acquihire meaning (slang): definition, etymology and quotations

acquihire

verb

US /əkˈhaɪɚ/ · UK /əkˈhaɪə/

Etymology Coined by Rex Hammock in 2005 as acqhire, blend of acquire + hire, in reference to acquisition of Dodgeball.com by Google. Hammock subsequently worked to popularize the word. Spelling inconsistent, particularly to difficulty in pronunciation (/ak-hire/), leading to longer variants.

Business Slang To acquire a company, in particular a small startup, to recruit its employees, rather than for its products or services.

“Tarek was an acquihired founder like you. He turned out to be so awesome, I made him co-head of one of Phluttr's biggest projects! But that's rare. I usually look to guys like you and him to start something new. You're entrepreneurs, after all![…]”2017, Rob Reid, After On, Del Rey, →ISBN:

acquihire

noun

Business Slang An acquisition of a company to recruit its employees, rather than for its products or services.

Then, in August, they bought Push Pop press, which was seen as an acquihire of designers Kimon Tsinteris and Mike Matas, who designed several of key pieces of the iPhone interface.2013 May 2, Alexis C. Madrigal, “How Facebook Designs the 'Perfect Empty Vessel' for Your Mind”, in The Atlantic:
There are a lot of really excellent founders pursuing consumer ideas that just never work -- that's why companies like Yahoo and Google and others can do so many acquihires.2013 October 11, Marc Andreessen (as pmarca), “Weary of ‘Fruit Fly’ Consumer Startups, Andreessen Horowitz Raises Series A Bar”, in Hacker News, comment: