Archives

Mission Patches

Sean Collins, lead graphic designer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, discusses the history, design and symbolism that goes into creating the iconic NASA mission patches. HWHAP Episode 130.

Art and Spaceflight

Retired astronaut Nicole Stott, an artist who uses painting to express the feelings and emotions she experienced on station, talks about her spaceflight experience and the importance of art as a form of expression and inspiration. HWHAP Episode 129.

WhatsApp

We kick off Season 6 with a long-awaited Acquired Classic: Facebook’s $22B purchase of WhatsApp in 2014, which still ranks as the largest acquisition of a private VC-backed startup in history. Yet despite that enormous pricetag and all its associated fanfare, as we sit here 5+ years later WhatsApp actually generates LESS revenue than the meager ~$20m it was bringing in at the time of acquisition. Was this this worst acquisition of all-time, or a brilliant strategic chess move by Mark Zuckerberg & co? Tune in as we render Acquired’s judgement!

Note: Unfortunately David’s audio quality in this episode was impacted by a technical glitch which we didn’t discover until after recording. Our editors worked super hard to fix in post-production, but it’s still not totally perfect. We hope you’ll give it a listen regardless, and we’re working on getting a transcript made ASAP, which we’ll post to the website when it’s ready. Thanks for bearing with us,

-Ben & David 

Sponsors:

More Acquired!

© Copyright 2015-2026 ACQ, LLC

Carve Outs:

Sources:

Space Radiation

Jason Weeks and Steve Platts discuss the ways NASA is collecting radiation data to better understand the risks and possible mitigation strategies for humans traveling through deep space. This is the last in a six part series on NASA’s Human Research Program. HWHAP Episode 128.

Making It Work in Space

Brandon Vessey and Cherie Oubre discuss how they integrate and manage all the human research work in areas such as human performance, health, and radiation for research on the International Space Station, on Earth, and for future space exploration. This is part five of a six part series on NASA’s Human Research Program. HWHAP episode 127.

Fighting Space Effects

Laura Bollweg and Peter Norsk detail the effects that the microgravity environment has on human health, what we’re doing to counteract some of these effects, and the studies taking place to better understand how the Moon and Mars may have different impacts. This is part four of a six part series on NASA’s Human Research Program. HWHAP Episode 126.

Deep Space Healthcare

Nancy Fleming and Kris Lehnhardt describe the challenges of providing the necessary medical capabilities to astronauts traveling deeper into space. This is part three of a six part series on NASA’s Human Research Program. HWHAP Episode 125.

The Lean Startup and the Long-Term Stock Exchange (with Eric Ries)

Season 5, Episode 10: The Lean Startup and the Long-Term Stock Exchange (with Eric Ries) 

Acquired closes out Season 5 and 2019 with a radical look into both the past and future decades of startup company building, investing and – yes, exiting – in conversation with legendary Lean Startup author Eric Ries. Nine years on from pioneering the now-canonical concepts of product-market fit, minimum viable products, and pivots during the aftermath of the financial crisis, Eric’s new venture at the Long-Term Stock Exchange represents an equally ambitious attempt to rewrite the orthodoxy of how companies and their investors manage liquidity, governance and alignment around longterm value creation. Like Lean Startup a decade before it, can LTSE help address some of the endemic problems in this generation’s startup ecosystem — excessive capital raising, stay-private-longer, dual-class founder hegemony, extreme illiquidity and quarterly earnings myopia? Tune in to find out!

Sponsors:

More Acquired!

© Copyright 2015-2026 ACQ, LLC

The Human Element

Aaron Allcorn and Tom Williams discuss NASA’s efforts to understand the optimal spaceflight environment that maximizes human performance. This is part two of a six part series on NASA’s Human Research Program. HWHAP Episode 124.

Humans in Space

Dr. Jenn Fogarty gives an overview of the Human Research Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. This is the first in a series of six episodes that dive deep into the work being done to understand what exactly happens to the human body in space. HWHAP Episode 123.