𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝘀𝗮𝘄 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿: Tech companies love to acquire other tech companies. It’s how they get new capabilities fast. 𝗜 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀.

You acquire a company for its tech capabilities to solve bigger customer problems. 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗵, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆; 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗽. But what really happens? 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗽 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘁, 𝗯𝗼𝗹𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴.

𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹
𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲? 𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. In your sales decks, your product sheets, your UI. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗻. That bolt-on integration? 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆. Sure, you’re “working on it,” but meanwhile customers can’t figure out what you’re actually selling them.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿:
𝗡𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲. Tech leaders hate hearing this, but 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘁 — 𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀. Your customers aren’t trying to decode your internal logic — they just want to know if you solve their problem better than the other guys.

The most frustrating part? 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿-𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀. They’ll preach customer-centric all day, then freeze when it means actually restructuring their architecture to make sense to those customers.

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗨𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲? 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱. 𝗜𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲.