Venture capital, startups and investing, on tape.

Every prediction, opinion and bold claim from Acquired: extracted from the transcript, verified against the tape, checked against cited public sources, playable at the exact moment it was said.

2,685 assertions647 insights411 opinions183 disclosures127 predictions62 what-ifs

Recently on the ledger full ledger →

Opinion
Rep. Gonzalez: January 6 was an unforgivable assault inspired by Trump
“My view remains that it's an unforgivable assault on the country. And it was led by the former president who was inspired by him. And ultimately my view, which I think is coming out in this January six commission is that he kind of liked it and kind of liked w…”
Anthony Gonzalez Aug 2, 2022 ▶ 40:24 From NFL to Startup COO to Congressman Regulating Crypto (with Rep. Anthony Gonzalez) · Acquired
Disclosure
Dimon: $5B Mortgage Penalties Led Him to Never Trust the Government Again
“They made us pay five billion dollars on the more, the bad mortgages that Bear Stearns had done, and that's what made me make the statement I wouldn't do it again. I wouldn't, put it this way, I don't know how to say this, I wouldn't really trust the governmen…”
Jamie Dimon Jul 16, 2025 ▶ 40:48 The Jamie Dimon Interview: How JP Morgan Became an $800 Billion Bank · Acquired
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Chang: Tim Cook told me in 2011 that Intel cannot run a foundry
“And anyway, he told me there's nothing to worry about because Intel just does not know how to be a Foundry.”
Morris Chang Jan 27, 2025 ▶ 1:43:50 TSMC founder Morris Chang · Acquired
Opinion
Schultz: Coffee in Italy is no longer as good as it once was
“The by and large coffee in Italy is not as good as it once was. There are certain coffee companies that have maintained the standard, but by and large, the coffee is not as good.”
Howard Schultz Jun 4, 2024 ▶ 2:31:46 Starbucks (with Howard Schultz) · Acquired
Opinion
Munger says top venture capital earners are trend-chasers, not great investors
“The people who made the most money out of venture capital are a lot like investment bankers deciding which hot new area they're going to get in. They're not great investors or great at anything.”
Charlie Munger Oct 30, 2023 ▶ 25:05 Charlie Munger (Audio) · Acquired
Opinion
Munger claims BYD founder Wang Chuanfu is better at manufacturing than Musk
“The guy at BYD is better at actually making things than Elon is.”
Charlie Munger Oct 30, 2023 ▶ 57:21 Charlie Munger (Audio) · Acquired

How the calls resolved the full record →

Assertion Supported
Rosenthal: Microsoft acquired Danger, maker of the T-Mobile Sidekick
“Microsoft buys Danger, the company that made the T-Mobile sidekick.”
David Rosenthal Jul 22, 2024 ▶ 3:08:18 Microsoft Volume II: The Complete History and Strategy of the Ballmer Years (Audio) · Acquired
Assertion Contradicted
SR-71's First Flight Was Closer to the Wright Brothers Than Today
“The SR-seventy-one first flight was closer to the Wright brothers than today.”
Ben Gilbert May 30, 2023 ▶ 2:11:07 Lockheed Martin (Audio) · Acquired
Assertion Supported
Rosenthal: Ray Ozzie named Microsoft Chief Software Architect in June 2006
“So in June, 2006, when Bill announces his coming retirement, Ray gets named as his successor in the official chief software architect role.”
David Rosenthal Jul 22, 2024 ▶ 3:37:29 Microsoft Volume II: The Complete History and Strategy of the Ballmer Years (Audio) · Acquired
Assertion Contradicted
The Nike+ iPod Was the First Corporate Product to Use 'Plus'
“And this was the first corporate use of plus in a product name.”
David Rosenthal Jul 25, 2023 ▶ 2:52:28 Nike (Audio) · Acquired

Open predictions the full timeline →

109days Gilbert: Disney will set an all-time net income record in 2026 Ben Gilbert · prediction date: 2026-12-31 109days Waymo to Expand Across Multiple US Cities and Launch in Tokyo Ben Gilbert · prediction date: 2026-12-31 337days Miller: a16z and Sequoia will launch retail-accessible funds within five years Ben Miller · prediction date: 2027-08-16 370days Zuckerberg: Threads could reach one billion users in a few years Mark Zuckerberg · prediction date: 2027-09-18

Track records all people →

Ordered by full support rate, then by supported count. Minimum three resolved. Partly supported claims count as resolved but not as fully supported, same as everywhere on the ledger.

PersonEpsStatementsSupportedPartly supportedContradictedFull support rate
Morris Chang 1 43 13 0 0 100%
Michael Mauboussin 1 32 10 0 0 100%
Katherine Boyle 1 16 3 0 0 100%
Dara Khosrowshahi 1 23 9 1 0 90%
Daniel Ek 2 46 7 0 1 88%
Packy McCormick 2 36 6 1 0 86%
Steve Ballmer 1 40 6 0 1 86%
Anthony Gonzalez 1 27 5 1 0 83%

From the Wisdom Wall all quotes →

“That whole strategy of a fire hose of content is completely orthogonal to the flywheel strategy of only the best content very infrequently.”

“So in the long run, if the main reason to subscribe to any given channel ends up being actually about the game content itself and not differentiated by stuff around the game, then the excess profits…”

“the IP that works best for Flywheel Dynamics almost has to be animated, i.e. not live action, because with live action characters, the characters are too bound up in the actors that play them, and…”

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