My step-father was in high tech during the 90s and I saw how small companies with innovative ideas and products would get gobbled up by bigger companies, such as Microsoft. At first, the small businesses would be simply folded into the larger corporation. Then workers would get laid off (and provided with stock options, usually) and finally the company would disappear completely. The innovative product would just become a feature in an already established application or simply go the way of Betamax.