TikTok

We take Acquired to the Old Town Road to cover the amazing story behind the biggest global sensation of 2019 — and the highest valued private startup in the world — TikTok. How did a mid-30 year old UX architect at enterprise software giant SAP wind up creating Gen Z’s favorite social app that’s now rivaling Instagram in global MAU? Why is a 2017 merger of two Chinese companies being branded a US national security threat and retroactively placed under review by CFIUS? And perhaps most importantly, why is TikTok such an important product & technology innovation that all of us should be learning from? Tune in for all the answers!

Sponsors:

Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25
Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig25
ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredsn

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 2015-2025 ACQ, LLC

Carve Outs:

• Ben: Track 34 on Ghosts IV by Nine Inch Nails: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF_ceFugJjQ
• David: Nintendo Switch Lite https://www.nintendo.com/switch/lite/ and Knives Out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGqiHJTsRkQ

Sources:

• https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/18/technology/tiktok-alex-zhu-interview.html
• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bytedance-tiktok-exclusive/exclusive-chinas-bytedance-moves-to-ringfence-its-tiktok-app-amid-u-s-probe-sources-idUSKBN1Y10OH
• https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/10/arts/TIK-TOK.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
• https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/19/style/high-school-tiktok-clubs.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
• https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/technology/tiktok-facebook-youtube.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
• https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/business/china-toutiao-censorship.html
• https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/17/business/media/a-social-network-frequented-by-children-tests-the-limits-of-online-regulation.html
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTyg2E44pBA
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/keepsilence/
• https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/12/10/18129126/tiktok-app-musically-meme-cringe
• https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2018/1/26/16937712/karma-is-a-bitch-riverdale-kreayshawn-meme
• https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/2/17644260/musically-rebrand-tiktok-bytedance-douyin
• https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/tiktok-video-app-growth-867587/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical.ly
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ByteDance
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TikTok
• https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-musically-2016-5
• https://supchina.com/2017/09/13/can-pop-music-connect-teens-china-world-musical-ly-co-founder-louis-yang-wants-find/
• https://supchina.com/podcast/ep-28-the-worlds-most-valuable-startup-bytedance-maker-of-tiktok-toutiao/
• https://supchina.com/podcast/ep-55-kuaishou-the-anti-douyin-tiktok/
• https://supchina.com/podcast/ep-56-not-just-tiktok-a-short-history-of-chinese-short-video-abroad/
• https://supchina.com/2019/09/25/the-difference-between-tiktok-and-douyin/
• https://pandaily.com/toutiaos-buy-1b-purchase-musical-ly/
• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-internet-livestreaming-idUSKBN17E0EV
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTyg2E44pBA
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey15v81pwII
• https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3038639/alex-zhus-journey-failed-startup-tiktok-chief
• https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/zuckerberg-musically-tiktok-china-facebook
• https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/12/instagram-reels/
• https://www.techinasia.com/douyin-rise-in-china
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptKqFafZgCk
• https://technode.com/2017/05/17/kwai-kuaishou-chinas-biggest-social-video-sharing-app/