A few weeks ago, I was thrilled for a buddy at @windsurf_ai when the @OpenAI acquisition was announced. I joked in our group chat that he'd be picking up the tab on the next boy's trip. Now, with Google’s acquihire, the news is devastating. Here’s what I’ve gathered: - The top 30 AI engineers + leadership are going to Google. - Existing employees are getting nothing. - Even early team members with significant vested equity are reportedly receiving peanuts. I was dm'd by several who asked to remain anonymous - The company still has a massive cash balance—but is gutted. The employees now own it! They should be so grateful! Early startup employees are the heroes of this industry. Not founders. Not VCs. These are the people who take real risks: leaving stable jobs, accepting lower salaries, buying into the dream that equity might someday mean something. They work more hours. They take on more stress. And yes, they sign up for the possibility of a big win. When that big win actually happens—and people get cut out? It breaks trust in the whole system. A $3B+ exit is the dream scenario. This is when things go right. This is the top .1% of startups that you dream about as an early-stage employee. This isn't just buy a house money, this is set for life money. If this is what happens when things go right, I can't imagine what this will do to the industry. Calling it an "acquihire" to dodge regulatory scrutiny while stiffing your team is just greed disguised as compliance. As a founder, this will hurt us dramatically. Hiring was already getting harder. Post-ZIRP, the salary gap between startups and big tech did shrink however overfunded startups made employees skeptical of equity. I hear more and more early employees negotiating for less equity in favor of cash and have experienced that myself. They think its just a nice bonus if things work out and have been trained to think it' worth $0. I don't know the solution here but there is a ton of $ to play with on a $3b exit. Even a $250K–$500K bridge for every employee would make a massive difference. There’s enough to do that, and more. If you're a founder or a VC: this is your wake-up call. If this becomes the norm, startups will be staffed by mercenaries—not missionaries. Equity will mean nothing. The model breaks. Stop being a short term thinker and squeezing every last dollar out of this deal. Founders: protect your teams. VCs: do right by the people who made your return possible. If this is what happens when things go right… why would anyone ever join your startup again? I've seen some great threads on this from @balajis @jordihays @haridigresses