Windsurf's anticipated $3 billion acquisition by OpenAI collapsed, resulting in frantic negotiations and a company split into separate factions. The fallout raises concerns among Silicon Valley insiders regarding the implications for startup employees. As the deal fell apart, Google emerged not as an acquirer but as a hirer of Windsurf's CEO and key talent for $2.4 billion, which left many employees uncertain. Cognition later purchased the remnants of Windsurf, marking a turbulent period in the startup's history and raising questions about the future of startup employment.
This breaks the Silicon Valley social contract. This is bad for startup employees. They're going to be less likely to join startups. What's the point of joining a startup and working your ass off if you might get screwed?
When you join a company and it gets acquired for $3 billion, that's for the history books. That's a giant success in this industry.
Discussions with OpenAI fizzled, and there was a new suitor: Google, which said it would pay $2.4 billion to hire its CEO and top talent.
It was some of the most insane 72 hours I've seen in startup land.
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