M&A isn’t a sign of failure. It’s usually a sign of progress and doing what’s next.
Sara Haghdoosti, Berim founder
most common challenges during an M&A process often fall into 2 categories:
Planning & Resource Allocation – M&A takes way more resources—time, money, and emotional energy—than participants expect… to help, have full commitment & bandwidth from a key set of board members who are ready; funders can play a useful role too.
Merging Organizational Cultures & Visions – Asymmetry makes worse the problems of credit & identity; navigating false equality is challenging (i.e. “no mergers, only acquisitions”)… putting mission ahead of ego & giving up power for benefit of org is an act of leadership.
bonus nugget:
“So much of what goes wrong is the emotional part. People don’t let things go, they get in fights, and most of that is connected to feelings of failure or guilt.” These kinds of organizational transitions have huge emotional costs often underestimated by participants at the start.