I'll say it first so no one will jump on me. I am jealous of the 17 year old kid. Don't kid yourselves, you all are too. Who wouldn't want their start up acquired? I mean what's the point starting your own company? The goal should eventually be an exit of some kind.<p>The news of Summly getting bought out by Yahoo shocked basically almost all of us. It really flies in the face of all that we know too. How often do you hear, "you don't need VC money before you have traction, market fit, etc." It's bull crap. I believe a huge reason Summly was acquired was because of the VC connections it had. Without those connections and investors, that company with no revenue no real traction, would be swimming in the abyss with other start ups.<p>Summly basically is a company that uses another companies technology!! I mean that's insane! A tech company that uses another companies technology! To be honest, I wouldn't be shocked if this deal falls through because of it's licensing agreement with their technology provider. Maybe that's why the company is being shut down, and "re tooled."<p>The larger point I am trying to make here is that luck, is literally half the battle with start ups. You could have the best product, design, etc. but if you don't catch a few breaks you will be nothing.<p>So I guess I can't get too mad at the Summly kid, everyone needs to get lucky once in a while.
It doesn't fly in the face of what we know. If you take VC money, your investors will be looking for some kind of exit, and they will also be trying to achieve that through their connections. That doesn't mean every company needs to take VC money, but that's one way that people play this game.
"You could have the best product, design, etc. but if you don't catch a few breaks you will be nothing."<p>Many people have learned this lesson the hard way.<p>"I am jealous of the 17 year old kid"<p>Why? Do you really define your personal success to be when another company buys you out?
Well, that`s where having good VCs might make a difference. Summly might be at a bigger scale but VCs trying to get their money out of a sinking ship is usually how "soft-landing" is managed.