# Post-Acquisition Integration Playbook

The 100-day plan for integrating an acquisition. Most acquisitions fail not because of bad deals but bad integration.

## The Integration Paradox

Move too fast → you break what you bought.
Move too slow → talent leaves, customers churn, value evaporates.

**The rule:** Decide on day 1 what stays separate and what merges. Then execute without wavering.

## Pre-Close (Day -30 to 0)

### Integration Lead
- Appoint ONE integration lead (not a committee)
- This person reports to the CEO, has authority over all workstreams
- Full-time role for 100 days minimum

### Planning
| Workstream | Owner | Day 1 Decisions |
|-----------|-------|-----------------|
| People | CHRO | Who stays, comp alignment, reporting lines |
| Technology | CTO | Systems to merge, timeline, migration order |
| Customers | CRO | Communication plan, account ownership |
| Product | CPO | Roadmap integration, feature consolidation |
| Operations | COO | Process alignment, tool consolidation |
| Finance | CFO | Entity structure, billing, reporting |
| Legal | External | Contract assignments, IP transfer |

### Communication Plan (ready before close)
- Employee announcement (both companies) — Day 1
- Customer notification — Day 1-3
- Partner/vendor notification — Week 1
- Public announcement — per deal terms

## Week 1 (Days 1-7): Stabilize

**Goal:** No one leaves, no customer churns, operations continue.

- [ ] All-hands meeting (both companies together)
- [ ] 1:1 with every acquired leader (within 48 hours)
- [ ] Retention packages confirmed for key employees
- [ ] Customer communication sent (personal for top 20 accounts)
- [ ] Systems access provisioned (email, Slack, tools)
- [ ] Integration FAQ published internally

### The First All-Hands
What people want to hear:
1. Why this happened (honest version)
2. What changes (be specific, not vague)
3. What doesn't change (equally important)
4. Their job security (be direct)
5. Timeline for decisions

What NOT to say: "Nothing will change." (It will. They know it.)

## Month 1 (Days 1-30): Orient

**Goal:** Teams know each other, quick wins shipped, blockers identified.

### People
- [ ] Org chart finalized and communicated
- [ ] Comp band alignment completed
- [ ] Benefits transition timeline published
- [ ] Cross-team introductions facilitated (not forced)
- [ ] Culture assessment: what's different, what's compatible

### Technology
- [ ] Architecture assessment complete
- [ ] Migration priority ranked (quick wins first)
- [ ] Shared development environment established
- [ ] Code access and permissions set up
- [ ] Technical debt from both sides documented

### Customers
- [ ] Top 20 accounts contacted personally by leadership
- [ ] Unified support channel established (or plan for it)
- [ ] Pricing/contract transition plan for overlapping customers
- [ ] Product roadmap communication (what's coming, what's being deprecated)

### Quick Wins
Ship something visible in the first 30 days. A feature that combines both companies' strengths. This proves the acquisition works better than any memo.

## Month 2-3 (Days 31-100): Integrate

**Goal:** Core systems merged, one team operating, value creation visible.

### Systems Integration Priority
1. **Communication** (Slack, email) — Week 2
2. **Identity** (SSO, accounts) — Week 3
3. **Development** (repos, CI/CD) — Month 1
4. **Data** (analytics, CRM) — Month 2
5. **Product** (shared platform) — Month 2-3
6. **Finance** (billing, reporting) — Month 3

### Culture Integration
- **Don't:** Force the acquired team to adopt everything immediately
- **Do:** Find the best practices from BOTH cultures, adopt the winner
- **Don't:** Rename everything on Day 1
- **Do:** Co-create the combined identity over 60 days
- **Watch for:** "Us vs them" language, meeting exclusions, information hoarding

### Measuring Integration Success
| Metric | Target | Frequency |
|--------|--------|-----------|
| Employee retention (key people) | > 90% at 100 days | Weekly |
| Customer retention | > 95% at 100 days | Monthly |
| Cross-team collaboration (PRs, meetings) | Increasing trend | Weekly |
| Synergy revenue (combined offerings) | First deal within 60 days | Monthly |
| Integration milestones hit | > 80% on time | Weekly |

## Post-100 Days

Integration isn't "done" at 100 days. But the foundation should be solid.

### Ongoing
- Quarterly integration retrospective (what's working, what isn't)
- Culture health check at 6 months
- Full financial integration assessment at 12 months
- Earnout milestone tracking (if applicable)

### Common Failure Modes
| Failure | Root Cause | Prevention |
|---------|-----------|------------|
| Key talent leaves at month 4 | Retention cliff, culture mismatch | Longer earnout, culture attention |
| Customer churn spike at month 6 | Product changes without warning | Over-communicate product roadmap |
| "Two companies in a trenchcoat" | Incomplete integration | Force cross-functional projects |
| Value never materializes | Wrong acquisition rationale | Kill the deal if rationale was wrong |
| Acquirer culture overwhelms | "Our way is the only way" | Adopt best of both explicitly |

## The Kill Switch

Sometimes acquisitions don't work. Signs it's failing:
- Key people leaving despite retention packages
- Customers churning above baseline
- Integration milestones consistently missed
- Culture clash worsening, not improving
- Revenue synergies aren't materializing at month 6

**Options:**
1. Double down with new integration lead and plan
2. Operate as semi-autonomous unit (less integration)
3. Spin off or divest (expensive, but sometimes necessary)

Admitting failure early costs less than dragging it out.