What's sad is that those companies accept. I have been offeredd job interviews at google and facebook and politely refused.
Yes, millions are a much bigger temptation, but you still have a choice. In the hand, either they decided those companies where matching their ethics, or they gave up on ethics for money.
Given our entreprenarial culture, is that surprising ?
Often, the offer is much harder to pass. "We will buy you or we will build a better you and destroy your business" - it's not just a money offer to refuse when you think about it. Part of the decision process is also the feeling that a huge company wants to enter the market with the same product. Can you compete?
Don't forget that all your investors that took that chance on you want their return too. It is different than one person who bootstrapped and can do whatever they want. When you take someone else's money, you have a legal and ethical responsibility to them.
I think you're assuming anticapitalist values in a game played by capitalists with venture capital.
This isn't an aberration; it's the goal. Startup companies are group-funded technology incubators that, if they succeed, are consumed by larger technology holding and aggregation companies.
In the case of Eero, I think they just knew it was surrender or be killed in another year or two. They were already starting to face heavy competition.
Yes, millions are a much bigger temptation, but you still have a choice. In the hand, either they decided those companies where matching their ethics, or they gave up on ethics for money.
Given our entreprenarial culture, is that surprising ?