Google Acquires Aardvark For $50 million
caro:
Dave’s commentary below on the Google acquisition of Aardvark is spot on. Google has to be disappointed that multiple Vark team members, including CEO Max Ventilla, are ex-Googlers that they couldn’t retain to stay at Google for a fraction of this $50MM payday.
I think this acquisition emphasizes just how valuable equity is. Owning your work product is not only richly rewarded in the upside, but it feels great to be so personally invested in what you do.*
Max probably could have built a product like Aardvark at Google… I have enough confidence in Google they they would have been supportive of an internal initiative like this. But, why would Max start Aardvark inside Google when he could own it himself outright? As Chris Dixon recently wrote, every time a bright, talented engineer joins Google, a startup dies.
* The irony of these words coming from someone who works in “VC apprenticeship” is not lost on me.
Wow, congrats. It’s interesting that the founders left Google, spent 2.5 years building something, then get acquired by their former company for $50 million. What is going wrong at Google that is costing them this kind of “innovation premium”?
More great thoughts from these two!
Isn’t this what is right at Google? It is hiring bright and ambitious people. But it is only natural, esp in this industry, that these same people want to become independent and start their own thing. Andrew puts it much better in his post.
Also, isn’t it telling that these guys sold back to their old employer, Google. The exit, while a financial windfall for the founders, is certainly not a home run. “Innovation premium” is one way to look at it, but it could also be seen as a “Investor premium”. Investors support and encourage smart people to take risks and build something big, luring them out of big companies. Later, these companies are sold back to big companies at a higher price.
I am sure Google is able to retain the vast majority of their people with all the amenities they offer. But the loss of top talent to entrepreneurship is something that Google can not control.
