[patio11]

Getting VP-level role at top companies is very hard and if a developer of an acquired company could score a VP-level role elsewhere after the acquisition, he could probably do so before the acquisition

The scenario is not "I was engineer #3 at a startup which was just acquired by Google. I'll take a corner office at Facebook now, please." It is "I was engineer #3 at a startup which was just acquired by Google. Hello, Mr. VC. Sure, I'll join that company you just funded as VP of Engineering."

This second one, ahem, does not strike me as supremely implausible.

[badclient]

Even in that case, I am not aware of many instances where a developer being part of an acquisition helped him significantly in acquiring a VP position at a start-up.

Any start-up worth their salt is very deliberate in hiring. Now, if you don't care about where you are working and are merely chasing titles, I'd argue you can get a VP position without needing to be part of an acquisition.