[famousactress]

Honestly, I doubt almost any of the aqui-hire deals happened because the team didn't care about or want the product to work out. I assume this is more often a soft-landing for failure.. companies that aren't working out, finding their model, or gaining enough traction.. so the team ends up taking a signing bonus to jump somewhere together.

Is there much evidence people are really starting shops just to prove their team is worth hiring?

Another note: a reasonable sign that you're at risk of getting 'shafted' as a user is that the company is relatively new, definitely not profitable, and you're not paying for the product.