> This transaction is structured so that 100% of Windsurf employees will participate financially. They will also have all vesting cliffs waived and will receive fully accelerated vesting for their work to date.
I was a bit confused as to what "Cognition" was, but they're the makers of Devin (edit: that just got added to the title, for reference), so that makes sense. Just buying the competition, the only surprise is they had more money to spend than the big ones.
Having been acquired by Google, there is always a leeway for the execs to take the employees with them. Google is a weak negotiator when they NEED something.
On the other hand, I can imagine the execs taking Google golden handcuffs while trying to close the Cognition deal so the employees are made whole or maybe even on better terms than if they all went to Google.
I’m really confused now. Also, is there really that much of a transformative difference between Windsurf and say OpenAI/Claude etc to warrant this crazy valuations?
"work to" is key.. sounds like they aren't fully accelerating, just accelerating the time they worked that hasn't vested. So if you were hired a week ago, you get a week's worth of participation.
I wonder if we'll ever stop to ask ourselves if faster and faster output of software is actually a good thing for the world. Or will we just continue because it's just what we do nowadays in civilization to get ahead?
Uhh so where does the 2.4B go to? For the "licensing" rights but without equity to Windsurf? Does the whole 2.4B get distributed amongst the talent that Google acquired or is it shared amongst all Windsurf employees?
66 comments
[ 4.3 ms ] story [ 67.6 ms ] thread> This transaction is structured so that 100% of Windsurf employees will participate financially. They will also have all vesting cliffs waived and will receive fully accelerated vesting for their work to date.
Does this represent confirmation that there was no pro-rata compensation to common share holders in the Google deal?
I just have so many questions.
Cognition being worth $4B with Devin being raced to zero by Claude Code also undercutting both Windsurf and Cursor have a very steep hill to climb.
Having both Devin and Windsurf will just make them raise more money as they burn through their operational costs.
On the other hand, I can imagine the execs taking Google golden handcuffs while trying to close the Cognition deal so the employees are made whole or maybe even on better terms than if they all went to Google.
> 100% of Windsurf employees will have vesting cliffs waived for their work to date
> 100% of Windsurf employees will receive fully accelerated vesting for their work to date
This sounds like a happy ending for the employees of Windsurf and a good deal for Cognition
All right, cancelled.
OpenAI’s Windsurf deal is off, and Windsurf’s CEO is going to Google - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44536988 - July 2025 (679 comments))
Attended Windsurf's Build Night 18 hours before founders joined Google DeepMind - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44539884 - July 2025 (1 comment)