Insights

Perspectives on Operational Due Diligence

Practical thinking on the operational realities that shape mid-market transactions.

What Is Operational Due Diligence?

A practical guide to the assessment that sits between the financials and the real performance of a business. Understanding what ODD examines, where it came from, and why it matters for mid-market transactions.

11 Feb 20268 min readRead article

Fundamentals

You Spent Two Years Finding the Right Business. Here Is What Goes Wrong After Close.

Nearly one in three search fund acquisitions produces negative returns, according to the Stanford GSB 2024 study. The deals that fail were not financially blind. They were operationally unprepared.

5 Mar 20268 min readRead

Fundamentals

The Supply Chain Risk Your Financial Auditor Does Not Consider

What the Strait of Hormuz crisis reveals about concentration risk in acquisitions and why standard due diligence might miss it

3 Mar 20265 min readRead

Risk & Governance

The Silent Deal Killer: Why Key-Person Risk Destroys More Acquisitions Than Bad Financials

Key-person risk is the most common unpriced risk in mid-market acquisitions. Learn how to identify and mitigate founder dependency before it destroys post-deal value.

17 Feb 20265 min readRead

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The ODD Scope Checklist

10 operational questions every investor should answer before closing. Covers the five dimensions that determine whether a business can sustain its performance through a transaction and beyond.

Key-person dependency and knowledge concentration

Systems maturity and integration readiness

Governance gaps and regulatory exposure

Commercial sustainability under new ownership

Integration complexity and timeline realism

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All articles

Fundamentals

You Spent Two Years Finding the Right Business. Here Is What Goes Wrong After Close.

8 min readRead

Fundamentals

The Supply Chain Risk Your Financial Auditor Does Not Consider

5 min readRead

Risk & Governance

The Silent Deal Killer: Why Key-Person Risk Destroys More Acquisitions Than Bad Financials

5 min readRead

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