THE HALO EFFECT

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

A new type of deal structure has emerged in AI as an alternative to acquisitions and hiring. It involves hiring the core team from a startup and gaining a non-exclusive license to the startup's intellectual property in exchange for substantial licensing fees, which are distributed as dividends out to investors and employees. These startups then continue to operate under new leadership. These 'Hire And License Out' (HALO) deals are still new and remain poorly understood.