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. Sponsors: Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘24 Season partners: J.P. Morgan Payments https://bit.ly/acquiredJPMPF243yt Statsig https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24 Crusoe https://bit.ly/acquiredcrusoefall24 Huntress https://bit.ly/acqhuntress Links: Please take our 2024 Acquired Survey if you have a minute. It'd mean the world to us! http://acquired.fm/survey Worldly Partners: Meta multi-decade study: https://worldlypartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Meta-Platforms-1.pdf Episode sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WpAkeS83tKDhFbGAE_Ifov7FjXaVognwEvClaMXzJZ8/edit?usp=sharing Our past episodes on: Instagram https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/episode-2-instagram WhatsApp https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/whatsapp Oculus https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/episode-35-oculus Snapchat https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/episode-12-snapchat The Snap IPO https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/episode-32-the-snap-inc-ipo TikTok https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/tiktok NVIDIA https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/nvidia-the-gpu-company-1993-2006 Microsoft https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/microsoft The Mark Zuckerberg Interview https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/the-mark-zuckerberg-interview Worldly Partners: Meta multi-decade study https://worldlypartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Meta-Platforms-1.pdf 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 with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes https://www.acquired.fm/email Join the Slack http://acquired.fm/slack Subscribe to ACQ2 https://pod.link/acquiredlp 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. © Copyright ACQ, LLC