Varun Mohan, CEO and co-founder of AI startup Windsurf, is facing sharp criticism across the tech world after he left the company to join Google DeepMind, following the collapse of a potential $3 billion acquisition by OpenAI. Mohan’s departure, alongside co-founder Douglas Chen, has sparked debate over founder responsibility and ethics in the startup ecosystem.
With the top leadership exiting abruptly, the rest of the Windsurf team was left in disarray. A last-minute rescue came in the form of an acquisition deal by AI firm Cognition, finalized over the following weekend. New Windsurf CEO Jeff Wang described the turnaround as “crazy.”
Prominent venture capitalist Vinod Khosla criticised Mohan publicly, stating on X (formerly Twitter),
“Windsurf and others are really bad examples of founders leaving their teams behind and not even sharing the proceeds. I definitely would not work with their founders next time.”
Cognition CEO Scott Wu added,
“There’s an unspoken covenant that as a founder, you go down with the ship. That’s changed over the past year—and it’s disappointing.”
On social media, users condemned Mohan for what they called “cashing out” at the expense of employees. Some labelled him a “villain,” while others questioned the lack of communication from his end. Comments described the move as a betrayal of team trust, with one user writing:
“Varun Mohan saw those 0s and said ‘Forget the employees.’”
Alex Kehr, CEO of Superlocal, also weighed in, stating,
“Founders cashing out while the team’s left behind isn’t just bad form—it’s long-term reputation damage.”
As debate swirls, neither Mohan nor Google has issued a public statement addressing the backlash.