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Can you really blame a person if they could pull this off?

• jessaustin 10y ago
  You're right it would be totally worth all the walking and bromancing.
• NumberCruncher 10y ago
  I would do the same if I would have the opportunity.
• twblalock 10y ago
  I see nothing wrong with it. Otto takes on the risk of developing a new business, and gets acquired if the risk pays off. Uber gets to benefit from Otto's efforts without taking the risk, but they have to pay for it in order to make it theirs. It's mutually beneficial, and risks get taken that probably wouldn't be taken otherwise, which is good for innovation. This kind of thing is pretty common at Adobe and Cisco as well. There is a bit of a revolving door of executives and senior engineers leaving to start companies, intending from the beginning of being acquired by their former employer if their business pans out. Many companies could not take the risk of running an innovative new business internally -- their board wouldn't let them, or their investors wouldn't. This kind of thing probably results in more research and innovation taking place that would have otherwise.