Team,

I have something big to share with you today, and I want to make sure you hear it directly from me (with full context) because I know announcements like this can land in a lot of different ways depending on where you sit.

But first, I want to take you back.

When we started Acquisition.com, it was me, Alex, and our CFO at the time in a hotel boardroom with a whiteboard. That's it. We were sketching out everything — the values, what we wanted the culture to feel like, what this thing could become. I remember writing on that whiteboard that I wanted an in-person campus. An amazing team. A culture of winners.

My last company had been successful across many measures, but we had also fallen short in those areas. Not because of lack of trying, but because of lack of skill. 

I simply didn't have the skill yet to build the culture that the company needed.

So when we started Acquisition.com, I made myself a promise: this time, we would build it right. We build something made to last decades, not years.

I look around today, and I see what that promise turned into. We have the campus. We have the team. We have the culture. We built everything I wrote on that whiteboard and then some.

And that's exactly why I'm making this announcement.

Effective today, I am stepping into the role of Executive Chairwoman of Acquisition.com.

And Sharran Srivatsaa, someone most of you know, is our new Chief Executive Officer.

I need you to hear this clearly: this is not me stepping back. This is not me going quiet, going part-time, or handing off what I built because I'm tired of it. I am more excited now for what’s to come than ever in our history. If anything, this is me going deeper into the work that only I can do and finally giving it the full attention it deserves.

For a long time, I've felt the tension between this company's present and future. Running day-to-day operations while trying to look years ahead is like steering the ship while also drawing the map. You can't do both well. I don't care who you are if you say you can, you’re BSing. 

The fact that we now have an Executive Chairwoman and a CEO is a sign of the scale we've actually reached. 

This is a problem most companies never have the privilege of facing.

When one person tries to hold both the present and the future, neither gets full attention. By splitting these roles, Sharran gets to go all-in on running and scaling this business — and I get to go all-in on building the future we're all running toward. We're not dividing our capacity. We're multiplying it!

As Executive Chairwoman, here's where my focus goes:

This year, specifically, I'm working closely with our leaders to build out our media division, releasing my first book, and doing more PR so the world doesn't just know me, but also knows Acquisition.com and what we stand for. That work brings more visibility, more opportunities, and more growth back to this entire company.

I'll be honest: this company is my baby. This is a huge step for me. I have held on to the CEO role for 3 years longer than I said I would, because the honest truth is I love it, but I love making sure we have a secure future more. 

I’ve always said we're building the Disney of Business — a company that compounds through leadership, systems, and culture, not dependence on any single person. 

Today, we're taking one of the biggest steps toward making that real.

Ten years from now, we're going to look back at this moment and say: "Do you remember when it was that small?" We are at the tip of the iceberg. And I've never been more sure of that than I am right now.

Sharran and I actually sat down together to talk about what's ahead — what this change means, what's coming next, and why we're both so fired up about it. You can watch that conversation [here]. If this email got you even a little curious about what's next for us, that conversation will fill in the rest.

Cheers to building something none of us will forget.

— Leila

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