By Amy Schrei, Director of Communications and Marketing
David Rosenthal is the cofounder and cohost of Acquired, a podcast that dives deep into the stories behind the world’s biggest companies and the people who build them.
What began in 2015 as a side project between two friends has grown into what The Wall Street Journal calls “the business world’s favorite show.” Today, Acquired is the No. 1 technology podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, with each episode reaching over a million listeners. The in-depth conversations sometimes feature interviews with industry giants such as Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, and Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks.
FOLLOWING YOUR CURIOSITY
Rosenthal and his business partner Ben Gilbert started Acquired as a way to “nerd out” together.
“We wanted an excuse to hang out and talk about business and technology, because that’s what we love,” Rosenthal explained. Growing up alongside the internet shaped both of their worldviews. They remembered life before it, but were fascinated by the possibilities it unlocked.
That curiosity fueled a non-linear path that began at Tower Hill, where he “did a lot of things,” in true alignment with the school’s motto, Multa Bene Facta. He played football and baseball, acted in school plays and avidly studied French. Rosenthal hares, “My whole life I’ve pursued different hobbies and interests, and Acquired would never have happened if I wasn’t constantly trying new things and staying curious.”
After Tower Hill, Rosenthal attended Princeton University, majoring in French while continuing theater and athletics. Both he and Gilbert credit their theater experience with giving them the confidence and critical communication skills that now play a central role in their podcasting success.
Following stints on Wall Street and at The Wall Street Journal, Rosenthal attended Stanford Business School, then joined a venture capital firm in Seattle where he met Gilbert. At the time they launched Acquired, podcasts were still in their infancy, and theirs was one of the first business and technology shows. “If you’d told me then, or even just a few years ago, that my life or the show would be what it is today, I wouldn’t have believed you,” says Rosenthal.
BUILDING A HIT
Despite being humble about his success, Rosenthal acknowledges the hard work, meticulous research and long hours the show requires. Each episode takes months of preparation to ensure accuracy, including reading biographies, combing through financial statements, researching company histories and conducting interviews. The research process involves writing a long “script,” which is nearly equivalent to writing an entire book for every episode.
“We want listeners to feel like they’ve been taken on a journey,” Rosenthal said. “But that takes a tremendous amount of behind-the-scenes work.”
For a podcast of Aquired’s reach, it is highly unusual that Rosenthal and Gilbert are not backed by a major media company nor have a team of staff to support them. Rosenthal explains, “We still do everything ourselves. We do all the business, we do all the research, we do all the interview bookings, we do all the hosting. And we love it that way.”
One example of their research rigor came in 2022, when they produced two episodes, and later a third, on Nvidia. Soon after, they received a message from Nvidia’s head of communications: CEO Jensen Huang wanted to know who their sources were because the material was so accurate. “We didn’t talk to anyone at the company. We did all the research ourselves,” Rosenthal recalled. That led to an in-person meeting with Huang and eventually an interview for the show. A lasting professional relationship followed. “It all started because we did a good job covering the company on the podcast,” said Rosenthal.
TAKING IT LIVE
From the early days, Acquired hosted small, informal live events for listeners. But as the show’s audience exploded, so did the ambition of its live productions. In the past two years, they have held two large-scale, sold-out live shows. In 2024, the podcast interviewed Mark Zuckerberg at Chase Center in San Francisco. Then in 2025, Acquired made history by becoming the first business podcast to sell out Radio City Music Hall. The show featured an interview with Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase.
“It was so cool to be playing the most famous venue in the world! The show itself just went so great,” Rosenthal recalls. “I wouldn’t say it was natural, being on stage at Radio City—it was certainly different than Tower Hill, but it was familiar. It is a skill set that has carried over for both of us.”
Doing large events will be part of Acquired going forward, but “the podcast is the main thing.”
DREAMING BIGGER
Over the past decade, Rosenthal has sat across from corporate giants—founders and executives who took improbable ideas and turned them into world-changing companies. What strikes him most isn’t flawless execution or superhuman intellect, but their unwavering clarity of vision.
“They’re just people,” he said. “But the thing they all have in common is a crystal-clear sense of what they want to create in the world—and an unwillingness to let anything stand in their way. In the beginning, their ideas often seemed crazy. People would say, ‘There’s no way that will work.’ But nothing stops them from realizing that vision.”
It’s a philosophy he applies in his own life and work. “There are no set rules,” Rosenthal said. “The only thing standing in the way is you. You have no idea where life’s going to take you—but you can decide how far you’re willing to push to get there.”
