What it’s like to be a CEO with Banyan

Change is inevitable when a company is acquired, especially if a new CEO is brought in. But with our decentralized management model, disruption to daily operations is minimal. In fact, our businesses continue to run independently, maintaining their unique brand and culture to keep customers and employees happy, while tapping into additional expertise and resources behind the scenes. Being closest to the customer needs, we want to ensure our CEO’s and their management teams have the autonomy to be successful.

It’s rare to have a circle of colleagues and friends who all have the same job, but you can imagine how helpful it would be. As a Banyan CEO, you get just that. A community of passionate, experienced leaders who are eager to learn and grow while helping their peers do the same. This involves attending regular training sessions and off-site meetings to share best practices, insights, and of course, a few laughs. Whatever problem you may be facing as you grow the business, it’s highly likely that another one of our CEO’s has gone through something similar and that peer advice can be invaluable.

Executives can often get caught in so much admin, whether it’s reviewing contracts, managing HR, or responding to emails, that they have little time to think about new product innovation or growth initiatives. After an acquisition, Banyan typically takes on some, if not all, of the back-office admin relating to administering benefits, payroll, finance, tax, and more. All so that our executives can focus on what matters most in their business. 

Beyond the admin, Banyan is able to provide our teams with access to specialized shared services to help drive growth. Whether you need enhanced sales and marketing support, help planning out a transition from on-premise to cloud,  or assistance with recruiting  top talent, you’ll have on-demand access to expertise and resources to help you tackle your most urgent business challenges.

We want our leaders to feel empowered to make the best decisions for their business. Most decisions are yours to make, but you’ll have the support of a talented Operating Partner who you can trust to provide honest, actionable advice along the way. Banyan Operating Partners are seasoned software executives that work with you and your team on strategic initiatives, growth strategies, product roadmaps, and much more.

Jake McGuire joined TransPlus as CEO after a successful acquisition in August of 2020. With 15+ years of experience leading SaaS companies to impressive new heights, Jake was uniquely suited to help TransPlus grow to meet the changing needs of the transportation industry.

 

Jake credits the company’s accelerated growth to its’ decentralized management model. “When I joined TransPlus, it was already operating with a growth mentality. I didn’t want to disrupt that; I wanted to build upon it,” explained Jake. “We opened a new office, rewarded existing team members for their dedication, developed programs to attract and retain top talent, and introduced new tools and processes. All of this has allowed us to amplify our amazing culture and has set us up to best support our team as we rapidly scale.”

Cathy’s situation was a bit different in that she had already worked at Next Chapter Technology (NCT) for many years when the software company was acquired by Banyan in 2021. Through the transition, the owner stayed on board and passed the leadership responsibilities to Cathy who was ready to take on the challenge.

 

Cathy appreciated the opportunity to carry NCT’s legacy forward knowing she’d have the full support from our extended team as a first-time CEO, saying, “Having weekly touchpoints with my Operating Partner and on-demand access to experts and resources to address any given challenge, gave me confidence that we could continue to grow this business together.”