I honestly don't think this is a aquire-hire. It seems much more of an attempt to get access to additional data not made public from companies using api.ai, at the same time boosting Alphabets capabilities.
Api.ai is joining Google
61–70 of 159 posts
Re: Api.ai is joining Google
#62I'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?
> And does s/he actually, y'know, have to do any work after getting paid? Yes, they're called "golden handcuffs". You basically get a compensation package so good that it'd be stupid to leave. Usually they try to get you to stay 3-5 but YMMV.
And what of the ones that don't get brought on? Do they get anything for their equity typically? For key employees i can see them sticking around, but early hire support staff that may not be needed could still have considerable equity.
Re: Api.ai is joining Google
#63Does this signal a continued push for bots and conversational UX? Where does the belief in the tech come from? Are there any examples of real success with this tech? Bots can't solve discovery in a novel way without big advances in NLP. There doesn't seem to be a bridge from here to there where it makes sense as a user. Is this just irrational exuberance? I'd love to understand why microsoft/google/facebook are all c…
Do you mean discovery as in me figuring out which bots would I like to install from a "bots store"?
If so, I think Apple's approach in iMessage widgets is fantastic: If you send third-party content to a person that doesn't have the plugin installed, they'll also get a link to install it. So it boosts word-of-mouth.
Re: Api.ai is joining Google
#64I'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?
Aren't Google acquihire offers conditional on passing the usual Google employee screening process? 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?
from what I've seen at Google specifically, when hiring for team talent, acquihires are typically performed in a binary fashion -- they take everybody who wants to go, without going through the regular screening process.
n = 1
Re: Api.ai is joining Google
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 mean, it's kind of a risk you face when you buy a service from a startup, whether they tell you or not.
Re: Api.ai is joining Google
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
> And does s/he actually, y'know, have to do any work after getting paid? Yes, they're called "golden handcuffs". You basically get a compensation package so good that it'd be stupid to leave. Usually they try to get you to stay 3-5 but YMMV.
And what of the ones that don't get brought on? Do they get anything for their equity typically? For key employees i can see them sticking around, but early hire support staff that may not be needed could still have considerable equity.
If the founders have done their job correctly, it sounds like shotgun agreements will cause the unacquired employees' equity to vest immediately.
Re: Api.ai is joining Google
#67Does this signal a continued push for bots and conversational UX? Where does the belief in the tech come from? Are there any examples of real success with this tech? Bots can't solve discovery in a novel way without big advances in NLP. There doesn't seem to be a bridge from here to there where it makes sense as a user. Is this just irrational exuberance? I'd love to understand why microsoft/google/facebook are all c…
Do you mean discovery as in me figuring out which bots would I like to install from a "bots store"? If so, I think Apple's approach in iMessage widgets is fantastic: If you send third-party content to a person that doesn't have the plugin installed, they'll also get a link to install it. So it boosts word-of-mouth.
I could have been clearer because you're right that it's ambiguous.
My sense of discovery was meant in the UI sort of respect. When a feature is hidden from the user, that feature might as well not exist.
Bots (and command lines, for that matter) are awful unless you know exactly what they're capable of. There is an extrinsic knowledge you need.
That is, you can't expect a bot to know whatever you throw at it but you're unsure what you /can/ expect it to know.
The problem is that command lines are sort of made for the expert users whereas bots are said to be the opposite.
Re: Api.ai is joining Google
#68Congratulations 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. :)
+1. Success factor, API.ai, Evernote — three logos from my memory
Re: Api.ai is joining Google
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Aren't Google acquihire offers conditional on passing the usual Google employee screening process? 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?
from what I've seen at Google specifically, when hiring for team talent, acquihires are typically performed in a binary fashion -- they take everybody who wants to go, without going through the regular screening process. n = 1
After reading your comment multiple times, I have no idea what you said.
Re: Api.ai is joining Google
#70This kind of text reads like something that is going to end up in https://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/
When I read this kind of stuff, I feel like it never makes sense to sell out if you care about your company unless you wanted to get rich all along. I just feel like the majority of companies that get bought up die a slow and painful death - and sometimes a quicker but equally painful one. It would pain me so, so much to see all the work I put into something like that go down the drain.