Ask HN: Talk me through the acquihire process
My seed stage startup isn't going to make it to its series A, and we have 1.5 months of cash left. I am exploring an acquihire to see if I can find a soft landing for our team. I’ve got a meeting scheduled with a fairly senior Corp Dev person at a FAANG for Monday. I’ve never worked for a BigCo before nor have I been through an acquihire process, so I would love any advice on how I should navigate this.
(In hindsight I am very aware that this was a lousy situation to have put myself in, but here we are anyway.)
Specific questions:
1) What can I do to maximize my chances of getting my team acquihired?
2) Are acquihire packages substantially better than just trying to interview at these companies?
3) How long does this process take from start to finish?
4) What can I expect post acquihire? Will my team get absorbed into the org or will we have a chance to continue working together?
I know there are a lot of variables here so I'm providing some context below.
TL;DR we have decent traction on our product but not enough to justify a Series A and I don't want to keep treading water by taking on any extension capital from our existing investors. Therefore I am exploring an acquihire for our team. We are a 4 person team consisting of 2 founders (CEO and CTO) and 2 amazing engineers who have worked together for 4 years. We work really well together, work insanely hard and have built products together that we are proud of, but sadly didn’t find PMF.
On a personal note: I’ve been in the startup game for the last 10 years and I’m 36 years old. Expecting my first child this year. I need some stability in my life. Therefore I think it is time to go work for a BigCo for some time and figure out my life.