> I think this is why a lot of acquihires fail (like, acquihired employees leaving quickly). They way the acquired team works together doesn't mesh with the way the new company works.
I agree that there's typically a culture clash, but I don't think it's because the acquihired team overwhelms the existing company culture/process/etc. In an acquihire, most of the workers at the acquired company suddenly are working for a company that they didn't choose to work for. That's a ridiculously bad situation to be in as a developer: we have a great deal of choice in where we work, and it's poor strategy to let someone else decide for you just because they had enough money to buy out your boss. So developers choose. And they generally choose to leave because the acquiring company is overwhelming the culture they chose to work in with a culture they didn't.
This is different: everyone in this situation gets to evaluate the others and make a choice about their involvement in a business relationship. Of course there will be differences discovered after the fact that will result in both sides changing, but that isn't necessarily bad.
Well, that's why they give acquihired employees a whole bunch of RSUs. I worked for a boring corporate acquihirer for a while because they were paying me the stock equivalent of my salary (which also increased) every year.
I agree that there's typically a culture clash, but I don't think it's because the acquihired team overwhelms the existing company culture/process/etc. In an acquihire, most of the workers at the acquired company suddenly are working for a company that they didn't choose to work for. That's a ridiculously bad situation to be in as a developer: we have a great deal of choice in where we work, and it's poor strategy to let someone else decide for you just because they had enough money to buy out your boss. So developers choose. And they generally choose to leave because the acquiring company is overwhelming the culture they chose to work in with a culture they didn't.
This is different: everyone in this situation gets to evaluate the others and make a choice about their involvement in a business relationship. Of course there will be differences discovered after the fact that will result in both sides changing, but that isn't necessarily bad.