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As someone who went through the acquisition of a software startup, the year in golden chains, and who is now working 12+ hours a day at a software startup again

As someone who went through the acquisition of a software startup, the year in golden chains, and who is now working 12+ hours a day at a software startup again my biggest problem with working at the "big" (in mentality and geography if not employees or success) company was that it atrophied my skills. This is of course ultimately my fault for not working harder to improve myself during that time, but I certainly at the time got dragged under the water by all the wrong incentives. Standing out enough to get recognition, compensation and other perks required a minimum of legitimate technical innovation and rewarded all the wrong kinds of effort, mostly political maneuvering and the cultivation of a swaggering, executive demeanor that I really hated about myself. Now that I'm back to being judged by my (esteemed) peers on the basis of my direct work product, I'm learning at a crazy pace and enjoying life more even though I'm tired from the long hours. Startups may not be for everyone, but they are for me, and that would likely be the case even without the possibility of an exit payday.

paulbaumgart 16y ago
Interesting. A couple of follow-ups, if you don't mind: Where did the acquisition lie on the talent-/product-acquisition spectrum? Also, how did those perverse incentives seep into the former start-up's culture? Was it a result of working closely with people already at the acquiring company who bought into the system? Were the executives at the acquiring company directly to blame? Or something else?
- benreesman 16y ago
  The acquisition was done for a number of reasons, but most paled in comparison to obtaining a particular piece of software (web browser and JS VM for tiny feature phones) and the team who wrote it (and went on to maintain and extend it). In addition a couple of the founders of the startup went on to be important members of the management team at the new company, so I guess both. The folks who came from the startup got scattered into every corner of the new company both organizationally and in some cases even geographically and as a result the values of the startup just sort of diffused into the larger company and when we wanted advancement we quickly learned to play by the new rules. At least I did.
dayjah 16y ago
Having been through that with you (different company which was acquired by the same company) I wholly agree with you. Way too much focus on being a politician instead of really focussing on getting ahead.

paulbaumgart 16y ago

Interesting. A couple of follow-ups, if you don't mind: Where did the acquisition lie on the talent-/product-acquisition spectrum? Also, how did those perverse incentives seep into the former start-up's culture? Was it a result of working closely with people already at the acquiring company who bought into the system? Were the executives at the acquiring company directly to blame? Or something else?

benreesman 16y ago
The acquisition was done for a number of reasons, but most paled in comparison to obtaining a particular piece of software (web browser and JS VM for tiny feature phones) and the team who wrote it (and went on to maintain and extend it). In addition a couple of the founders of the startup went on to be important members of the management team at the new company, so I guess both. The folks who came from the startup got scattered into every corner of the new company both organizationally and in some cases even geographically and as a result the values of the startup just sort of diffused into the larger company and when we wanted advancement we quickly learned to play by the new rules. At least I did.

dayjah 16y ago

Having been through that with you (different company which was acquired by the same company) I wholly agree with you. Way too much focus on being a politician instead of really focussing on getting ahead.