Microsoft. After nearly a decade of Acquired episodes, we are finally ready to tackle the most valuable company ever created. The company that put a computer on every desk and in every home. The company that invented the software business model. The company that so thoroughly and completely dominated every conceivable competitor that the United States government intervened and kneecapped it… yet it’s STILL the most valuable company in the world today.This episode tells the story of Microsoft in its heyday, the PC Era. We cover its rise from a teenage dream to the most powerful business and technology force in history — the 20-year period from 1975 to 1995 that took Bill and Paul from the Lakeside high school computer room to launching Windows 95 alongside Jay Leno and the Rolling Stones. From BASIC to DOS, Windows, Office, Intel, IBM, Xerox PARC, Apple, Steve Jobs, Steve Ballmer… it’s all here, and it’s all amazing. Tune in and enjoy… Microsoft.Sponsors:Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acqclaudeHuntress: https://bit.ly/acqhuntressStatsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24Links:Congress changing copyright law in 1980 to include “computer programs”Acquired “classic” on Microsoft’s 1987 acquisition of Forethought / PowerPointQuartr's charts on Microsoft's revenues, market cap, IBM comparison, and moreAll episode sourcesCarve Outs:LGRAndré 3000’s new album + GQ InterviewMeta Ray-BansVisual Designer Julia RundbergSummer HealthMore Acquired!:Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Merch Store!© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLCNote: 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.
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What were you listening to before we hopped on to your walkout music?
New Beyonce. Oh, New Beyonce. I haven't heard it yet. How is it? I really like it. Nice. I think it is reductionist to call it country.
I was appropriately enough listening to Start Me Up Through the Ages.
Of course you were. But I kind of feel like a David Rosenthal move is that you might have been listening to Start Me Up whether we were doing Microsoft or not. That's a very squarely in your genre song.
The Stones though, man, like it's crazy. They're in their 70s, 80s. Amazing. Man, I hope we're in our 70s and 80s dancing on stage.
Season 126. Yeah.
All right, let's do it. Let's do it.
Who got the truth? is it you is it you is it you who got the truth now is it you is it you is it you sit me down say it straight another story on the way
Welcome to Season 14, Episode 4 of Acquired, the podcast about great companies and the stories and playbooks behind them. I'm Ben Gilbert. I'm David Rosenthal. And we are your hosts. We often remark that selling software is the best business model of all time. Well, today, finally, we tell the story of the company that created that business, Microsoft.
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