More than just a cheaper version of San Fran or NYC. There are some players in the Valley that view the Midwest as simply a lower-cost place to do business. 

“The Midwest is just as much of a business hub as San Francisco,” says Jason Boehmig, CEO of Ironclad, “but the boundaries are a little bit bigger. The customers and the talents are there.”

At Powderkeg Unvalley, we pulled Jason into a discussion with Brian Powers, Head of Digital Acceptance at Ironclad and Founder and CEO of PactSafe. 

San Francisco-based Ironclad recently acquired Indianapolis-based PactSafe, so these two leaders know what it takes to bring Valley and Unvalley companies together successfully. Quick takeaways:

Values matter. When you’re working out acquisition details, having similar cultures and values is critical. With their acquisition, both companies felt comfortable moving forward with the deal because they shared core values like integrity and trust. 

Bring the swagger. Brian noticed that merging with a Valley company like Ironclad brought even bigger ambitions to PactSafe. “The people that came from Ironclad have a Valley mentality that has been helpful for us. They’ve helped us understand that we can truly build a massive company that changes the world. We had a big vision before at PactSafe, but now it goes far beyond that, because of the acquisition.”

Learning goes both ways. When Unvalley and Valley companies partner together, the knowledge sharing doesn’t just go one way – the companies can learn from each other and work together, while each side retains its unique identity. 

We’re looking forward to seeing what Ironclad and PactSafe create together, and will keep you posted with updates from their Indianapolis office and beyond. 

Get more insight from Jason and Brian by watching our entire discussion with them, in the Powderkeg Unvalley archives. Sign up here to be the first to know when the archive goes live.