> Tip for acquirers: when a startup turns you down, consider raising your offer, because there's a good chance the outrageous price they want will later seem a bargain.

There's no evidence that this is the case.

Indeed, after founders are acquired their fierce competitive spirit and drive often starts to dissolve once the founders have gotten their exit and the teams run into the inevitable corporate realities that exist when teams are merged / integrated into a new culture.

Simply "offering more" does not address the reason why there aren't more Googles.

The hard truth is that technology incumbents fiercely defend their space making it very hard for new entrants to compete. Strong entrants either get acquired, and merged into the Borg, or are sidelined as the incumbents defend their turf sometimes through enhancements to the product / feature set, but often through somewhat anti-competitive actions that bar entry from new entrants.

While I would like to think the world is a meritocracy ("let the best product win"), the truth is far from that. And I think a lot of this piece from 2008 rests on half-truths and wishful thinking.