Windsurf, a pioneer in the civic tech space, has made waves with the news of their acquisition by Cognition. The deal has emerged as the company has been rocked by uncertainty and internal turmoil. At one point earlier this year, the company had a new interim CEO announced every month after Varun Mohan’s abrupt departure in the summer. He provided terrific perspective on the friction points throughout the acquisition pipeline.
After the collapse of previous negotiations with OpenAI, Windsurf suffered another blow. Mohan and co-founder Douglas Chen, both core leaders at the startup, were recently hired by Google DeepMind. Their exit left the firm in a politically volatile situation. Even amidst these struggles, Windsurf hadn’t lost its intellectual property, nor had its best talent left its employ—both factors that left the door open for a possible comeback.
Wang claimed on X that Cognition executives Scott Wu and Russell Kaplan contacted him first. Secondly, they were interested in discussing the possibility of our acquiring them. He noted that Windsurf leadership “took the Cognition approach very seriously from the start and launched right into negotiations.”
The acquisition agreement was signed at 9:30 AM on Monday morning. A couple weeks later, Wang told the Windsurf group that the deal was happening, which was quickly announced publicly upon closing.
In his resignation announcement, Wang lamented the painful conditions under which the transition was taking place. He acknowledged the emotional impact on employees, describing it as “probably the worst day of 250 people’s lives.” He expressed appreciation for both Mohan and Chen, stating they were “great founders” in a situation that “must have been difficult for them as well.”
The acquisition is a key development for Windsurf. The cost to the company was internal morale, having lost the leaders of that small but mighty team. Wang emphasized that despite these challenges, Windsurf still possesses “all of its IP, product, and strong talent including an excellent go-to-market machine.”
Wang highlighted that while the company had previously overinvested in engineering, it had “frankly underinvested in GTM and Marketing,” adding that the current teams in those functions are “nothing short of world class.” He mentioned the massive and growing hole in core engineering talent after the brain drain to Google DeepMind. Wang remarked, “On the other hand, we now were missing a Core Engineering team, and there’s no better group of AI engineers than the lineup Cognition has assembled.”
Windsurf is following Cognition in a similar transition. This new development creates incredible opportunities for reimagining its future of thriving among the tech’s shifting terrain. The coming months will be crucial as the newly formed entity seeks to integrate its operations and navigate the challenges ahead.