In order to disrupt IT in the corporate world you have to be a big corporation - or at least a part of a big corporation. Meraki kept their name, their culture, and 99% of their people in the acquisition by Cisco. You will hear that Cisco is a big company and confusing, and some employees have a fear (rational or irrational) of becoming "corporate" depending on your perspective. This actually drives them to stay competitive. No one likes change, that's true in any organization. People leave and start new companies, that's even more true in San Francisco's startup world than anywhere else. Cisco is one of the more family friendly and engineering talent friendly "corporate" companies in the Bay Area. Sure their offices in south bay are not as fancy as Meraki, but they'll probably upgrade their offices or already have started. Cisco has been the #1 company in IT for decades. Now it's time for... Cisco to keep that title. Meraki on the other hand now goes from being a cool start up with a great product and a small market share, to being the #1 company in IT.
