One company may decide to buy another for its people, its clients, its products, its technology or a combination of all four. But how often does a company acquire another for its culture?

Bromides pumped out by companies during a takeover aim to reassure investors and staff that the two organisations will “fit” well. But history frequently disproves those promises. Even if the bid is deemed a success, the benefits are often achieved through the larger company’s total absorption of the smaller. Most of the time, the culture of the buyer prevails.

This sort of acquisition strategy leaves behind a trail of disgruntled, if newly enriched, founders. They will often be torn between devotion to their business and old colleagues and irritation about the big-company bureaucracy to which they must now conform. Frequently, they will quit as soon as they can.