I have a hard time believing this is a real appeal for sympathy and advice. It sounds too much like a parody. If it is true, then you're probably doing the rig

I have a hard time believing this is a real appeal for sympathy and advice. It sounds too much like a parody. If it is true, then you're probably doing the right thing by quitting your current job. You don't want to be the bad apple. As the founder of the acquired startup, the acquiring company would have made it abundantly clear if they wanted you to stay by providing "golden handcuffs" as part of the deal. But since you feel so comfortable quitting just after the aqui-hire, I suspect you were not given any such incentives. When you understand why, you'll have a better perspective on how to make yourself and your next role more valuable to everyone. "Make something people want" applies to people as well as products. Maybe especially people.