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I know lots of founders will read this, please for the good of humanity stop being acquired. I know the money is so alluring, but how much is your soul worth a

I know lots of founders will read this, please for the good of humanity stop being acquired. I know the money is so alluring, but how much is your soul worth and will that money make you happy? The future of humanity depends on tech people making tiny principled stands like this over and over. Don’t believe the lies spewing out from the acquiring company. Nothing will ever be the same again and your product will be either killed or mutated into something hideous. Read the WhatsApp and Oculus and Nest stories over and over again.

rexreed 6y ago
While I totally agree with this comment, especially from experience knowing that the reality of an acquisition is far from the rosy picture promised to everyone, the truth is that founders and especially investors are motivated by the exit. Some founders start their companies to be flipped. Some start with the intention of going for the long-game but find the reality of competing in the market exhausting and emotionally draining. Some realize that they won't be able to capture the market share they want. Other times internal strife or conflicts with investors get in the way. There are many motivations for acquisition and the realities of the difficulties of startups make any good offer very appealing. It's very hard to resist.
- NineStarPoint 6y ago
  Related, does anyone think that founders believe the “rosy pictures promised to everyone”? Like you said, there’s a ton of reasons for founders to want to sell, even ignoring the existence of investors who would obviously like a payout. Founders should known better than anyone exactly what they’re agreeing to with an acquisition, but that doesn’t remove the personal benefit. More generally, I never really hear stories of founders stopping their work at a company that isn’t after an acquisition or IPO. The alternative is the founder going “I am retiring and leaving this person in charge, but maintain my ownership of the company and will be taking 20% of the future profit in exchange for my 10 years building up this company.” Maybe it happens and we just never hear about it, but without some alternative for founders to cash out at the end it’s not surprising that selling the company off is what happens.
  - njarboe 6y ago
    Somewhat ironically, Google is an example of two founders doing just this.
- jmsad 6y ago
  One thing to help fix this is for the VC community to become more comfortable with (and even encourage) funding rounds which allow founders and early employees to get some liquidity from their equity. Taking a company from idea to IPO usually takes the better part of a decade (or longer), and it's pretty unfair to ask people who have already risked a lot to keep living on peanuts and hoping that some unforeseen situation which may be largely beyond their control doesn't send the value of their equity to zero before they get to IPO.
minikites 6y ago
>I know the money is so alluring It's the only motivation. Why do you think wealthy and high income people fight so hard against repaying the society that educated them and provided the infrastructure to allow their business to flourish?
- ineedasername 6y ago
  It's because most people want to believe that their success is due to their own specialness rather than some mix of luck and prior circumstances. I forget where it came from-- I thin Warren Buffet but I can't source it now-- but there's a sort of thought experiment or anecdote about this: Give everyone in the US a dollar. Then randomly choose half the country and have them give their dollar to a specific person in the other half. Repeat this process with the remaining people until there's only 340 people that each have a million dollars, then talk to those 340 people: You'll have 340 stories of how they personally overcame the odds and beat out everyone else to become a millionaire
  - minikites 6y ago
    Absolutely. There are studies where groups of people were examined while playing "Monopoly", but some players started with a massive money advantage. If (usually when) they won the game, they attributed it to their own skill at the game, not the massive advantage they had at the start. Being wealthy fucks up people's brains.
    - lotsofpulp 6y ago
      People are capable of saying one thing, and thinking another. I do it all the time, mostly for political purposes. There are many times where it is not in my interest to tell others what I really think, and I assume other are also not playing the game with all of their cards showing. I.e. I assume people know the role luck plays in life, but are also not interested in the consequences of acknowledging that, and/or are interested in the consequences of pretending like they deserved it.
      - 6y ago
dkersten 6y ago
The risk of a startup being acquired has also prevented me from buying startup's products, both personally and for my employers, because chances are the "great news, we got acquired" is anything but great news for the actual customers. That announcement is usually the sign to start looking for alternatives.
- dasil003 6y ago
  Do you also not buy products from big companies? Because they also kill their own products or let them wither on the vine out of apathy.
  - ineedasername 6y ago
    Sure, but we're talking about probability here. Established enterprise products from large companies usually have a published roadmap and guaranteed support period years in advance. It may be a mediocre product, but a business knows Oracle isn't going to kill off their ERP system any time soon, and also knows the minimum sunset date for all versions and can plan updates & upgrades accordingly.
    - dasil003 6y ago
      If Oracle ERP is your standard it might be hard to get anything modern. Thought experiment, for which product are you more confident about its longevity: Google Voice or Basecamp?
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
      - ineedasername 6y ago
        I'm just using Oracle ERP as an easy example. It's a spectrum though, Oracle ERP just happens to be on the far end of one side, while a < 2 year old startup or any new(ish) Google product is on the opposite end. (Though even more established Google products that are not Search/Ads still never make it far past the middle)
goatherders 6y ago
"...will that money make you happy?" Yes. Very. More than you can imagine. Trading good work for great sums of money isn't selling your soul. No one is under a moral obligation to build something that benefits the future of humanity. Furthermore, the vast majority of startups (including the 3 mentioned) were arguably never going to be humanity-changing businesses regardless. If this is a conversation worth having at least reference bio-science and space exploration startups that actually have a chance to change the world.
alexashka 6y ago
> The future of humanity depends on tech people making tiny principled stands like this over and over. No it doesn't.
disgruntledphd2 6y ago
What about Instagram? Acquired at 10mn users, not really used by anyone except SF hipsters. Now a massive juggernaut and the same size (in MAU) as Facebook was when they acquired it.
- warbaker 6y ago
  And YouTube, and of course DoubleClick.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
verdverm 6y ago
There are other stories like PayPal and the numerous new companies that came after. I'm much more in favor of having Tesla and SpaceX than not
thelean12 6y ago
> I know the money is so alluring, but how much is your soul worth and will that money make you happy? I really don't understand this attitude. If someone offers me enough money so that I never have to work again, you expect me not to take it? I'll sell any company if I could get $4 million after tax and never have to work again. Every single time I'll take that offer. I guess that's how much my "soul" is worth. And yes, that will make me happy!
- loxs 6y ago
  To me it seems really preposterous and dishonest when somebody does NOT think like this. We have one life. The time we do not spend with our children (or the time we postpone having them "for the greater good") can never be returned back.
  - rapind 6y ago
    Sanctimonious much?
- RandallBrown 6y ago
  Yeah, the only way I'm not selling my business in that scenario is if I'm already in a position where I don't have to work again.
elevenoh 6y ago
>The future of humanity depends on tech people making tiny principled stands like this over and over. Well put. And the reward? You + family/friends look back on your work with deep fondness & respect if you choose principles > acquisition $.

rexreed 6y ago

While I totally agree with this comment, especially from experience knowing that the reality of an acquisition is far from the rosy picture promised to everyone, the truth is that founders and especially investors are motivated by the exit. Some founders start their companies to be flipped. Some start with the intention of going for the long-game but find the reality of competing in the market exhausting and emotionally draining. Some realize that they won't be able to capture the market share they want. Other times internal strife or conflicts with investors get in the way. There are many motivations for acquisition and the realities of the difficulties of startups make any good offer very appealing. It's very hard to resist.

NineStarPoint 6y ago
Related, does anyone think that founders believe the “rosy pictures promised to everyone”? Like you said, there’s a ton of reasons for founders to want to sell, even ignoring the existence of investors who would obviously like a payout. Founders should known better than anyone exactly what they’re agreeing to with an acquisition, but that doesn’t remove the personal benefit. More generally, I never really hear stories of founders stopping their work at a company that isn’t after an acquisition or IPO. The alternative is the founder going “I am retiring and leaving this person in charge, but maintain my ownership of the company and will be taking 20% of the future profit in exchange for my 10 years building up this company.” Maybe it happens and we just never hear about it, but without some alternative for founders to cash out at the end it’s not surprising that selling the company off is what happens.
- njarboe 6y ago
  Somewhat ironically, Google is an example of two founders doing just this.
jmsad 6y ago
One thing to help fix this is for the VC community to become more comfortable with (and even encourage) funding rounds which allow founders and early employees to get some liquidity from their equity. Taking a company from idea to IPO usually takes the better part of a decade (or longer), and it's pretty unfair to ask people who have already risked a lot to keep living on peanuts and hoping that some unforeseen situation which may be largely beyond their control doesn't send the value of their equity to zero before they get to IPO.

minikites 6y ago

>I know the money is so alluring It's the only motivation. Why do you think wealthy and high income people fight so hard against repaying the society that educated them and provided the infrastructure to allow their business to flourish?

ineedasername 6y ago
It's because most people want to believe that their success is due to their own specialness rather than some mix of luck and prior circumstances. I forget where it came from-- I thin Warren Buffet but I can't source it now-- but there's a sort of thought experiment or anecdote about this: Give everyone in the US a dollar. Then randomly choose half the country and have them give their dollar to a specific person in the other half. Repeat this process with the remaining people until there's only 340 people that each have a million dollars, then talk to those 340 people: You'll have 340 stories of how they personally overcame the odds and beat out everyone else to become a millionaire
- minikites 6y ago
  Absolutely. There are studies where groups of people were examined while playing "Monopoly", but some players started with a massive money advantage. If (usually when) they won the game, they attributed it to their own skill at the game, not the massive advantage they had at the start. Being wealthy fucks up people's brains.
  - lotsofpulp 6y ago
    People are capable of saying one thing, and thinking another. I do it all the time, mostly for political purposes. There are many times where it is not in my interest to tell others what I really think, and I assume other are also not playing the game with all of their cards showing. I.e. I assume people know the role luck plays in life, but are also not interested in the consequences of acknowledging that, and/or are interested in the consequences of pretending like they deserved it.
    - 6y ago

dkersten 6y ago

The risk of a startup being acquired has also prevented me from buying startup's products, both personally and for my employers, because chances are the "great news, we got acquired" is anything but great news for the actual customers. That announcement is usually the sign to start looking for alternatives.

dasil003 6y ago
Do you also not buy products from big companies? Because they also kill their own products or let them wither on the vine out of apathy.
- ineedasername 6y ago
  Sure, but we're talking about probability here. Established enterprise products from large companies usually have a published roadmap and guaranteed support period years in advance. It may be a mediocre product, but a business knows Oracle isn't going to kill off their ERP system any time soon, and also knows the minimum sunset date for all versions and can plan updates & upgrades accordingly.
  - dasil003 6y ago
    If Oracle ERP is your standard it might be hard to get anything modern. Thought experiment, for which product are you more confident about its longevity: Google Voice or Basecamp?
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - ineedasername 6y ago
      I'm just using Oracle ERP as an easy example. It's a spectrum though, Oracle ERP just happens to be on the far end of one side, while a < 2 year old startup or any new(ish) Google product is on the opposite end. (Though even more established Google products that are not Search/Ads still never make it far past the middle)

goatherders 6y ago

"...will that money make you happy?" Yes. Very. More than you can imagine. Trading good work for great sums of money isn't selling your soul. No one is under a moral obligation to build something that benefits the future of humanity. Furthermore, the vast majority of startups (including the 3 mentioned) were arguably never going to be humanity-changing businesses regardless. If this is a conversation worth having at least reference bio-science and space exploration startups that actually have a chance to change the world.

alexashka 6y ago

> The future of humanity depends on tech people making tiny principled stands like this over and over. No it doesn't.

disgruntledphd2 6y ago

What about Instagram? Acquired at 10mn users, not really used by anyone except SF hipsters. Now a massive juggernaut and the same size (in MAU) as Facebook was when they acquired it.

warbaker 6y ago
And YouTube, and of course DoubleClick.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

verdverm 6y ago

There are other stories like PayPal and the numerous new companies that came after. I'm much more in favor of having Tesla and SpaceX than not

thelean12 6y ago

> I know the money is so alluring, but how much is your soul worth and will that money make you happy? I really don't understand this attitude. If someone offers me enough money so that I never have to work again, you expect me not to take it? I'll sell any company if I could get $4 million after tax and never have to work again. Every single time I'll take that offer. I guess that's how much my "soul" is worth. And yes, that will make me happy!

loxs 6y ago
To me it seems really preposterous and dishonest when somebody does NOT think like this. We have one life. The time we do not spend with our children (or the time we postpone having them "for the greater good") can never be returned back.
- rapind 6y ago
  Sanctimonious much?
RandallBrown 6y ago
Yeah, the only way I'm not selling my business in that scenario is if I'm already in a position where I don't have to work again.

elevenoh 6y ago

>The future of humanity depends on tech people making tiny principled stands like this over and over. Well put. And the reward? You + family/friends look back on your work with deep fondness & respect if you choose principles > acquisition $.