Installing a Business Operating System After an Acquisition: What I Tell ETA CEOs

When a first-time ETA CEO takes the helm, the to-do list is endless: learn the business, steady the team, fix the numbers, and make the next quarter. In those early months, the most valuable thing you can give yourself is a Business Operating System (BOS) - the soft infrastructure that turns strategy into day-to-day execution.

I recently co-authored a Yale School of Management note on BOS choices for search-fund–acquired companies. What follows is the practical version for current and prospective EOS® clients. If you want the full research (including alternatives to EOS and a deeper dive on best practices and pitfalls), you can read it here.

What a BOS Is (and Isn’t)

A BOS is not ERP software, a strategy document, or your ops org chart. It’s the framework that harmonizes human energy—how you set direction, meet, decide, measure, and solve problems—so execution becomes repeatable instead of heroic.

Every robust BOS, EOS included, answers five questions for your leadership team:

1. Direction: Where are we headed, and what are the 3–5 priorities now?

2. People/Structure: What roles are needed, and do we have the right people in the right seats?

3. Accountability: Who will do how much of what by when?

4. Measurement: What 5–15 numbers tell us if the business is healthy this week?

5. Problem-solving: How do we prioritize issues and resolve root causes—consistently?

If your system can’t answer those five clearly, you don’t have a BOS—you have preferences.

Why EOS Lands Well in ETA Environments

In acquired, founder-led companies, you’re moving from personality-driven habits to system-driven execution. EOS gives you a ready-made chassis so you don’t burn cycles inventing one. In practice, here’s what that unlocks:

• Order from chaos: A shared cadence (Vision/Traction, Rocks, Level 10s) gets everyone rowing the same direction, fast.

• Founder-to-professionally-managed transition: Decisions shift from “who shouts loudest” to “what the system prioritizes.”

• Culture you can feel: Clear expectations and a healthy issues list reduce politics and increase trust.

• Stakeholder alignment: Your board, lenders, and team see the same priorities, numbers, and progress.

• Discipline over heroics: Weekly commitments and public follow-through replace firefighting.

• Focus in scarce conditions: You pick the vital few and sequence the rest.

How I Install EOS in Acquired Companies

1. Time the install. Most ETA CEOs do best launching a BOS 6–24 months post-close. Early enough to build muscle, late enough to know the business and the people. I rarely recommend a day-one rollout.

2. Get the board on board. A BOS changes how you plan, meet, and report. I align your board to the cadence so priorities don’t get “launched on the side.”

3. Use a pro (at least to start). You’re swapping an airplane engine mid-flight. An implementer helps you avoid the common potholes while you run the business.

4. Treat it like a marathon. Expect 12–36 months before the system is part of your DNA. You’ll feel progress well before then - but don’t confuse adoption with mastery.

5. Have a “system for the system.” Put priorities, scorecards, issues, and meetings in one hub (e.g., Ninety.io). Email threads are not an operating system.

What Changes in The First 90 Days of EOS

• Sharper Priorities: Your annual/quarterly plan collapses to 3–5 Rocks with owners, dates, and success criteria.

• Clearer Seats: The Accountability Chart clarifies who owns what and surfaces talent gaps early.

• Real Numbers: A weekly scorecard (5–15 metrics) gives you a five-minute health check and highlights the few issues to solve now.

• Better Meetings: Level 10 Meetings™ replace status updates with IDS®—identify, discuss, solve—to close issues for good.

Leaders feel the difference quickly: fewer side meetings, less whiplash, more finish lines.

Watch-Outs (Learned the Hard Way)

• BOS ≠ magic. A bad industry or broken model will overpower any system. Be honest about fundamentals.

• Leadership still matters. A BOS won’t redeem unethical or absent leadership. Do the inner work too.

• People are not widgets. Don’t let discipline crowd out development; grow your people as you grow your cadence.

• It’s hard before it’s easy. New language and structure will feel bureaucratic to legacy teams. Coach through it.

• Some will opt out. Accountability is clarifying. Expect a few exits; handle them respectfully and keep moving.

A Quick Story From the Field

One ETA CEO implemented EOS roughly six months after close in a long-tenured team with minimal prior structure. The shift to Rocks, a weekly scorecard, and Level 10s was a jolt, but clarity and transparency won most people over. One teammate opted out when accountability increased - healthy outcome that ultimately improved fit and performance. Board reporting simplified too: Rocks, Issues, and Scorecard rolled straight into the deck and later supported a clean exit narrative.

If You’re An ETA CEO, Start Here

1. Name the priorities (3–5), owners, dates, and success criteria.

2. Draft your Accountability Chart for today and 12 months from now.

3. Build a 10-line weekly scorecard - leading and lagging indicators.

4. Run a true Level 10 for 90 days. Hold the line on the agenda.

5. Capture issues in one list and solve them to root cause.

Do those five relentlessly and the business changes shape.

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If you’d like help installing EOS - or you want to compare BOS options before you commit - let’s talk. And for the full research behind this post (co-authored with Matt Littell and A. J. Wasserstein at Yale SOM), read the note: Exploring Business Operating Systems in Search Fund–Acquired Companies.