Don't Talk to Corp Dev
paulgraham.com
Don't Talk to Corp Dev
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Re: Don't Talk to Corp Dev
#2It would be great to have some examples.
I was also wondering about how the acquihire scenario typically works out. Is it corporate development, or some other business unit making contact?
Re: Don't Talk to Corp Dev
#3[deleted]
Re: Don't Talk to Corp Dev
#4> Corporate Development, aka corp dev, is the group within companies that buys other companies. If you're talking to someone from corp dev, that's why, whether you realize it yet or not.
Can someone piece this together?
> I remember once complaining to a friend at Google about some nasty trick their corp dev people had pulled on a YC startup. "What happened to Don't be Evil?" I asked. "I don't think corp dev got the memo," he replied. [3]
Hey, Paul Graham not afraid to call out Google! Good for him.
Re: Don't Talk to Corp Dev
#5> Corporate Development, aka corp dev, is the group within companies that buys other companies. If you're talking to someone from corp dev, that's why, whether you realize it yet or not. Can someone piece this together? > I remember once complaining to a friend at Google about some nasty trick their corp dev people had pulled on a YC startup. "What happened to Don't be Evil?" I asked. "I don't think corp dev got the…
yes the 'thats why' is referring to the previous sentence, 'is the group within companies that buys other companies'. So he's saying 'hey this is the group that buys other companies, if you're talking to them it's because they [maybe] want to buy you'. Not really clear though.
Re: Don't Talk to Corp Dev
#6> Corporate Development, aka corp dev, is the group within companies that buys other companies. If you're talking to someone from corp dev, that's why, whether you realize it yet or not. Can someone piece this together? > I remember once complaining to a friend at Google about some nasty trick their corp dev people had pulled on a YC startup. "What happened to Don't be Evil?" I asked. "I don't think corp dev got the…
I deleted my comment with the same complaint. He means if someone from another company's corp dev is talking to you it's because they may want to buy your company. This was unexpectedly unclear coming from PG.
Re: Don't Talk to Corp Dev
#7Great essay. I'm at an earlier stage than PG's target audience for this -- still bootstrapping but experiencing 20-30% month/month growth and getting ready to go that next step (probably seed).
At this stage I've gotten what after reading this essay sounds like the baby brother of this: the oddly aggressive hire attempt. These companies have been not necessarily direct competitors but people in related spaces who might want to add what I'm doing to their tech portfolio or use its techniques in their products.
The interactions have been quite different from any other "job interview" I've ever had. I've said no three times so far to some version of: "your project is awesome," followed by some interesting discussion, followed by a hiring offer. The hiring offers have been decent but not outstanding, and they've included nothing for the project -- no "acquisition" to go with the hire. When I bring this up, the response is that my baby isn't "worth very much on its own," etc. In one case the response was oddly condescending even in its wording, which was discouraging until I went and read all the users raving about my stuff and then looked at my rather nice looking metrics again. In another case it was explained to me that while my product was interesting, I obviously wasn't... "business" enough? That's not how they put it but that was kind of the implication. I interpreted it as "you're not coming off as alpha male enough to run a business" or some version of that.
In retrospect I saw these as negotiating tactics to shake my confidence in moving forward myself. These folks are trying to get me plus a lot (3 years) of code, users, and momentum without actually paying anything for the latter two things. Looks a lot like the kind of hardball PG is talking about-- I assume "corp dev" offers come in when you're at a bit of a later stage.
Now I've got another one in the pipeline. I've decided the best way to deal with them is to go ahead and chat but otherwise to change nothing about what I am doing, to not spend much time on them, and to constantly remind myself that I am the one interviewing them and deciding whether to accept their offer. At this point given the metrics I'm seeing, the offer would have to be very good.
I'd say that the advice in this essay is probably good advice. If you do have the internal discipline/experience to put these sorts of things in a "maybe but probably not" folder, it might not hurt to chat about it with them, but if you have any doubt or if you're too busy just say no and move on. If my current discussion turns out like the previous ones I will probably do the same moving forward.
Re: Don't Talk to Corp Dev
#8I think anyones answer to "Do I want to sell my company right now?" is mostly going to be "It depends, what's the offer?"
There are of course circumstances where people absolutely do not want to sell their company, but for the rest of us... it depends.
Re: Don't Talk to Corp Dev
#9I once worked for a company that was acquired - the founder wanted to cash in on his success and retire early. In the first all-company meeting after the closing, the CEO gloated over how cheaply he was able to get us. That was really grating.
The advice about watching for unsavory tactics is spot on.
Re: Don't Talk to Corp Dev
#10Imagine what it would do to you if at mile 20 of a marathon, someone ran up beside you and said "You must feel really tired. Would you like to stop and take a rest?"
I wonder if PG knows about The Wall that occurs at ~mile 20 in a marathon, or if it was a lucky coincidence? http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/runnin...