Method notes from building an analysis platform for brokers, funds and founders: memo structure, bottom-up market sizing, risk scoring and the warning signs that show up long before a diligence call.
Latest
Most diligence checklists fail for the same reason: they list topics rather than evidence. A question is closed when a document, a reference call or a system export answers it — not when someone remembers discussing it.
Due diligence · 24 August 2026 · 10 min read
Articles
Each piece is a working method, written the way we apply it inside the platform.
Financial analysis
How to calculate CAC, LTV and CAC payback period without flattering the numbers, which definitional choices distort them, and what benchmarks actually mean at each stage.
24 August 2026 · 8 min read
Valuation
The methods used to value pre-revenue startups — scorecard, comparables, dilution-first and venture method — and how to document a valuation so it can be defended later.
24 August 2026 · 8 min read
AI and process
A grounded view of AI in investment research: which tasks it genuinely accelerates, which it degrades, and the controls that keep model output auditable.
24 August 2026 · 7 min read
Investment process
A section-by-section investment memo template used by investment committees, with what belongs in each part, what to cut, and how to keep every claim traceable to evidence.
18 August 2026 · 9 min read
Market analysis
A practical bottom-up method for calculating TAM, SAM and SOM from unit counts and pricing, with the sanity checks investors apply and the shortcuts that get a deck rejected.
11 August 2026 · 8 min read
Risk
Twelve red flags visible in a pitch deck and data room before the first diligence call, why each one matters, and the question that resolves it either way.
4 August 2026 · 7 min read
Risk
A six-category, 5x5 startup risk assessment framework: how to score likelihood and impact, when to mitigate versus accept, and how risk scoring feeds an investment verdict.
28 July 2026 · 8 min read
The platform runs the same structure automatically: bottom-up market sizing, a scored risk register, red-flag checks and a memo with every claim traced to its evidence. Every trial includes the full toolset for 14 days.