I have an answer you won't expect: I had been a PM, and I was invited to a meeting. When I arrived, it was a small conference room with the lights out and two v

I have an answer you won't expect: I had been a PM, and I was invited to a meeting. When I arrived, it was a small conference room with the lights out and two very serious guys in suits. I went in, sat down, and asked who else we were expecting, and what the meeting was about. They replied that no one else was expected. Then I was asked if I'd seen the paper that morning. I had, and the front page said that Oracle had just purchased a well-known company. They explained that my name had come up as someone to lead the new acquisition. So I asked why we bought it. I was told that Larry took any opportunity to buy a potential competitor. My role would be to spend perhaps a year understanding their technology deeply. Then some number of months creating an integration plan for any technology we might want to keep. Then managing an Oracle team responsible for integrating the technology into Oracle products. And finally winding down the company. Well, I've spent my entire career creating things. And now I was being asked to destroy things. So I thought "Is this what I want to do?". So I turned down an offer that was really coming from Larry and senior management - I figured it was time to go. (This was over 10 years ago - Larry was still very involved.)