Executive Coaching Through Acquisition & Transition

An acquisition can look like a finish line from the outside.

From the inside, it can be the beginning of a job you haven’t done before.

The company you built becomes part of something larger. Your team has questions you can’t always answer. Decisions that used to be yours now involve people you haven’t worked with yet. You may have more resources and less autonomy at the same time.

And while everyone is congratulating you, you might still be trying to understand what this means for you.

I’ve made this transition.

I co-founded Reaction Commerce and led it through its acquisition by Mailchimp in 2020. I later served as Mailchimp’s Chief Product Officer and Product Advisor.

That experience is part of what I bring to coaching. I’ve been a founder responsible for the whole company and a product executive working inside a much larger organization. Those roles ask different things of you, even when your commitment to the work hasn’t changed.

Your situation will have its own complications. We don’t need to pretend there is one right way to make the transition.

What we might work on

Coaching can give you a confidential place to sort through questions such as:

• What is my role now, and what do the people around me expect?
• Which decisions are still mine? Where do I need to build agreement?
• How do I advocate for my team without treating every change as a threat?
• What should we preserve about how we work, and what needs to change?
• How do I communicate honestly when I don’t have all the answers?
• What does influence look like when I no longer have the final say?
• How do I work with a new manager or executive team?
• Which commitments do I want to make about this next chapter?
• Who am I when being the founder is no longer the center of my day?

Some of these questions are about organization and strategy. Some are about identity, trust, or loss. Often they arrive in the same conversation.

Leading while things are unsettled

You don’t need to have the entire future figured out to take a useful next step.

We might start by separating what is known from what is assumed. What has actually been agreed about your role? What does your team need to hear from you? Which relationship needs attention before a disagreement gets bigger?

From there, we can work on a conversation, a decision, or an experiment. A clearer agreement about decision-making can be more useful than another month of quietly working around each other. Naming what you miss about the old company can help you decide what you want to carry forward.

Coaching gives you room to examine your own reactions while also doing the practical work of leading people through change.

Work with me

I coach founders and technology executives navigating acquisition and the transition into larger organizations. Our work focuses on your leadership, relationships, and decisions; deal negotiation and legal or financial advice belong with your transaction advisors.

If you’re earlier in the company-building journey, see coaching for startup founders. If you’re taking on broader product or design responsibility, see coaching for product and design leaders.

You can also read my thoughts on building trust through one-on-ones and the changing work of product leadership.

Read about how coaching works, or schedule a free introductory conversation. We can start with what’s changing and what would make this next chapter feel more intentional.