M&A Cultural Integration

Helping your company become more than the sum of your parts, not less.

70%-90% of acquisitions fail. The primary culprit?

A lack of real alignment, whether it’s in strategy, communication, culture, or all of the above.

%

of M&A Deals Add Value

%

of M&A Deals Destroy Value

%

of M&A Deals Produce No Value

The SOLUTION?

Whether you’re navigating a merger, an acquisition, or even major challenges with siloing between departments, we bring company leaders together and encourage tough conversations to create a shared company language and smoother collaboration—fast.

Hear from our clients:

Building shared language, streamlined communications, and cross-functional collaboration.

“We couldn’t have done this without BLUECASE.”

Chris Dillie, former CEO, ESO

ESO Healthcare Connected Logo

Breaking down silos, building trust, ensuring seamless cultural integration.

“The BLUECASE training led to better cross-functional collaboration and really set us up for success because our employees and our managers were better able to address the challenges that they were seeing.”

Matt Murphy, former CEO, Logix

Logix Logo

Aligning company-wide to move faster & make better decisions.

“For us, the results of having BLUECASE come onboard is that we actually are moving faster, we’re making decisions better, we’re more aligned on our goals, which makes work more fun. When you come to work everyday and you know exactly what you are trying to accomplish, you know exactly where you are trying to go, it makes a difference.”

Amy Porter, Founder (and former CEO and Chairman of the Board), AffiniPay

ESO Healthcare Connected Logo

“We view BLUECASE as a part of our executive and management team.”

“Whether I’m going to have a $500 million dollar company or a $3 billion dollar company in ten years, it’s kind of hard to put a value on that. I don’t think we’d get there without the kind of planning we’re doing today. We’re more than happy to say that BLUECASE is our partner in doing that planning and development.”

Craig Kasten, Co-Founder & Chairman of the Board, SKYGEN USA

ESO Healthcare Connected Logo

How Do We Deliver Results Fast?

Many clients say they see monumental gains after our very first session.

LEADERSHIP TEAM & CULTURAL ASSESSMENT

Gain objective data to understand the unique leadership cultural challenges slowing your company down.

M&A EXECUTIVE STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT

We very quickly align your executive team and their teams around simple and pragmatic strategies, so work gets done with speed while trust, performance, and communications skyrocket.

CROSS-FUNCTIONAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Our unique training approach builds cross-functional relationships that naturally break down divides caused by company or department-specific silos. We facilitate conversations that increase transparency and trust, build up friendship and camaraderie, and get your company operating as one in a very short period of time. Because leaders of various teams go through this together, it creates a sense of becoming one company.

    M&A LEADERSHIP TOOLKIT

    A set of pragmatic, actionable tools, and skills that lead to trust-building, collaboration, and ownership across your company. Our coaching tools provide a framework of shared language, practices, and guidelines to have fruitful conversations across teams, departments, and acquired companies that lead to results.

    INDIVIDUAL & GROUP COACHING

    Increase retention of your key players and make your managers great leaders in your post-M&A environment. Identify key skills you’d like your managers to develop, and watch as the leadership, delegation, communication, and motivation in your company skyrockets.

    WHAT TO EXPECT WITH BLUECASE:

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    A shared language that improves communication and encourages divided teams to become one.
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    Enjoy your work and see a lot more happy faces across the company.
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    Overcome leadership cultural challenges slowing your company down.
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    Improve your company culture and increase your eNPS (employee Net Promoter) score.
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    Increase retention of key players and make your managers great leaders.
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    Eliminate tension and wasted time to grow quicker with less frustration.
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    Experience exponential gains because of your work with the BLUECASE team.

    Ready to celebrate big wins?

    This could be you:

    We worked with a PE-backed company whose culture struggled post-M&A with silos, disengagement, low morale, poor cross-functional communication, and executive team misalignment. Their eNPS score jumped 40 points in 9 months. Their CEO said, “we were broken, and you fixed us.”

    In 2013, we started working with a struggling $10M company that today is a global company worth $1.3 billion dollars and seen as the star in one of the largest technology funds in their PE-backer’s portfolio.

    Three years after we began working with them, a financial services company client sold for nine times its revenue—one of the largest exits in Austin, Texas the year it sold.

    A fintech company acquired a company that doubled their size, expanding their company from one office location to multiple across the U.S. BLUECASE supported their leadership and cultural integration and their Private Equity firm said the acquisition was the smoothest they had ever seen.

    Companies We've Worked With

    Justin Follin
    Justin Follin is a founding partner and CEO at BLUECASE Strategic Partners. He is a CEO coach and organizational consultant with primary expertise in the areas of visionary leadership development, cross-functional strategic leadership, solving complex adaptive challenges and innovation. He is the primary designer of the BLUECASE Leadership Development Process for fast-scaling, mid-market companies and M&A environments. He has led hundreds of Executives, Directors, and Managers through cross-functional leadership development and has coached public and private CEOs, business leaders, TEDx presenters, academic professors, musicians, and athletes to perform at optimal levels. He has also designed or executed leadership development and consulting approaches delivered inside some of the world’s largest oil and gas, construction, and mining companies.
    Co-Founder
    Contact Justin:
    Justin Follin
    Justin Follin is a founding partner and CEO at BLUECASE Strategic Partners. He is a CEO coach and organizational consultant with primary expertise in the areas of visionary leadership development, cross-functional strategic leadership, solving complex adaptive challenges and innovation. He is the primary designer of the BLUECASE Leadership Development Process for fast-scaling, mid-market companies and M&A environments. He has led hundreds of Executives, Directors, and Managers through cross-functional leadership development and has coached public and private CEOs, business leaders, TEDx presenters, academic professors, musicians, and athletes to perform at optimal levels. He has also designed or executed leadership development and consulting approaches delivered inside some of the world’s largest oil and gas, construction, and mining companies.
    Co-Founder
    Contact Justin:
    Christine Trevino
    Christine Trevino is Chief Operating Officer and efficiency extraordinaire at BLUECASE Strategic Partners. She has a strong commitment to ensuring our processes create an exceptional experience for our clients and our internal team. After spending nearly a decade within one of the nation’s largest health systems, Christine knows the foundational infrastructure necessary for operational efficiency, conflict management, resolution strategies and creating connections to truly understand what is wanted and needed and how to best accomplish it, whether supporting the business or supporting people. Christine has served in other mission focused organizations, like Texas Exes (Hook Em’) and Whole Foods Market where she had the opportunity to be a servant leader and contribute to making an impact in the lives of others as she also does through our work at BLUECASE. Christine is married to her high school sweetheart and they have five children. She enjoys the outdoors, photography and volunteering in various organizations.
    Chief Operating Officer
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    David B. Greenspan
    David Greenspan, Ph.D., is the Founder of BLUECASE Strategic Partners. He has a PH.D. in High-Performance Psychology with expertise in why certain individuals and teams perform at exceptional levels, even in suboptimal circumstances. BLUECASE facilitates strategic planning and teaches managers and executives at fast-growing companies how to create seamless cross-functional collaboration, feedback-rich cultures, and high levels of engagement. An expert in creating high-performance corporate cultures and teams, David is an energizing leader, coach, and facilitator known for his capacity to galvanize groups to generate breakthrough results. David has over fifteen years of experience working with senior executives at Fortune 100 companies and executive teams of fast-growing PE-backed companies with between $50 Million and $2 Billion in annual revenue. Notable clients include ESO, Vida Capital, Intersys, Four Hands, AffiniPay, Logix, University of Texas, Maidbot, Bypass Mobile, Austin Fitness Group/Orange Theory Fitness, Kerbey Lane Cafe, ShippingEasy, Triangle Services, Allegiance Mobile Health, and YPO.
    Founder
    Contact David:
    David B. Greenspan
    David Greenspan, Ph.D., is the Founder of BLUECASE Strategic Partners. He has a PH.D. in High-Performance Psychology with expertise in why certain individuals and teams perform at exceptional levels, even in suboptimal circumstances. BLUECASE facilitates strategic planning and teaches managers and executives at fast-growing companies how to create seamless cross-functional collaboration, feedback-rich cultures, and high levels of engagement. An expert in creating high-performance corporate cultures and teams, David is an energizing leader, coach, and facilitator known for his capacity to galvanize groups to generate breakthrough results. David has over fifteen years of experience working with senior executives at Fortune 100 companies and executive teams of fast-growing PE-backed companies with between $50 Million and $2 Billion in annual revenue. Notable clients include ESO, Vida Capital, Intersys, Four Hands, AffiniPay, Logix, University of Texas, Maidbot, Bypass Mobile, Austin Fitness Group/Orange Theory Fitness, Kerbey Lane Cafe, ShippingEasy, Triangle Services, Allegiance Mobile Health, and YPO.
    Founder
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    Christel Frietsch
    Christel Frietsch is the Operations Administrator at BLUECASE Strategic Partners. She has 30 years of administrative experience with expertise in scheduling, correspondence, logistics and project coordination. Prior to joining the BLUECASE team, she was the Director of Operations for an Austin based CPG healthy lifestyle company, an Executive Administrator for a land use consulting firm, and an Executive Assistant to the CEO of an international disease prevention and wellness company. Originally from Austin, TX, Christel graduated from Texas State University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry, and completed her minor study in Psychology. She is an IIN Certified Integrative Holistic Health Coach and an IPHM Certified Energy Healer. Christel currently lives in New Braunfels, TX with her partner and two rescued dogs. She enjoys spending time in nature, gardening and reading.
    CEO
    Contact Christel:
    Lori Darley
    Lori brings nearly two decades of experience as a transformational coach and consultant and has worked extensively with leaders and C-suite executives in many industries. She coaches organizations from multi-national corporations, such as Ferro Chemical, a global cosmetics firm and a Fortune 500 “Class One” rail transportation company. She has also worked with a wide variety of entrepreneurial ventures and individuals in non-profits, manufacturing, financial services, management consulting, commercial real estate, and the arts. Lori is a certified somatic coach, recognized by the Strozzi Institute, and a certified Peak Potentials trainer. Additional certifications include Ken Blanchard’s Situational Leadership, Gallup Strengths-Finder, the Myers/Briggs Personality Assessment, and the EQi-2 (an Emotional Intelligence assessment and 360 feedback model).
    Senior Consultant
    Contact Lori:
    Lori Darley
    Lori brings nearly two decades of experience as a transformational coach and consultant and has worked extensively with leaders and C-suite executives in many industries. She coaches organizations from multi-national corporations, such as Ferro Chemical, a global cosmetics firm and a Fortune 500 “Class One” rail transportation company. She has also worked with a wide variety of entrepreneurial ventures and individuals in non-profits, manufacturing, financial services, management consulting, commercial real estate and the arts. Lori is a certified somatic coach, recognized by the Strozzi Institute, and a certified Peak Potentials trainer. Additional certifications include Ken Blanchard’s Situational Leadership, Gallup Strengths-Finder, the Myers/Briggs Personality Assessment and the EQi-2 (an Emotional Intelligence assessment and 360 feedback model).
    Senior Consultant
    Contact Lori:
    Robin Knudsen
    Robin combines 20 years of international corporate experience with that of leadership development to bring insight into creating diverse and inclusive cultures and improving how teams function. As a coach and facilitator, Robin has worked with a broad range of companies across industries from Fortune 100’s through to entrepreneurs and SME’s. Robin holds a BA from The University of Texas at Austin and a Masters in Organization Development from St. Edward’s University. She is a certified executive coach, trained in NLP, HeartMath, and Reiki.
    Senior Consultant
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    Robin Knudsen
    Robin combines 20 years of international corporate experience with that of leadership development to bring insight into creating diverse and inclusive cultures and improving how teams function. As a coach and facilitator, Robin has worked with a broad range of companies across industries from Fortune 100’s through to entrepreneurs and SME’s. Robin holds a BA from The University of Texas at Austin and a Masters in Organization Development from St. Edward’s University. She is a certified executive coach, trained in NLP, HeartMath, and Reiki.
    Senior Consultant
    Contact Robin:
    Shawn Clark
    Shawn Clark is a certified executive coach who brings extensive hands-on leadership experience to every coaching session. His business background includes senior leadership roles with global Fortune 500 companies and U.S. Federal Government agencies. Shawn delivers powerful and effective coaching experiences using proven tools, resources, and personal experiences to help his clients reach their goals.

    Coaching expertise: Managing conflict • Change management • Time management • Turn-arounds for under-performing teams • Strategy development • Building stronger teams • Stress management • Executive presence • Communication skills 

    Client List (partial): NASA • American Airlines • Hilton • Kohler • LinkedIn • TripAdvisor • Virgin Galactic • Xcel Energy • Google • U.S. Air Force • U.S. Department of Education • Department of Homeland Security • Department of the Interior • Department of Justice • Small Business Administration • U.S. Department of the Treasury 

    Past leadership roles: U.S. Department of the Treasury (OCC) - Chief Learning Officer (CLO)Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) - Vice President for Technical TrainingNorthwest / Delta Air Lines - Director of Technical and Flight Operations TrainingFedEx - Manager of Air Operations Training and Lead MD11 Instructional Designer

    Executive coach and author Marshall Goldsmith personally selected Shawn from more than 3,000 coaches to work directly with his top clients.
    Senior Consultant: Individual & Group Coaching
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    Shawn Clark
    Shawn Clark is a certified Executive Coach who brings extensive hands-on leadership experience to every coaching session. His business background includes senior leadership roles for mission-critical teams and initiatives with global Fortune 500 companies and U.S. Government agencies. Shawn delivers powerful, effective and efficient coaching experiences which enables his clients to achieve results that were previously unattainable. Shawn strives to ensure the coaching journey is a fulfilling and enjoyable experience loaded with exploration, discovery, creativity, growth and achievement.
    Senior Consultant
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    Trish Perevich
    Trish brings over 10 years of experience as an Executive Coach and has coached a range of professionals from emerging leaders to C-Suite Executives. Her experience includes individual and group coaching; design and delivery of corporate training and coaching programs; and facilitation of SVP and C-Level Peer Advisory Groups. Trish has worked with a range of organizations from startups to Enterprise Fortune 100 companies including Genentech/Roche, Google, NASA and the United States Airforce. She has served dozens of industries including technology, finance, life science, construction, healthcare, education and more. Supporting her experience is a BS Degree in Business/Marketing from The Rochester Institute of Technology. Trish holds the PCC coaching credential along with certificates in Conscious Business Coaching and Team Advantage Coaching. Outside of work Trish enjoys golf, hiking, yoga, fitness classes, cooking and travel.
    Senior Consultant
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    Trish Perevich
    Trish brings over 10 years of experience as an Executive Coach and has coached a range of professionals from emerging leaders to C-Suite Executives. Her experience includes individual and group coaching; design and delivery of corporate training and coaching programs; and facilitation of SVP and C-Level Peer Advisory Groups. Trish has worked with a range of organizations from startups to Enterprise Fortune 100 companies including Genentech/Roche, Google, NASA and the United States Airforce. She has served dozens of industries including technology, finance, life science, construction, healthcare, education and more. Supporting her experience is a BS Degree in Business/Marketing from The Rochester Institute of Technology. Trish holds the PCC coaching credential along with certificates in Conscious Business Coaching and Team Advantage Coaching. Outside of work Trish enjoys golf, hiking, yoga, fitness classes, cooking and travel.
    Senior Consultant
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    Kan Yan
    Kan has coached leaders in organizations at various stages of development—from startup founders to C-suite executives at multi-billion dollar companies. He has implemented leadership development programs at several organizations that enabled them to strengthen their culture during periods of massive growth. In his previous lives, Kan worked as a lawyer for the United Nations and US Federal Courts and as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company where he consulted Fortune 500 clients across numerous industries with a focus on strategy, organizational health, and leadership development. Kan has spent more than two decades cultivating wisdom practices. He has spent hundreds of days in silent meditation retreat. He designed and facilitated McKinsey’s Inner Wisdom Retreat which convened C-suite executives from some of the largest organizations in the world to learn about mindful leadership. He has a law degree from Harvard Law School and a masters of diplomacy from the Tufts Fletcher School.
    Senior Consultant
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    Kan Yan
    Kan has worked as an international humanitarian for the United Nations, a lawyer for the US Federal Courts, and a management consultant for McKinsey & Company where he consulted Fortune 500 clients across numerous industries with a focus on organizational health and leadership development. He has a law degree from Harvard Law School and a Masters of Law and Diplomacy from the Tufts Fletcher School.
    Senior Consultant
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    Paulin Laberge
    Paulin has co-founded two technology companies and has served as CEO of five. After more than 30 years of senior leadership roles in the technology industry, Paulin recently made the transition from running companies to helping teams grow their companies. His most recent engagement was as CEO of iCompass Technologies, a SaaS company that delivers solutions that strengthen open and efficient government, and which resulted in a successful exit at the end of 2017. He has been an advisor and mentor to numerous technology companies. Paulin has firsthand experience in building organizations, developing effective strategies, securing financing, developing market-leading products, establishing strategic alliances, marketing, and selling domestically and internationally. He has worked with boards and management teams to help them precisely execute critical corporate objectives and business strategies, create performance-centric cultures, and engaged, motivated teams, focused on driving results. Paulin has been an Entrepreneur in Residence at the British Columbia Innovation Council, where he established a province-wide mentor program. He was also actively involved in the development and delivery of growth, strategy, and market validation programs widely used by several technology accelerators. Paulin started his career as an Electrical Engineer after graduating from the University of Alberta. Throughout his career, Paulin has trained in numerous areas including, strategy, finance, sales, marketing, negotiations, organizational development, mentoring, and coaching. He resides with his wife, Lea, and their dog Huxley, on the west coast near Vancouver, BC.
    Senior Strategic Planning Consultant
    Paulin Laberge
    Paulin has co-founded two technology companies and has served as CEO of five. After more than 30 years of senior leadership roles in the technology industry, Paulin recently made the transition from running companies to helping teams grow their companies. His most recent engagement was as CEO of iCompass Technologies, a SaaS company that delivers solutions that strengthen open and efficient government, and which resulted in a successful exit at the end of 2017. He has been an advisor and mentor to numerous technology companies. Paulin has firsthand experience in building organizations, developing effective strategies, securing financing, developing market-leading products, establishing strategic alliances, marketing, and selling domestically and internationally. He has worked with boards and management teams to help them precisely execute critical corporate objectives and business strategies, create performance-centric cultures, and engaged, motivated teams, focused on driving results. Paulin has been an Entrepreneur in Residence at the British Columbia Innovation Council, where he established a province-wide mentor program. He was also actively involved in the development and delivery of growth, strategy, and market validation programs widely used by several technology accelerators. Paulin started his career as an Electrical Engineer after graduating from the University of Alberta. Throughout his career, Paulin has trained in numerous areas including, strategy, finance, sales, marketing, negotiations, organizational development, mentoring, and coaching. He resides with his wife, Lea, and their dog Huxley, on the west coast near Vancouver, BC.
    Senior Strategic Planning Consultant
    Lisa Jaecklein
    Lisa is well-known in high-tech industries for her work in developing and leading high-performance teams. She has “walked the talk” as President and CEO for private and public engineering-based companies in Satellite Communications, Telecom, and Commercial Enterprise markets. Lisa’s corporate background includes leading an IPO, Strategic Planning, Mergers and Acquisitions, and integration of global teams. She draws from her diverse market experience and passion for coaching to support the professional development of executives and senior management teams. Her focus areas include supporting the development/ refinement of strategic plans, executive coaching to advance leadership capabilities, and organization alignment necessary to support strategy implementation. Lisa brings a unique understanding of the interdependencies of people and business that drive results and ways to sustain a positive level of energy in her client's personal and professional lives. Lisa holds a BS in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and has served as a director on several corporate and not-for-profit boards.
    Senior Consultant
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    Lisa Jaecklein
    Lisa is well known in high tech industries for her work in developing and leading high-performance teams. She has “walked the talk” as President and CEO for private and public engineering based companies in Satellite Communications, Telecom and Commercial Enterprise markets. Lisa’s corporate background includes leading an IPO, Strategic Planning, Mergers and Acquisitions and integration of global teams. She draws from her diverse market experience and passion for coaching to support professional development of executives and senior management teams. Her focus areas include supporting development/ refinement of strategic plans, executive coaching to advance leadership capabilities and organization alignment necessary to support strategy implementation. Lisa brings a unique understanding of the interdependencies of people and business that drives results and ways to sustain a positive level of energy in her clients personal and professional lives. Lisa holds a BS in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and has served as Director on a number of corporate and not for profit Boards.
    Senior Consultant
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