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How to Survive an Acquisition

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Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#41

Post by [deleted] »

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)

[deleted]

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#42

Post by delazeur »

cm2012 wrote: post #16
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.

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.

I am in a similar situation and it's usually just fine, but it becomes difficult on days when I would be better off sacrificing that "me time" to do something else (chores, errands, family obligations, etc.). When that happens, the only thing I can cut back on to meet those obligations is sleep.

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#43

Post by HillRat »

In my experience, there's only one rule to surviving an acquisition: find political cover immediately. Upon acquisition, you and your team are an alien entity embedded in BigCo's immune system of political networks and operating rules. They don't know what to do with you, you are a threat to established patterns, and you will lose to the experienced players. So unless you have C-suite cover and a title to match it, you need to find existing, powerful entities with complementary capabilities and a need for what you do. If you make yourself useful as you are, then your patrons have an incentive to not meddle too much with your team. But if you don't have anyone protecting you out of self-interest, eventually you and your people are going to be absorbed, rebuilt and rebranded.

I mean, that'll happen anyway, but at least you have the option of staving it off long enough to get your team safely out of there.

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#44

Post by radley »

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

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#45

Post by vidoc »

dyeje wrote: post #27
ascagnel_ wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Well, he is 3 hours out. There are alot of cheaper areas in that big of a radius.

Didn't he say 'NYC' ?

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#46

Post by depoll »

dquail wrote: post #29
depoll wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a very dismissive attitude toward real emotional attachments. The loss of something you've poured your life into can genuinely be traumatic, shocking, and dismaying. I don't like the notion of applying the "first-world problem" dismissal to things that aren't trivialities. It's one thing to laugh about how you have to get up from the couch to get a remote. It's another thing entirely to talk about major change…

Fair enough. There are real and powerful emotions at play. But it's a bit of a stretch to suggest an employee at a company founded 5 years ago has "poured their life into." Personally, I'll reserve evocative language of loss for things beyond a strategic shift at the office - but I shouldn't judge others who view things differently.

Consider, briefly, that the relevant question is what it meant to the OP, and clearly for her it had that impact. Having been through many of the same experiences (I, too, was an early Parse engineer, though I left about a year after the acquisition), I can tell you those feelings are real, and that it's definitely possible to form that kind of attachment to your work in well under 5 years.

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#47

Post by spimmy »

lazzlazzlazz wrote: post #39
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

I have never heard of this as a slogan at Facebook and I have close ties there; this seems like someone venting emotionally.

I am absolutely venting emotionally, I thought that much was clear. :) But I heard a variant of this in dozens or hundreds of meetings, generally when a project was getting shut down or canned or reorg'd, so it's not true to say that it's not true.

It's not even a bad slogan. Company priorities should come before territorial interests. This is why it's important to work in a place that shares your values at a high level.

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#48

Post by spimmy »

HillRat wrote: post #43

In my experience, there's only one rule to surviving an acquisition: find political cover immediately . Upon acquisition, you and your team are an alien entity embedded in BigCo's immune system of political networks and operating rules. They don't know what to do with you, you are a threat to established patterns, and you will lose to the experienced players . So unless you have C-suite cover and a title to match it,…

This completely describes our experience. Thank you.

Re: How to Survive an Acquisition

#50

Post by obrero »

lazzlazzlazz wrote: post #39
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

I have never heard of this as a slogan at Facebook and I have close ties there; this seems like someone venting emotionally.

When I went into Facebook's bathroom, at eye level over each urinal was posted a weekly newsletter, which talked about changes to their PHP API.
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