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Congrats Phill and Max! Glad to see some Toronto exits.

by andkon 9y ago

pc86 9y ago
Are acquihires successful exits?
- seattle_spring 9y ago
  If the equity ends up being worth > $0, I would say "yes." Way better than just shutting the company down and being left with nothing.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - ryandrake 9y ago
    Even if the equity ends up being worth $0, I'd still say it's a successful exit, since you're ending up working for a great company that you might otherwise not have been able to get in to. Think of it as an alternative to the standard "whiteboard hazing, recruiter ghosting" interview track. EDIT: To clarify I'm talking about acquihires in general, not specifically this one, the details of which I'm obviously not aware.
    - sokoloff 9y ago
      I'm not sure that 900 days of labor resulting in an equity value of $0 and a job offer is worth skipping the whiteboard and other recruiting nonsense. (I have no idea if that's what did or didn't happen here, of course, and suspect it was better than that, but that scenario is not one of "success", IMO.)
    - ghostbrainalpha 9y ago
      An acquire can be a successful exit for the founder, but if Investors are not recouping their investment than it isn't really successful for the whole startup ecosystem.
  - braythwayt 9y ago
    I think we need a little more nuänce here. Sometimes, an acquihire is just a hiring. if there's any cash for the founders, it's on the order of a generous signing bonus. The founders are expected to work real jobs in the acquiring company, and sometimes the payouts are tied to golden handcuffs. There's nothing wrong with consenting adults agreeing to such a thing, but that would not, in my books, be a "successful exit" unless the founders had planned all along to use their startup as a job-seeking vehicle. Of course, the other end of the scale is a substantial payout, much larger than any imaginary "hiring bonus." The founders get jobs or consulting gigs with the acquiring company, but that's mostly structured to prevent them from immediately quitting and sending a signal to the market that they hate the acquiring company. They need only attend a few meetings over the next year of their contract, and can work on their next project in stealth mode. That's an "acquihire" and a successful exit at the same time. Between those two extremes, there are varying degrees of "successful," and "exit." I don't think it's as simple as "equity is worth more than zero equals successful exit," especially if you don't have the freedom to do WTF you want the moment the ink dries on your signature.
    - rhizome 9y ago
      nuänce OT: the 'ua' here is not a dipthong, so a dieresis is out of place. FYI!
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
- peteforde 9y ago
  Depends on how much they exited for. No need for snark.
  - pc86 9y ago
    I didn't realize the definition of "snark" had devolved into simply asking a question.

Congrats Phill and Max! Glad to see some Toronto exits.

by andkon 9y ago

Congrats Phill and Max! Glad to see some Toronto exits.

pc86 9y ago

Are acquihires successful exits?

seattle_spring 9y ago
If the equity ends up being worth > $0, I would say "yes." Way better than just shutting the company down and being left with nothing.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- ryandrake 9y ago
  Even if the equity ends up being worth $0, I'd still say it's a successful exit, since you're ending up working for a great company that you might otherwise not have been able to get in to. Think of it as an alternative to the standard "whiteboard hazing, recruiter ghosting" interview track. EDIT: To clarify I'm talking about acquihires in general, not specifically this one, the details of which I'm obviously not aware.
  - sokoloff 9y ago
    I'm not sure that 900 days of labor resulting in an equity value of $0 and a job offer is worth skipping the whiteboard and other recruiting nonsense. (I have no idea if that's what did or didn't happen here, of course, and suspect it was better than that, but that scenario is not one of "success", IMO.)
  - ghostbrainalpha 9y ago
    An acquire can be a successful exit for the founder, but if Investors are not recouping their investment than it isn't really successful for the whole startup ecosystem.
- braythwayt 9y ago
  I think we need a little more nuänce here. Sometimes, an acquihire is just a hiring. if there's any cash for the founders, it's on the order of a generous signing bonus. The founders are expected to work real jobs in the acquiring company, and sometimes the payouts are tied to golden handcuffs. There's nothing wrong with consenting adults agreeing to such a thing, but that would not, in my books, be a "successful exit" unless the founders had planned all along to use their startup as a job-seeking vehicle. Of course, the other end of the scale is a substantial payout, much larger than any imaginary "hiring bonus." The founders get jobs or consulting gigs with the acquiring company, but that's mostly structured to prevent them from immediately quitting and sending a signal to the market that they hate the acquiring company. They need only attend a few meetings over the next year of their contract, and can work on their next project in stealth mode. That's an "acquihire" and a successful exit at the same time. Between those two extremes, there are varying degrees of "successful," and "exit." I don't think it's as simple as "equity is worth more than zero equals successful exit," especially if you don't have the freedom to do WTF you want the moment the ink dries on your signature.
  - rhizome 9y ago
    nuänce OT: the 'ua' here is not a dipthong, so a dieresis is out of place. FYI!
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
peteforde 9y ago
Depends on how much they exited for. No need for snark.
- pc86 9y ago
  I didn't realize the definition of "snark" had devolved into simply asking a question.