What Do Medium’s Acquisitions Mean for the Platform?
Is Medium changing directions or doubling down?
The goal of every venture-backed startup is to get acquired (or do an IPO.) But acquisitions are almost always by industry giants that can afford to pay cash or tradeable stock for a fresh high-flyer.
Startups rarely acquire other startups. What little cash startups have in the bank they need to fund their own operating losses, not buy up other money-losing startups. For the acquired company, exchanging their own company’s stock for an acquirer’s non-tradeable stock rarely makes sense.
And yet, in 2021, Medium made 3 acquisitions: Projector, Knowable, and Glose.
Why did Medium make these acquisitions, and what do they mean for the business?
I’ve put together a venture capitalists’ analysis of these 3 acquisitions. It’s all speculation based on very limited public information, but I’ve applied my 30 years as a startup founder and venture investor in Silicon Valley to analyzing what’s going on behind the scenes.
In normal times, my speculations would be limited to office chatter around the kombucha cooler. But in these cooler-less WFH days, I’m posting my speculations here. Feel free to jump in and tell me I’m wrong — my wife does that every few…
