Nothing, IMHO. But there’s a new debate on whether the Mint / Intuit deal was a good deal, or selling short-sightedly.
I’m with Eric @CloudAve and Sarah @ TechCrunch in their call to “move past this incrementalism and start thinking big” – they just use Mint as a trigger to a good thought process. But startup legend and 37Signals cult-leader Jason Fried goes a step further, chastising the Mint team for selling out: The next generation bends over:
Mint was a key leader of the next generation of game changers. And now it’s property of Intuit — the poster-child for the last generation. What a loss. Is that the best the next generation can do? Become part of the old generation? How about kicking the shit out of the old guys? What ever happened to that?
Jason thinks the VC’s who invested in Mint must have forced the deal. Before you make up your mind on that, read Alexander Muse’s analysis over @ Texas Startup Blog.
Back to Mint, and Founder Aaron Patzer: he will become a Corporate Executive – not exactly the role Startup Founders dream of. But that’s just the way the acquisition game is played. He will likely be either pushed out or leave on his own leaving some chips on the table – that’s also part of the standard acquisition script.
When he is out, he’ll be set for life, does not have to work a single day. And if he still has the entrepreneurial spirit, he can launch another startup, and guess what, VCs will be falling over each other to fund him. That’s also part of the game.
So what exactly is wrong with a few twenty-somethings making tens of millions in two years?
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