Acquired Podcast: 10 Years of Acquired (with Michael Lewis)
Hosts: Ben Gilbert & David Rosenthal
Guest: Michael Lewis
Release Date: December 15, 2025
Episode Overview
To mark their 10-year anniversary, Acquired hosts Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal record a milestone episode with special guest Michael Lewis (author of Moneyball, The Big Short, Liar’s Poker, and more). The conversation, fittingly recorded in the original Google garage, explores why Acquired has succeeded in a space where most podcasts fade, analyzes their working relationship, creative process, lessons learned from legendary companies, and offers candid reflections on what makes for durable, compelling storytelling in modern business media. Michael Lewis flips the script—interviewing Ben and David about their journey, their chemistry, and the playbooks honed over a decade of podcasting about greatness.
Table of Contents
- Setting the Scene: Anniversary in the Google Garage
- Michael Lewis’s First Impressions of Acquired
- The Hosts’ Chemistry and Origins
- 10 Lessons from 10 Years: Playbooks and Key Insights
- Scarcity and Craftsmanship
- Circle of Competence (Berkshire Hathaway)
- Brand Durability and Reputation Management (Sequoia)
- Internet Niches and Scaling Inputs
- Founder Control & Staying Boutique
- Spectacle and Super Bowl Moments
- Play Loose, Not Tight: Creative Pressure vs. Joy of Discovery
- Trusting Creative Passion—Even on “Flop” Episodes
- Process Power & Iteration
- Focus on the Best Business for You (TSMC Lesson)
- How Acquired Makes the Sausage: Research, Structure, Risk, & Editing
- Business Model Innovation: Partnering, Sponsors & the ACQ Fund
- The Seven Powers Framework...for Acquired
- Carve Outs and Recommendations
- Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)
- Conclusion: On Trust, Iteration, and the Future
Setting the Scene: Anniversary in the Google Garage
- The episode is recorded in the original Google garage—making symbolic connections between startup genesis and the Acquired journey.
- Michael Lewis kicks off with a playful “Who got the truth?” song, then quickly gets into interviewer mode.
Michael Lewis’s First Impressions of Acquired
- Michael Lewis discovered Acquired just a year prior (07:44):
"A prominent CEO said, 'You ought to listen.' ...I had about eight different reactions to it, all positive. I couldn't believe you were getting away with a four hour podcast... Even after four hours, I was looking for even more."
- He compares the Acquired listening experience to his own technique as a writer: creating an environment of curiosity and immersion.
The Hosts’ Chemistry and Origins
- Ben and David met at a Passover Seder, then became colleagues at a VC firm (09:02).
- Unique “non-romantic spouse” dynamic—deeper than friends, almost like earning a second marriage.
- Each host brought different strengths (tech, business, storytelling, analysis) and mutual admiration dissolves the sense of competition or status imbalance.
- Michael Lewis observes parallels to Kahneman and Tversky’s creative partnership, but with less intensity or rivalry.
Memorable exchange:
“David and I shared a bank account before my wife and I did.” —Ben (09:36)
“My spouse loves it—she doesn't want to spend that much time with me. All the stuff we do on Acquired, I used to just talk at her and she wasn't interested.” —Ben (09:48)
10 Lessons from 10 Years: Playbooks and Key Insights
Michael Lewis asks for “10 lessons in 10 years” (08:22). Throughout the conversation, Ben and David weave in observations and frameworks, each inspired by classic Acquired subjects.
1. Scarcity and Craftsmanship
Lesson: Like the NFL or Hermes, what’s rare is valuable.
- Acquired shifted from a high-frequency, weekly show to just 12, then 8 annual “handcrafted” episodes—leaning into scarcity and quality.
- Each episode is “handmade,” with thousands of “made with love” micro-edits.
Ben:
“Maybe if we just admit we are heavily constrained and try to just lean into that constraint in the way that Hermes leans into every single Birkin bag... we sort of thought: every episode is going to be entirely handcrafted.” (16:31)
2. Circle of Competence (Berkshire Hathaway)
Lesson: Inspired by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger’s “too hard pile”—it’s okay to say no and pass on what you can’t do with quality.
- The podcast’s “too hard pile” includes making TV shows, Hollywood adaptations, or tackling subjects (like the Fed) that don’t pass their timelessness test.
- “Our opportunity cost is so high…the things that we say yes to are so awesome that it’s okay to say too hard to just a giant amount of things.” —David (23:32)
3. Brand Durability and Reputation Management (Sequoia)
Lesson: In times of crisis (2022 ad crash), focus on what endures.
- Acquired endured a 40% drop in ad revenue (36:50), prompting deeper focus on n-of-1 episodes (“only we can do,” as Ben says).
- “We watched a lot of people go for easy, secure money. ...We were just like, party’s over, we need to focus on only what is enduring and make great, great, great work and stop doing everything else.” (43:52)
4. Internet Niches and Scaling Inputs
Lesson: The internet makes even niche audiences vast, and you can scale output without scaling the input.
- “You can grow your audience and thus your revenue and thus your importance in the world... independently of your inputs.” —David (69:28)
- The team is just Ben, David, and their engineer Steven. Input looks the same, audience and impact scales.
5. Founder Control & Staying Boutique
- Greatness sometimes comes from remaining founder-controlled or family-owned (Meta, Rolex, Trader Joe’s, IKEA).
- “We used to ask: are we being wussies by not building a bigger enterprise, not doing more in Hollywood? A legendary investor said, ‘I've seen so many founders get trapped in prisons of their own making…you've avoided that fate. Don't go down that road.’” (92:22)
6. Spectacle and Super Bowl Moments
- Stop trying to create a listener ‘habit’—make each episode an event (“Monday Night Football,” not daily baseball). Chase center, Radio City, and now even the Super Bowl with the NFL are used as brand “heat and light.”
- “The amount of heat and light created from the idea that you did that show is more impactful to building the franchise... than a whole season.” —David (106:43)
7. Play Loose, Not Tight: Creative Pressure vs. Joy of Discovery
- They explain how “playing tight” (over-prepping for Nike) made an episode flat; for Costco, they played loose (focused, joyful)—and it was a classic.
- “You have to play with an appropriate grip for whatever the task is… if you're gripping too tight, you're too mechanical; if it's too loose, you're not minding the shop enough.” —David referencing Graham Duncan (148:03)
8. Trusting Creative Passion—Even on “Flop” Episodes
- Some episodes underperform by numbers but are creative and strategic winners: Nintendo, IPL Cricket.
- “If one of us feels passionate about something, even if the episode is a relative dud, it’s still worth doing. ...That passion—somebody latches onto that.” —Ben (103:02)
9. Process Power & Iteration
- Their process—research, improv, dozens of retakes, brutal editing—has iterated over time.
- Michael Lewis: “You added an improvisational component…you’re taking risks when you don’t know what’s going to happen.” (39:36)
- Only a handful of people could replicate their exact format/chemistry (“process power”).
10. Focus on the Best Business for You (TSMC Lesson)
- Citing Morris Chang’s regret at TSMC for spreading focus too thin, Acquired avoids the temptation to “diversify” their product.
“Every time we look at anything else, we're doing the thing we should be doing. Don't go do something less fun or we're less good at.” —David (115:44)
How Acquired Makes the Sausage: Research, Structure, Risk, & Editing
- Research moves from reading “everything ever about them” to now calling dozens of insiders (from 0 phone calls pre-2023, to 25-40 per episode).
- “We used to share Google Docs and there was no surprise in the recording. Now, separate research and big doses of improvisation keep episodes dynamic. Six years in, adopted ‘production meetings’ to force basic structure but preserve surprise.” (41:03)
- Recording is an 8-9 hour “high wire act”. Their engineer Steven cuts to 5 hours, then Ben and David do 5-800 further micro-cuts—parsing edits via Descript, listening at 1x, always “defaulting to cut” throat-clearing and repetition (73:47).
- Risk is necessary—retakes, disagreements, and honest moments of boredom or inspiration are integral.
Business Model Innovation: Partnering, Sponsors & the ACQ Fund
- Ad philosophy: Only brands that elevate the pod—“diamond content deserves diamond advertisers.”
- They eschew ad networks or agencies—“counter-positioned” vs. most media businesses.
- Sponsor selection: Focus on B2B, “Switzerland-type” high LTV companies, build year-ahead relationships, frequent events, hands-on partnership.
- “We’re not media people, we’re VCs—so we act like partners, not just ad sellers.” (83:18)
- Now invest in select private sponsors—ACQ Fund only takes passive, minority stakes. “We invest in our sponsors because we already did the diligence by making them partners.” (84:58)
The Seven Powers Framework...for Acquired
Lewis asks Ben & David to apply Hamilton Helmer’s Seven Powers to Acquired itself (123:18):
- Scale Economies: Amortize massive research & production cost over millions of listeners.
- Counter-Positioning: Not doing CPMs, not working with agencies, not optimizing for episode volume—business is structurally different.
- Network Effects: Some “water cooler” effect—an episode becomes the focal point at certain companies/communities.
- Switching Costs: None for listeners—“one click to another podcast.”
- Branding: Acquired itself has become a brand that signals quality; “Same podcast, different title, would not do as well.”
- Cornered Resource: The unique Ben-David chemistry + research process + engineer Steven.
- Process Power: Their iterative research, scripting, improv, editing process is hard to copy—even when explained in detail.
Carve Outs and Recommendations
At the end, as Acquired tradition, the trio shares personal carve outs: recent books, podcasts, video, parenting tips, and consumer product joys.
Highlights:
-
Books:
- Michael Lewis: Name of the Wind (Patrick Rothfuss); Vannevar Bush on American science; Morgan Housel’s Art of Spending Money.
- Ben & David: Last Man Standing (Jamie Dimon), Emperors of Chocolate (Joel Glenn Brenner), Morris Chang’s (TSMC) autobiography.
-
Podcasts:
- All: Acquired (obviously), Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History, Invest Like the Best, Glue Guys.
-
Video/TV:
- Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal (Season 2) (“jaw on the floor” level ambition and commitment) (152:25)
- Doug DeMuro’s car reviews (YouTube) for comfort, sleep, and joy (“Doug is probably my favorite YouTuber”) (153:01)
-
Products:
- Michael Lewis: Arsteca 0.7 rollerball pen, Uniqlo socks, On shoes, Ramoa suitcase, slumber pod
- Parenting: Guided Access for the iPad, “Bluey” (best kids show), Slumber pod, Toy Story movie, tent for baby sleep
-
Sports Analogies:
- Sports metaphors abound for storytelling, “correct grip” (not too tight, not too loose), energy management.
Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)
On Partnership and Process
- “There are a million times over the last 10 years where, if our partnership had been slightly different, it would have fractured. That’s why we’re still here.” —Ben (122:36)
On Scarcity
- “The opportunity cost is so high… the things we say yes to are so awesome.” —David (23:32)
On Research
- “You want people to want to teach you. And if people want to teach you, they will teach you. Then you take what you learn and present it in the best way you can.” —Michael Lewis (64:10)
On Editing
- “I listen at 1x. You have to feel where you get bored or where you don’t care… You have to get so sick of the material that you’re just cutting to the bone.” —David (73:55)
On Creative Focus
- “Every time we look at anything else, we’re already doing the thing we should be doing… Just make another episode.” —David (115:44)
On Playing Loose vs. Tight
- “You need to play with an appropriate grip... If you’re gripping too tight, you’re too mechanical. Too loose, you’re not minding the shop.” —David (148:03)
On Audience Relationship
- “I am terrified of betraying that trust… If we don’t live up to expectations, we will burn them and they will leave us forever.” —David (27:45)
Conclusion: On Trust, Iteration, and the Future
The Acquired journey—laced with humility, relentless craft, and a unique creative partnership—stands as an exercise in compounding trust, learning, and iterative improvement. Their unlikely conversion of niche business research into audio blockbusters is explained not by hacks or viral tactics, but by a deep relationship, a process built for serendipity and risk, and a relentless focus on what endures. As Michael Lewis observes, their magic may be hard to replicate, but their playbook offers a masterclass in storytelling, partnership, and creative business for the next decade.
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