Acquired's Success Secret: Ben Gilbert's Quality Approach

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Jun 11, 2025

Ben Gilbert, co-founder and co-host of the Acquired podcast, shares insights on transforming company histories into captivating narratives. He discusses the rigorous research process behind their episodes, which totals around 300 hours, and the significance of being contrarian yet right in business. Ben explains how word-of-mouth fueled their audience growth and reveals the challenges of podcast production, including storytelling techniques that keep listeners engaged. A must-listen for entrepreneurs and aspiring podcasters!

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ADVICE

Leverage Your Unique Strengths

Entrepreneurs should identify their unique strengths and quirks to build a successful business.
Combining distinct traits creatively leads to breakthroughs rather than copying others exactly.

ANECDOTE

Podcast Origin Story

Ben Gilbert and David started Acquired to learn about successful acquisitions and improve as venture capitalists.
The podcast evolved into telling full company stories from founding to growth, beyond just acquisitions.

INSIGHT

Unique Founders and Long-Term Vision

Every extremely successful company is unique based on founders' skills and context.
Long-term vision combined with contrarian and correct insight drives standout business success.

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What happens when two friends decide to learn about successful acquisitions and accidentally create one of the world's most popular business podcasts? Meet Ben Gilbert, co-founder and co-host of Acquired, the show that transforms company histories into captivating 4-hour audio experiences.

With millions of listeners worldwide, Acquired has become the Harvard Business School case study of the podcasting world. In this episode, discover the intensive research process behind each episode (totaling 300 hours of work), why being contrarian AND right matters in business, and how two people can become temporary experts on everything from semiconductors to luxury handbags. Ben also reveals what it takes to build an audience through pure word-of-mouth growth over a decade.

Whether you're an entrepreneur, podcaster, or simply fascinated by great companies, this conversation will change how you think about storytelling, business strategy, and the power of deep research.

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Guy Kawasaki is on a mission to make you remarkable. His Remarkable People podcast features interviews with remarkable people such as Jane Goodall, Marc Benioff, Woz, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Bob Cialdini. Every episode will make you more remarkable.

With his decades of experience in Silicon Valley as a Venture Capitalist and advisor to the top entrepreneurs in the world, Guy’s questions come from a place of curiosity and passion for technology, start-ups, entrepreneurship, and marketing. If you love society and culture, documentaries, and business podcasts, take a second to follow Remarkable People.

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