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I'm fully prepared for whatever negativity comes with this comment because it's being asked from a place of genuine curiosity-but yes there some snark baked in:

by dvtrn 8y ago

I'm fully prepared for whatever negativity comes with this comment because it's being asked from a place of genuine curiosity-but yes there some snark baked in: Does the rapacious acquisition game of Silicon Valley and seemingly increased rate of consolidation of startups to established giants feel weirdly like he days of Ma Bell to anyone else? It seems like more and more There's tales of these acqui-hires with promises that the aquirer will present some kind of "polished" alternative but under the larger brand and I've found quite frequently the promised offer-if ever shipped at all-is far less superior and far more self serving to the brand than what was previously offer by the acquired when they had more on the line by operating as a startup. Or am I just a cynic?

bradhe 8y ago
> seemingly increased rate of consolidation of startups to established giants Do you have any data to support increased acquisition rate?
- dvtrn 8y ago
  Not much by way of a published study if that's what you're after, just a supposition if I'm being completely honestly. Welcome to being wrong on this if some good soul does have the data on this, though. It's why I asked, maybe someone has research that would prove me wrong and I'll gladly take being corrected on the matter.
  - seanp2k2 8y ago
    Yeah, I feel that way too. Like, every company whose products / services I liked that got acquired never released another interesting product or service. Dropcam is one that I can think of, nest is another which is related. Microsoft buying Wunderlist also seems like it’s only leading to Wunderlist getting shut down. CoreOS sold to RedHat and while I have my doubts, this sounds good: https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/coreos-user/GR4YlF2c1dM https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/coreos-user/GR4YlF... (but don’t these kinds of messages always paint a rosy picture of the future?). We’ll see what happens to CoreOS. EDIT: just remembered WhatsApp. This happened recently: https://www.cnet.com/news/whatsapp-founders-may-have-left-1-3-billion-behind-in-their-facebook-breakup/ https://www.cnet.com/news/whatsapp-founders-may-have-left-1-... and it doesn’t seem like them selling did anything positive for their product or customers, only their bank accounts. Seems like they couldn’t even wait for FB to open up the golden handcuffs. Anyone have examples where the acquired company goes on to be really amazing, on a trajectory that they wouldn’t have had access to without the big injection of funding from the acquiring company? I can’t name any, but that doesn’t mean they’re not out there.
    - musiciangames 8y ago
      DOS did quite well after Microsoft acquired it.
    - bradhe 8y ago
      > Anyone have examples where the acquired company goes on to be really amazing, Instagram is a fairly high-profile example.
dingo_bat 8y ago
Acquisions have been the principal way big companies have always done "innovation". Nothing new here.
- dvtrn 8y ago
  You may be right. It's not a topic I follow with much earnest compared to other items to be fair. The inquiry was just a hip shot response.
- odbol 8y ago
  Also the principal way they remove competition.
TeMPOraL 8y ago
I'll one-up you with cynicysm: these days, getting acquihired - AKA having "an exit" - is the design goal of startups from day one. The whole point is baiting enough users to use your product that you can look good to some large company, get acquired, close up shop and enjoy your millions. For founders, it's "compress your work years and get rich sooner by working more now". For users, it's pure bait-and-switch though. This is such a constant thing that right now, I'm very reluctant to use startup-made SaaS for anything that isn't throwaway. The expected lifetime of a service is just extremely low, and the cost of integration (lock-in due to platform idiosyncrasies, and your data being taken hostage) is too high.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
busterarm 8y ago
Almost. Back in the Ma Bell days, connecting equipment to the Bell telephone lines without authorization was an actual crime. You could be be prosecuted for it. You couldn't develop telephony product at all unless you were Bell.

by dvtrn 8y ago

bradhe 8y ago

> seemingly increased rate of consolidation of startups to established giants Do you have any data to support increased acquisition rate?

dvtrn 8y ago
Not much by way of a published study if that's what you're after, just a supposition if I'm being completely honestly. Welcome to being wrong on this if some good soul does have the data on this, though. It's why I asked, maybe someone has research that would prove me wrong and I'll gladly take being corrected on the matter.
- seanp2k2 8y ago
  Yeah, I feel that way too. Like, every company whose products / services I liked that got acquired never released another interesting product or service. Dropcam is one that I can think of, nest is another which is related. Microsoft buying Wunderlist also seems like it’s only leading to Wunderlist getting shut down. CoreOS sold to RedHat and while I have my doubts, this sounds good: https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/coreos-user/GR4YlF2c1dM https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/coreos-user/GR4YlF... (but don’t these kinds of messages always paint a rosy picture of the future?). We’ll see what happens to CoreOS. EDIT: just remembered WhatsApp. This happened recently: https://www.cnet.com/news/whatsapp-founders-may-have-left-1-3-billion-behind-in-their-facebook-breakup/ https://www.cnet.com/news/whatsapp-founders-may-have-left-1-... and it doesn’t seem like them selling did anything positive for their product or customers, only their bank accounts. Seems like they couldn’t even wait for FB to open up the golden handcuffs. Anyone have examples where the acquired company goes on to be really amazing, on a trajectory that they wouldn’t have had access to without the big injection of funding from the acquiring company? I can’t name any, but that doesn’t mean they’re not out there.
  - musiciangames 8y ago
    DOS did quite well after Microsoft acquired it.
  - bradhe 8y ago
    > Anyone have examples where the acquired company goes on to be really amazing, Instagram is a fairly high-profile example.

dingo_bat 8y ago

Acquisions have been the principal way big companies have always done "innovation". Nothing new here.

dvtrn 8y ago
You may be right. It's not a topic I follow with much earnest compared to other items to be fair. The inquiry was just a hip shot response.
odbol 8y ago
Also the principal way they remove competition.

TeMPOraL 8y ago

I'll one-up you with cynicysm: these days, getting acquihired - AKA having "an exit" - is the design goal of startups from day one. The whole point is baiting enough users to use your product that you can look good to some large company, get acquired, close up shop and enjoy your millions. For founders, it's "compress your work years and get rich sooner by working more now". For users, it's pure bait-and-switch though. This is such a constant thing that right now, I'm very reluctant to use startup-made SaaS for anything that isn't throwaway. The expected lifetime of a service is just extremely low, and the cost of integration (lock-in due to platform idiosyncrasies, and your data being taken hostage) is too high.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

busterarm 8y ago

Almost. Back in the Ma Bell days, connecting equipment to the Bell telephone lines without authorization was an actual crime. You could be be prosecuted for it. You couldn't develop telephony product at all unless you were Bell.