Can your team answer an important investor question, locate the supporting record and explain any inconsistency without inventing an answer under pressure?
Start by naming one internal owner for diligence. That person does not need to know every answer; they need to route requests, control versions and know which questions require professional input.
Evidence before polish
A beautiful deck cannot repair conflicting cap tables, unsigned contracts or unclear IP ownership. Resolve evidence gaps before formatting the data room.
Disclose deliberately
Not every document should be shared at the first meeting. Decide what is appropriate at each stage and use controlled permissions for sensitive information.
A four-week preparation plan
Week 1 — company and ownership
Collect incorporation records, constitutional documents, cap-table evidence, securities issuances, board and shareholder approvals, and a clear history of ownership changes.
Week 2 — people, IP and contracts
Map founders, employees and contractors to signed agreements. Check whether material software, designs, brands, content and inventions are owned or validly licensed by the company.
Week 3 — financial and commercial evidence
Reconcile management numbers with accounting records. Organise revenue evidence, major customer and vendor contracts, forecasts, tax records and explanations for unusual movements.
Week 4 — data room and response rehearsal
Build the index, assign missing items, restrict access and rehearse answers to likely questions. Record unresolved issues honestly instead of hiding them.
Seven areas to inspect
1. Company and ownership
2. Governance
3. People and intellectual property
4. Commercial relationships
5. Financial and tax information
6. Compliance, privacy and disputes
7. Fundraise consistency
Investor request tracker
Use one row for every request. The tracker should prevent multiple team members from sending different versions of the same document.
| Request | Owner | Status | Source/version | Professional review | Shared on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current cap table | Founder/CFO | Ready / gap | File name + date | CA/CS/counsel if needed | Date + recipient |
| Material customer contracts | Commercial lead | Ready / redaction | Signed version | Counsel if needed | Date + permission |
| IP ownership evidence | People/product lead | Ready / missing | Assignment register | Counsel if needed | Date + recipient |
Questions that deserve early attention
Numbers do not reconcile
The deck, cap table, statutory records or management accounts show different figures or dates.
Important work is unsigned
Key software, design or customer work was created before contracts or IP assignments were signed.
One person holds everything
Only one founder controls the bank, domain, repositories, records or investor communication.
The team hides the gap
An unresolved issue is omitted instead of being described with a factual remediation plan.
Personal data, customer confidential information, security details and privileged professional communication require careful access decisions. Use qualified advice where disclosure obligations or rights are unclear.
Turn unchecked items into an owner-and-deadline plan.
Koda can help organise the readiness review and coordinate appropriately qualified professionals where legal, tax, secretarial or other regulated work is required.
- Ministry of Corporate Affairs for company records and filings.
- Startup India for DPIIT recognition and ecosystem information.
Educational preparation tool only. It is not legal, tax, financial or investment advice and does not predict whether an investor will invest.