Windsurf gets raided by Google
From TechCrunch:
In a shocking twist, Google DeepMind is now hiring Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and some of the startup’s top researchers. A Google spokesperson confirmed the hiring of Windsurf’s leaders in a statement to TechCrunch.
I know a lot of the Windsurf folks, so this news makes me both a little excited for them but also a little scared. Time (or leaks) will tell if this $2.4 billion acqui-hire plays out well for the team.
Update: I’m late to this. From The Information via Twitter:
- Employees with vested shares will receive cash – Employees who joined less than 12 months ago are not vested and won’t get payouts under current terms – Windsurf negotiated to keep $100M+ on its balance sheet; company will shift focus to enterprise customers
- Remaining company will now be employee owned
This is similar in structure to the Scale deal, employees who joined later on not only get less, they get next to nothing. I’m still lost as to what this exit means. Was it that Windsurf ran out of options? That Microsoft accessing their IP was too big of a no-go?