Why? Once a company has been acquired, does it automatically fall out of profitability?
If it's acquired in a stock sale, it remains an independent entity and still has a P&L
If it's acquired/merged in an asset sale (not usually a good sign), it can still be assessed whether the new division is profitable - except in some rare cases like Google (allegedly!) not wanting to itemize some of their divisions to avoid too much regulatory scrutiny on monopoly positions.
> Becoming profitable never enters the picture :)
Seems very wrong based on looking at YC's portfolio, which apparently includes a bunch of profitable startups
> It becomes a part of the company that bought it?
Not necessarily. As I explained above, most successful acquisitions are stock sales, in which case the acquiring company now owns the startup (they hold the shares). The startup is still a separate entity at this point.
Google is known for just merging the acquired startups into their product line (and/or killing them), but it's not a hard rule that all acquisitions are mergers.
They are either profitable or acquired :)
> Becoming profitable, even at this point is just a matter of deciding to stop expanding
Yeah, growth at all costs is one of the defining factors.
> it's a startup accelerator after al
The only business models for Y Combinator startups are:
- run indefinitely long on unlimited investor money
- get sold to the highest bidder at some nebulous market valuation
Becoming profitable never enters the picture :)