Sometimes you just get acquired because "large sums of money". Some startups are on their way way up, with spare room to improve on their value proposition and mission at the time of their acquisition, and it's difficult to know what the road not traveled would've looked like. Even if you see improvements post-acquisition, you can't tell if the acquisition actually stifled the potential. For some of the companies lauded in this very thread, I'd argue that's the case.