[run4yourlives]

You don't seem to indicate what I would figure to be a major concern for you right now: Do you or do you not want to sell?

I think you should come to this conclusion within your team before doing anything else. Considering you personally sound pretty conflicted, you're going to have a tough time "winning" this challenge if each one of you has different ideas of the ideal outcome.

Once you understand that - that is, the ideal outcome - work towards that. Don't get sidelined by big companies and big money. As bluethunder says 99.9% of all deals never happen, so they aren't worth putting more than .1% of your daily effort into (figuratively speaking here, of course).

I'd say this as well: Do not for a second believe that being acquired is some sort of growth mechanism for your dreams. It is by definition the exact opposite; the death of your company. No matter what, the company you have, its plans, culture, desires and particulars will cease to exist. This will happen despite everyone's promises and best intentions.

What will exist may or may not be something you can live with, but it won't be the thing you are living right now.