Mark Zuckerberg & [REDACTED] ·Meta (Facebook) ·9 APR 2012
Buy The Threat Before It Becomes The Competitor
When a small player is beating you on a new behavior, acquisition can be cheaper than the fight.
Topic
Acquisitions
Buy-versus-build calls and the correspondence around them.
12 letters · most recent first
David Ebersman & Dan Levy ·Meta (Facebook) ·16 APR 2012
After You Buy It, Don't Break It
The cost savings will still be there in a year. The momentum won't.
Raymond Endres & Alex Schultz & Javier Olivan ·Meta/Facebook ·22 FEB 2014
When Winning Removes Your Team's Reason to Fight
If you build a team's identity around beating a rival, buying that rival creates a morale crisis, not a celebration.
Chris Cox ·Meta/Facebook ·22 FEB 2011
Unbundle Before A Competitor Unbundles You
When a small competitor breaks out a feature from your app and it explodes, that's not a threat to swat — it's a signal to copy.
Mark Zuckerberg ·Facebook ·11 FEB 2013
Spot The Attack Vector Before It Reaches You
The most dangerous competitor isn't the one copying you today — it's the one entering through a door you left open.
Amy Hood ·Microsoft ·26 JUN 2023
Buy Your Way Off a Shrinking Island
When your platform is losing relevance, don't defend it — buy the assets that live on the platforms that are winning.
Mark Zuckerberg ·Meta Platforms, Inc. ·11 FEB 2012
When Your Original Thesis Is Wrong, Pay To Fix It Fast
If a small competitor has already won the use case your future depends on, the cheapest option is usually to buy them — before the market figures out how valuable they are.
David Drummond ·Google ·23 MAR 2007
When a Rival Bids, Your Build Plan Becomes a Buy Decision
A build-it-yourself plan is only valid until a competitor's checkbook makes the timeline irrelevant.
Neal Mohan ·Google LLC ·23 MAR 2009
Don't Bleed an Acquisition to Death by a Thousand Cuts
An acquired business is worth more than its P&L — cut it like a standalone and you destroy the very reason you bought it.
Neal Mohan ·Google LLC ·11 OCT 2010
Buy the Competitor to Buy Yourself Time
Sometimes you acquire a rival not to use what they built, but to stop the clock while you fix what you have.
Mark Zuckerberg ·Facebook, Inc. ·28 FEB 2012
"It is better to buy than compete." The 60-Word Email That Cost Meta Billions in Discovery
Eight years later, this paragraph would be sitting in front of a House subcommittee, a federal judge, and the Federal Trade Commission.
Satya Nadella ·Microsoft ·13 OCT 2023
Nadella's Activision Memo Was Written for an Audience of One: the Press
Read this memo as a brief to Microsoft employees and it is bland. Read it as a brief to regulators, courts, and reporters and it is meticulous.