As Fitbit users around the world are reportedly throwing their watches in the trash for fear of what Google will do with their health data, this week’s news reminded me why so many acquisitions fail. 

Having been part of the acquisition team, managed post-acquisition integrations, and decided when to walk away from acquisitions in my corporate days at companies including Microsoft and Amazon, the insights gained allow me to offer advice to my clients on if/when/how they acquire companies. 

There are three crucial acquisition stages where you can easily fail:

1.The decision. 

* Failing to involve the right executives in deciding if the acquisition is a right fit.

* Being unclear if this is a talent, technology, market share, or competitive blocking strategy as a reason for the acquisition. Don’t pretend it is something it is not. 

* Moving at the wrong speed. You have to know when to make the move at the right valuation or it will be like walking away from the roulette table just as your number comes up. 

2.The deal. 

* Failing to be realistic about how long the founders will stay around.

* Being unclear about what happens to customers. Fitbit has a huge problem here. They might have said that they won’t use customer data to target Google adverts, but now Google owns Nest and has all of your home data, adding Google's access to your health data is a step too far for many. 

3.The delivery. 

* This is the biggest failure point, the execution is assumed to happen automatically without the right resources. 

* From deal announcement to six months after a go-live date, there has to be incredible attention applied to customers and employees. Sadly the latter gets the least attention and has the biggest impact. 

If you would like a copy of my Acquisition Success Tips reply yes please here.

Dedicated to growing your business,

Val

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