Comment by frisco

Seriously though, you don't get it both ways. There's been this backlash against startups paying below market on the promise of equity, so then many startups in reality do start paying at or above market, and then people are still unhappy when things like this happen. This is a side effect of the increased cost of labor which makes many startups less viable. Silicon Valley doesn't run on "screw you pay me". At or above market salaries are a huge cost to startups to the detriment of their equity, and so honestly I'm not too upset about employees who have been making market salaries not getting much out of an acqui-hire. Hopefully the ones who were in the trenches with the founders will be rewarded, and if it's the case here where that's much of the team, then hopefully there's an earn out structure that provides that if the acquirer is trying to manage the acquisition risk.