
Would You Stick Around and Ensure You're a "Good Acquisition" Once You Already Have Your Money? - staunch

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jward
It is my understanding that most purchases of companies are not done for cash.
They are done for stock. It is in your best interest to help the acquiring
company grow because that will only increase the value of your stock more. At
the very least, you don't want to screw them over. I also believe a lot of the
terms come with so called golden handcuffs, large salaries and more stock
bonuses, if you stick around.

Of course, you should help out getting things running smoothly because it's
just the right thing to do.

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staunch
I'm curious what other people think about sticking around after you've been
bought? Would you have your deal terms include you getting to walk away
immediately? Would you try to stick it out?

Mark Fletcher has said something about making an effort to ensure Ask Jeeves
was happy with their acquisition of Bloglines. He hinted that he did this to
maintain his reputation.

The Reddit acquisition seems like a pretty typical scenario. Aaron Swartz
clearly had no desire to stick out in the Big Evil Corp after he got his
check, while the other guys are managing to (so far). I can't help but
wondering whether Aaron hurt himself seriously for future acquisitions by
leaving in a tumultuous way.

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davidw
I think if you honestly don't want to be someplace... well, I guess that's ok,
but you should probably be up front about it - define how long you'll work to
transition things to a new team, and be professional about it.

But I think most companies want you to stick around for a while.

