Cultural Integration Before Operations

"First, Cultural Integration Cultural integration is the single most important thing to get right after the deal is signed. It’s the foremost reason why my companies have been able to do so many high-speed acquisitions without blowing up. We address it like this: First, we leverage the cultural intelligence we gathered during due diligence. This becomes the basis for our ability to communicate credibly with employees, customers, and other stakeholders. Second, we don’t come in with a heavy hand and an arrogant, my-way-or-the-highway attitude, causing the employees to feel disrespected. A lot of acquirers get an “F” for internal communications. That’s not our style. With every acquisition we undertake, we’re careful to be respectful toward our new team members through our words, our actions, and even how we think. This can’t be faked—people can tell if you’re giving them baloney. We cultivate a mindset of feeling grateful toward the people who sustained the company we just bought."

"We’re extremely respectful to the people we onboard from a company we buy. We’re all on the same team."

"Set Up Early Feedback Loops Often, when we buy a company, we discover that the frontline employees, middle managers, even some senior executives have never been asked, “What would you do to improve the company?” You’d think owners would want to know that! We do just the opposite through multiple feedback loops: surveys, town halls, one-on-one interviews, group meetings, internal social media—whatever best fits the size of the acquired employee base and the time frame. Asking for input is a way to show respect, and we find it pays dividends on both sides."