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Signs you're about to be acquired (2020)

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Re: Signs you're about to be acquired (2020)

#61

Post by fatnoah »

2d8a875f-39a2-4 wrote: post #42
2d8a875f-39a2-4 wrote: post #41

Some more: General cost cutting without any other visible reasons. Cut backs on travel, social budgets, contractors, any other expenses that can be trimmed to make the financials look sexier. Departments like Finance, Legal, Risk/Compliance and HR are overworked and distracted. These people, at least some of them, get involved after the execs but before everyone else. As someone else said this can start with the CFO…

Yeah I forgot a couple: Insider trading. It happens. Unusual executive travel. The CEO, CFO and VP of Legal spending a week of "workshops with a customer" in Hong Kong?

I've experienced startup acquisition as an executive and as an employee. Unusual travel is spot on. Our CEO was a frequent traveler, but the rest of the exec team rarely traveled. When 5 of us were all traveling to the Bay Area at the same time, the cat was pretty much out of the bag.

Re: Signs you're about to be acquired (2020)

#62

Post by fatnoah »

I've seen this as an exec and an employee. In addition to things others have noted, I've seen:

  - Unusual visitors to the office (or even having visitors at all!) 
  - Sudden shifts in roadmap priorities 
  - Sudden changes in interest or emphasis on reliability

Re: Signs you're about to be acquired (2020)

#63

Post by shoo »

bruce343434 wrote: post #36
bruce511 wrote: post #13

There are always signs, and they are easy to rationalise in hind-sight. The danger is that there are signs for lots of things, so jumping to conclusions regarding the reason can be dangerous. For example, we recently got a contract with a company fanatical about security. They wanted additional special insurances, which in turn wanted additional company-wide security policies. This affected everyone, even though the…

That security point stood out to me as well. First of all, who intentionally writes code to contain SQL injection vulnerabilities anno 2024? Or knows about it and doesn't fix it? Is it really that weird that someone fixes it?

> First of all, who intentionally writes code to contain SQL injection vulnerabilities anno 2024?

here's some ways it could happen:

- startup doesn't have ability to hire competent, experienced developers. they end up with rookies with potential but not enough experience to avoid security foot-guns, and/or experienced expert-beginner developers who have a low level of ability

- leadership doesn't value quality or security, so the company culture reflects this and focuses on what leadership values

- startup outsources development work and has no in-house technical capability to check quality or security of deliverables

- startup is pre product-market fit in a domain where security is less relevant, and security issues are less of a risk to the business than the more existential concern around identifying and de-risking a scalable, profitable business model. then suddenly the throwaway proof of concept codebase for the 7th pivot starts getting traction, and by shovelling features on top it is possible to win more customers

Re: Signs you're about to be acquired (2020)

#64

Post by Conan_Kudo »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #52
morbicer wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even in the latter cases the acquirer don't want to buy an empty she'll of a company = an IP without any people to service it. So the acquirer will offer some golden handcuffs, usually some stock options with delayed vesting to motivate the acquired to stay.

> So the acquirer will offer some golden handcuffs, usually some stock options with delayed vesting to motivate the acquired to stay. Sometimes. Sometimes they're weirdly incompetent, treat everyone like shit, and then act surprised when half of the company leaves. Sometimes after that they'll offer a promise of a pittance bonus, and act surprised once again when yet another half of the company leaves after the meage…

Yep. This happened in the most recent acquisition I experienced.

Re: Signs you're about to be acquired (2020)

#65

Post by mathgeek »

> Be on the lookout for the signs discussed above, as well as other, unusual activity, which could mean something big is about to happen!

While it can be fun to fantasize about what every little oddity means, I’d recommend against making this a priority in your daily life. If you find yourself that distracted from your work, it’s a good time to dust off your resume anyway, regardless of if M&A forces you to.

Re: Signs you're about to be acquired (2020)

#67

Post by dagw »

At a company I worked at the CEO out of the blue called for an all hands, all offices meeting with a few days notice. Everybody who wasn't in the main office had to connect via video link. This had as far as anyone could remember never happened before. There was no agenda and no hints as to what the meeting was about. Even senior managers knew nothing. So obviously rumours started flying, people get nervous, and everybody started looking over their CVs and contingency plans.

Meeting day comes and the CEO proudly announces that the company is getting a brand new logo...

Re: Signs you're about to be acquired (2020)

#68

Post by dagw »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #52
morbicer wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even in the latter cases the acquirer don't want to buy an empty she'll of a company = an IP without any people to service it. So the acquirer will offer some golden handcuffs, usually some stock options with delayed vesting to motivate the acquired to stay.

> So the acquirer will offer some golden handcuffs, usually some stock options with delayed vesting to motivate the acquired to stay. Sometimes. Sometimes they're weirdly incompetent, treat everyone like shit, and then act surprised when half of the company leaves. Sometimes after that they'll offer a promise of a pittance bonus, and act surprised once again when yet another half of the company leaves after the meage…

Sometimes they're weirdly incompetent, treat everyone like shit, and then act surprised when half of the company leaves.

Honestly that seems to be the norm in my, admittedly limited, experience.

Re: Signs you're about to be acquired (2020)

#69

Post by samuelec »

dagw wrote: post #67

At a company I worked at the CEO out of the blue called for an all hands, all offices meeting with a few days notice. Everybody who wasn't in the main office had to connect via video link. This had as far as anyone could remember never happened before. There was no agenda and no hints as to what the meeting was about. Even senior managers knew nothing. So obviously rumours started flying, people get nervous, and ever…

Hahaha :D

Re: Signs you're about to be acquired (2020)

#70

Post by scarface_74 »

EZ-E wrote: post #45

More importantly what should I do if I get acquired? Assuming I am software engineer or engineering manager. Do people usually get fired?

You should do the same thing you should always be doing as long as you’re struggling with your addiction to food and shelter and you need to work to support your addiction - be prepared to look for another job.

Facts on the ground are always subject to change and you should be prepared:

1. Keep an up to date career document where you list all of your accomplishments in STAR format

2. Keep an up to date resume

3. Keep your skill set aligned with the market

4. Keep a strong and active network and guard your reputation

5. Don’t be a “ticket taker”. Be able to talk about initiatives you have led

6. Live below your means and have a 3-6 months emergency fund

7. Even though I haven’t and haven’t found a need to. “Grind leetcode” (tm r/cscareerquestions).

There has never been a day that I haven’t been ready to change jobs at a moments notice since 2008 (I’ve worked longer). This is true whether I was working for a startup or working at $BigTech and everything in between.

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