Season 2, Episode 4: SoftBank, Fortress and the Vision Fund

Acquired dives into the topic on the minds and lips of just about every VC and founder these days: SoftBank’s $93B+ Vision Fund, and its seemingly-overnight rewriting of the rules of venture capital and startup fundraising. Where did this new 800lbs gorilla come from, what are its goals, and what does it mean for the future of silicon valley and the global tech ecosystem? The answer, it turns out, starts with an acquisition, and unfolds into a story no one has yet told and few yet understand. Luckily our heroes are on the case!

Sponsors:

• WorkOS: https://bit.ly/workos25
• Intapp: https://bit.ly/intappceleste
• Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry
• Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25

More Acquired!

• Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
• Join the Slack
• Subscribe to ACQ2
• Merch Store!

© Copyright 2015-2026 ACQ, LLC

Links:

• Masayoshi Son on Charlie Rose

Carve Outs:

• Ben:  eBoys: The First Inside Account of Venture Capitalists at Work
• David: Liu Cixin’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy (starting with  The Three-Body Problem)
• Bonus: shout out to Brian McCullough’s new podcast the  Ride Home, in partnership with TechMeme!