You could do much the same thing looking at startups which are 2 years old. The post-acquisition survival rate of a product is not that much better than the pre

You could do much the same thing looking at startups which are 2 years old. The post-acquisition survival rate of a product is not that much better than the pre-acquisition survival rate - getting bought by a larger company does not mean that they won't eventually decide the same thing you would have found on your own: the product does not bring in enough money to pay for itself. Acquisitions are a risky investment. You buy a company and it might turn out to be worthless.