It is both a measure of Internet companies strength & weakness that multi-billion dollar acquisitions are taken so lightly. "Spent 3-4 years building a product

It is both a measure of Internet companies strength & weakness that multi-billion dollar acquisitions are taken so lightly. "Spent 3-4 years building a product which didn't become a winner? No problem, buy someone else!" "Strength" because compared to other industries, integrating two Internet companies is not that tough. Strength also because of the speed at which startups build scale and become world dominating. And the sheer amount of finance at their disposal to make these acquisitions. "Weakness" because all of it seems so ephemeral. All it takes is a few years and a leader is often a laggard. Conversely, if you don't sell out before your bubble pops, you're history. And of course there's the network effects curse - if you're not among the top few players, you might as well sell out or close down.