Dealmaking may seem to be all financial figures and legal terms, but ask any experienced dealmaker what the most common cause of failure is and they’ll generally point to people issues. Admittedly, many of these are vendor versus investor issues, but behind the opaque cloak of private equity, you’ll also find many failures attributed to intra-team issues.

Image: Dealmaking, just another game of chess [source: Shutterstock]

I’ve found three common intra-team issues that can lead to deal failure:

• Deal Envy - it’s not so much the envy that damages the deal, but the actions that result. Excessive negativity (as a result of envy) can wear down even the most enthusiastic private equiteer. So, it helps to give your team buy-in as early as possible: share the idea, ask others to become involved, and try to lead with an open mind. As soon as you appear evangelical, your team will likely position themselves to shut you down.
• Deal Disputes – the best way around disputes is to prevent them in the first place. Ensure your arguments are fact-based and keep an open mind. If you appear to have made your mind up without sufficient evidence, your team will likely position themselves to prove you wrong. Also, try not to implicate your team or their actions in your reasoning. People are naturally defensive. So, try not to put them in that position in the first place.
• Deal Fatigue - even a deal evangelist suffers from deal fatigue if a deal subsists long enough. But, deal critics suffer from fatigue much sooner, so it’s important to keep a deal moving if you plan to garner support from the team. Make sure you respond and gather supporting evidence quickly and meet with your team regularly and consistently. A quick deal has many other benefits, but mostly it reduces fatigue.

In summary, there are a few measures you should always take to prevent the above issues: facilitate buy-in to reduce envy, keep an open mind to prevent disputes and maintain momentum to close the deal before fatigue sets in. Of course, the investment has to have merit in the first place, but if you keep one eye on intra-team issues, at least your deals won’t fail for a lack of leadership and skill.