Will we see the return of acqui-hiring?

Examples include:

1. Meta acquired Kustomer in 2021. Kustomer had developed a customer relationship management platform that integrated with social media platforms. Whilst Meta was interested in the platform itself, it was also interested in hiring the talented team of engineers behind it, who were well-versed in integrating with Meta’s own platform.

2. Google acquired a startup called Milk in 2012, which was founded by Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg. Google was primarily interested in hiring Rose and his team, who had a track record of creating successful products.

3. Twitter acquired Chroma Labs in 2021, which had developed a mobile app that allowed users to create and share customisable photo and video stories. Twitter was interested in hiring the talented team of designers and engineers behind the app, and used the acquisition to help build out its own visual content features.

In recent years, acqui-hiring has slightly declined in popularity, but I believe we will begin to see a shift back towards acqui-hiring in the near future, especially with the increasing trend of VCs backing earlier stage startups.

This just goes to show that when it comes to exiting a startup, talent acquisition is a crucial component of success. Your team is your most valuable asset, and investors want to see a strong, capable workforce in place. Without the right people in key positions, even the most promising startups can fail to secure a profitable exit. This is something companies from even Pre-Seed stage should be aware of.