The Three Phases

For those that have been doing this a while, it is second nature. For others, the three phases are:

  1. Pre-announce: You have an idea of a plan of where to go so the hunt begins.
  2. Announce: The world knows of your intentions. In some ways, things become easier, but then the regulatory checks kick in.
  3. Close (day 0): All the boxes have been checked, and the deal is approved.

Just like the cone of uncertainty, the earlier you are in the planning, the better prepared you will be at execution time, however, the trade-off is the information is much harder to come by. Yet, at close, you will have access to all the information you need, but at this point, it is go time for integrating.

How involved is your tech leadership in the process, and at what point do you bring them in?

One of the adages I grew up with is that you must know where you are before you can know where to go. This provides not just a frame of reference, but also feeds into the later stages as more information becomes known and your focus narrows on where you want to go allowing the financial/time estimates to be more realistic once day 0 does arrive.