I've got new M1 MacBook Air.
This is the first episode we're doing on it.
Nice.
Nice silent recording in the background.
No.
What do they call it on the Pro?
The active cooling system.
Don't call it a fan.
Welcome to this special episode of Acquired, the podcast about great technology companies and the stories and playbooks behind them.
I'm Ben Gilbert and I'm the co founder of Pioneer Square Labs, a startup studio and venture capital firm in Seattle.
And I'm David Rosenthal and I am an angel investor and advisor to startups based in San Francisco.
And we are your hosts.
As regular listeners know, we typically cover some of the biggest companies.
Those that IPO see Airbnb and DoorDash last week, and the companies that get some of the splashiest press coverage.
But today's episode is quite a bit different.
In our conversation with Cortland Allen of Indie Hackers, which is the largest community of startup founders, we dive into the stories of the underdogs.
What happens when there are millions of people doing small business entrepreneurship?
How does the globally addressable market of 3 billion Internet users open the door for the Nichiest of products?
And importantly, what was Cortland's lived experience of starting his own string of companies that ultimately led to starting Indie Hackers and its acquisition by what is now the hottest private company in the world?
Stripe?