An "acquihire" says a lot about the founders of the company being acquired. It usually means they're burnt out, or aren't convinced that what they've built is a

An "acquihire" says a lot about the founders of the company being acquired. It usually means they're burnt out, or aren't convinced that what they've built is a viable company. It's a "let's cut our losses" move. That's not to say it isn't a good deal for the founders, but it's certainly not a good deal for many other people. The mindset isn't "let's create 1,000 jobs where there weren't any before," it's "let's make enough money to feel comfortable again." That said, they can't just leave their acquirer immediately. Typically there's a time _and_ performance-based earn out applied to the terms, so they need to stay (and perform well) at the acquiring company for a set amount of time. Usually two to four years.