Our company got acquired by Internet Brands (they bought WebMD last year) and there are rumors of layoffs and all that fun stuff. Would love to hear people's experiences working for companies that got acquired. Should i wait it out or start looking? For reference, I am not in product nor engineering and joined the company last year. I already updated my resume and have started to apply for jobs to be on the safe side.
What's your equity situation? Any payouts happening as part of the acquisition?
Joined last year and got stock options which half of unvested is sped up and vesting. We lose the other half. Not significant enough though.
always looking ;) you never know
It never ends well , If you are on visa move asap if not then stay and prepare for the interview and enjoy severance package
I have not been through this personally but based on what I’ve heard, start looking
Start looking. Best case: you aren't let go, they offer you a retainment bonus and you have a counter offer on the table Worst case: you are let go and you already have something to do Middle case: you have options
Really depends on the culture. My company was acquired by Microsoft, and I love it. I was a fit. Others weren't. From your description, it sounds like internet brands may not be the kind of culture you would have chosen. If that's the case, definitely look for something more your speed, but don't let on that you are doing it. You may luck into a package that works with your timing. Best of luck, and hang in there.
Internet brands - they laid off entire WebMD engineering and product team in Seattle after acquisition- tens of employees were given a 30 day notice and zero severance- I had a friend impacted by this and visa situation.
Start looking, but you might hang on long enough in case there are any retention bonuses.
If your company has any semblance of fun or culture expect that to be sucked out of you when people start leaving in droves. Happened to us when Oracle bought Opower.
Ouch. Sorry to hear that. Thought you guys were doing some really cool work, BTW!
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Be prepared to be laid off, start looking sooner rather than later. My experience was pretty bad and almost everyone who didn't get laid off quit within 2 years. New company was toxic. That's only one data point though, ymmv.