Hey, the good news is you’re being acquired. The bad news is a key part of the deal is the product you’ve been nurturing, growing and pouring your heart and soul into will be shut down as part of the deal.

Welcome to the exciting world of team-buying in which the acquirer has far more interest in the people who built the product than the product itself. Case in point is Twitter’s purchase of Vancouver-based Summify last week.

Twitter essentially bought co-founders Mircea Pasoi and Christian Strat and the Summify team, while blowing off the service, which used social data to create a personalized news. Summify has stopped accepted new users, and has already removed or disabled some features.

The buy-and-close transaction is interesting because it is almost as if the product served as a public audition for the people who developed it. While the team performed on stage, the potential acquirers observed from the seats to determine whether there was good talent for hire.

In some ways, being bought but having your product shut down must be bitter-sweet for entrepreneurs who were able to execute on the vision for the product they developed. On the other hand, getting handsomely paid AND having an opportunity to work for a fast-moving company that wants you to be part of it is a good way to get over the loss.

Still, it must be a conundrum for entrepreneurs to accept this kind of deal. As much as it is flattering to be wanted, it comes with a price. It does make you wonder whether some entrepreneurs would hold out for a deal that doesn’t throw their baby out with the bath water, even if means turning down a fairly attractive offer.

At the end of the day, Summify has to qualify as an entrepreneurial success. The founders are probably happy, Summify’s investors are pleased, and Twitter got what it wanted.

Would you reject an acquisition offer if it meant your product had to disappear, or would it not matter?