David Rosenthal
Host of Acquired
David Rosenthal is the co-founder and co-host of Acquired, a long-form business podcast that tells the stories and strategies of great companies. He previously worked as a venture capitalist, including at Madrona Venture Group, and now also invests via his AngelList fund Kindergarten Ventures. He holds a degree in French Literature from Princeton University and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and is based in San Francisco.
Products they talk about
America's Game👍 Recommends
…sourcing research materials for the NFL history episode
“We have some sports thank yous to Michael McCambridge, author of America's Game, which provided much of the research for this episode. And it's just like the definitive biography-style history of the NFL.”
on Acquired
Bluey👍 Recommends
…david's parenting carveout about bluey children's show
“I brought the whole family to, uh, New York for Radio City. Uh, Bluey. We got to do a Bluey episode someday. It's this incredible phenomenon. Bluey is the greatest kid's show ever made. Bar none. It's this guy in Australia, uh, in Brisbane and he made it, uh, he was, I think an animator for Peppa Pig and then made this.”
on Acquired
Brooks Vanguard👍 Recommends
…discovering Brooks Vanguard sneakers as unexpected episode callback
“And then my third one, a surprise last minute carve out. While I was doing research yesterday, polishing up the show notes for the script, I came across totally accidentally by Googling Brooks Vanguard shoes. What? This is like the ultimate acquired crossover. Did you know that these things exist? These are old school Brooks running shoes that they still make.”
on Acquired
Emperors of Chocolate👍 Recommends
…david's book carveout about chocolate industry history
“My two are—first one is a reach back to December of last year with the Mars episode, Emperors of Chocolate by Joel Glenn Brenner. It's so good. So it's the dual history of Hershey and Mars together.”
on Acquired
For God, Country, and Coca-Cola👍 Recommends
…referencing mark pendergrast's acclaimed coca-cola company history book
“Mark Pendergrast, in his great book for God, Country, and Coca-Cola that was a main source for this episode, has a great quote. He says, Coca-Cola remains emblematic of the best and worst of America. It is a microcosm of American history.”
on Acquired
Genius Makers👍 Recommends
…sourcing materials for ai research history and breakthroughs
“Cade Metz right for Genius Makers great book covering the history of AI talent and development in the field.”
on Acquired
In the Plex👍 Recommends
…sourcing materials for understanding google's history and ai journey
“So, Stephen Levy's great classic book on Google in the plex which has been an amazing source for all three of our Google episodes definitely go by the book and read that.”
on Acquired
Kirby and the Forgotten Land👍 Recommends
…david's video game carveout for playing with daughter
“And then two, Kirby and the Forgotten Land on the Switch is, like, perfect. We can play it together. It's co-op. It's great for me. It's great for her. It's awesome.”
on Acquired
Mario Kart 8👍 Recommends
…carve out playing mario kart 8 on nintendo switch with daughter
“Mario Kart 8, I've played a lot of Mario Karts over the last 25 years. Mario Kart 8, I think is the best. It's just amazing. Perfect. And get an OLED Switch for her. We'll be able to play together in tabletop mode.”
on Acquired
Morris Chang's Autobiography👍 Recommends
…david's book carveout about tsmc founder's memoir
“The other one, Morris Chang's autobiography. That we got to read. It is currently only in Chinese, but we got to read an English version of it to prep. It's so good. I mean, why did you do that? She was working on it as just a pet project anyway, and accelerated it for us.”
on Acquired
Nintendo Switch 2💬 Mentioned
…david plans to purchase switch 2 in future but chose steam deck first
“So I will buy a Switch 2 at some point, probably in the next year or so. But for now, Steam Deck.”
on Acquired
Princess Peach Showtime👍 Recommends
…video game carve out for nintendo switch
“And one of my old classmates from college, Ryan, actually sent me an email about a game called Princess Peach Showtime. Nintendo finally got the picture that like, hey, girls are a growth audience for them. And they made a Princess Peach game where Peach is the heroine... My daughter loves this thing. And it's been so fun to watch her like become an expert at this game.”
on Acquired
Rimowa Suitcase👍 Recommends
…david's product carveout about german luggage
“I bought a Ramo suitcase this year, and I love it. It's just a suitcase, but, like, I love it. I got, um... What's it called? I can tell you. Ramoah. LVMH bought this. It's a suitcase. A German suitcase company. They make the, like, aluminum shell suitcase.”
on Acquired
Sea of Stars👍 Recommends
…gaming experience shared between parent and young child
“I've been playing this really cool indie old school style RPG called Sea of Stars it's like a Chrono Trigger style Super Nintendo style RPG... we're playing and she's like hey dad can I try I'm like absolutely you can try I hand her the Steam Deck and it was the most incredible experience.”
on Acquired
Sea of Stars👍 Recommends
…david's video game carveout with daughter
“So one of the greatest moments in my parenting journey, thus far my older daughter is four, is I got her into video games. I need to give a shout out again to Sea of Stars, which is an indie throwback RPG, which I bought just for me on my Steam Deck.”
on Acquired
SkiErg👍 Recommends
…carve out about new home gym equipment for cross-training
“I recently redid my home gym and I got a new piece of workout gear that I'm really enjoying. Have you ever heard of a ski erg? This thing is great. I'm neither a skier nor a rower, but it is a vertical rowing machine made by Concept2, which is the main like rowing erg machine manufacturer. But it's vertical. It's attached to your wall. It takes up no space.”
on Acquired
Slumber Pod👍 Recommends
…david's parenting product carveout about blackout sleep tent
“The slumber pod. Uh, do you have one of these? Oh, yeah. Yeah. So this is a blackout tent. We have two of these. That you put over, uh, a portable crib. So when you're traveling, you basically just put your, you put your baby in like a sensory defamation chamber.”
on Acquired
Steam Deck👍 Recommends
…david purchases steam deck as personal gaming device over switch 2
“I bought the Steam Deck. The Steam Deck! I bought the Steam Deck. And it's great, although I haven't, truth be told, had much time to play it this past month with everything we've had going on at Radio City and then preparing this episode. But it's great. How'd you pick? What was the ultimate? It ultimately came down to as much as I desperately wanted my older daughter to be ready to play Mario Kart with me. She's just not. And so if you're buying a console for just you to enjoy, you went with the Steam Deck.”
on Acquired
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate👍 Recommends
…carve out about playing video game with older daughter
“I downloaded Smash Bros. Ultimate to her Switch, and so we've been playing that. She really likes to be a princess, of course, and to quote-unquote fight the bunny. She calls Pikachu the bunny.”
on Acquired
The Formula👍 Recommends
…thanking the authors and discussing their book as a primary source
“Well, listeners, really what we're doing here today with Formula One, it's three sports in one... David Rosenthal, where do we dive in? Well, first off, we owe a huge thank you to Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg, who are the sports editors over at the Wall Street Journal. And just recently published, I think the best business history book of Formula One called The Formula.”
on Acquired
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie👍 Recommends
…personal family entertainment carve-out
“And then my third one, a surprise last minute carve out. While I was doing research yesterday, polishing up the show notes for the script, I came across totally accidentally by Googling Brooks Vanguard shoes. The new Super Mario Brothers movie, Super Mario Galaxy. So my older daughter and I love the first Super Mario Brothers movie. When she heard that the second one was coming out, she said, oh, dad, I really want to go see it in theaters.”
on Acquired
Tonal👍 Recommends
…home gym equipment carve out recommendation
“Before we redid the space, I had a full squat rack in there. I had enough room for that and kind of don't have enough room for it anymore. And so the folks at Tonal reached out. This thing is awesome. It just mounts to the wall and it takes up no space. It's perfect. And it's better than a squat rack because I can do an infinite number of strength training exercises on it.”
on Acquired
Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination👍 Recommends
…citing primary biographical source for walt disney research
“Well, first, a thank you to my main source for facts and Walt quotes on this episode, Neil Gabler's biography, Walt Disney, The Triumph of the American Imagination. Gabler, I think, was the only author who had full access to the Disney archives. And all the research he did for that book is just incredible.”
on Acquired