Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How to Survive an Acquisition

charity.wtf

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 133 posts

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#51

Post by vidoc »

dev360 wrote: post #15
mathgeek wrote: post #11

> 3-4 hour daily commute It saddens me that anyone thinks this is acceptable. I know some people don't mind it, but what a waste of your life to do this for any extended period of time.

Do they seriously expect you to work 8hrs with a commute like that?

I suspect they don't. In those big companies, all they need to do in order to verify that "knowledge workers" are very hardworking is one of the biggest falsehoods ever are just 3 glimpses a day at any south bay campus parking lot: 9AM, 12AM, then 4PM.

Not to mention those "Working from Home" tech workers, who are most of the time not even at home and rarely working :P

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#52

Post by AznHisoka »

ascagnel_ wrote: post #23
cm2012 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a 3 hour commute (by express bus with comfy seats, etc.). Honestly, I just use the commute time as "me time", not too different from hanging out at home. The long commute lets me be close to my parents, in a neighborhood my wife likes, $1100 rent for a 2 bedroom in NYC, etc.

Where the heck do you live that you can get a 2BR in the NY metro area for $1100? Even the scuzziest areas start at $800-900 for a 1BR.

Not Manhattan (at least not anywhere above Chinatown and below Harlem). Plenty of places in queens and Brooklyn if you search the right places.

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#53

Post by bobby_9x »

bobby_9x wrote: post #38
VeilEm wrote: post #4

> One of Facebook’s internal slogans is something like “always do what’s best for Facebook”. Is that real? Like they really have this slogan that like comes straight out of a modern interpretation of Marx's theory of alienation shoved right into their employees faces? http://i.imgur.com/oVb4J0b.png

Zuckerburg is in bed with the Chinese government, so it would make sense that he uses their tactics of controlling a large group of people.

Forgot how many facebook employees read HN

Update: confirmed. Don't disgrace the dear leader.

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#54

Post by jeffinhat »

marssaxman wrote: post #33
ryandrake wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I commute 2 hours each way per day and you get used to it. It sucks but so do home prices in South Bay.

I never got used to the Microsoft commute, and that was rarely worse than 90 minutes coming home. It sucked, it continued to suck, it never got any better, it ruined my day, I hated my life, and it felt so good to drive away on my last day of that terrible job knowing I would never again have to spend any time on SR520 if I didn't want to. (I avoided that road for years afterward, actually, even when it would have be…

Was the connector not an option for you or have things gotten better? I commute in slightly off hours (7am and 4pm) and it consistently takes ~35 minutes door to door.

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#55

Post by marssaxman »

jeffinhat wrote: post #54
marssaxman wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never got used to the Microsoft commute, and that was rarely worse than 90 minutes coming home. It sucked, it continued to suck, it never got any better, it ruined my day, I hated my life, and it felt so good to drive away on my last day of that terrible job knowing I would never again have to spend any time on SR520 if I didn't want to. (I avoided that road for years afterward, actually, even when it would have be…

Was the connector not an option for you or have things gotten better? I commute in slightly off hours (7am and 4pm) and it consistently takes ~35 minutes door to door.

The connector was not an option for me. I quit in 2009; things may well have gotten better since then.

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#56

Post by spimmy »

grrowl wrote: post #31
CaptSpify wrote: post #9

> Assume good intent. Aggressively assume good intent. I can't account for anyone else, but my experience says the exact opposite. Most of the acquisitions I've seen, are because the acquiring company wants IP/contracts/some other good that they can't build themselves. Once they have that, the employees are on the short-list. Obviously every acquisition is different, and should be judged by it's own circumstances, bu…

I think she means it in a day-to-day sense. People will make comment and put forth actions that could come off as rude or malicious, but it's more likely they don't understand where you're coming from (a culture clash which could lead to discussion, or to fights, depending)

Yeah, or just completely oblivious. Most of the technical "advice" they insisted on giving us was just completely wrong.

Also, gotta say, I was never as self-conscious about being a woman in tech until we got acquired by Facebook. I've never had so many experiences of walking in to a room (as a tech lead) and having a dude look me up and down and say, "ummm, how technical are you?"

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#57

Post by nogrammer »

ascagnel_ wrote: post #23
cm2012 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a 3 hour commute (by express bus with comfy seats, etc.). Honestly, I just use the commute time as "me time", not too different from hanging out at home. The long commute lets me be close to my parents, in a neighborhood my wife likes, $1100 rent for a 2 bedroom in NYC, etc.

Where the heck do you live that you can get a 2BR in the NY metro area for $1100? Even the scuzziest areas start at $800-900 for a 1BR.

There are plenty of places in CT where you can get a decent 2BR for $1100, be walking distance from a Metro North station, and have less than a 2 hr commute.

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#58

Post by chris_wot »

There is literally only one thing to do: get your resume together and get the hell out. If they offer you options that take 3 years to actually occur, ignore them. If you believe in your product, take a few weeks to get over the shock, then find something else to sink your teeth into!

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#59

Post by chris_wot »

radley wrote: post #44
ldehaan wrote: post #10

Founder is so far from employee it's ridiculous you even comment. It's sad that most founders don't care or don't understand that sometimes they managed to hire people that actually care about the business, and could have helped make it better. When I see a founder sell his business, all I ever think is (as I'm sure most do), what a selfish asshole.

> When I see a founder sell his business, all I ever think is (as I'm sure most do), what a selfish asshole. You must be new here. Some useful info: http://ycombinator.com https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

I've been here a long time, and I frequently think the same thing.

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#60

Post by chris_wot »

thisone wrote: post #14
dquail wrote: post #2

"Surviving," "Trauma," "Shock","Dismay" ? I've founded a company through an acquisition and led mobile for another. Life was definitely much much better before the acquisitions. But the perception that it's anything but a first world first world problem ... is a bit misleading and entitled.

yes, Surviving, Trauma, Shock, and Dismay. I'll add Anger, Confusion, Fear, and Depression. That's my experience at least. Not all acquisitions are rosy experiences for the employees. Sometimes employees get blindsided when they show up to work one day to be told the company has been sold.

Always be willing to move on. Never, ever take your job for granted!
Post reply on HN