surprising twist in the Windsurf/OpenAI acquisition story, I tend to agree w/ @danco 's take

@HarryStebbings @jillrgunter If it becomes fair game for founders to do this, as long as investors get paid something, then this all feels more like PE, and boy do the vibes get wrecked if we go in that direction

@HarryStebbings @jillrgunter If the bad behaviour of a few founders makes the prospect of *personal liability* enter the chat for everyone, then we’re cooked. We’re europe. We’re deadmans

Alex Danco

surprising twist in the Windsurf/OpenAI acquisition story, I tend to agree w/ @danco 's take
https://www.reuters.com/business/google-hires-windsurf-ceo-researchers-advance-ai-ambitions-2025-07-11/

https://x.com/Alex_Danco/status/1943814120974745715

Founder, designer, & product guy at /basepaint
Prev: Eigenlayer, ConsenSys, Gitcoin, Arweave, Protocol Labs, & MIT DCI

That’s right, Windsurf did make money for investors. But that’s kind of the point.

Investors are covered. Founders, too.
It’s the employees especially recent hires who got iced out.

If you’re early stage talent betting your career on equity, and these new style exits don’t include you, then the startup pitch starts to look like a rigged game. That’s where the breakdown begins. More capital might flow in, but the best talent might not

Good convo here, ultimately seems like this is least favorable to later employees (but you could say liquidation preference, multi-round raises and debt do similar things anyway)

still mostly analog. patterns, builder, entrepreneur, analyzing your transactions since 2016

Good convo here, ultimately seems like this is least favorable to later employees (but you could say liquidation preference, multi-round raises and debt do similar things anyway)

https://farcaster.xyz/koolkheart.eth/0x894d1195

I am not sure where Danco gets that narrative though. im not saying its wrong but that it isnt my interpretation. Google still paying windsurf investors. if openai deal is falling through and windsurf is struggling (it is) the right thing to do is get your investors another deal