Acquired

It’s a(nother) new era for Nvidia. We thought we’d closed the Acquired book on Nvidia back in April 2022. The story was all wrapped up: Jensen & crew had set out on an amazing journey to accelerate the world’s computing workloads. Along the way they’d discovered a wondrous opportunity (machine learning powered social media feed recommendations). They forged incredible Power in the CUDA platform, and used it to triumph over seemingly insurmountable adversity — the stock market penalty-box. But, it turned out that was only the precursor to an even wilder journey. Over the past 18 months Nvidia has weathered one of the steepest stock crashes in history ($500B+ market cap wiped away peak-to-trough!). And, it has of course also experienced an even more fantastical rise — becoming the platform that’s powering the emergence of perhaps a new form of intelligence itself… and in the process becoming a trillion-dollar company. Today we tell another chapter in the amazing Nvidia saga: the dawn of the AI era. Tune in! Sponsors: Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: * Scalable, clean and low-cost cloud AI compute from Crusoe [https://bit.ly/acquiredcrusoe] (and listen to our recent ACQ2 interview with CEO Chase Lochmiller [https://bit.ly/CrusoeACQ2]) * Your product growth powered by Statsig [https://bit.ly/statsigacquired] * Free access to our episode research on Blinkist [https://bit.ly/BlinkistNvidia] plus our favorite books on Ben & David’s Bookshelf [https://bit.ly/BlinkistBookshelf] More Acquired!: * Get email updates [https://www.acquired.fm/email] with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes * Join the Slack [http://acquired.fm/slack] * Subscribe to ACQ2 [https://pod.link/acquiredlp] * Become an LP [https://acquired.fm/lp] and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more * ACQ hats are back in stock in the ACQ Merch Store [https://www.acquired.fm/store]! Links: * Asianometry on AI Hardware [https://youtu.be/5tmGKTNW8DQ?si=m4PJpgnrERddk99E] * Episode sources [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d5vDY0pFcLGeZEg9t0vNMVnMvFTwMwcv9QhQHca4Aus/edit?usp=sharing] Carve Outs: * Alias [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285333/] * Moana [https://movies.disney.com/moana] ‍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.

Costco is not only Charlie Munger’s favorite company of all time (plus he’s on the board, natch), it’s an absolutely fascinating study in how seemingly opposite characteristics can combine to create incredible company value. For instance: Costco has the cheapest prices of any major retailer in America — and also the wealthiest customer base. They pay their hourly workers 30% above the industry norm (and give them excellent healthcare + 401k benefits) — and are almost 3x more profitable on labor than Walmart. Speaking of Walmart, Costco stocks 40x fewer SKUs than their Bentonville-based rivals — yet sells an average of 15x more volume of each. And oh yeah, practically all of Costco’s C-Suite started their careers as baggers and checkout clerks! Tune in for a mind-bending exploration of one of the world’s most iconic — and iconically unique — companies. Sponsors: Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: * Your product growth powered by Statsig [https://bit.ly/statsigacquired] * Free access to our episode research on Blinkist [https://bit.ly/BlinkistCostco] plus our favorite books on Ben & David’s Bookshelf [https://bit.ly/BlinkistBookshelf] * Scalable, clean and low-cost cloud AI compute from Crusoe [https://bit.ly/acquiredcrusoe] (and listen to our recent ACQ2 interview with CEO Chase Lochmiller [https://bit.ly/CrusoeACQ2]) More Acquired!: * Get email updates [https://www.acquired.fm/email] with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes * Join the Slack [http://acquired.fm/slack] * Subscribe to ACQ2 [https://pod.link/acquiredlp] * Become an LP [https://acquired.fm/lp] and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more Links: * The Science of Hitting [https://thescienceofhitting.com] * Warren Buffett’s Costco joke [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1sTs8wkAbw] * Episode sources [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tHtjZQmYr6MMUG-a_eOTi_swzWwbUlVohluwCf572s8/edit?usp=sharing] Carve Outs: * Tifosi sunglasses [https://tifosioptics.com] * Dwells “take off everything” [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwFmq69m3WA] * Jeremy Giffon on Invest Like the Best [https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/79714195/giffon-special-situations-in-private-markets?tab=transcript] * Dogpatch [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogpatch,_San_Francisco] * David Lidsky’s great piece on Acquired in Fast Company [https://www.fastcompany.com/90927453/acquired-number-1-tech-podcast-sensation] ‍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.

Nike — it’s perhaps the most iconic and most prolific brand of the modern era. On any given day, swooshes adorn the feet of more people on earth than any other footwear company — by a long shot. If you read Shoe Dog or watched Air, you may think you know its history. But Shoe Dog ends in 1980, and Air… well let’s just say it’s an enjoyable piece of fiction. And it turns out (as always) that the real story is filled with far more drama, twists and business lessons than either of those works. We’ve been wanting to cover Nike for a long time, and thanks to our LPs who voted to choose this episode it’s finally here. So lace up your Vaporflys, Air Maxes, Dunks or Jordans (or your Monarchs, hey we don’t judge), head out for a long run or walk and enjoy! Sponsors: Thanks to our fantastic partners, any member of the Acquired community can now get: * Free access to Blinks of our episode research on Blinkist [https://bit.ly/BlinkistNike] * Scalable, clean and low-cost cloud AI compute from Crusoe [https://bit.ly/acquiredcrusoe] * All of your product growth powered by Statsig [https://bit.ly/statsigacquired] * Register for Statsig’s SF Event with Ben and David! [https://bit.ly/acqstatsigevent] More Acquired!: * Get email updates [https://www.acquired.fm/email] (+ hints on the next episode topic) * Join the Slack [http://acquired.fm/slack] * Subscribe to ACQ2 [https://pod.link/acquiredlp] * Become an LP [https://acquired.fm/lp] and support the show. Help us pick episodes, Zoom calls and more Links: * Episode sources [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lzJ9sZ5z4U4FQOfwXQUTrG5QxSxS6Wiu0IN6_9DjmGc/edit?usp=sharing] Carve Outs: * Marc Andreessen on Lex Fridman [https://lexfridman.com/marc-andreessen/] and on Ben Thompson [https://stratechery.com/2023/an-interview-with-marc-andreessen-about-ai-and-how-you-change-the-world/] * Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) [https://open.spotify.com/album/5AEDGbliTTfjOB8TSm1sxt] ‍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.