It decreases the chance of an acquisition, unless things have changed since the last time I was involved in acquisition talks. A sticking point in at least 3 acquisition attempts I was involved in (one consummated) was the use of idiosyncratic tech; in one case, it was using Tcl; in another, OpenBSD.

Great information, thanks! I take it the companies using Tcl and OpenBSD failed to get acquired.

I didn't realize the technology used would deter an acquirer. This probably explains why most startups go with "safe choices".

I'm not going to say that (eg) OpenBSD kept a company from getting acquired; terms and timing were more important. But it was continuously raised as an issue, seriously enough that the engineering team was asked to port.

Bizdev is an awful reason to choose technology, or for that matter to make any other decision about your product. I'm just refuting the statement that writing your own programming language will help you get bought.