Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal from Acquired on what makes companies last
Blog post from WorkOS
Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, hosts of the Acquired podcast, discussed the exponential growth of their audience and evolving focus from acquisitions to covering major companies like Nvidia, Costco, and Google, emphasizing the uniqueness of successful companies that define rather than follow markets. They highlighted the significant role of luck and skill in success, comparing it to maxing out attributes in a video game, while also noting Nvidia's strategic positioning as an example of blending preparation with opportunity. The current AI era presents unique opportunities for startups, with enterprises eager to adopt new AI tools, creating a demand shift not seen in previous startup generations. They also explored the leadership paradox in AI giants like Anthropic and OpenAI, questioning whether these companies can institutionalize their founders' DNA, much like Apple and Microsoft did, despite having relatively new leadership teams. This discussion took place at AWS re:Invent 2025.