18-point diligence checklist
Every item with the evidence it requires and the failure it catches.
Guide
Investment due diligence: a complete guide
Diligence is the process of converting a pitch into evidence. This hub collects everything we have written on running it — the workstreams, the questions, the warning signs and the documents — in the order the work actually happens.
9 articles in this guide
Reading order
Work through it in sequence
Each article stands alone, but they are ordered the way the work happens on a live deal.
How to read a pitch deck in twelve minutes
A repeatable reading order for pitch decks: which four slides decide the meeting, what each one has to prove, and the questions that expose a weak deck fast.
25 August 2026 · 7 min read
A due diligence checklist that survives contact with a real deal
A practical startup due diligence checklist covering commercial, financial, legal, technical and team workstreams, with the evidence that closes each item.
24 August 2026 · 10 min read
What questions do investors ask in due diligence?
The questions that actually get asked across commercial, financial, technical, legal and team diligence — and what a good answer looks like for each.
25 August 2026 · 8 min read
What is a startup data room, and what goes in it?
A folder-by-folder data room checklist for a seed or Series A raise, what to include before diligence starts, and the omissions that slow deals down most.
25 August 2026 · 6 min read
Twelve red flags that show up before the diligence call
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
Assessing founder-market fit without guessing
Founder-market fit is usually assessed on vibes. Here is an evidence-based version: what to ask, what to verify, and which signals genuinely predict execution.
25 August 2026 · 7 min read
A risk framework that produces decisions, not adjectives
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 investment memo, section by section
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
Where AI helps investment research, and where it quietly hurts
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
Free resources
Do the work, not just the reading
The same methods, packaged as tools and templates you can use on a live deal today.
Investment memo template (PDF)
The committee-ready memo structure, free to download and reuse.