In 1999, Microsoft became the most valuable company in the world. And in 2019, Microsoft became the most valuable company in the world, again. But… what happened in the twenty years in between? The answer, as we discovered in our research, is probably not what you think.

In this episode we explore and analyze the browser wars and the DOJ case, Windows XP through 8, Surface, Xbox, search, Yahoo!, Bing, the iPhone, Nokia, mobile, social, Facebook… and oh yeah, a little thing called Azure and the enterprise — which ended up becoming so big that no failures mattered. Tune in for Microsoft, Volume II.

Sponsors:

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• Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25
• Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26

Links:

• Bill Gurley on Android’s “Less Than Free” business model
• All episode sources

Carve Outs:

• Meta Ray-Bans
• Ozlo Sleepbuds
• M3 Macbook Air
• Model Y

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‍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.