Meta (Audio)

Meta is a company everyone knows (literally, everyone). But, somehow, it’s also a company that few people feel they actually understand. Their products are used by more humans than any other’s in history — almost half of the entire world’s population daily. But… what is Meta? Why do they do what they do? How do they do what they do? Ask ten people and you’ll likely get ten very different sets of answers. Today, we dive deeper than we’ve ever gone trying to find Acquired’s answers to those questions. And after months of research and 6+ hours of incredible stories about how they (and really “they” being Mark himself) bet it all and win time and time again in the face of overwhelming odds, we arrive at our answers. Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Threads, AI, Oculus, Orion, it’s all here. Tune in for one of the greatest corporate stories of all time: Meta, a Mark Zuckerberg Production. *Links:* - Worldly Partners: Meta multi-decade study: https://worldlypartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Meta-Platforms-1.pdf - Episode sources: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/meta#sources *Carve Outs:* - Ben Cohen’s piece on NotebookLM: https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/google-notebooklm-ai-podcast-deep-dive-audio-c30a06b3 - Mr. McMahon: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33301469/ - The Dwarkesh Podcast: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com *More Acquired:* - Get email updates https://www.acquired.fm/email and vote on future episodes! - Join the Slack http://acquired.fm/slack - Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store https://www.acquired.fm/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._

Ben GilberthostDavid Rosenthalhost

Oct 28, 20246h 22mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: October 28, 2024
Duration: 6h 22m
Channel: Acquired
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Meta is a company everyone knows (literally, everyone). But, somehow, it’s also a company that few people feel they actually understand. Their products are used by more humans than any other’s in history — almost half of the entire world’s population daily. But… what is Meta? Why do they do what they do? How do they do what they do? Ask ten people and you’ll likely get ten very different sets of answers. Today, we dive deeper than we’ve ever gone trying to find Acquired’s answers to those questions. And after months of research and 6+ hours of incredible stories about how they (and really “they” being Mark himself) bet it all and win time and time again in the face of overwhelming odds, we arrive at our answers. Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Threads, AI, Oculus, Orion, it’s all here. Tune in for one of the greatest corporate stories of all time: Meta, a Mark Zuckerberg Production. *Links:*
Worldly Partners: Meta multi-decade study: https://worldlypartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Meta-Platforms-1.pdf
Episode sources: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/meta#sources
*Carve Outs:*
Ben Cohen’s piece on NotebookLM: https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/google-notebooklm-ai-podcast-deep-dive-audio-c30a06b3
Mr. McMahon: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33301469/
The Dwarkesh Podcast: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com
*More Acquired:*
Get email updates https://www.acquired.fm/email and vote on future episodes!
Join the Slack http://acquired.fm/slack
Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store https://www.acquired.fm/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._

SPEAKERS

Ben Gilbert
host
David Rosenthal
host

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Acquired, featuring Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, Meta (Audio) explores meta’s rise: engineered network effects, relentless adaptation, platform ambitions, AI-driven future The episode traces Meta’s creation from Mark Zuckerberg’s early programming projects through Facebook’s Harvard launch, rapid college-by-college expansion, and the product innovations (Photos, News Feed, Platform) that defined modern social media.

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