Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development • Hacker News Board

Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development

#31

Post by iopq » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:42 PM UTC

falcolas wrote: post #22

mcv wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to Paul Graham, a polite but short refusal: http://paulgraham.com/corpdev.html . Well, unless you know you're ready to sell.

This person seemed ready to sell, and was interested in having discussions to that end, so that advice isn't of much assistance there, unfortunately.

He shouldn't be, because his business is growing and about to achieve success, but is not yet worth much. There is no way he gets a fair evaluation based on being popular for a few days.

Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development

#32

Post by abalone » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:45 PM UTC

This is actually a good example of how to fumble a decent exit for a struggling app. This was written in April 2014 so we have the benefit of hindsight for evaluating this claim:

"I’ve already built an £X million company in this area that was limited to the UK & Ireland; this time it’s global and I can easily get to twice £X million"

Based on the number of reviews for roomscan I'm going to guess that getting to "twice £X million" has not in fact been that easy. The app does show creative thinking though and you can see what Google may have spotted potential in him. $2M would have been an incredible exit for him.

I suppose there is something good in entrepreneurs having outsized, seemingly delusional expectations for their startups. However, it's important to be self aware and not take deep, personal offense at what are reasonable market offers for your work. You can just say no thanks, $2M is too low of a max offer.

What you do definitely not do is have a paranoid meltdown on a blog post and start wildly speculating about deceptive practices like using fake identities and fake meeting requests with zero support. Also probably not a good idea to send over paperwork from your last company's sale to prove how awesome your current company is.

It may be hard to accept the reality of how your project is really doing but don't slip into a bad mental place like this. You may just end up passing on a million dollar outcome.

Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development

#33

Post by julien_c » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:48 PM UTC

debacle wrote: post #30

Kiro wrote: post #14

I don't understand the problem. Was he expecting a $100m acquisition and was upset it was only $2m? Feels like an overly aggressive reaction to something most people would only dream of.

Google initially was talking about an investment or purchase, but the discussion soon devolved into an acqui-hire situation. But in reality an acqui-hire was the intent all along, Google was just being deceptive.

Is 2M still an acqui-hire though? Even in Silicon Valley?

Where's the threshold between acqui-hires and acquisitions these days?

Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development

#34

Post by tzz » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:50 PM UTC

Does Google ever access your Google Analytics or other Google tools you are using to get more insight info about your website or app? Would they ever do such thing?

Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development

#35

Post by Kiro » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:50 PM UTC

debacle wrote: post #30

Kiro wrote: post #14

I don't understand the problem. Was he expecting a $100m acquisition and was upset it was only $2m? Feels like an overly aggressive reaction to something most people would only dream of.

Google initially was talking about an investment or purchase, but the discussion soon devolved into an acqui-hire situation. But in reality an acqui-hire was the intent all along, Google was just being deceptive.

> Google initially was talking about an investment or purchase

I don't see anything like that. Also, what’s the difference between a purchase and acquihire in this case? Both would surely mean an employment at Google.

Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development

#36

Post by walterbell » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:52 PM UTC

abalone wrote: post #32

This is actually a good example of how to fumble a decent exit for a struggling app. This was written in April 2014 so we have the benefit of hindsight for evaluating this claim: "I’ve already built an £X million company in this area that was limited to the UK & Ireland; this time it’s global and I can easily get to twice £X million" Based on the number of reviews for roomscan I'm going to guess that getting to "twic…

Was there an actual offer made, even for an aqui-hire?

Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development

#37

Post by jlarocco » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:53 PM UTC

robmcm wrote: post #28

davidb_ wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The page you linked seems to do a reasonable job of answering that: "Using on your phone’s built-in GPS, Wi-Fi, and gyroscope to determine distances and the orientation of walls, RoomScan can reliably estimate measurements to within about half a foot, which should be adequate if all you need is a rough floor plan. If, you need more precise measurements, you can opt for the $5 Pro version, which allows you to specify…

I was suggesting GPS wouldn't work with most rooms having ceilings. Wifi positioning I would imagine is highly inaccurate, which leaves the gyroscope. Judging by some screenshots and appstore comments I assume its only roughly accurate, and requires you to move your phone slowly between walls in straight lines (not via your pocket or around furniture for example). I think I would have immediately dismissed an idea li…

Ceilings usually aren't problematic for GPS. They do better out side, but if you get cell service through the ceiling, you'll get GPS signal through it.

What I'm curious about is that GPS is only accurate to within a few meters. If I turn on my GPS and set it on my desk for an hour, the resulting track will look like it's bouncing around the room.

My guess is this app averages a bunch of readings from each wall to correct for the noise, but I'm still surprised that works well enough to give accurate results.

Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development

#38

Post by d357r0y3r » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:55 PM UTC

jschuur wrote: post #20

The story ends with an awful lot of assumptions.

I read the end a couple of times to see if I missed something, but I agree with your assessment. The author sounds a bit paranoid.

Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development

#39

Post by borski » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 3:59 PM UTC

abalone wrote: post #32

This is actually a good example of how to fumble a decent exit for a struggling app. This was written in April 2014 so we have the benefit of hindsight for evaluating this claim: "I’ve already built an £X million company in this area that was limited to the UK & Ireland; this time it’s global and I can easily get to twice £X million" Based on the number of reviews for roomscan I'm going to guess that getting to "twic…

$2M isn't really $2M. Spread it out over 4 years as $300k the first year, $400k the second, $500k the third, $800k the fourth. This is what's called 'golden handcuffs.'

If he truly believed RoomScan could be a massive success and the market was showing adoption, his expected value is much higher for sticking with RoomScan, especially as he had sold his last company and didn't /need/ a few extra hundred thousand dollars that year or the next year in order to be happy.

Re: Hi, It’s Google Corporate Development

#40

Post by jlarocco » Tue, Jan 13, 2015, 4:02 PM UTC

MindTwister wrote: post #2

Does anyone have similar experiences with Google?

The few times I've interviewed with Google (plain old job interviews, not as an acquisition or acqui-hire), they've always been pretty arrogant. Enough so that I wouldn't interview with them again if they contacted me. The attitude is clearly, "You're going to jump through our hoops and do what we say, because we're Google and we're totally awesome and we can take you or leave you."

I don't know if the guy in this story is really as bad ass and worth as much as he thinks he is, but the interaction with Google sounds spot on.