This depends. Am I profitable (by this I mean able to take money out after reinvesting in the company), pay my bills, live a moderately nice lifestyle, and have the company continue growing without Google? Then maybe not. If I am not profitable? In my current financial situation, yes. In a situation where I already have a decent amount of money, maybe not.
Poll: Would you sell your startup for 5x to Google so they can kill it?
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Re: Poll: Would you sell your startup for 5x to Google so they can kill it?
#125x valuation? Whose valuation? Obviously it is not 5x the valuation from Google who is going to kill it?
Assuming 5x valuation is 5x what I think it is worth: of course I would sell (I like to think of myself as rational).
Re: Poll: Would you sell your startup for 5x to Google so they can kill it?
#13if google is interested then someone else is likely to be and may not kill it, too.
Re: Poll: Would you sell your startup for 5x to Google so they can kill it?
#14The short answer is yes. But, its possible I'd not be interested in selling if growth was fast enough that in 1-2 years the company would be worth 10x what it is worth at the time of the offer. So, is 1-2 years of my time worth that? It depends on how enjoyable the work is.
Re: Poll: Would you sell your startup for 5x to Google so they can kill it?
#155x valuation? Whose valuation? Obviously it is not 5x the valuation from Google who is going to kill it? Assuming 5x valuation is 5x what I think it is worth: of course I would sell (I like to think of myself as rational).
That's how I interpreted the question (which basically makes it a no-brainer).
Re: Poll: Would you sell your startup for 5x to Google so they can kill it?
#16Because I could always just pull a Tan ;) and do the same thing again, in CA.
Re: Poll: Would you sell your startup for 5x to Google so they can kill it?
#17In a heartbeat - and then I'd go and build something even cooler with the money.
Re: Poll: Would you sell your startup for 5x to Google so they can kill it?
#18Yes, for several reasons. I'll assume this is my first startup, and I started out at the bottum rung in the tech world, with no prior connections.
1. Most startups (by an incredible supermajority) fail. An acquisition can save you from that, especially if you're one of those startups that generates no revenue but is extremely popular.
2. Not only do most fail, they don't generally fail spectacularly. They die, slowly and steadily, in a death march that saps the founders of their confidence and has been documented several times to lead to severe depression[1].
3. I need to pay the bills. I want to be financially independent and capable of supporting the family and lifestyle I'd like currently and down the line.
4. If I want to be a visionary who changes the world and Disrupts The Man, I'll take Elon Musk's advice[2] and cash out this smaller company so I can go on to do bigger and better things. I'll be more equipped with personal assets, better connections and superior coding skills and business savvy the next time around from the get go. This way, I can tackle a bigger market.
5. With all the foregoing in mind, when I go for the big market with a second or third startup, I may have the fuck you money to resist acquisitions and see my dream through to completion.
Here's a story: Elon Musk spent $100 million of his personal fortune making sure SpaceX didn't die. He didn't have that money because SpaceX is his first venture. Nor was Tesla, nor even PayPal. Elon Musk's first project, Zip2, was acquired in 1999 for $300 million[3]. No one remembers it, but it was Elon Musk's first baby. He made himself financially independent and sold his first idea, then went on to do bigger and better things that would change the world without an acquisition.
[1]: http://www.businessinsider.com/jody-sherman-ecomom-2013-4
[2]: http://venturebeat.com/2011/09/15/elon-musk-disrupt/
[3]: http://news.cnet.com/Compaq-buys-Zip2/2100-1023_3-221675.htm...
I answered your question seriously, although the phrasing of the question seems like a snarky, implicit criticism of Google and the way it handles acquisitions.
Re: Poll: Would you sell your startup for 5x to Google so they can kill it?
#19I did sell it for the "mental freedom" that comes with it. There is more that you can do in your next venture.
Re: Poll: Would you sell your startup for 5x to Google so they can kill it?
#20Am I bored with it?