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The Science of Teams

Team science experts Noshir Contractor, Suzanne Bell, and Leslie DeChurch discuss team composition research at NASA and the role teams play in human spaceflight and space exploration. HWHAP Episode 175.

Airbnb

Over 13 years after its founding, one of the defining startup companies of the past decade finally makes its public debut — and boy was it a big one. But for all the hype (and all the legitimately great things Airbnb has accomplished), this is a company that looks very different today than in the past. Even before COVID, Airbnb’s once-exponential bookings growth had declined to linear levels while the company’s costs continued to balloon at accelerating rates. What’s going on here? Are public investors smart to bet on a permanent shift in travel behavior coming out of the pandemic? Or is this a case of unrealistic expectations? As always, we dive in. 

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© Copyright 2015-2026 ACQ, LLC

Playbook Themes from this episode are available on our website at https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/airbnb

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DoorDash

Live from the scene of its blockbuster IPO, we recount the crazy, roller coaster journey of this “Palo Alto delivery company”. From Sand Hill darling during their Series A and B fundraises to all but left-for-dead during the great unicorn massacre of 2015/16, DoorDash has clawed their way back from the brink and emerged as America’s dominant meal delivery service, and its only unit-economic positive standalone logistics player. Is this the dawn of the next great Amazon-like story, or is the company simply benefiting from temporary tailwinds due to the pandemic? As always, we dive DEEP to find out. 

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© Copyright 2015-2026 ACQ, LLC

Playbook Themes from this episode are available on our website at https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/doordash

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David:

Ben:

Sticking the Landing on Mars

Alicia Dwyer-Cianciolo and Doug Trent, entry, descent, and landing experts at NASA, unfold the intricacies of accomplishing a successful landing for humans visiting the Red Planet on this eighth episode of our Mars Monthly series. HWHAP Episode 174.

Slack + Salesforce Emergency Pod with Packy McCormick of Not Boring

Acquired is live on the scene covering Salesforce’s blockbuster $27.7B acquisition of Slack, with the help of the internet’s #1 Slack bull (and top internet analyst in his own right), Packy McCormick of Not Boring. We dissect the deal itself, Slack’s relatively short life as a public company, the impact of Microsoft and Teams, and most importantly what this means for enterprise SaaS startups broadly. And oh yeah — we have a ton of fun too. 🙂

Note: you can find our full June 2019 episode on Slack’s history and their DPO here: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/the-slack-dpo

 

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© Copyright 2015-2026 ACQ, LLC

Playbook Themes from this episode are available on our website at https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/slack-salesforce-emergency-pod-with-packy-mccormick-of-not-boring

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Students and Spacesuits

NASA SUITS activity manager Brandon Hargis and technical lead Paromita Mitra talk about the opportunity for students and teachers to design and create spacesuit information displays in augmented reality environments. HWHAP Episode 173.

Virgin Galactic

Live from the 2020 ASCEND Space Conference, Acquired covers the full story behind the most “out there” technology story of the past few years: Virgin Galactic. How did this space tourism company grow out of the winning X Prize team, and catch the eyes and fancy of billionaires like Paul Allen, Sir Richard Branson, and, most recently, company chairman Chamath Palihapitiya who took it public via the first “modern” technology SPAC transaction in history? Tune in to find out!! 

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© Copyright 2015-2026 ACQ, LLC

Playbook Themes from this episode are available on our website at https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/virgin-galactic 

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Plants in Space

Botany experts Gioia Massa and Anna-Lisa Paul discuss how plants in space and the research being conducted on the International Space Station are key to the future of sustainable human space exploration. HWHAP Episode 172.

Orion Today

Howard Hu, Orion deputy program manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, gives an update on Orion, the spacecraft that will take the next generation of space explorers to the Moon and beyond. HWHAP Episode 171.

Special: Superhuman Part II – Designing Software to Feel like a Game (with Rahul Vohra)

Superstar past guest and Superhuman CEO Rahul Vorha joins us for a deep dive on how Superhuman applies concepts from game design to building productivity software. We’re not talking points and badges — we mean hardcore, Unreal Engine-style technical innovations and Fortnite-level understanding of fun and mastery. It’s a topic where Rahul has serious cred: before Superhuman and Rapportive, he worked as a game designer on RuneScape, the pioneering browser-based MMORPG. This is a topic every founder, engineer, product and even sales person should listen to. Tune in! 

You can listen to Part I of our Superhuman story with Rahul here: https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/superhuman

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© Copyright 2015-2026 ACQ, LLC

Playbook Themes from this Episode available on our website at  https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/special-superhuman-part-ii-designing-software-to-feel-like-a-game-with-rahul-vohra )