Columbus Merger: Test Double Acquires Pathfinder
Image: Pathfinder Product
How ‘2 Degrees of Kevin Bacon’ Led to Columbus Acquisition
Columbus-based software consultancy Test Double has acquired product consultancy Pathfinder Product thanks to complementary services, a shared vision, and two degrees of Kevin Bacon.
Test Double Co-founder and CEO Todd Kaufman and Pathfinder CEO Brett Buchanan met through mutual acquaintances and discovered their companies shared a vision for solving product challenges with technology.
“The Central Ohio IT community is very small. It's like two degrees of Kevin Bacon—not six—and that was definitely the case here,” Kaufman says. “We had been asked by some clients about product consulting, so I was introduced to Brett and it really felt like an early-stage Test Double with a focus on proper product consulting.”
Test Double’s mission is to improve the way the world builds software, by simultaneously building great teams and great software. Pathfinder’s mission, meanwhile, is to unleash greatness through modern product management.
The deal harnesses the combined expertise of Test Double and Pathfinder to create comprehensive end-to-end solutions, creating an enriched offering in product and software development consulting. The companies offer a broader spectrum of services, covering every facet of the product lifecycle from ideation to delivery, and beyond. The cross-section of focus areas enables software engineering, product, DevOps, talent, and more for companies where software and product play a business critical role.
It’s not just the complementary services that led to a combination but also a cultural fit.
“We have a very similar ethos around doing what's right for the client at all times, making sure you leave them in a better state than you found them,” says Kaufman. “It just seemed like a very common, similar kind of cultural fit for us that we honestly didn't see in a lot of other acquisition opportunities that we've looked at throughout the years.”
Test Double is 100% employee-owned, which was a major point of attraction for Pathfinder. Buchanan says the sense of ownership and teamwork was immediately evident.
“I joined the all-hands announcement and I did not expect 90 developers to be asking me questions about utilization, profit margin, and pipeline. Those aren't questions that you typically hear from developers, and I loved it,” says Buchanan. “They really understand the business well, and so it's hard to overstate how much of an influence that ESOP really has on the business.”
By offering comprehensive consulting services across both software and product management, the combined companies are better able to serve clients. For the time being, Pathfinder will retain its name and operate as a unit of Test Double, although the executives say those details are being worked out. Test Double grows to 100 employees following the deal.
The consultancies’ clients have included GitHub, Gusto, Chime, ZipRecruiter, Levi’s, Kroger, Procter & Gamble, and Mailchimp.
If you’re interested in learning more, contact them to start a conversation.
