longform podcast interview ever.
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I'm constantly floored by the wild stories and connections we come across in @AcquiredFM research. Real life humans are so much more interesting and complicated than fiction. (and I also love fiction!) The old saying really is true. you can't make this stuff up.
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As always, I learned a TON doing this ep, am so proud to have it out there, suspect many of you will enjoy it, the connections are mind blowing, etc. But my god, the carve outs. Let's just say they include a Mini Kelly INSIDE a Scheherazade Birkin. 🤩💖🤩.
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Thanks @davidlidsky and @FastCompany for telling the "story behind Acquired". Very surreal for us to read a piece that could be @AcquiredFM research. about Acquired!.
Every company has a story, says @AcquiredFM. So does the @gilbert and @djrosent podcast that tells those stories.
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It's fun that we've been doing @AcquiredFM so long now that I fairly regularly cite our own previous episodes when I'm compiling our research sources.
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1) It was super fun to do this with Rick and Paul. 2) These days I'm lucky if 1x/year I find a new pod that I actually love, and @artofinvest is it. The first ep with Todd Combs is an absolute banger and knowing what's coming, AOI will be top of my player for a long time to come.
Episode 2 of Art of Investing welcomes @gilbert and @djrosent to class. Rick and Paul turn the tables on Ben and David to discover:. - The history behind one of the most successful podcasts in the world (@AcquiredFM).- Why having a co-founder & friend is vital to building an
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Visiting my parents this week and well well well look what I found in the basement…
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I think today may be our first simultaneous release and recording day at @AcquiredFM. I’m so amped up — let’s-a-go!!.
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Not sure I've had this much fun with a series in the ~8 years we've been doing @AcquiredFM. Even discounting recency bias, I think it's up there with our very best work. especially this episode!.
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Two kinda wild thoughts: . 1. For ~500 years, writing a book was more/less the only way an average person (aka not professional media, Hollywood, etc) could hope to communicate complex stories or ideas to a mass audience. (Cont.).
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I just love watching movements in this chart. I feel like it tells you everything about our time in one simple list.
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As I say in this ep intro -- It's not an overstatement that @AngelList changed my life. When I went full-time on @AcquiredFM I thought I'd never be a VC again. The overhead of managing a firm just wasn't worth it when Ben and I were off building a media company.
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It's sad how much traditional media publishers have just given up.
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It's amazing how quickly baby gates go from horribly ugly and puzzling technology to central feature of your home.
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Queued up to listen this morning. So glad we’re all getting one more go ‘round with Charlie.
A conversation with Charlie Munger & @collision . Charlie said “the best thing a human being can do is to help another human being know more.”. On the count, there aren’t many more successful than him. So much wisdom from Charlie and John. Please enjoy!.
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I always had a hangup about healthcare companies. they all just seemed boring or evil (or both). @NovoNordisk is the complete opposite on both fronts. Doing this episode has changed my mind on the industry, and I'm excited to explore more. (Esp biotech/Genentech!).
Tomorrow: our first healthcare episode ever. 𝘈𝘴𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘰𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵® (𝘢𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘦) 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶.
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@gilbert @AcquiredFM So pumped for even more incredible times together in the years to come, my friend. Also, does this mean we can upgrade the studios?😀.
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You know, I think this "accelerated computing" thing is going to be a thing.
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@gilbert @AcquiredFM The crazy/funny thing is the chart always looks like this. The miracle of compounding!!.
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Sports car manufacturers before Porsche:."So you say you want a faster horse. "
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Evolution of @gilbert and my discussion re: @AcquiredFM Shorts:. Me: "We can totally do this in 30-45 minutes.".Ben: "Great!". --5 days later--. Me: "I can cut the story section down to 75-90 mins, and we'll definitely clock in <2 hours.".Ben: "I am putting my foot down here.".
The Sega that just bought Angry Birds is not the Sega you grew up with. In your podcast players now: .Our first "Acquired Short" 🎉🎮
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Update: Skunk Works did not disappoint. One of our best @AcquiredFM reads of all time… can’t wait to do the episode!.
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Random thoughts (inspired by @blakeir).- the difference between great comms/PR people and average is ENORMOUS.- reminds me of one of my favorite @FoundersPodcast sayings: "there's often opportunity in markets that are otherwise full of second-rate products/people".
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So awesome. Big congrats to Andrew and Tiny, pumped @gilbert and I have been a small part of the "Tiny Cinematic Universe" along the way!.
I started my company 16 years, 3 months, and 5 days ago. Today, it went public. But let's rewind for a second. 5,939 days ago, I was a barista at a small cafe called @2percentJazz2, in Victoria, Canada. I made $6.50 an hour. Two guys, Chris and Jeff, started coming into.
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@manuginobili @AcquiredFM Thanks Manu! You might enjoy the NFL episode too. It was super fun to compare/contrast their business model + history vs the NBA.
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Update — as many people have pointed out these are 3rd party sellers!.
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2. While I have no actual data on this, it sure feels like podcasts/newsletters/YouTube/etc have now MASSIVELY surpassed books in serving that function. And mostly only within the past ~5 years or so!.
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@reillybrennan @AcquiredFM I have a soft spot for @Hermes_Paris myself, but I can't argue with you!.
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And wow, what a hell of a start! I feel like every word of this is still true today.
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Recording day. Hard not to get fired up even just looking at this incredible beast!. Apparently they called the Blackbird's thunderous takeoff sequence the "Hammers of Hell". @gilbert I think we may need to rename our @AcquiredFM pre-show routine. 😀.
It is absolutely astonishing that the fastest plane ever built (still!) was designed and flown before the invention of the calculator.
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Kicking off book 3. When a book starts with both a forward AND a preface, you know it’s got potential. :)
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Today if you have something big you want to say, I think (?) it’s pretty safe to say that writing a book is pretty far down the list of mediums most folks would choose.
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@gilbert @AcquiredFM Indeed it has. :) Here's to the next 8 years of this amazing journey together!.
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@ArdaCapital @AcquiredFM Oh hell yeah, that's a great idea. We may need to take a page from @stripepress !.
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Pretty wild how quickly this has changed (unless I’m missing something / off base)… especially since it DIDN’T change for hundreds of years!.
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@patrick_oshag @gilbert Thanks Patrick, that we are!!. AOI is so good -- Rick, Paul and you guys at the entire Colossus team are killing it.
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@DougDeMuro @AcquiredFM Thank you for joining us -- there truly was no one better to do this episode with!.
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Another just banger podclass from @artofinvest. Rick sums up Senra perfectly at the end:. "You are a force of nature and a total psychopath. but a good kind of psychopath." . Truth! 🤣.
Our time with @DavidSenra1 of @FoundersPodcast was incredibly inspiring -- the 'human tornado' was set loose in front of our @artofinvest students at Notre Dame, and he almost didn't take a breath for 90 minutes!!!! It's action-packed with so many life lessons we'll be listening.
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@gilbert @Hermes_Paris Hidden by Ben’s sartorially splendid shoulder: my matching 24 Faubourg pocket square (nighttime edition) 😀.
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Super fun to go on @NPR with @DarianWoods and talk Nvidia. Thanks for having me!.
If you want to understand why @nvidia is so dominant in AI, who better to hear than @djrosent, who along with @gilbert makes the excellent @AcquiredFM podcast. Our interview:
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@eldsjal @gilbert @AcquiredFM Thank you for hosting us… we now have some new aspirations for the @AcquiredFM studio setups!!.
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@Quartr_App @AcquiredFM @gilbert @DougDeMuro @itspatmorgan Wow this is *awesome*. Porsche should hire you all as their new agency!!.
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Change comes slowly… and then all at once.
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AngelList has completely changed what it means to be a VC. I suspect I/we will end up managing much more capital in the long run and -- more importantly -- invest in better companies that we can help more than if I'd kept "VC" as my primary job description.
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The lore (likely mostly fan invented) behind the Apple logo is just incredible. Knowledge. The Bible. Issac Newton. Alan Turing! What an absolutely perfect vessel. Would it be an overstatement to call it the Mona Lisa of our time?.
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Too close for missiles.
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Make sure you check out the YouTube version of this one. We recorded during GDC, and Mitch & Blake were kind enough to host us at the Benchmark office. Turns out there's a *second* version of the famous dinner table. 😀
Mitch and Blake at @benchmark have returned billions in gaming investments across @riotgames, @discord, @100Thieves and @thatgamecompany. Yet it's still seen as an uninvestable, hits-driven industry. They started @gamecraftpod to change that. Let's go talk to them.
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@MKBHD @MarioMoscat @eldsjal @gilbert @AcquiredFM MANY people asked about them. Photos may or may not have ended up in the @Spotify sneakerhead Slack channel… 👀.
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@liamfordistance @AcquiredFM Shoe Dog and Better is Temporary are 1. and 2. for sure. 3 is a toss up between Swoosh and Just Do It.
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You'd think Nintendo would've learned their lesson after that disaster but.
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Other folks like Sam Altman, Elad Gil, Lachy Groom and @rrhoover have followed this path too, and I think the impact is just beginning. And it won't be long before traditional firms move their ops over to @AngelList too -- as @avlok shares in the ep it's already starting.
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@MadronaVentures @mattmcilwain @AcquiredFM @gilbert Who are those young kids?? 😀.Blast from the past!.
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@SleepwellCap @AcquiredFM Us neither! Spotify has pretty massively expanded the podcast listener market. Most people who’ve started listening the past few years (to us or any pod) are completely new to podcasting, not switching from Apple etc.
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Fast forward 2 years, @natpmanning and I are managing ~$30m of institutional capital at @KindergartenVC, writing larger check sizes with better ops than before (like $10m in @TrustVanta!) -- all while full-time running other companies.
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@eldsjal @AcquiredFM Yes! Something totally tangential from the research for the next episode. I won't spoil it, but someone who's a very minor character in the story goes on to have an incredible and world-changing career doing something completely different. I suspect you know him. 🙂.
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TIL Stone Temple Pilots were actually incredibly musically creative. This is a great interview with their bassist @STPRobertDeLeo. Been listening to their stuff today… it holds up great!.
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@NeckarValue Transcript coming in ~a week! (we have them made by hand after the episode drops).
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