logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2023
1h 7m

Short: The Death of Sega

Ben Gilbert And David Rosenthal
About this episode

Sega and the Genesis was THE underdog story of the early 90’s. In a single console generation, Sega went from ~zero to 50% US market share and dethroned Nintendo’s seemingly invincible global monopoly. But — somehow — it all then died. Two console generations later Sega was out of the hardware game entirely, and the company was sold off for pieces to a pachinko manufacturer. How on earth did this happen??


Today we’re launching Acquired Shorts in order to tell this story and others like it: side tales from the “Acquired Cinematic Universe” that are too brief for a full episode, but too good to leave in the vault. We’d love to hear your thoughts on the format (and this episode). Please send us your feedback in Slack, email or Twitter!

Links:

Carve Outs:

Sponsors:

Anrok: https://bit.ly/anrokacquired
WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig24


More Acquired!:

© Copyright 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC


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.

Up next
Yesterday
Alphabet Inc.
In its first six years from 1998 to 2004, Google built one of the greatest products of all time (and certainly the greatest business of all time) with Search. Then in its next six years from 2005 to 2011, Google built seven (!) more billion+ user products: Gmail, Maps, Drive and ... Show More
4h 11m
Jul 16
The Jamie Dimon Interview
We sit down with Jamie Dimon for a live conversation at Radio City Music Hall, covering the incredible journey from his 1998 firing at Citgroup (where he was widely expected to become CEO) to building the most powerful bank in the world. Today JPMorgan Chase is a juggernaut — the ... Show More
1h 6m
Jun 30
Google
We tell the story of the single greatest business ever created: Google search. From its origins as a Stanford research project called BackRub, Google became the front door to the internet. Today it’s an essential service for over half the world, and one that generates more profit ... Show More
3h 39m
Recommended Episodes
Mar 2011
The Sega Saga
Sega began in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1940. Originally named Standard Games, this company originally made coin-operated amusements. Tune in as Chris and Jonathan recount the storied history of the Sega corporation in this podcast. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.ihear ... Show More
43m 56s
Oct 2021
The metaverse is coming for Squid Game
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch's venture capital focused podcast where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines. This is our Wednesday show, the time of the week when we niche down to a single topic. Today? Gaming.Natasha and Danny and Alex got together to discuss ... Show More
27m 12s
Jul 2021
TIP363: The Game of Investing w/ Bing Gordon
In today’s episode, Trey Lockerbie sits down with Bing Gordon. Bing is a legend in the silicon valley world, having first been a co-founder of Electronic Arts (EA), then went on to be a director at Zynga, Audible, Zume, Duolingo, and others. For the last 18 years, he’s also sat o ... Show More
1 h
May 2024
#133 PodcastAI: Josh Gets Displaced
We thought it would take years before AI could replace a podcast host. That is, until founder Edward Brawer slid into Josh’s DMs to pitch his startup, PodcastAI. Edward thinks he can make podcast producers 10x more productive and he already signed two big name podcasters. Now can ... Show More
50m 57s
Oct 2023
Strauss Zelnick - Playing to Your Strengths - [Invest Like the Best, EP.347]
My guest this week is Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of leading game publisher Take-Two Interactive. Maybe most well-known for its hugely successful Grand Theft Auto game, Take-Two is a sophisticated, top-tier developer, publisher, and marketer of interactive entertainment that owns Ro ... Show More
1h 15m
Aug 2023
Take-Two Interactive: GTA and NBA 2K - [Business Breakdowns, EP.124]
This is Matt Reustle and today we are breaking down Take-Two Interactive Software. If you listened to our Business Breakdown on Electronic Arts, Take Two is another giant in the video game publishing space. They are best known for their Grand Theft Auto and 2K franchise. To break ... Show More
54m 51s
Jan 2022
TIP417: The Incredible Story of the PayPal Mafia W/ Jimmy Soni
IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN: 1:50 - Who are the members of the Paypal Mafia, their origin stories, and how PayPal came to be. 36:35 - The many trials that Paypal endured. 50:24 - The culture at Paypal and how it developed. 57:59 - Jimmy's main takeaways having personally interv ... Show More
1h 5m
Jun 2024
Pat Grady - Relentless Application of Force - [Invest Like the Best, EP.378]
My guest today is Pat Grady, a longtime growth investor at Sequoia and one of the firms senior leaders. Pat has been a part of a long list of legendary investments, ranging from Snowflake, Zoom, ServiceNow, Qualtrics, Okta, Hubspot, Notion, and OpenAI, among many others. There ar ... Show More
1h 30m
Nov 2020
The Long (and Short) of it: A Cynic’s Take on Markets & Investing | Jim Chanos
In Episode 164 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with legendary short-seller Jim Chanos, founder of Kynikos Associates, about the art and science of selling short. What is short-selling? What does it mean to sell something short? How does one learn to do it successfully? T ... Show More
56m 6s
Jun 2024
TIP640: Investing: The Last Liberal Art w/ Clay Finck & Kyle Grieve
On today’s episode, Clay and Kyle dive into Robert Hagstrom’s book — Investing: The Last Liberal Art. Charlie Munger is famous for popularizing the use of mental models and pulling key ideas from related fields and implementing them to the world of investing. In today’s episode, ... Show More
1h 7m