Interactive resources for incubators and accelerators
Interactive resources for incubators and accelerators
Interactive resources for incubators and accelerators

Due Diligence 101

This section provides a snapshot of what to look out for when performing due diligence on the companies you are considering for your cohort. It looks at how to set clear due diligence goals and outlines a simple process for performing due diligence.

Due Diligence Goals

Before you (1) define due diligence leads and (2) define members of the team, learn as much about the company as you can. Watch their pitches and do your online research to see if what they say and what is in their pitch aligns. If possible, ask if you can speak with past investors, employees, suppliers, or members of their advisory board. This is not always an option but wherever you can get more insider information the better.

Due diligence serves the overall purpose of:

1. Discovering the edges of the company

What does the founders’ thinking look like when validating their business model and how do they react to deep-dive questions that challenge their assumptions?

2. Validating what they said

3. Deciding as a group if they are investable

Due Diligence Process

  • 01.

    Evaluate Core Issues

    See if you are able to stay with them for the long-term by looking at the team, market, product/service, and their finances.

  • 02.

    Validate Statements in Pitches

    Get outside validation (see the section above). Get customer validation.

     

  • 03.

    Do a Site Visit

    Get a 3rd party review of information. Get investors to visit the site. Get investors to talk to customers. Engage in competition evaluation.

  • 04.

    Explore the Highest Risks to the Company

    Have a 1:1 with the company to give feedback to everyone who has joined the program. Review how far they have come.

     

    Sit with the due diligence lead to walk through what other due diligence leads thought about them. Lead investors serve the role of evaluating if this is a good deal or not. For the other non-lead investors, ask them if this is a good company? Does it have what it needs to be a stable, functional company? The due diligence lead will be able to veto companies if they think they don’t have a good deal.

Reflection

Companies often succeed or fail because of the following aspects:

 

1. Market timing

2. Team

3. Idea

4. Business model

5. Funding

 

Source: Bill Gross TED Talk

Next:

How to Invest Without Exits

An alternative approach to the current paradigm of investing