NEW: How partial acquisitions are killing startup culture — and what we can do about it. Earlier this month, after Google poached Windsurf’s braintrust and licensed its IP (Cognition later acquired what was left), @JustJake coined the term “shell-qui-hires” to describe pseudo-acquisitions in which a company is “acquired” by partially poaching the team. Today in Pirate Wires, he explains how these partial acquisitions are killing the culture that makes startups great. See, startups are a binding of fate. In a startup, you’re basically all in one boat (with lots of holes). It’s you and your crew against the world. Yeah, it’s a shitshow sometimes, but through sheer force of will, you have a shot at making a dent in the universe while capturing all the upside — if you can stick together. Partial acquisitions torch this dynamic. They create massive asymmetries and distrust. CEOs have to make subjective judgment calls about who’s acquired vs. not; employees might’ve been taken care of (paid) but it *looks* like their leaders bailed and left them with nothing; talented candidates and employees start asking themselves, “Is my CEO going to leave me for the Big Retirement home in the sky?” (Google). It’s up to founders to discard this behavior. Loudly. If founders don’t take action, Jake explains, they’re complicit in eroding the sacred trust allowing startups to do what they do best: build the future. He’s adopting an "All or None" clause for his startup (if the company is acquired, it’s everybody or nobody). VCs could do the same. And the FTC, hopefully, will see that current regulations have unintended side effects causing pain for startups — and move to update legislation to make sure everyone gets paid, together. Full story threaded 👇