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> It has been a long and fun journey. Using the word "journey" is this context is rather... risky. https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com
Why, it's usually indeed a journey, with a liquidity event as a destination. Often the the acquisition also means dissolution, so the destination is final.
Congratulations to the api.ai team. Unrelated to the acquisition directly, but fantastic logo placement. I can't be the only person that looks for their color-changing sign every time I drive down the 101. Awesome advertising / growth hack. :)
I'm assuming Google doesn't need any of the company's business, and that it is being acquired for its talent. So, my real question: how much, on average, does a founder get as part of one of these acquihires? And does s/he actually, y'know, have to do any work after getting paid?
I ask this not to be negative, but out of serious curiosity.
Say your employer is bought by Google - are you axed because you slept poorly and couldn't prove Fermat's Last Theorem on the whiteboard in 15 minutes?
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Why, it's usually indeed a journey, with a liquidity event as a destination. Often the the acquisition also means dissolution, so the destination is final.
And where does this leave the customers? Simply faceless, nameless trials that the hero-startup must conquer on its way to liquidity?
I'm assuming Google doesn't need any of the company's business, and that it is being acquired for its talent. So, my real question: how much, on average, does a founder get as part of one of these acquihires? And does s/he actually, y'know, have to do any work after getting paid?
Depends on whether it is an all cash, all stock, or mixed deal. Typically a "shotgun" clause is triggered and all employees immediately vest and cash out. Founders, however, negotiate "earn out" clauses with the acquirer, which provides some upfront cash with the balance to be paid out over time, contingent on performance or retention goals.
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It's unusual for an acquihire to have real agency in a big company. It's usually the middle management route - or worse - the limbo of having nothing real to do like the parody scenario in the Silicon Valley tv show.
It's called "Vest in Peace" for a reason. Your soul dies just a little bit (or a lot) while watching the clock.
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Users honestly should know better by now.
...should know better than to use products and services online? Your comment is as toxic as the acquihire culture itself, and only makes users feel less "part of the internet" when companies treat them as disposable.
Having been in numerous situations like this, I actually now "know better" than to rely on some 3rd party API that's not easily portable.
That's probably why most startups that provide infrastructure as a service are built on open source (using open standards) from day one. Otherwise good luck getting any traction
This kind of text reads like something that is going to end up in https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/
I'm assuming Google doesn't need any of the company's business, and that it is being acquired for its talent. So, my real question: how much, on average, does a founder get as part of one of these acquihires? And does s/he actually, y'know, have to do any work after getting paid?
The buyer typically pays $1M per engineer they keep. What the founders get depends on how much they were diluted by funding rounds.