Lately, whenever a startup is acquired, there have been haters that pop up on HN to say "That was actually a failure! A mere talent acquisition!" Even if the co

Lately, whenever a startup is acquired, there have been haters that pop up on HN to say "That was actually a failure! A mere talent acquisition!" Even if the company sold for tens of millions of dollars and had millions of users. Usually, some irrelevant and dubiously sourced metrics are included, to demonstrate just how much of a "failure" the commenter thinks the founders are. I think that's what pg is referencing.