<p dir="ltr">We are getting close to raising and I wanted to actually understand what a VC due diligence checklist looks like before we are caught off guard by requests we were not expecting. There is a lot of generic advice out there, so trying to piece together what investors actually dig into in practice.

<p dir="ltr">Due diligence usually falls into a few broad areas. Financial diligence covers things like historical revenue, burn rate, runway, unit economics, and how clean the bookkeeping actually is. Legal diligence covers cap table accuracy, IP ownership, employment contracts, any pending disputes, and whether the company is properly incorporated and compliant. Team diligence often includes background checks and reference calls. Market and product diligence covers customer references, churn numbers, and competitive positioning. Technical diligence, for product heavy startups, can mean a review of the codebase, architecture, and scalability.

<p dir="ltr">What I am still trying to understand is how much of this happens before a term sheet versus after, and how founders should prepare a data room in advance so the process does not drag on for months.

<p dir="ltr">Has anyone here actually gone through VC due diligence recently? Curious what caught you off guard, what took the longest, and anything you wish you had organised earlier. Found a fairly clear explanation of this onEntrepreneur Plus while I was reading around the topic, helped me understand the founder side of it a bit better.