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Ben & David broadcast live from the 2016 GeekWire Summit covering one of the all-time greats, Apple\\u2019s 1996 acquisition of NeXT. This episode has it all: the Steve Jobs hero story, Apple, I.M. Pei, Ross Perot, Aaron Sorkin, Nobel Laureates and\\u2026 Gil Amelio? Does NeXT rank atop the best acquisitions ever? Our own heroes cast their votes.\\xa0

Sponsors:
Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta
Crusoe: https://bit.ly/acquiredcrusoe
Modern Treasury: https://bit.ly/acquiredmoderntreasury

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• 1980\\u2019s era Apple, entering the age of the \\u201cworkstation\\u201d, with John Sculley as CEO and Steve Jobs leading the newly formed SuperMicro division working on building the \\u201cBigMac"\\xa0
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• Jobs\\u2019 exile to "Siberia\\u201d, and chance meeting with Nobel Laureate Paul Berg that sowed the seeds of NeXT
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• Jobs\\u2019 resignation from Apple on September 13, 1985 to start NeXT, taking with him SuperMicro division employees Joanna Hoffman, Bud Tribble, George Crow, Rich Page, Susan Barnes, Susan Kare, and Dan\'l Lewin
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• Apple\\u2019s subsequent lawsuit against Jobs and, \\xa0Steve\\u2019s classic quote in response: "It is hard to think that a $2 billion company with 4,300-plus people couldn\'t compete with six people in blue jeans."
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• NeXT\\u2019s \\u201canti lean startup\\u201d approach, spending $100k on brand identity and moving into I.M. Pei designed offices\\n
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• \\xa0Ross Perot\\u2019s $20M investment in NeXT
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• The first NeXT computer (fun unboxing video) product launch, dubbed "The NeXT Introduction\\u201d on October 12, 1988 (one of the three scenes in the Aaron Sorkin Steve Jobs movie)
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• The NeXTSTEP operating system as the first \\u201cmodern\\u201d OS (including Object-oriented programming), and like the Mac equally descended from Xerox PARC\\n
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• Major technologies developed on NeXT computers, including the first web browser and Doom\\xa0
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• NeXT\\u2019s exit from the hardware business and transition to a software-only model with OPENSTEP
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• Apple\\u2019s \\xa0failed internal projects to develop a modern OS, culminating in the acquisition of NeXT in December 1996
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• Steve Jobs\\u2019 return to Apple, public lack of faith in the then-current board and management, and maneuvering to return to the CEO role
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• The transformation of NeXTSTEP/OPENSTEP into OS X, and ultimately iOS, watchOS, tvOS, etc.\\xa0
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\\xa0 The Carve Out:\\xa0

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• Ben: \\xa0Stewart Butterfield (Cofounder/CEO of Slack) on the The Ezra Klein Show\\n
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• David: DJI and the \\xa0Rise of the Robomasters\\n
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