What's driving them is the increasing speed at which technology start-ups can now go from idea to launch with very little seed capital, market watchers say. That, and an initial public offering market that's been creeping upscale in recent years, leaving smaller firms with fewer exit options.
"We see a lot of companies built to be acquired," says John Burley, the head of Burley & Associates, a Washington-based business acquisitions services firm. "They come to us talking about how Google or some other large firm should buy them. More often than not, we decline to take these clients."
Last year, when Google announced its record-high $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick, an online advertising company -- a deal that took until February to close -- CEO Eric Schmidt made a special point of reassuring these entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and other investors that mega-deals would remain the exception in the search engine giant's acquisitions strategy.
Image: (Left) Kevin Ryan, CEO and co-founder, and Kevin O'Connor, chairman and co-founder, of DoubleClick. | Photograph: Scott Gries/Getty Images
Also read: The most valuable companies in America
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