Former CEO at Creative Market here (though at the time, I was VP Eng). Call me an optimist, but I believe this can work, though I accept the premise of the head

Former CEO at Creative Market here (though at the time, I was VP Eng). Call me an optimist, but I believe this can work, though I accept the premise of the headline generally. We were acquired by Autodesk in 2013. We may make for an odd case study: we had a very unique opportunity to spin out and return to be an independent startup in 2017, thanks to Autodesk's support - not to mention the leadership of our co-founding CEO at the time. (Parenthetically, I could write a book about acquisitions and spinouts, but that's for another day.) During my time at Autodesk, we were very much a "startup within a big company." They wanted us to continue doing what we do, because it was clearly working. We continued to grow. We continued to have more resources and support thanks to Autodesk. We found ways to preserve our culture, but also adopt some of Autodesk's. We built relationships and got to know people in other business units. We never felt like there was some ulterior motive or felt our hand forced. There are disadvantages, sure, but I think it would lack nuance to pin all that blame on the acquiring company. Relationships are a two-way street. If you're going to sell, I think it's incumbent on the founders to normalize being proud of being a part of that bigger company. I think it's okay to say, we're going to change and we're going to reach out and connect with the larger organization. It may not be helpful to try to be the "pirates" within the organization, like the Mac team during Jobs' first stint. It's isolating and corrosive to be the smaller piece of the puzzle, yet view yourself as the greater cause. People can criticize big companies. In many cases, that criticism is warranted, fair, and important if we're going to increase competition and innovation. For my own part, looking back on my time there, I always felt valued and respected as an Autodesk employee. I was always proud to hold my employee badge.