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One sign that wasn't mentioned is the sudden exodus of higher team/product managers. I've seen this happen twice in my career. Suddenly, the individuals who wer

One sign that wasn't mentioned is the sudden exodus of higher team/product managers. I've seen this happen twice in my career. Suddenly, the individuals who were once fully committed to the company are leaving to "look for greener pastures." Sometimes, they hold meetings with everyone and their behavior is odd – often, these meetings are pointless and a huge waste of everyone's time, much like meeting with an ex.

itsdrewmiller 3y ago
Why are those people leaving before the acquisition? Shouldn't they expect to have some kind of upside in a change of control event?
- chilling 3y ago
  Depending on the acquisition, I think. When my former US company was acquired by a huge Chinese company, it was not clear if my service would be part of the deal too. A lot of higher managers escaped the ship just weeks before they announced that it would be sold to another huge Indian company.
  - itsdrewmiller 3y ago
    Ah yeah that makes sense! I haven't been on the receiving end of a partial acquisition but I can imagine they are much messier.
  - solarkraft 3y ago
    I still don't quite get the downside of staying around and seeing what happens. Were they so sure their role would be impacted for the worse? Were they already having conflicts with their management over the sale's consequences?
- cornel_io 3y ago
  There are a few types of acquisition: - everyone gets rich (including employees with equity) - founders and investors get rich, nobody else gets shit - investors get good return, founders get a bit, nobody else gets shit - investors make mediocre return based on liquidation pref, nobody else gets shit - nobody gets shit (but people keep their jobs in the acquirer) In all but the first situation, you as an employee (even a high-up one) are basically being sold to another company without any upside, and whether or not you want to stay will depend 100% what you think about the acquirer.
  - morbicer 3y ago
    Even in the latter cases the acquirer don't want to buy an empty she'll of a company = an IP without any people to service it. So the acquirer will offer some golden handcuffs, usually some stock options with delayed vesting to motivate the acquired to stay.
    - pavel_lishin 3y ago
      > So the acquirer will offer some golden handcuffs, usually some stock options with delayed vesting to motivate the acquired to stay. Sometimes. Sometimes they're weirdly incompetent, treat everyone like shit, and then act surprised when half of the company leaves. Sometimes after that they'll offer a promise of a pittance bonus, and act surprised once again when yet another half of the company leaves after the meager bonus comes through.
      - Conan_Kudo 3y ago
        Yep. This happened in the most recent acquisition I experienced.
      - dagw 3y ago
        Sometimes they're weirdly incompetent, treat everyone like shit, and then act surprised when half of the company leaves. Honestly that seems to be the norm in my, admittedly limited, experience.

itsdrewmiller 3y ago

Why are those people leaving before the acquisition? Shouldn't they expect to have some kind of upside in a change of control event?

chilling 3y ago
Depending on the acquisition, I think. When my former US company was acquired by a huge Chinese company, it was not clear if my service would be part of the deal too. A lot of higher managers escaped the ship just weeks before they announced that it would be sold to another huge Indian company.
- itsdrewmiller 3y ago
  Ah yeah that makes sense! I haven't been on the receiving end of a partial acquisition but I can imagine they are much messier.
- solarkraft 3y ago
  I still don't quite get the downside of staying around and seeing what happens. Were they so sure their role would be impacted for the worse? Were they already having conflicts with their management over the sale's consequences?
cornel_io 3y ago
There are a few types of acquisition: - everyone gets rich (including employees with equity) - founders and investors get rich, nobody else gets shit - investors get good return, founders get a bit, nobody else gets shit - investors make mediocre return based on liquidation pref, nobody else gets shit - nobody gets shit (but people keep their jobs in the acquirer) In all but the first situation, you as an employee (even a high-up one) are basically being sold to another company without any upside, and whether or not you want to stay will depend 100% what you think about the acquirer.
- morbicer 3y ago
  Even in the latter cases the acquirer don't want to buy an empty she'll of a company = an IP without any people to service it. So the acquirer will offer some golden handcuffs, usually some stock options with delayed vesting to motivate the acquired to stay.
  - pavel_lishin 3y ago
    > So the acquirer will offer some golden handcuffs, usually some stock options with delayed vesting to motivate the acquired to stay. Sometimes. Sometimes they're weirdly incompetent, treat everyone like shit, and then act surprised when half of the company leaves. Sometimes after that they'll offer a promise of a pittance bonus, and act surprised once again when yet another half of the company leaves after the meager bonus comes through.
    - Conan_Kudo 3y ago
      Yep. This happened in the most recent acquisition I experienced.
    - dagw 3y ago
      Sometimes they're weirdly incompetent, treat everyone like shit, and then act surprised when half of the company leaves. Honestly that seems to be the norm in my, admittedly limited, experience.