ABOUT THIS EPISODE
In this episode of the M&A Launchpad Podcast, hosts Casey Minshew and Feras Moussa sit down with Betsy Kauffman, Founder & CEO of Cross Impact, a Charlotte-based leadership coaching and organizational development firm, and author of the new book The Fix. Betsy has spent two decades coaching leadership teams through acquisitions, integrations, and everyday dysfunction — and she's also lived the buyer's side of the table herself. She walks through the near-acquisition of a $50M commercial design firm that collapsed on a $14M deal just before closing, the systems-and-process blind spots she sees over and over in newly acquired businesses, and why “the person's not a fit” is usually the wrong diagnosis.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Betsy's path from corporate program manager to founding Cross Impact in 2014, and the TED Talk (“4 Tips to Kickstart Honest Conversations at Work”) that grew out of her coaching work
- How her practice evolved from agile/technology team coaching into full leadership development after clients kept asking for help with alignment, not just execution
- Why she wrote The Fix, a business fable built around a core idea: people usually aren't broken — the systems and processes around them are
- The common pitfalls she sees in newly acquired businesses: no real decision-making process, and no shared language for what basic terms even mean
- Her own near-acquisition: partnering to buy a $50M commercial design firm for roughly $14M, and getting “a little over our skis” on a first deal
- The red flag that should have ended it sooner — missed monthly forecasts — and the 11th-hour collapse when the valuation dropped and the sellers wouldn't renegotiate
- What she'd have fixed post-close: no go-to-market strategy, an earmarked new leader ready to run it, and plans to divest a “shiny object” division
- The leadership nugget she repeats in every session: alignment does not always equal agreement
- Why a good coach exists partly to force the tough, lingering decision that everyone already knows needs to be made
Guest Contact Information
Betsy Kauffman
Founder & CEO, Cross Impact
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/betsykauffman
Website: https://crossimpact.co
Book: The Fix — available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Spotify Audiobooks
Additional Resources
Thinking about buying a business? Connect with the Equity Launchpad team to learn more about acquisition entrepreneurship and upcoming opportunities.
Contact Casey Minshew and Feras Moussa: info@equity-launchpad.com
Explore more: https://www.equity-launchpad.com
About The M&A Launchpad:
The M&A Launchpad provides insights into acquiring, investing in, and selling profitable businesses in the lower to middle market. Whether you are a business owner, investor, or aspiring entrepreneur, we will provide you with the knowledge, guidance, and capital to navigate the world of mergers and acquisitions.
The M&A Launchpad presents a series of weekly podcast episodes and hosts an annual M&A Launchpad Conference tailored to the M&A community.
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