What To Include in a Due Diligence Report

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

The due diligence report is written by the due diligence team.

It covers the financial, operational, legal, and strategic aspects of the startup.

A due diligence report for a startup investment contains the following:

Market analysis

This includes the size, growth rate, sectors, competition, and the startup's target customer.

Product.

The diligence report assesses the product for competitive advantage, defensibility, and scalability.

Financial.

The report reviews the financial projections to see if they align with the startup's team, product, and market opportunity.

Team.

The report covers the team's experience, skills, and industry knowledge to see how well it matches the startup's requirements.

Exit.

Reviews the various exit strategies and how to achieve them.

Here are the components of a due diligence report:

Executive summary

Purpose of due diligence

Financial

Legal

Operational

Market

Regulatory

Assets

Risks

Growth prospects

Conclusion

Appendix with supporting documentation

Consider these elements for your due diligence report.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let's go startup something today.

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Using the Four-Quadrant Slide

Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso -- your daily shot of startup funding and investing.

In pitching the startup, the founder shows how the business will be positioned in the market.

The four-quadrant slide is one tool to show how the startup compares to the competition.

Here's how to set up the four-quadrant slide.

Start by identifying the key criteria for customers.

This could be cost, performance, ease of use, or more.

Check the competition for how they rank on the criteria compared to the startup.

Choose the top two criteria and show how the startup's product performs.

Lay out an x/y axis and show one criterion on the horizontal axis.

Show the other criteria on the vertical axis.

Label the axis so the startup is positioned in the upper right corner.

Position the competition in each of the other three corners.

This communicates to the investor how the startup will compete and on which criteria they are superior.

This helps the investor understand the startup's position compared to the competition.

Consider using the four-quadrant slide in your pitch deck.

Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding.

Let's go startup something today.

_______________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Please follow, share, and leave a review.

Music courtesy of Bensound.

On this episode of Investor Connect, Hall Marchant welcomes Gillian Fenton of LST Strategies, who brings more than 30 years of experience in licensing intellectual property and life sciences transactions, including work with GSK, Emergent BioSolutions, and Biogen, as well as university startups, established life science companies, and investors.

Gillian shares how IP supports life science companies from inception through commercialization, explaining that patents are critical for protection and investment attraction, but that trade secrets, contractual rights, and IP-adjacent protections like FDA data exclusivities can also be central depending on the technology. She covers where startups underestimate licensing complexity—especially that licenses create long-term relationships unlike acquisitions—along with what "transaction readiness" looks like, including building a populated virtual data room early.

The conversation also addresses due diligence red flags such as chain of title, freedom to operate, and misaligned global patent spending, plus how diligence and FTO depth should scale as clinical programs advance. Gillian explains how Bayh-Dole obligations, government rights, US manufacturing requirements, and march-in rights can shape commercialization over a technology's lifetime, and she emphasizes aligning legal strategy with business strategy while adapting to disruptions in funding and the growing role of AI.

Visit LST Strategies LLC at lifesciencetransactions.com

Reach out to at www.linkedin.com/in/gillianmfenton, and on gillian@lifesciencetransactions.com

________________________________________________________________________

For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org

Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/
For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/
For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/
For eGuides check out: https:/_/tencapital.group/education/
For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/

For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group

Please follow, share, and leave a review.

Music courtesy of Bensound.