Yes, but usually not with any sort of press release from either company, or any other positioning that makes it sound like the "acquisition" was any indicator of success or strength.
Most startups are high-risk, and so it's blindingly obvious that there are going to be lots of ideas which are able to be implemented, but not scaled into a business. And we've all heard about VC's investing in the "team" more than the product, and how hard it is to find and hire really good engineers. So, a startup as sort of a long-cycle public job interview isn't the worst thing in the world.
Still, it would be nice (given the mindset of most engineers) to see the released framed in a more accurate way "Company X team being absorbed into Company Y", or "Company Y extends employment to entire team of Company X".
Perhaps it's just me, but I think most people see these "acquisition" press releases, and resulting "congratulations" rounds as somewhat of a poor veneer over the reality of what really transpired.
I'm not sure I agree. I follow the agriculture channels and you see the same kind of thing when a big agriculture company acquires someone whose products you will never see again.
You just only read about tech-specific acquires here because that is the focus of HN.
Yes, but usually not with any sort of press release from either company, or any other positioning that makes it sound like the "acquisition" was any indicator of success or strength.
Most startups are high-risk, and so it's blindingly obvious that there are going to be lots of ideas which are able to be implemented, but not scaled into a business. And we've all heard about VC's investing in the "team" more than the product, and how hard it is to find and hire really good engineers. So, a startup as sort of a long-cycle public job interview isn't the worst thing in the world.
Still, it would be nice (given the mindset of most engineers) to see the released framed in a more accurate way "Company X team being absorbed into Company Y", or "Company Y extends employment to entire team of Company X".
Perhaps it's just me, but I think most people see these "acquisition" press releases, and resulting "congratulations" rounds as somewhat of a poor veneer over the reality of what really transpired.