Being On Your Own; Post tying the knot learnings.

I have had the fortunate experience of having two exits in the past 12 months. Our food services business, Purist (founded by my wife Mira and I), was acquired by Cure.Fit and as the title and image of the article suggests (or at least cleverly tries to suggest) Innov8 has been acquired by OYO. Acquisitions are like a marriage; it's the coming together of two families. So naturally, we go through the same emotions and phases. There is the courtship phase, the relationship phase, the committed relationship phase; the "marriage"; the honeymoon phase; and then building the life together phase. These are some of my learnings and observations:

Phase 0: Courtship

Courtship is defined as the period of development towards an intimate relationship wherein a couple get to know each other and decide if there will be some sort of an engagement, followed by a marriage. By far, one of the most exhilarating periods but full of very anxious moments. Just like our men in blue during the ICC World Cup 2019; you could be on top of your game all throughout but a few missteps and you are out of the game! This period is not very forgiving for both parties involved.

Lesson No. 1: Play with your heart and with the highest level of integrity and you should be able to sail through this period with ease.

Phase 1: Relationship

During this phase, both parties are aligned; they like each others company and are generally open to the idea of things working out for the long run. Again, each and every interaction is important so tread very carefully. If you have made it this far things are moving in the right direction.

Lesson No. 2: Be transparent and do not pretend to be something you are not. Present your best foot forward and don't shy away from exposing your weaker areas. It will all eventually come out in the open so be upfront.

Phase 2: Commitment

If you believe things can't go wrong now; you are in for a big surprise. This is where the "term-sheet" will come in. This can be a simple 1 to 2 pager with the broad terms or you can invest time up-front to get into a very detailed term-sheet. Both formats are typically non-binding but are time bound. In most scenarios the due diligence process will start at this time.

Lesson No. 3: Remember Murphy's Law, "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong." Measuring and understanding each others intent is very important regardless of what is written on paper. Nothing really works out quite as planned but if the intent is to make a deal, it will work out. There is always a solution; you just have to work a little harder to come up with one. Be patient!

Phase 3: Marriage

This is sealing the deal. You step into a binding agreement but promise to hold-up your side of the bargain before and after the deal. There will be lots of conditions precedents and post acquisition conditions which will need to be met. This is normal.

Lesson No. 4: The job of the legal teams involved is to protect their respective clients. That said, leaving the deal up to your legal teams alone will rarely result in a deal. You have to be involved and be ready to compromise on some things. "My way or the high way" strategy doesn't work well especially if "egos" kick in.

Phase 4: Honeymoon

This phase may or may not last for a long time. At the end of the day it's business so we have to get back to business quickly.

Lesson No. 5: You have a responsibility to continue to deliver results. Focus on aligning the teams and most importantly the culture - that is the best investment you can make at this time.

Phase 5: Building a Life

This is the phase post the media coverage and the high fives - when the dust settles. This is the toughest phase; this is where lines and weapons are drawn (metaphorically not literally!). Who does what and how and why and why not becomes a daily reality. This phase is the true litmus test for the acquisition.

Lesson No. 6: The purpose of an acquisition should not be revenue; it should be to acquire capability. Capability will drive revenue not the other way around!

In summary, an acquisition will generally struggle to deliver the desired results unless there is a clear strategy, effective project management and open communication between stakeholders. The process has to be transparent and involve all areas of management and leverage the respective capabilities if success is to be achieved. 

A special heartfelt thanks to my fellow new colleagues:

Ritesh Agarwal you have built an amazing product, platform, and leadership team. Thrilled to be part of the journey; and as you rightfully say "It's still day ZERO at Oyo".

Maninder Gulati the clarity of thought that you bring to the table is phenomenal. It was a true meeting of minds. I still remember our meeting where we determined the valuation. Establishing first principles and working our way forward.

Rakesh Prusti you are an amazing legal counsel. You were a tough negotiator but above all you were very fair in our negotiations. Logic prevailed in our discussions which at times is rare to find especially during acquisitions!

Rohit Kapoor we found a real partner in you and we knew we would have a soft landing post the acquisition. Thank you very much for your continued support and guidance as we scale the Oyo WorkSpaces business. Onwards and upwards!

Gaurav continues to be passionate about building new businesses and working with teams with high entrepreneurial spirit and a can do attitude. Mira has been with Cure.Fit for over a year and is having an absolutely amazing journey scaling the the Eat.Fit vertical in North India.