The Pattern Behind High-Stakes Business Failures
I’ve been thinking a lot about patterns lately.
Not the kind you see immediately, but the ones that emerge over years of watching companies navigate their most critical moments.
Here’s what keeps showing up: The companies that reach breakthrough moments—Series B funding, major customer wins, industry recognition—inevitably face high-stakes decisions 18 to 36 months later–
- Major funding rounds
- M&A as buyer or seller
- Leadership transitions
- Exit positioning
The question is never if these moments arrive. It’s whether you’re ready when they do.
The $8M Mistake: How Poor M&A Communications Destroys Customer Relationships
The Real Cost of Getting Stakeholder Communications Wrong
This scenario plays out more often than you think: A mid-market software company gets acquired. Great news, right? Except the CEO announces it via company-wide email at 9 am. By noon, their top three customers (representing $8M in annual recurring revenue) are calling their account managers in a panic. “What does this mean for me?” They ask.
By 5 p.m., all three have requested contract termination clauses.
Why Strategic M&A Announcements Fail
What went wrong? Wrong method. Wrong sequence. Wrong timing.
Key customers learned about the acquisition from an email, not from their account managers. They felt blindsided. And in B2B relationships, feeling blindsided is the fastest way to lose trust.
My years at JPMorgan taught me this lesson—when hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake, you don’t leave stakeholder communications to chance. You map it out. You plan for every scenario. You make sure no one who matters feels blindsided.
That’s something that doesn’t happen to our clients.
The Strategic Stakeholder Communications Playbook for High-Stakes Transactions
Six Weeks Before: The Foundation Phase
At least six weeks before an announcement, we map out who needs to know what, when, and through which communication channel. We support sales in identifying the top 20 customers by revenue and strategic value. We brief account teams. We rehearse conversations. We prepare for objections and draft talking points for every scenario.
24 Hours Before: The Personal Touch That Prevents Churn
The day before the public announcement, account managers make calls to those top 20 customers personally. The CEO calls the top five. Messages are tailored to each relationship.
By the time the press release goes out, every stakeholder who matters has already heard it from someone they trust. The result? Zero customer churn. Several customers actually increase their commitments because they feel confident in and excited by the combined entity.
Investment Bank Validation: Why Deal-Makers Trust This Approach
Investment banks and other deal-makers have told Red Fan: “We’ll follow your stakeholder playbook.” That’s because every client approaching a breakthrough financial milestone gains access to our deep expertise and systematic approach optimized over dozens of high-stakes transactions.
Case Studies: Strategic Communications in Action
Three Companies, Three High-Stakes Scenarios, Three Winning Outcomes Here are three companies that benefited from Red Fan’s strategic approach:
Fluence: Positioning for Strategic Acquisition Value
Acquired by Signify in 2022. Our multi-year positioning work and diverse media relations and thought leadership strategy transformed Fluence from “LED lighting vendor” to “total solutions platform for controlled environment agriculture.” The company’s narrative foundation and brand equity made them a must-have strategic asset.
CSI: Managing Multiple Public-to-Private and M&A Transitions
Public-to-private in 2022, plus three strategic technology acquisitions. CSI leveraged Red Fan’s stakeholder communications playbook through each exciting milestone—customized messaging for every critical audience plus systematic execution that honored the company’s rich 60-year history while positioning CSI for meteoric growth.
Kinective: Scaling Brand Through Rapid Acquisition Strategy
Designing a brand foundation to scale through four acquisitions in five months. Following the strategic mergers that launched Kinective and its Banking Operations Platform, the company kicked off 2025 with a strategic brand positioning refresh in collaboration with Red Fan. Since then, the company announced four acquisitions in the span of just five months. We positioned each addition to augment Kinective’s brand foundation—not just writing press releases, but building the storyline that connected each acquisition to a coherent growth strategy.
The Common Thread: Early Strategic Integration
They brought us in early to ensure internal and external stakeholder positioning became part of a winning strategy, not damage control.
Why Q4 Planning Matters for Q1 2026 High-Stakes Announcements
If you’re planning a major move in Q4 2025 or Q1 2026—major funding, M&A, restructuring, exit positioning—October is when you should be thinking about positioning.
Not in December when you need a press release, or in January when the deal is closing, but now—before the deal is structured so stakeholder communication becomes part of the strategy.
Industry Events and Strategic Networking Opportunities
October also kicks off a series of powerful industry events for Red Fan’s network. Just this week, the Red Fan team and some of our clients will be scattered at major fintech and economic growth events across the country.
Money20/20 USA – Las Vegas (October 27-30)
Catch our partners from CSI or Austin Capital Bank at Money20/20 USA in Las Vegas (Oct. 27 – 30), where the world’s most innovative fintech minds will gather to discuss market-moving deals and technology. Ask CSI about last week’s acquisition—the team officially welcomed leading digital bank provider Apiture into the family. Interested in learning about one of the leading credit-building solutions or the world’s first high-security savings account? Find the Austin Capital Bank team to chat about CreditStrong or Fort Knox.
A-LIST Awards – Austin (October 29)
We’re also sponsoring the A-LIST Awards in Austin on October 29th. I’ve watched this program celebrate nearly 200 companies over 14 years—many of them at the exact moment before their next major move. If you want to see where Austin’s innovation economy is headed, this is the room to be in. The finalists this year range from AI and defense tech to life sciences and fintech. Several Red Fanners will be there, including me. If you’re attending, please let me know—I’d love to connect.
The Strategic Communications Imperative: Start Early, Not Late
Remember: If you’re approaching a financial breakthrough, don’t bring communications in at the last minute. Build your foundation early and keep strategic partners embedded in your business.
Don’t forget that how stakeholders learn about major news is as important as the news itself.
Planning a high-stakes move in the next six months? Let’s talk.
FAQ: Strategic Communications for High-Stakes Business Transitions
Q: When should we bring in strategic communications support for an M&A transaction?
A: At least six weeks before any announcement, ideally during the structuring phase so stakeholder communications become part of the deal strategy, not an afterthought.
Q: What’s the biggest risk in M&A communications?
A: Key stakeholders—especially top customers—learning about major news through impersonal channels instead of direct, personalized communications from trusted relationships.
Q: How much revenue is typically at risk with poor M&A communications?
A: In B2B software companies, poor stakeholder communications can put $8M+ in annual recurring revenue at risk from just the top three customers.
Q: What results should we expect from strategic stakeholder communications?
A: Done correctly: zero customer churn, maintained employee confidence, and often increased customer commitments due to stakeholder confidence in the combined entity.
Q: What makes Red Fan’s approach different from traditional PR agencies?
A: Our approach is built from JPMorgan-scale investment banking experience, focusing on systematic stakeholder mapping, personalized communications sequencing, and deal-maker validation of our playbooks.
