Why Apple paying twice for Lala and Color engineers was a stroke of genius

Apple bought Lala for $80 million down and $80 in retention bonuses, and then, after founder Bill Nguyen and many of the engineers left anyway to found Color, Apple bought them again for around 7 million. Aubrey Johnson tells the story:

Apple obtained the same employees for pennies on the dollar. This time with even more experience and startup life under their belt.

Even more fascinating is the reason Apple bought Lala to begin with, and the way Steve Jobs handled the negotiations. Go. Read.

Source: Aubrey Johnson

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.