這是科技行業瘋狂大并購的一年。但有一點，所有這些大手筆交易，包括軟銀斥資320億美元收購ARM控股，微軟以262億美元的價格拿下領英，威瑞森以48億美元的價格收購雅虎，甚至是甲骨文和特斯拉分別斥資93億美元和28億美元買下NetSuite和SolarCity，都不涉及任何價值10億美元的科技獨角獸公司（聯合利華收購Dollar Shave Club不在其列，因為收購前Dollar Shave Club并非獨角獸公司）。

我提到的此類并購讓投資銀行家們忙個不停。風險投資人卻因此感到緊張。為我們投資的公司留點兒現金吧！

普華永道的數據顯示，雖然出現了諸多引人關注的收購活動，但科技行業今年的并購規模下降了19%。研究機構CB Insights指出，更糟糕的是，到目前為止只有兩家10億美元級初創公司完成了轉讓，分別是Lazada和Jasper。

滴滴出行收購優步中國或許預示著今后將出現的情形。如果膨脹起來的、資金過剩而且估值過高的初創企業因價格過高而無法出售，同時又因為盈利能力太差而無法上市，那么為什么不讓它們相互兼并呢？

優步首席執行官特拉維斯?卡蘭尼克是最有競爭力、態度最堅決的贏家通吃型初創公司CEO。他能容忍失敗實在意義重大。本次讓步也許會啟發其他打算隨優步而動的初創型公司CEO，讓他們對自己的公司持更加實際的態度。

競爭是初創企業合并的原因之一。我預計，經歷不可避免的整合之后，最大的幾家餐飲外賣快遞初創公司將合并在一起。監管障礙是它們合并的另一原因，比如優步在中國遇到的情況，以及傳聞中讓FanDuel和DraftKings走到一起的因素。

卡蘭尼克放棄在中國的宏大計劃標志著初創公司市場出現了拐點。驕傲、自負以及單憑意志就能變不可能為可能的非理性硅谷信念也許再也發揮不了作用了，這也是優步和滴滴等公司此前一直沒有合并的最主要原因。（財富中文網）

譯者：Charlie

審校：詹妮

It’s been a big year for giant, crazy tech deals. Except none of the big deals, including SoftBank’s $32 billion acquisition of ARM Holdings, Microsoft’s $26.2 billion deal for LinkedIn, Verizon’s $4.8 billion deal for Yahoo, or even Oracle’s $9.3 billion deal for NetSuite or Tesla’s $2.8 billion deal for SolarCity, involve any of the tech world’s billion-dollar unicorns. (Unilever’s acquisition of Dollar Shave Club doesn’t count as it was not a unicorn before its acquisition.)

Deals like the ones I mentioned are keeping investment bankers busy. But they have to make venture capital investors nervous. Save some cash for our portfolio companies!

Despite all the high profile mega-mergers, deal volume for tech M&A is down 19% this year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. What’s worse, only two billion-dollar startups have sold so far, according to CB Insights: Lazada and Jasper.

The merger of Uber China with local rival Didi Chuxing might also be a sign of things to come. If bloated, over-funded, overvalued startups are too expensive to sell and too unprofitable to go public, why not use that expensive stock to merge with one another?

It’s significant that Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, the most competitive, hard-charging, winner-take-all startup CEO around, has conceded a loss. That concession may inspire other startup CEOs hoping to follow in Uber’s footsteps and be more pragmatic about their own businesses.

Competition is one reason for startup mergers. I predict after the inevitable shakeout of meal kit and food delivery startups, we’ll see the biggest ones merge. Regulatory hurdles, like the one Uber faced in China, or the one behind the rumored merger of FanDuel and DraftKings, is another reason to merge.

The retreat of Kalanick’s grand ambitions in China signals a turning point for the startup market. The biggest reasons mergers like Uber-Didi haven’t happened sooner—pride, ego, and the irrational Silicon Valley belief that you can make the impossible happen by sheer force of will—may no longer be a factor.