Post-Merger Product Line Rationalization
In post-merger environments, product clarity is just as critical as team clarity. Simplifying the portfolio allowed the company to focus on quality, scale confidently, and rebuild trust with both internal teams and customers. Mergers succeed not by addition but by subtraction and alignment.
The Challenge
Following the acquisition of a complementary company, the organization faced overlapping technologies, misaligned teams, fragmented product lines, and no unified process for customer engagement. Leadership needed to consolidate and clarify product offerings without disrupting existing customers or operations.
The Solution
As head of the merger, I was responsible for fully integrating the acquired company into our organization. This included:
- Interviewing and assessing all incoming team members to determine retention or release
- Conducting a full product line audit to identify redundancies, incomplete initiatives, and misaligned offerings
- Collaborating with Product and Operations to recommend which products to sunset, pause, or prioritize
- Managing internal communications and change management across departments
- Overhauling the external customer communication strategy to ensure clients were informed, supported, and aligned with the new product vision
- Pausing half-developed products that were straining resources and not aligned with core objectives
- Refocusing the organization on high-performing core products and aligning their production within our existing systems and workflows
This merger was not just technical; it was cultural. I facilitated the adoption of our internal processes, systems, and expectations while preserving trust with both legacy and new client bases.
The Impact