This post focuses on the challenges of integrating company cultures after an acquisition. M&A failure rates are estimated to be anywhere from 50%-80%. This article from Lakeview Capital does a pretty good job of summarizing the major causes of merger failure including inadequate due diligence, lack of low level management involvement, and recognizing culture synergies/differences. I have been involved in several acquisitions having led three deals and led eight divestitures. I would like to share three stories of how my employers successfully dealt with some aspects of cultural integration.
Product Management
Todd R. Hill
By John Mecke in Product Management No Comments
Todd Hill was an account executive with QRS Corporation. He passed away September 11, 2001 when the Towers fell. Todd was staying on the 17th floor of the Marriott Hotel at the World Trade Center when terrorists hijacked and crashed two planes into the towers.
AI Listened to 100,000 Sales Calls – What Do You Think It Learned?
By John Mecke in Product Management No Comments
Gong.io analyzed 1,000,000 sales calls between B2B salespeople and buyers and came up with some fascinating results.
Value Equations & Proof Points: How Are Yours?
By John Mecke in Product Management No Comments
How effective are your firm’s value equations and proof points?
Customer Churn – What & Why
By John Mecke in Product Management No Comments
Understanding customer churn is important for product managers, product marketers, and sales management. Simply put, customer churn is the percentage of customers that decide not to renew their subscriptions or term contract agreements. I came across an article recently entitled 43 ways to calculate SaaS churn (and why you should just keep it simple). While they did not lay out all 43 formulas it was still an interesting piece. I have always been a numbers guy – I find that facts can help you better understand a situation and minimize the effects of anecdotes on key decisions. In this post I am going to talk about churn analysis and why, at the end of the day, numbers cannot tell the whole story.
M&A Basics for Product Managers. Part III: M&A Process
By John Mecke in Product Management 1 Comment
The objective of this post is to describe, at a high level, the steps in a typical tech M&A project. Each company tends to have their own playbook for M&A deals. Based on my past experience I have summarized the typical process steps in an M&A project. You should talk with people in your company to learn if there is a formal process in place for deals.
M&A Basics for Product Managers. Part II: Roles & Responsibilities in M&A
By John Mecke in Product Management No Comments
The objective of this post is to describe, at a high level, the major roles and responsibilities in a typical tech M&A project. Each company tends to have their own playbook for M&A deals. Based on my past experience I have summarized the typical roles and responsibilities in an M&A project. You should talk with people in your company to learn if there is a formal process in place for deals and what the roles and responsibilities are in that process.
M&A Basics for Product Managers. Part I: Major Types of M&A
By John Mecke in Product Management No Comments
The objective of this post is to provide product managers with some practical insights into the overall merger and acquisition process. I have been involved in product management for over 15 years. As a corporate development executive, I have led five major acquisitions and eight divestitures. This is the first of a three part series. It will focus on the major types of acquisitions. The second will focus on roles and responsibilities in the M&A process, especially for product managers. The final installment will walk through the major process steps in a typical M&A deal.
Why Product Managers Need to be Able to Read 10-K Filings
By John Mecke in Product Management 1 Comment

Product managers need to be able to locate, read, and interpret basic financial filings like Annual Reports (10-Ks), quarterly filings (10-Qs) and Proxy Statements (Def 14As). There is a ton of information that customers and competitors who are public companies must disclose.
Acquisition Candidate Analysis
By John Mecke in Product Management No Comments
A short presentation for product managers on how to analyze a potential acquisition candidate and present it to senior management. Acquisition analysis leverages open source and other publicly available information. This presentation covers the key concepts associated with acquisition candidate analysis, the process of developing an analysis, a sample ‘teaser’ presentation used to present information to senior management, boards of directors, and investors.