Alignment of purpose takes the fear out of an acquisition

Every business leader is afraid of losing the heart of his company if he sells; but when both companies are aligned in culture and purpose, there's nothing to fear. Jay Steinfeld, founder and CEO at Blinds.com, talks about how the alignment of their purpose and Home Depot's affected their acquisition.

Robin: Hello, and welcome to this edition of Brandonomics, an inside look at top brands and their marketing strategies. I’m Robin Tooms, VP of strategy at Savage Brands. And my guest again is Jay Steinfeld, founder and CEO at Blinds.com. So, Jay, welcome back to Brandonomics.

Jay: Great to be back, Robin. Thanks for having me.

Robin: Wonderful. Well, let’s talk more about the merger that you had earlier this year with Home Depot.

Jay: Yes.

Robin: Yes. Very interesting. But I want to know, from Home Depot’s perspective, how much did your brand kind of factor into that decision? So do you mind kind of expanding on that?

Jay: Sure. Entirely.

Robin: Entirely.

Jay: Yes. When they first were looking for an acquisition in the blinds industry, they were thinking it was gonna be mostly about technology, if not all about technology. They’d been trying to build something on their own and decided that they would buy it instead. When they came to our office and saw that it wasn’t so much about the technology but instead it was a whole system, an ecology of people that were innovating and were continuously improving; they completely changed the way they were thinking about us and the acquisition, and became mostly focused about us as a center of excellence to hopefully get imbued into their entire organization. That added a lot more value to us, and it also made it clear to us that as we were to proceed with an acquisition, that we were aligned because that’s what we like to do. It’s fun.

Robin: Yeah. Well, I can definitely see the benefits for them from doing that, but what about you? What was your concern for your brand and keeping it intact going forward, then?

Jay: I think all founders, CEOs worry that if they sell, they’re selling their soul. In this case, it was not the case at all. Their goals for us were exactly aligned with what our goals are. That is to continue to build, not just in the blinds industry, but to develop people. And what they are interested in is making sure that our people stay and that our culture stays so that we can continue to innovate, continue to build the technology, and to satisfy our customers with an excellent customer experience beyond anything that could be done merely with technology.

Robin: Well, I’m definitely very glad that they recognized that.

Jay: Me too.

Robin: Yes. Well, thank you very much for sharing that, Jay.

Jay: Thanks, Robin.

Robin: Well, this has been another edition of Brandonomics, an inside look at top brands and their marketing strategies.

 

Blinds.com is the largest online window covering store in the world. At its heart, it is a passionate customer service and marketing company that connects the community to home décor trends and high quality window coverings. It’s been featured in numerous magazine, newspaper and radio publications.

https://www.blinds.com/