What if we told you that the most important company in US healthcare was run from a farm in rural Wisconsin? And that farm contained the world’s largest subterranean auditorium, as well as Disneyland—style replicas of Hogwarts and the Emerald City? What if we told you that the person who started, runs and owns this establishment has legally ensured that it will never be sold, never go public and never acquire another company? And that this person, Judy Faulkner, is also likely the wealthiest and most successful self-made woman in history?Welcome to the story of Epic Systems, the software company that underpins the majority of the American healthcare system today. Epic isn’t “just” an electronic medical record (the category it’s usually lumped into), or an online patient portal (which is how most of the US population interacts with it via its MyChart application). It’s more akin to a central nervous system for hospitals and health clinics. Almost everything in a hospital — from patient interactions to billing, staffing, scheduling, prescriptions and even research — happens on Epic’s platform, and over 90% of American medical schools’ graduating doctors, nurses and health administrative staff are trained on it during their educations. Tune in as we dive into the almost-unbelievable story of how this epic company came to be!Sponsors:Many thanks to our fantastic Spring ‘25 Season partners:J.P. Morgan PaymentsFundriseServiceNowCrusoeLinks:Save the date, July 15 in NYC!Epic’s Verona campusWorldly Partners’ Multi-Decade Epic Systems StudyEpisode sourcesCarve Outs:Ken Block in San FranciscoNintendo Switch 2Knives OutBrat by Charli xcxMusic To Refine To: A Remix Companion to Severance by ODESZAMore Acquired:Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store!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.
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3:57:02
Indian Premier League Cricket
When you saw this episode pop up in your feed, you either jumped for joy and hit play immediately (in which case you’re not reading this), or you said “Huh. That’s a surprising episode.” Well, if you’re in group two, boy do we have a treat for you!IPL is the fastest-growing, most dynamic and most disruptive force in the sports industry today… and this may come as a shock to many Americans, but it might just be on track to surpass the NFL as the world’s most valuable sports league. The IPL is currently valued at $16B, with a TV rights deal that’s higher in per-match dollars than the NBA and the English Premier League. And all this for a league that’s right now just 10 teams who collectively only play 74 total games per season… and oh yeah, the whole thing is only 17 years old! Tune in for an absolutely amazing story, filled with genius, drama (Rupert Murdoch! Disney! Bollywood!) and a perfect encapsulation of the rise of modern India.Sponsors:Many thanks to our fantastic Spring ‘25 Season partners:J.P. Morgan PaymentsServiceNowFundriseCrusoeLinks:Save the date, July 15 in NYC!Ed Cowan’s Business Breakdowns of IPLWorldly Partners’ Multi-Decade IPL StudyEpisode sourcesCarve Outs:SeveranceStratecheryMore Acquired:Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store!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.
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4:28:07
Rolex
Rolex is a series of paradoxes. They sell obsolete and objectively inferior mechanical devices for 10-1000x the price of their superior digital successors… and demand is stronger than ever in history! Their products are comparable to a Hermès Birkin bag in price, luxury status and waitlist times… yet they produce over 1m units / year (roughly 10x annual Birkin production). They make the most universally recognized and desired Swiss watches… yet their founder wasn’t Swiss and didn’t start the company in Switzerland! If Rolex were publicly traded, they’d almost certainly be among the top 50 market cap companies in the world… yet they’re 100% owned by a charitable foundation in Geneva that (among other things) literally just gives away money to local people in the city.Tune in for one of the most fascinating and admirable companies we’ve ever covered on Acquired. We had an absolute blast making the episode, and hope you enjoy it as much as we did!Sponsors:Many thanks to our fantastic Spring ‘25 Season partners:J.P. Morgan PaymentsServiceNowFundriseHuntressLinks:The Renaissance of the Swiss Watch Industry - Marc BridgeHODINKEE - Inside All Four Rolex Manufacturing Facilities“If you were…” campaignWorldly Partners’ Multi-Decade Rolex StudyEpisode sourcesCarve Outs:BlueyAcquired on Armchair ExpertEleven ReaderMore Acquired:Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store!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.
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5:00:35
TSMC Founder Morris Chang
We flew to Taiwan to interview TSMC Founder Morris Chang in a rare English interview. In fact, the last long-form video interview we could find was 17 years ago at the Computer History Museum… conducted by the one-and-only Jensen Huang! This episode came about after asking ourselves a version of the Jeff Bezos “regret minimization” question: what conversations would we most regret not having if the chance passed Acquired by? Dr. Chang was number one on our list, and thanks to a little help from Jensen himself, we’re so happy to make it happen.Dr. Chang shares the stories of a few crucial moments from TSMC’s history which have only been written about in his (currently Chinese-only) memoirs, including how TSMC won Apple’s iPhone and Mac chip business and a 2009 discrepancy with NVIDIA that almost jeopardized their relationship, and the lessons he took from them. We can’t think of a better way to kick off 2025. Please enjoy!Sponsors:Many thanks to our fantastic Spring ‘25 Season partners:J.P. Morgan PaymentsServiceNowFundriseLinks:Worldly Partners’ Multi-Decade TSMC StudyKarina Bao’s writingCarve Outs:AAADefunctlandEverything Everywhere all at OnceAsianometryMore Acquired:Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store!Notes: This episode contains a paid endorsement for Fundrise. All investments can lead to loss. 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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2:54:56
TSMC (Remastered)
We dive into the unbelievable and unlikely history behind the quietest technology giant of them all: the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Founded in 1987 by the then-56 year old Morris Chang, already a legend in the semiconductor industry by virtue of his meteoric rise and fall at Texas Instruments, TSMC today manufactures nearly all the leading-edge chips for Nvidia, Apple, Broadcom, Qualcomm, AMD, and yes — even Intel. Tune in for an incredible story of innovation, perseverance and lasers. Lots and lots of lasers!Note: this is a remastered version of our original 2021 episode. We don’t often re-release old episodes, but in this case we have a very timely reason for doing so. Stay tuned! :)Sponsors:Many thanks to our fantastic partners:VantaJ.P. Morgan PaymentsStatsigLinks:Episode SourcesCarve Outs:Ted Lasso (Season 1)GreekWho is Michael Ovitz?More Acquired:Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodesJoin the SlackSubscribe to ACQ2Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store!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.
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