4 ms·

Is this an acqui-hire? If so, how does VC term sheets work in this case?

aphextron 9y ago
It must be. Their tech really isn't anything impressive. At the end of the day, it's just a multiplayer game lobby built on Unity and SteamVR.
- JohnnyConatus 9y ago
  Unfortunately, this is pretty true. I tried to work with them a bit as a 3rd party content provider and I was shocked by how little secret sauce they really had.
- gfodor 9y ago
  I worked on our VR mirroring and capture system, I wouldn't say it's "impressive" but I consider it pretty cool. https://www.slideshare.net/ConfluentInc/kafka-summit-nyc-2017-hanging-out-with-your-past-self-in-vr https://www.slideshare.net/ConfluentInc/kafka-summit-nyc-201... Also our three.js and AFrame integration was pretty difficult to get working. We real time synchronized the scene graph in the V8 context into Unity. https://developer.altvr.com/ https://developer.altvr.com/ Also a huge challenge was delivering a good experience on mobile. We spent a ton of time on browser integration, rendering, and networking performance to hit frame on low end mobile VR devices. Our commitment to having it work on mobile, combined with our limited resources, led to us having a lot of "least common denominator" type things happening which leads to PC users thinking the app is simplistic or underdeveloped. But being able to have people on lower end devices join in the community was well worth it. I'm sure with enough time the people at Microsoft will invest the work in getting the PC experience to "progressively enhance" further than what we were doing already. Disclaimer: former co-founder, no longer w/ the company
  - BatFastard 9y ago
    I can't imagine trying to reproduce that on current generation of mobile! Kudos to you and your team for trying. Honestly has Microsoft ever made another companies software better? I can think of a LOT of products they have killed. I imagine MS got a really good deal on it...
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
- lawnchair_larry 9y ago
  Have you ever made anything? Comments like this sound like the non-technical manager who rattles off an idea and says "that's easy enough right, should take you like 20 minutes?" about what would be a week long project just to get a prototype.
kobeya 9y ago
An acqui-hire is still an acquisition. It doesn’t work any different. Investor collects their preferences as part of the deal.
- kornish 9y ago
  Unless, of course, the company declares bankruptcy, sells off assets, then most of the team is hired immediately with retention bonuses going to them instead of towards the purchase of stock. That scenario is far from unheard of.
- john_moscow 9y ago
  How will it help if it gets acquired below the valuation of the respective round?
  - kobeya 9y ago
    Then all the money would go to investors.

It must be. Their tech really isn't anything impressive. At the end of the day, it's just a multiplayer game lobby built on Unity and SteamVR.

JohnnyConatus 9y ago
Unfortunately, this is pretty true. I tried to work with them a bit as a 3rd party content provider and I was shocked by how little secret sauce they really had.
gfodor 9y ago
I worked on our VR mirroring and capture system, I wouldn't say it's "impressive" but I consider it pretty cool. https://www.slideshare.net/ConfluentInc/kafka-summit-nyc-2017-hanging-out-with-your-past-self-in-vr https://www.slideshare.net/ConfluentInc/kafka-summit-nyc-201... Also our three.js and AFrame integration was pretty difficult to get working. We real time synchronized the scene graph in the V8 context into Unity. https://developer.altvr.com/ https://developer.altvr.com/ Also a huge challenge was delivering a good experience on mobile. We spent a ton of time on browser integration, rendering, and networking performance to hit frame on low end mobile VR devices. Our commitment to having it work on mobile, combined with our limited resources, led to us having a lot of "least common denominator" type things happening which leads to PC users thinking the app is simplistic or underdeveloped. But being able to have people on lower end devices join in the community was well worth it. I'm sure with enough time the people at Microsoft will invest the work in getting the PC experience to "progressively enhance" further than what we were doing already. Disclaimer: former co-founder, no longer w/ the company
- BatFastard 9y ago
  I can't imagine trying to reproduce that on current generation of mobile! Kudos to you and your team for trying. Honestly has Microsoft ever made another companies software better? I can think of a LOT of products they have killed. I imagine MS got a really good deal on it...
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
lawnchair_larry 9y ago
Have you ever made anything? Comments like this sound like the non-technical manager who rattles off an idea and says "that's easy enough right, should take you like 20 minutes?" about what would be a week long project just to get a prototype.

kobeya 9y ago

An acqui-hire is still an acquisition. It doesn’t work any different. Investor collects their preferences as part of the deal.

kornish 9y ago
Unless, of course, the company declares bankruptcy, sells off assets, then most of the team is hired immediately with retention bonuses going to them instead of towards the purchase of stock. That scenario is far from unheard of.
john_moscow 9y ago
How will it help if it gets acquired below the valuation of the respective round?
- kobeya 9y ago
  Then all the money would go to investors.