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Two things, really: if you turn down an acquisition that you feel your employees supported, you don’t get to do the “surprised pikachu face” when you turn it do
by hbosch 6y ago
Two things, really: if you turn down an acquisition that you feel your employees supported, you don’t get to do the “surprised pikachu face” when you turn it down and they go work there anyway. Secondly, it’s presented as if these engineers exfiltrated special knowledge with them... isn’t it fair to also give them the benefit of the doubt in that the same employees may have crucially developed the software themselves before leaving?
In either case I can’t see how this simply doesn’t point at mismanagement by Hooked. From any angle, they created an environment that made these guys think “my time will be better spent at Apple”.
- some1else 6y ago> Representatives from each company met to explore a possible acquisition but Apple ultimately passed.
- xenihn 6y agoThe pass wasn't after the initial attempt, though. You make it sound like Apple initiated the process, the CEO accepted, and then Apple reneged, with nothing in between. Very misleading for anyone who doesn't read the article and just takes your comment at face value.
- notahacker 6y ago> From any angle, they created an environment that made these guys think “my time will be better spent at Apple”. tbf I don't think many startups running out of cash and exit opportunities would expect to keep their engineers if Apple approached them to offer a pay rise, regardless of how wonderful the environment was. But the idea to raise capital by 'selling' engineers to Apple instead of agreeing to the aquihire (and perhaps negotiating for the IP Apple didn't want to be spun out) looks naive. Surely this is one where the investors and advisors ought to have stepped in? The CEO apparently firing a CTO for interviewing for a job isn't a great look for management either...
- malux85 6y agoI agree 100% - the use of the word “selling” here makes me very uncomfortable - they are employees and they are not company property that is owned. The “finders fee” response from Apple was the best they could expect. And yeah then I read about firing the CTO and the lawsuit and I started to get a picture of what this company was like. I hope they lose, and good luck to the employees at Apple