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Ask HN: Talk me through the acquihire process

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Re: Ask HN: Talk me through the acquihire process

#21

Post by MagnitudeFC »

999900000999 wrote: post #13

Honestly you should just be straight up with your team. Tell them we're out of money and they need to find new jobs. I can't imagine you getting a sell done within 2 months. Be an adult, shake everyone's hand and apologize. This is the startup life, we all know what we're signing up for. That said, your investors might prefer you asking for more money while you try to sort out a sale vs just going out of business. Th…

Yes I've been very transparent with the team - everyone knows our cash zero day and knows that I am looking for a soft landing.

Re: Ask HN: Talk me through the acquihire process

#22

Post by MagnitudeFC »

meagher wrote: post #12

Was an employee at six-person tech company that was acquihired. We went through a process with 7 companies (at least - founder tried to drum up interest with others), team interviewed with 4, we got 3 offers, and the founder chose the one that best fit the narrative. Answering from that perspective. 1) To maximize your chances, you need to speak with multiple companies and get multiple offers. Offers fall through so…

Really helpful to hear this from your perspective - thank you!

Couple of follow ups

1) What stage was your company at / how much had the startup raised when you got acquihired? Just curious about how this compares to where we are.

2) What was the interview process like? Any details would be helpful for me to get our team prepared

Re: Ask HN: Talk me through the acquihire process

#23

Post by 999900000999 »

MagnitudeFC wrote: post #21
999900000999 wrote: post #13

Honestly you should just be straight up with your team. Tell them we're out of money and they need to find new jobs. I can't imagine you getting a sell done within 2 months. Be an adult, shake everyone's hand and apologize. This is the startup life, we all know what we're signing up for. That said, your investors might prefer you asking for more money while you try to sort out a sale vs just going out of business. Th…

Yes I've been very transparent with the team - everyone knows our cash zero day and knows that I am looking for a soft landing.

Then your one of the good bosses. Usually employees are left in the dark. I wasn't even upset when one of my companies shut down, but we'd been losing money for a while and their wasn't any real warning.

Good luck.

Re: Ask HN: Talk me through the acquihire process

#24

Post by b20000 »

kjellsbells wrote: post #7

First of all, its excellent news that the FAANG is willing to talk about this. That deserves congratulations alone. That said, if this is the first conversation, be cautious. After all, what stops them from using the conversation to identify who your star people are, and simply poaching them after your company winds up? Assuming that you are further along, you need to identify which big org division of the FAANG you…

what does CVP stand for? same thing as corporate development?

Re: Ask HN: Talk me through the acquihire process

#25

Post by meagher »

MagnitudeFC wrote: post #22
meagher wrote: post #12

Was an employee at six-person tech company that was acquihired. We went through a process with 7 companies (at least - founder tried to drum up interest with others), team interviewed with 4, we got 3 offers, and the founder chose the one that best fit the narrative. Answering from that perspective. 1) To maximize your chances, you need to speak with multiple companies and get multiple offers. Offers fall through so…

Really helpful to hear this from your perspective - thank you! Couple of follow ups 1) What stage was your company at / how much had the startup raised when you got acquihired? Just curious about how this compares to where we are. 2) What was the interview process like? Any details would be helpful for me to get our team prepared

1) Seed. $3M raised. This was 2018 numbers.

2) The whole team would go into the office, meet with the founder/executive sponsor(s) for 30-45m to chat casually, then engineers (me) would break out for our interviews. Felt mostly like a final round interview day - mostly technical interviews and a couple cultural interviews (probably to make sure we fit with the vibe at the acquirer). During our interviews, the founder would have some 1:1s with other company leaders (their interviews). Usually we went back to our office after and debriefed as a team.

Another strange thing about the process that’s worth mentioning is the founder negotiated all our offers at the acquirer and we let her know ahead of time what we wanted for salary, equity, etc. No idea if this is standard, but I imagine it helped streamline the negotiations.

Re: Ask HN: Talk me through the acquihire process

#26

Post by kjellsbells »

b20000 wrote: post #24
kjellsbells wrote: post #7

First of all, its excellent news that the FAANG is willing to talk about this. That deserves congratulations alone. That said, if this is the first conversation, be cautious. After all, what stops them from using the conversation to identify who your star people are, and simply poaching them after your company winds up? Assuming that you are further along, you need to identify which big org division of the FAANG you…

what does CVP stand for? same thing as corporate development?

My apologies. Corporate Vice President. Typically senior-ish execs, but not board level and not quite in the inner sanctum of the senior leadership team of direct reports to the CEO.

Re: Ask HN: Talk me through the acquihire process

#27

Post by acquita »

climatekid wrote: post #14

Founder here of a company that attempted to do an acquihire Hail Mary. Going to be frank with you. 1.5 months is not enough time. Go through the motions and meet with FAANG, but for all intents and purposes it is too late. There’s very little incentive for BigCo to buy a dead company. Tell the team now, pay out their salaries for next 1.5 months but have them focus full time on getting new jobs. That’s the best you c…

Is 1.5 months enough to even keep them another day without going insolvent? For example you may need to pay notice and other termination related costs. Or is the runway taking that into account.

Re: Ask HN: Talk me through the acquihire process

#28

Post by MagnitudeFC »

acquita wrote: post #27
climatekid wrote: post #14

Founder here of a company that attempted to do an acquihire Hail Mary. Going to be frank with you. 1.5 months is not enough time. Go through the motions and meet with FAANG, but for all intents and purposes it is too late. There’s very little incentive for BigCo to buy a dead company. Tell the team now, pay out their salaries for next 1.5 months but have them focus full time on getting new jobs. That’s the best you c…

Is 1.5 months enough to even keep them another day without going insolvent? For example you may need to pay notice and other termination related costs. Or is the runway taking that into account.

I'm taking that into account in my runway estimate

Re: Ask HN: Talk me through the acquihire process

#29

Post by MagnitudeFC »

meagher wrote: post #25
MagnitudeFC wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really helpful to hear this from your perspective - thank you! Couple of follow ups 1) What stage was your company at / how much had the startup raised when you got acquihired? Just curious about how this compares to where we are. 2) What was the interview process like? Any details would be helpful for me to get our team prepared

1) Seed. $3M raised. This was 2018 numbers. 2) The whole team would go into the office, meet with the founder/executive sponsor(s) for 30-45m to chat casually, then engineers (me) would break out for our interviews. Felt mostly like a final round interview day - mostly technical interviews and a couple cultural interviews (probably to make sure we fit with the vibe at the acquirer). During our interviews, the founder…

Wow. The investors did so much to protect a $3M seed investment? Those are really good investors and a stand up founder. Think these days most investors just write off a $3M investment and move on.

Re: Ask HN: Talk me through the acquihire process

#30

Post by meagher »

MagnitudeFC wrote: post #29
meagher wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) Seed. $3M raised. This was 2018 numbers. 2) The whole team would go into the office, meet with the founder/executive sponsor(s) for 30-45m to chat casually, then engineers (me) would break out for our interviews. Felt mostly like a final round interview day - mostly technical interviews and a couple cultural interviews (probably to make sure we fit with the vibe at the acquirer). During our interviews, the founder…

Wow. The investors did so much to protect a $3M seed investment? Those are really good investors and a stand up founder. Think these days most investors just write off a $3M investment and move on.

Rep is everything.
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