3 ms·

Or Apple just went to the team directly and hired them, and the $2-$5 mil are signing bonuses. This isn't an aquihire situation, this is just Apple hiring a bu

by cube13 14y ago

Or Apple just went to the team directly and hired them, and the $2-$5 mil are signing bonuses. This isn't an aquihire situation, this is just Apple hiring a bunch of people. It's unlikely Color has any real leverage in this case.

diego 14y ago
Doubt it. Why would Apple want to alienate Sequoia of all venture funds? It's more likely that Sequoia called Apple and they worked out a soft landing for some people.
- cube13 14y ago
  Why would Apple feel that it's necessary to keep the investors happy? It's not Apple's fault that Color's board is unable/unwilling to attempt to keep their employees. California's an at-will employment state, remember. Non-compete clauses have also been ruled unenforceable, so that doesn't apply either. Seriously, this is such a small amount of money for an entire team that I sincerely doubt that anyone on Color's board was involved. If Sequoia was involved at all, I would expect to see a lot more money changing hands(probably somewhere to the tune of $50 million to cover the investors), and the IP moved to Apple. None of that is happening, so it makes more sense that the board and the investors were not involved in the deal at all.
  - diego 14y ago
    Your comment suggests that you are not very familiar with the nuances of Merger and Acquisition processes. As someone who has been involved in a significant number of M/A deals in different capacities, I can tell you that your speculation is uninformed. I won't comment further.
    - jusben1369 14y ago
      I think you're essentially saying Apple pays $5 million or so to have the first right to go through the 20 person development team? From there they can make any type of offer to anyone they like or not?
    - cube13 14y ago
      I'm arguing that this isn't a merger or an acquisition. The numbers don't add up for either a merger, a full-on acquisition, or an aqui-hire. It's simply too low to fend off the investors. This sounds, very strongly, more like Apple has decided to hire all of them, and is paying them the money either as a salary or as a signing bonus.
- drumdance 14y ago
  You mean the guys who made billions off arch-competitor Google? Why would they care about them?
  - diego 14y ago
    Do you know the history of Apple, Sequoia, and the Silicon Valley? Does the name Don Valentine ring a bell? http://www.sequoiacap.com/us/apple/info http://www.sequoiacap.com/us/apple/info
    - drumdance 14y ago
      Yes. The point is that it's silly for the world's largest company to worry about what a VC firm thinks. It's rather the other way around. Apple and Sequoia have a rich history, but Apple and Adobe have a rich history too.
      - robryan 14y ago
        5 million is such an insignificant figure to apple that it would be be in no way worth even taking the chance of burning bridges over. If they were putting up a billion somewhere to keep sequoia happy it might be a different story.
      - diego 14y ago
        No, it's not silly at all. For example, what if Apple pissed off Sequoia and was always second in line to acquire Sequoia companies? This is a very nuanced topic, especially if you don't know the ins and outs of M/A and VCs. 5M (or that magnitude) is a token amount. Feel free to speculate, I won't try to convince you. On Hacker News everyone is an armchair expert anyway.
        drumdance 14y ago
        Again, I think in the scenario you describe, it's Sequoia that should bend over backwards. Apple has enough cash to buy any company in the world several times over, and most Sequoia companies would feel screwed if they can't accept an offer from Apple because of politics. For Sequoia to get pissy and hold out for terms because somebody's feelings got hurt --- and for the news to get out -- would be grounds for a lawsuit from LPs. And yes, I know the ins & outs of M&A and VCs.

by cube13 14y ago

diego 14y ago

Doubt it. Why would Apple want to alienate Sequoia of all venture funds? It's more likely that Sequoia called Apple and they worked out a soft landing for some people.

cube13 14y ago
Why would Apple feel that it's necessary to keep the investors happy? It's not Apple's fault that Color's board is unable/unwilling to attempt to keep their employees. California's an at-will employment state, remember. Non-compete clauses have also been ruled unenforceable, so that doesn't apply either. Seriously, this is such a small amount of money for an entire team that I sincerely doubt that anyone on Color's board was involved. If Sequoia was involved at all, I would expect to see a lot more money changing hands(probably somewhere to the tune of $50 million to cover the investors), and the IP moved to Apple. None of that is happening, so it makes more sense that the board and the investors were not involved in the deal at all.
- diego 14y ago
  Your comment suggests that you are not very familiar with the nuances of Merger and Acquisition processes. As someone who has been involved in a significant number of M/A deals in different capacities, I can tell you that your speculation is uninformed. I won't comment further.
  - jusben1369 14y ago
    I think you're essentially saying Apple pays $5 million or so to have the first right to go through the 20 person development team? From there they can make any type of offer to anyone they like or not?
  - cube13 14y ago
    I'm arguing that this isn't a merger or an acquisition. The numbers don't add up for either a merger, a full-on acquisition, or an aqui-hire. It's simply too low to fend off the investors. This sounds, very strongly, more like Apple has decided to hire all of them, and is paying them the money either as a salary or as a signing bonus.
drumdance 14y ago
You mean the guys who made billions off arch-competitor Google? Why would they care about them?
- diego 14y ago
  Do you know the history of Apple, Sequoia, and the Silicon Valley? Does the name Don Valentine ring a bell? http://www.sequoiacap.com/us/apple/info http://www.sequoiacap.com/us/apple/info
  - drumdance 14y ago
    Yes. The point is that it's silly for the world's largest company to worry about what a VC firm thinks. It's rather the other way around. Apple and Sequoia have a rich history, but Apple and Adobe have a rich history too.
    - robryan 14y ago
      5 million is such an insignificant figure to apple that it would be be in no way worth even taking the chance of burning bridges over. If they were putting up a billion somewhere to keep sequoia happy it might be a different story.
    - diego 14y ago
      No, it's not silly at all. For example, what if Apple pissed off Sequoia and was always second in line to acquire Sequoia companies? This is a very nuanced topic, especially if you don't know the ins and outs of M/A and VCs. 5M (or that magnitude) is a token amount. Feel free to speculate, I won't try to convince you. On Hacker News everyone is an armchair expert anyway.
      - drumdance 14y ago
        Again, I think in the scenario you describe, it's Sequoia that should bend over backwards. Apple has enough cash to buy any company in the world several times over, and most Sequoia companies would feel screwed if they can't accept an offer from Apple because of politics. For Sequoia to get pissy and hold out for terms because somebody's feelings got hurt --- and for the news to get out -- would be grounds for a lawsuit from LPs. And yes, I know the ins & outs of M&A and VCs.