Lessons from Walmart: How to Best Succeed Organizationally and Individually as Part of a Large, Extremely Well-Run Public Company

Being acquired by a powerhouse like Walmart is a remarkable milestone, but it also ushers in a fundamental shift—a new corporate culture, new expectations, and an often complex organizational ecosystem. From scaling and selling a telemedicine company to Walmart, I learned that CEOs must lead intentionally beyond the deal to succeed both for their company, their employees and for themselves inside a large, well-run public corporation.

The Crucial Role of Transparent, Consistent Communication

The CEO’s role transforms immediately post-acquisition. One of the most critical responsibilities is to consistently communicate with employees throughout the transition. Transparent communication reduces uncertainty, builds trust, and helps employees understand the “why” behind changes. Walmart’s culture prizes clarity and openness, so for us it was very important to maintain frequent updates – through town halls, emails, informal meetings and 1/1s, in order to help our team feel seen, heard, and aligned.  

When your company is acquired, deeply assess the acquiring company’s culture and modify your messaging, as well as amping up the frequency, accordingly.  Clear communication about integration timelines, cultural expectations, and future vision eases anxieties. This transparency encourages continued engagement, reduces turnover risk, and fosters a sense of shared purpose in a new corporate context.

Helping Employees Embrace the New Culture with Openness and Growth Mindset

Beyond communication, it is vital to help employees enter the new corporate culture with openness, curiosity, and eagerness to make a difference.  CEOs and executive leaders should inspire their teams to view the transition not as loss but as an opportunity—to learn new skills, expand their impact, and be part of something bigger.

Creating forums for dialogue, sharing success stories, and recognizing early wins within the acquirer’s ecosystem can fuel this mindset. When employees adopt these attitudes, they contribute more fully, innovate faster, and accelerate integration success.

Building Strong, Strategic Relationships Early

Relationships are the currency in any large organization, and at Walmart especially so.  Successful integration hinges on a CEO’s ability to forge both direct and indirect relationships across the acquiring company.   CEO’s of the acquired company, as well as their executive team, absolutely must dedicate a significant amount of their time in the first year to building these relationships.  Decisions rarely move linearly in big companies, and often who you know, and how good your relationships are with them, directly influence your ability to integrate and succeed.   

Embracing The Acquiring Company’s Core Values and Operating Principles

For us, we learned early on that Walmart’s culture is guided by four timeless values: Service to the Customer, Respect for the Individual, Strive for Excellence, and Act with Integrity. These values guide behaviors and decisions company-wide at Walmart, shaping a culture that is grounded in trust, operational excellence, and customer-centricity.  Successfully integrating with any company means internalizing the acquiring company’s values and demonstrating them in day-to-day activities.  Equally important is learning the acquiring company’s operating principles and norms—how decisions are made, how information flows, and how accountability is upheld at scale.  This takes being very observant and asking an insane number of questions until you get it.  By doing so, you can better integrate your team and help their, and your, success.  

Learning What Works and What Doesn’t

With any acquisition of a smaller company by a very large public company, CEO’s should expect some cultural differences and be open to learning and quickly adapting. For instance:

• Decision-making speed: While startups often move at lightning speed, big companies balance speed with stakeholder alignment and governance.  This was certainly true at Walmart, and was an important cultural shift we had to make to help our employees from MeMD transition.
• Communication style and decision making: Informality in a startup may give way to structured cadence meetings, formal documentation, and multiple stakeholders with decision input.  Almost all big companies have formalized processes, data requirements, and decision structures when it comes to how best to communicate and make decisions.  Be prepared to help your team level up to this different way of operating so that they can be successful.

Final Takeaway: Lead the Transition with Intentionality

The acquisition is only the beginning of a new leadership journey. CEOs and executive teams of acquired companies succeed when they:

• Communicate transparently and often to keep employees engaged and informed.
• Help employees adopt openness, a growth mindset, and eagerness to contribute in the new culture.
• Build a diverse web of relationships inside the acquiring company to gain influence and support.
• Internalize and reflect on the acquiring company’s core values in actions and messaging.
• Learn and embrace the acquiring company’s operating principles and cultural norms quickly.
• Stay open-minded and adaptable without losing their company’s unique strengths.
• Lead with patience and persistence as the integration unfolds.

Learning from my experience selling to Walmart, the path to success is clear: lead with intentional communication, foster the right mindset, build strategic partnerships, align values, and continuously learn. Doing so sets both the organization and the individual leader up to thrive inside a large, world-class public company.