Acquired
Episode 48: Qualcomm - Broadcom
Every company has a story.
Learn the playbooks that built the world’s greatest companies — and how you can apply them.
Show Notes
Ben & David cover the proposed largest tech M&A deal of all time, and in the process dive into the evolving dynamics of the industry that started everything in Silicon Valley—silicon. Just when VCs thought innovation was dead in semiconductors, a new wave of startups and large companies are redrawing the lines of competition in an industry dominated for a half-century by the “Wintel” duopoly of Intel and Microsoft.
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Topics Covered Include:
Innovation and disruption in the semiconductor industry over the past two years
Intel’s acquisition of Nervana
Graphcore and other ML-focused semiconductor startups
CDMA and the telephone network effect
Qualcomm’s early cell phone handsets
Vertical integration + commoditization in smartphone chipsets
The Carve Out:
Ben: The de-watering of Niagara Falls
David: Big Daddy’s Antiques
Bonus: The Mystery Show
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