Datto founder shares thoughts on kaseya acquisition

Founders are precious about the companies they start, and they do things to “be different” because it is a key recruiting technique for smaller, earlier stage firms.

But those aren’t cold-hearted calculations. They are quality of life choices you can make as a founder, because you are optimizing for your dreams. It’s likely what helped you be successful.

But that’s not Kaseya. They are a clinical money making machine. They weren’t there for your first big enterprise contract that gave away huge concessions that you wouldn’t touch even though it was a money loser. They know that the buyer will either accept the price increase based on the fact they haven’t canceled, or that they can easily wash their hands of a money losing deal. In the end, that works for them.

They have their own engineering teams that work well for them doing things their way. Those people work there because they enjoy the work and the arrangement. They aren’t bright eyed and busy tailed about changing the world, they are building a portfolio of business and tools. That’s their passion, and good for them.

You can’t expect the people that buy your childhood home to leave your room painted the same god awful color you painted it as a teenager, or leave up your posters of your favorite bands because “that room means something, and that decor was about more than just a primate sleeping, it was about a process of self discovery in a cold universe that sent me to Stanford”. Seriously, they don’t care. It’s now their own kid’s room, with freshly painted white walls.