This is a great point. If you're not to the point of running out of money, and you don't yet have substantial evidence that the niche you've targeted is severe

This is a great point. If you're not to the point of running out of money, and you don't yet have substantial evidence that the niche you've targeted is severely limited, considering an acqui-hire seems silly -- unless that was really your goal to begin with. This makes me wonder at what point in the life of the startup most of these acqui-hires are occurring. EDITED TO ADD: Further reading (e.g.: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4425364 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4425364) suggests that indeed, the usual point at which an acqui-hire becomes relevant is when the business is on the verge of failure.