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Visa and Plaid Abandon Merger After Antitrust Division’s Suit to Block

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Re: Visa and Plaid Abandon Merger After Antitrust Division’s Suit to Block

#41

Post by cheriot »

AlexandrB wrote: post #28
jamestimmins wrote: post #5

Whatever you think about Visa or this merger, this would be a major disappoint to Plaid's team members who thought they were in for a huge financial windfall. If that applies to anyone here, my sympathies and best of luck figuring out what's next for Plaid. Hopefully the morale hit isn't too big on the team.

This comment strikes a nerve with me - perhaps because it's "saying the quiet part loud". I thought the typical goal of hackers and startups was to "change the world" and "make a difference". How does selling to Visa accomplish those things? Isn't expressing sympathy with Plaid's staff for not getting a payout effectively saying "sorry that you might actually have to deliver on the lofty promises this time"? It's als…

Plaid has ~500 employees with normal lives and financial goals. There are start-ups out there with a real chance to change the world, but I think it gets over played as a form of recruiting and media strategy.

Re: Visa and Plaid Abandon Merger After Antitrust Division’s Suit to Block

#42

Post by PragmaticPulp »

andjd wrote: post #7

That Visa isn't fighting this should validate that the government's antitrust enforcement has been lax. For a merger valued in billions of dollars, hiring even the best lawyers for a long fight would have been a rounding error. The only way this happens is for Visa's lawyers to think that the government would likely win.

It is strange that they're not fighting it harder. I wonder if Plaid identified a better exit strategy?

Or if Visa is having some buyer's remorse over the $5 billion price tag and saw this as an easy out?

Re: Visa and Plaid Abandon Merger After Antitrust Division’s Suit to Block

#43

Post by Grimm1 »

supernova87a wrote: post #35
garyrichardson wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, except for one point. Please don't call it a windfall. Anyone in that company that would have seen life changing amounts of money has likely put incredible effort and hard work into making this happen.

Well, maybe it isn't a "windfall" to someone who lives in the tech world and comes to expect such good fortune and thinks their effort should be rewarded in an outsized way. I'm sure we think it's deserved in a relative sense. But it is most definitely a windfall to the rest of the world (even the rest of the country), who work equally hard, under worse conditions, for their entire lives and cannot even hope to earn…

It's almost like startups have non technical workers that also have an equity stake in the companies they work for. This comment strikes me as almost entirely out of touch. No one expects these results, most people never see a startup they work for successfully exit let alone to the tune of billions.

"Being in the right place at the right time" sure it's partly that but if you think you're getting there without some really hard work you'd be sorely mistaken.

Also startups everywhere need good folks to work for them it's not like this is some secret club to get into, many people just have no risk tolerance for one reason or another.

You're line of thinking really get's at me because the reality is a lot more than luck goes into things even if the current popular line of thinking is to suggest otherwise.

Especially on a community that was established initially to talk about startups.

Re: Visa and Plaid Abandon Merger After Antitrust Division’s Suit to Block

#44

Post by jdavis703 »

supernova87a wrote: post #35
garyrichardson wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, except for one point. Please don't call it a windfall. Anyone in that company that would have seen life changing amounts of money has likely put incredible effort and hard work into making this happen.

Well, maybe it isn't a "windfall" to someone who lives in the tech world and comes to expect such good fortune and thinks their effort should be rewarded in an outsized way. I'm sure we think it's deserved in a relative sense. But it is most definitely a windfall to the rest of the world (even the rest of the country), who work equally hard, under worse conditions, for their entire lives and cannot even hope to earn…

The windfall typically isn’t anywhere close to millions of dollars for regular employers. We’re talking about payouts on the level of buying a new car or placing a down payment on a home.

Re: Visa and Plaid Abandon Merger After Antitrust Division’s Suit to Block

#45

Post by paxys »

AlexandrB wrote: post #28
jamestimmins wrote: post #5

Whatever you think about Visa or this merger, this would be a major disappoint to Plaid's team members who thought they were in for a huge financial windfall. If that applies to anyone here, my sympathies and best of luck figuring out what's next for Plaid. Hopefully the morale hit isn't too big on the team.

This comment strikes a nerve with me - perhaps because it's "saying the quiet part loud". I thought the typical goal of hackers and startups was to "change the world" and "make a difference". How does selling to Visa accomplish those things? Isn't expressing sympathy with Plaid's staff for not getting a payout effectively saying "sorry that you might actually have to deliver on the lofty promises this time"? It's als…

There is no "typical goal" in tech or anything else. Different people want different things in life.

Re: Visa and Plaid Abandon Merger After Antitrust Division’s Suit to Block

#46

Post by jamestimmins »

AlexandrB wrote: post #28
jamestimmins wrote: post #5

Whatever you think about Visa or this merger, this would be a major disappoint to Plaid's team members who thought they were in for a huge financial windfall. If that applies to anyone here, my sympathies and best of luck figuring out what's next for Plaid. Hopefully the morale hit isn't too big on the team.

This comment strikes a nerve with me - perhaps because it's "saying the quiet part loud". I thought the typical goal of hackers and startups was to "change the world" and "make a difference". How does selling to Visa accomplish those things? Isn't expressing sympathy with Plaid's staff for not getting a payout effectively saying "sorry that you might actually have to deliver on the lofty promises this time"? It's als…

This makes it sound like something dirty.

Tech workers want to buy homes and go on vacations just like everyone else. That's a good thing. They had an opportunity to make a lot of money making banking services easier for everyone; that's awesome and should be encouraged.

Re: Visa and Plaid Abandon Merger After Antitrust Division’s Suit to Block

#47

Post by chaorace »

paxys wrote: post #3

It would have gone through had Visa's CEO not been so honest at the time of the merger announcement saying that they intended to use Plaid's data to get a leg up on their competitors. > The DOJ cited Visa CEO Al Kelly’s description of the deal as an “insurance policy” to neutralize a “threat to our important US debit business.”

I don't even think it's a data issue. He literally says they bought Plaid because they're a threat. That's textbook anti-competitive behavior and a big smoking gun when it comes to anti-trust cases.

Re: Visa and Plaid Abandon Merger After Antitrust Division’s Suit to Block

#48

Post by ceejayoz »

madamelic wrote: post #18
breck wrote: post #4

I'm surprised by this. I used to work in Foster City. The joke on the campus was that VISA stood for "Very Inconspicuous Spy Agency". You'd think that there wouldn't be this kind of miscommunication in the chain of command. All jokes aside, I'm very curious to check out Plaid now because I didn't pay attention when it was independent and Visa is a *very* smart organization, so Plaid must be something special.

>Plaid must be something special. It's not so much that Plaid is "something special" but that US banks are stuck in the 1950's technologically. Plaid shouldn't exist. It only exists because banks refuse to create open APIs for others to integrate with. With that said, Plaid has done a fantastic job.

> It only exists because banks refuse to create open APIs for others to integrate with.

Mostly true, but both Capital One and Citibank have OAuth APIs. It's lovely.

Re: Visa and Plaid Abandon Merger After Antitrust Division’s Suit to Block

#50

Post by paxys »

chaorace wrote: post #47
paxys wrote: post #3

It would have gone through had Visa's CEO not been so honest at the time of the merger announcement saying that they intended to use Plaid's data to get a leg up on their competitors. > The DOJ cited Visa CEO Al Kelly’s description of the deal as an “insurance policy” to neutralize a “threat to our important US debit business.”

I don't even think it's a data issue. He literally says they bought Plaid because they're a threat. That's textbook anti-competitive behavior and a big smoking gun when it comes to anti-trust cases.

They said both I believe. Them having access to all their competitors' data through Plaid was a big concern when the acquisition was announced.
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