In a lot of cases, it was probably something more insidious, as indeed is the case for a lot of acqui-hires in the software space: most of them probably didn't

In a lot of cases, it was probably something more insidious, as indeed is the case for a lot of acqui-hires in the software space: most of them probably didn't have anyone using their stuff (relatively speaking). A lot of these companies that produce these things are building things that simply aren't useful unless "deployed" or "applied" at scale. The best way to put it is it's the difference between designing an AK-47, and designing a battleship. Most techies look at things, and assume they're like a AK-47; if the big players don't use it, DIY guys can still home-craft their own AKs and it'll have a profound impact on the world. But with many of these sorts of tech firms that are getting acquired, if they aren't actually having their stuff used by one of the big guys, it may as well not exist. If you design a battleship, and there's not a nation-state interested in building it, despite having what may be an excellent design, you've got ... nothing. Nobody can DIY that like they can a design for a rifle. A very good analogy here would be graphics cards. If I come up with a software innovation, like a new rendering technology, it's viable for anyone to slot into a game engine somewhere and play with. If I come up with a new hardware design, and it doesn't get applied by one of the actual hardware vendors out there, it may as well not exist.