Startup due diligence
activity map

The Startup Mentor™ covers roughly 75% of the scope of a professional services due diligence — all the desk-based analytical work: reading the deck, researching the market, assessing the team, building the evidence picture, writing the report. The remaining 25% is fieldwork: calling customers, calling references, engaging IP counsel. However, fieldwork is often not included in startup due diligence professional services engagements — the activity map below makes that visible. And if you do need fieldwork, the assessment helps you determine exactly where — and define a more targeted (and hence cheaper) engagement with a professional services firm. Either way you save.

■ Amber text = fieldwork that requires a human on a phone. These are the activities that The Startup Mentor™ cannot do — and that are often not included in professional services engagements either.
■ Green text in the Source Documents column = proprietary materials you provide. Grey text = publicly available sources.

Intake

Activity	Advisory Firm	The Startup Mentor™	Source Documents
Materials review	Read pitch deck, website, financials, all supporting documents. Set up research environment. Note gaps and questions.	Reads all submitted materials. Crawls website. Web searches on company, founder LinkedIn profiles, company registry, and press coverage. Flags what is present and what is missing across all 16 dimensions.	Pitch deck · Website · Financial model · All submitted docs · Web: LinkedIn, registry, press

Customer and market

Activity	Advisory Firm	The Startup Mentor™	Source Documents
Customer segment	Validate target segment at stated scale. Industry databases, analyst reports, TAM/SAM/SOM cross-check.	Scores segment specificity from pitch deck and customer data. Cross-checks TAM/SAM/SOM against financial model assumptions and publicly available market reports. Flags unsubstantiated or contradicted market sizing.	Pitch deck · Customer interview notes · CRM / pipeline · Financial model · Web: market reports
Problem validation	Independent evidence of pain: industry reports, regulatory filings, published research, customer quotes in press.	Assesses pain evidence from pitch deck, customer interview notes, and support ticket data. Grades evidence quality on a five-level scale. Customer quotes weighted higher than founder claims.	Pitch deck · Customer interviews · Support tickets · Surveys · Web: regulatory, press
Willingness to pay	Pricing benchmarking. Primary WTP research with target customers. Switching cost analysis.	Grades WTP from signed contracts, LOIs, pipeline conversion data, and pricing docs. Distinguishes stated interest (E2), signed intent (E4), and revenue (E5). Does not conduct primary WTP research.	Contracts / invoices · LOIs / pilots · Pipeline data · Pricing docs · Churn data · Web: comparable pricing
Market timing	Regulatory tailwind research. Technology readiness assessment. Competitive activity as timing signal.	Assesses timing from pitch deck and regulatory approvals. Web searches on regulatory changes, technology readiness, and competitor activity.	Pitch deck · Regulatory approvals · Web: regulatory databases

Competitive and strategic position

Activity	Advisory Firm	The Startup Mentor™	Source Documents
Competitive advantage	Full competitive landscape: direct, indirect, substitutes. Feature matrix. Customer review mining.	Assesses differentiation from pitch deck and competitive analysis docs. Win/loss analysis provides the strongest evidence. Applies 500+ failure patterns.	Pitch deck · Battle cards · Win/loss analysis · Customer quotes · Web: competitor sites, reviews
Vision	Market size at vision-stage scale. Adjacency analysis. Coherence between current product and stated vision.	Assesses vision from pitch deck and product roadmap. Tests coherence between stated vision, current product, and milestone sequencing.	Pitch deck · Product roadmap · Adjacent market analysis · Web: market data
Strategy	Go-to-market channel analysis. Wedge market logic. Beachhead to expansion path.	Scores strategy from pitch deck and pipeline data. Pipeline reveals actual channel performance vs stated strategy. Flags strategic gaps explicitly.	Pitch deck · Pipeline data · Partnership agreements · Web: GTM benchmarks
Moat	Patent search. Network effect assessment. Switching cost modelling. Data accumulation analysis.	Assesses from pitch deck, patent filings, proprietary dataset docs, and retention data. Runs Google Patents search. Does not conduct professional patent landscape analysis.	Patent filings / IP docs · Dataset docs · Retention data · Referral data · Web: Google Patents

Commercial model

Activity	Advisory Firm	The Startup Mentor™	Source Documents
Revenue model	Unit economics modelling (CAC, LTV, payback). Revenue model benchmarking.	Scores revenue model from financial model and pricing docs. Extracts unit economics from assumptions tab. Flags unsupported assumptions. Cross-checks against publicly available comparables.	Financial model · Pricing docs · Pipeline data · Scenario model · Web: comparable pricing
Customer acquisition	GTM channel research. CAC benchmarking. Sales cycle length. Distribution partnerships.	Assesses from pipeline data and partnership agreements. Conversion rates reveal actual channel performance. CAC calculated from financial model if available.	Pipeline data · Partnership agreements · Financial model · Web: channel benchmarks
Flywheel	Network effect and compounding mechanism analysis.	Identifies flywheel from pitch deck and network effect data. Referral rates, viral coefficients, and organic CAC trends provide direct evidence.	Pitch deck · Network / referral data · Retention data
Optionality	Adjacent market research. Platform potential. Geographic expansion feasibility.	Assesses from pitch deck, product roadmap, and adjacent market analysis. Scores whether options are structural or speculative.	Pitch deck · Product roadmap · Adjacent market analysis · Web: market sizes

Team and founder

Activity	Advisory Firm	The Startup Mentor™	Source Documents
Founder background	Full background check. Reference network mapping. Reference calls.	Assesses founder-market fit from CV, LinkedIn, prior exits, and pitch deck bio. Applies 22 founder archetype model. Does not conduct reference calls.	Founder CV / LinkedIn · Prior exit docs · Pitch deck · Advisor agreements · Web: publications, press
Team	Full team background check. Credentials verification. Skills gap analysis.	Scores team from CVs, pitch deck, and org chart. Identifies capability gaps against the 16-dimension framework. Does not verify credentials independently.	Team CVs · Org chart · Co-founder agreement · Advisor agreements · Web: LinkedIn

Risk and capital

Activity	Advisory Firm	The Startup Mentor™	Source Documents
Risk identification	Full risk register: technology, regulatory, market, execution, key-person, dependency.	Identifies risks from all submitted materials. Scenario analysis reveals fragile assumptions. Churn data surfaces retention risk. Co-founder agreement absence flagged.	Pitch deck · Scenario model · Churn data · Co-founder agreement · Web: regulatory, market
Capital strategy	Financial model review. Runway/burn analysis. Cap table review. Dilution modelling.	Assesses from financial model, cap table, use-of-funds, and term sheets. Calculates runway. Validates prior rounds against registry filings. Flags milestone-funding misalignment.	Financial model · Cap table · Use-of-funds · Term sheets · Web: registry, Crunchbase

Valuation

Activity	Advisory Firm	The Startup Mentor™	Source Documents
Multi-method valuation	Berkus, Scorecard, Risk Factor Summation, First Chicago, Comparable Co. DCF where applicable.	Runs seven methods from scored dimension data. Higher evidence levels produce tighter ranges. Financial model projections feed scenario-based methods.	All dimension scores · Financial model · Cap table · Web: comparable rounds

Output and reporting

Activity	Advisory Firm	The Startup Mentor™	Source Documents
Report drafting	Structure findings. Write narrative. Build evidence tables. Draft recommendations.	Generates full structured report automatically. Narrative, evidence tables, Value Growth Map, valuation range, uplift paths. Each dimension references specific source documents.	All submitted materials · All web research
Review and QA	Internal consistency check. Fact-check key claims. Senior analyst review.	Automated cross-validation across all 16 dimensions. Flags contradictions between documents — e.g., revenue in pitch deck vs financial model vs pipeline data.	Cross-reference all documents

Where each adds most value

Question	Advisory Firm	The Startup Mentor™
Does the technology actually work?	Interviews experts, reviews lab data, commissions technical review. Irreplaceable.	Assesses claims from submitted materials. Grades evidence. Flags if no independent validation exists.
Will this customer pay at this price?	Calls customers directly. Runs primary WTP research. Irreplaceable.	Grades from signed contracts (E5), LOIs (E4), pipeline (E3–E4), interview notes (E3). Does not call customers.
Is the IP clean and defensible?	Engages IP counsel. Professional patent landscape. Irreplaceable for a clean opinion.	Google Patents search plus submitted filings. Flags dependency risks. Not a legal opinion.
What do former colleagues say?	Reference calls, background checks, network triangulation. Irreplaceable.	LinkedIn, published record, press, prior exits. 22 founder archetype model from hundreds of founders.
Is the framework consistent?	Depends on the individual analyst. Sector specialists may apply thinner coverage outside their domain.	All 16 dimensions assessed every time. No dimension skipped.
Are claims distinguished from evidence?	Varies. Most reports state conclusions without explicit confidence levels.	Every dimension graded E1–E5. Each score references specific source documents.
Which dimensions need further investigation?	Analyst identifies gaps — embedded in the same engagement.	Primary output. Every E1–E2 dimension is an explicit flag telling you where to spend the advisory hours.