The Spreadsheet Q&A That Became a Discovery Trap
Answering diligence questions in a loose Excel sheet is a trap. Without evidence, your answers are just opinions that breed more questions. Anchor every response to a document.
Elena Dossier
The Diligence Partner Brussels
Partner at a boutique Due Diligence firm, formerly a forensic investigator for a major European law practice. She has spent her career digging through digital debris to find fraud. Writes here about how to structure your company's information so it survives the scrutiny of investors, auditors, and regulators.
Note: “Elena Dossier” is a pseudonym. We use pseudonyms so we can write honestly about real work without naming clients, employers, or teams.
The Myth of 'Transparency Means Everything': Materiality Still Exists
Over-disclosure is not transparency; it is a risk surface. We define materiality to ensure you disclose enough to pass scrutiny without handing the buyer ammunition they didn't ask for.
My Rant About Screenshots as Evidence: They Are Not Records
A screenshot is a picture of a claim, not proof of a fact. To an auditor, a PNG file is unverifiable noise. We demand the source export.
Staged Disclosure: Interest Is Not Commitment
Granting full access immediately is a strategic failure. We implement a Two-Gate Protocol: The Teaser for the curious, and The Vault for the committed.
The Fix: A Gap Analysis That Doesn’t Require a Lawyer in the Room
Discovering a missing contract during diligence is a catastrophe. Identifying it beforehand is strategy. Use this simple grid to identify what is missing and how to plug the hole.
My Rant: If Your Numbers Don’t Tie Out, I Stop Listening to Your Story
A narrative is only as strong as the math behind it. If your Pitch Deck says $5M and your Tax Return says $4M, you don't have a rounding error; you have a credibility crisis.
“Final_FINAL_v7” Is a Liability. Versioning Must Be Defensible.
Multiple 'final' files look like governance failure; we enforce one source-of-truth, meaningful names, and a superseded archive with logs.
Start With the Index. Make Every File Earn Admission.
Folder-first rooms slow deals; an index-first register adds provenance, owners, tie-outs, and staged access that survives scrutiny.
“Anyone With the URL” Is Not Access Control
Sending a public share link is not collaboration; it is negligence. Without an audit trail, you cannot prove who viewed your IP, rendering your NDA worthless.
The Data Dump Is Not Transparency. It Is Uncontrolled Disclosure.
Uploading everything feels transparent, but it reads as concealment; we control scrutiny with an indexed disclosure pack and staged access.