4 ms·

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

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.

kchoudhu 10y ago
Sounds kinda hellish, honestly.
- dsp1234 10y ago
  It certainly can be. However, if it's a 'golden handcuffs' situation a 'guaranteed' vest of several million dollars for a 3-5 year commitment is something that I would certainly be willing to take.
  - kchoudhu 10y ago
    Is there a difference in the treatment/terms afforded a founder vs. those presented to a line employee at the acquired company? Or is every case handled differently?
- developer2 10y ago
  I think that's the point. Sometimes the acquiring company is hoping you'll get bored or fed up and walk out before you can vest. Why would they keep you productive which only serves to sustain your incentive to earn a couple million, when they can instead pay only a salary and hope you give up before your years are up? I hate the definition of "acquihiring", which seems to have been written by a PR firm. It's made out to sound like an altruistic process that magically overrides the business's normal strategy where all that matters is the bottom line and bowing to investors / board members. The reality is that when acquihired, you've entered a new company with its own culture, underhanded and ruthless politics, and ulterior motives. There is very little truly irreplaceable talent worth paying millions for. What an acquihire is really saying is "We need your help to transition this product into our company's structure. We can't do this in only 2 weeks, so we'll say now that you will be with us for years. Secretly we hope you leave shortly after the difficult transition is completed, but before we have to pay you". If any business out there acquihires to the spirit of the definition, thanks for being of a rare species.
Stratoscope 10y ago
I was at a startup 15 years ago where the "nothing real to do" scenario played out to the letter. They were bought by Gemstar-TV Guide, who moved the team to their office and then apparently forgot they'd bought the company. Our team pretty much had no duties other than showing up to "work". No one got shiny golden handcuffs, but they did get their salaries paid for a year. Eventually someone from HQ figured this out and everyone got the boot. I was the lone holdout. Instead of moving with the team, I'd gotten a nice offer from Adobe and decided to run with it. The good news was that my job lasted for more than a year. The bad news was that I actually had to work.
deleted 10y ago
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hkmurakami 10y ago
It's called "Vest in Peace" for a reason. Your soul dies just a little bit (or a lot) while watching the clock.
- huac 10y ago
  rest and vest!
  - w1ntermute 10y ago
    Getting paid for a pulse!

kchoudhu 10y ago

Sounds kinda hellish, honestly.

dsp1234 10y ago
It certainly can be. However, if it's a 'golden handcuffs' situation a 'guaranteed' vest of several million dollars for a 3-5 year commitment is something that I would certainly be willing to take.
- kchoudhu 10y ago
  Is there a difference in the treatment/terms afforded a founder vs. those presented to a line employee at the acquired company? Or is every case handled differently?
developer2 10y ago
I think that's the point. Sometimes the acquiring company is hoping you'll get bored or fed up and walk out before you can vest. Why would they keep you productive which only serves to sustain your incentive to earn a couple million, when they can instead pay only a salary and hope you give up before your years are up? I hate the definition of "acquihiring", which seems to have been written by a PR firm. It's made out to sound like an altruistic process that magically overrides the business's normal strategy where all that matters is the bottom line and bowing to investors / board members. The reality is that when acquihired, you've entered a new company with its own culture, underhanded and ruthless politics, and ulterior motives. There is very little truly irreplaceable talent worth paying millions for. What an acquihire is really saying is "We need your help to transition this product into our company's structure. We can't do this in only 2 weeks, so we'll say now that you will be with us for years. Secretly we hope you leave shortly after the difficult transition is completed, but before we have to pay you". If any business out there acquihires to the spirit of the definition, thanks for being of a rare species.

Stratoscope 10y ago

I was at a startup 15 years ago where the "nothing real to do" scenario played out to the letter. They were bought by Gemstar-TV Guide, who moved the team to their office and then apparently forgot they'd bought the company. Our team pretty much had no duties other than showing up to "work". No one got shiny golden handcuffs, but they did get their salaries paid for a year. Eventually someone from HQ figured this out and everyone got the boot. I was the lone holdout. Instead of moving with the team, I'd gotten a nice offer from Adobe and decided to run with it. The good news was that my job lasted for more than a year. The bad news was that I actually had to work.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

hkmurakami 10y ago

It's called "Vest in Peace" for a reason. Your soul dies just a little bit (or a lot) while watching the clock.

huac 10y ago
rest and vest!
- w1ntermute 10y ago
  Getting paid for a pulse!