Episode 35: Oculus

Published: April 11, 2017, 9:58 p.m.

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Ben & David transcend the barriers of \\u201creal\\u201d reality, and dive into Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg\\u2019s geek-eutpoia vision of the future of gaming, social, and maybe even the entire internet: strapping goofy-looking goggles to your face. Is VR for real this time or are we living through another Virtual Boy moment? Tune in to find out!\\xa0

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


Topics covered include:\\xa0
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  • Oculus\\u2019s origins in 2010 as a twinkle in the eye of the then-17 year old VR wunderkind, Palmer Luckey, who started by prototyping VR headsets in his parents\\u2019 garage in Southern California\\xa0
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  • Palmer\\u2019s time interning at \\xa0USC\'s Institute for Creative Technologies, and chronicling of his own VR efforts in the Meant to be Seen 3D internet forums
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  • Legendary game developer John Carmack\\u2019s own interest in virtual reality, his intersection with Palmer on the MTBS3D forums, and how he acquired and popularized one of Palmer\'s first early prototypes of the Oculus Rift (which was \\xa0literally held together with duct tape!) by demonstrating it onstage at E3 2012\\xa0
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  • How former Scaleform cofounders Brendan Iribe and Michael Antonov teamed up with Palmer after E3 to create the company Oculus VR
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  • The newly-formed Oculus\\u2019s wildly successful August 2012 Kickstarter campaign, including video endorsements from both Carmack and Valve founder Gabe Newell
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  • Oculus\\u2019s subsequent venture capital fundraisings, and catching the attention of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg\\xa0
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  • Facebook\\u2019s acquisition of the company in March 2014 for $2.3B
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  • The Zenimax lawsuit filed against Oculus and Facebook following the acquisition\\xa0
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  • Valve (home of the most incredible company handbook of all-time) and Gabe Newell\\u2019s subsequent pivot from supporting Oculus to launching their own competing VR efforts with the Vive\\xa0
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  • Team changes at Oculus post-acquisition\\xa0
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\\xa0 Followups:\\xa0

\\xa0 Hot Takes:\\xa0

\\xa0 The Carve Out:\\xa0

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