It can also be an advantageous continuation strategy. Being acquired doesn't necessarily mean giving up on the project, or losing ownership in it's future.
If you have a startup with a product, that product's path to further growth (and therefore its current and future value), can be expanded many times in the context of a family of synergistic products.
You can attempt to partner with existing synergistic products and companies. This can accelerate growth, but is also risky. Those other companies will likely see an opportunity to create their own competing version or your product.
That leaves creating synergistic products yourself, which may be a long road. Or being acquired by a synergistic company.
Either way, you end up owning a piece of a family of synergistic products, worth more together than apart, and with higher growth and stability prospects.
Whether its better to build out or get acquired depends on the risk vs. reward of the current context. If creating synergistic products reflects your strengths, and is open market territory, that is a great position to be in.
But if creating synergistic products is going to turn into an uphill battle of replacing products already on the market, then getting acquired may be a much faster safer higher value generating path.
If you have a startup with a product, that product's path to further growth (and therefore its current and future value), can be expanded many times in the context of a family of synergistic products.
You can attempt to partner with existing synergistic products and companies. This can accelerate growth, but is also risky. Those other companies will likely see an opportunity to create their own competing version or your product.
That leaves creating synergistic products yourself, which may be a long road. Or being acquired by a synergistic company.
Either way, you end up owning a piece of a family of synergistic products, worth more together than apart, and with higher growth and stability prospects.
Whether its better to build out or get acquired depends on the risk vs. reward of the current context. If creating synergistic products reflects your strengths, and is open market territory, that is a great position to be in.
But if creating synergistic products is going to turn into an uphill battle of replacing products already on the market, then getting acquired may be a much faster safer higher value generating path.