mheilimo/private-company-due-diligence-checklist

Private-company first-pass due diligence checklist

This small dataset is a reusable worksheet for reviewing a pitch deck, data room, accelerator application, or other private-company materials before the first founder call or a deeper diligence process.

It is designed to help reviewers separate supported claims from gaps and turn those gaps into useful follow-up questions. It does not make an investment decision or replace full due diligence, legal review, or investor judgement.

Evidence states

Assign one state to every material claim:

• —supported: specific, relevant evidence is available;
• —partially_supported: some evidence exists, but a key assumption or period remains unverified;
• —unsupported: the claim is stated without enough evidence to test it;
• —contradicted: another submitted item or a credible current source points in a different direction.

Plausible is not a fifth evidence state.

How to use the data

1. 1.Work through the 12 rows in checklist.csv.
2. 2.Record the most material claims in each dimension.
3. 3.Assign an evidence state and note the source that supports it.
4. 4.Check the connected dimensions named in the final column.
5. 5.Take no more than five decision-changing questions into the next call.

The dimensions are connected. A market-share claim, for example, should agree with the sales plan, hiring plan, delivery capacity, funding need, and financial model.

Fields

• —dimension: the review area;
• —initial_review_prompt: the first question to ask of the materials;
• —evidence_to_request: examples of useful substantiation;
• —connected_checks: other dimensions that should agree with the claim.

Method source

This checklist uses the 12-dimension structure applied by DDScore.ai, a Finnish product for structured first-pass analysis of private-company materials. DDScore produces a comparable 0–100 score and a written report that surfaces strengths, risks, missing evidence, and unresolved questions. A public synthetic example report is available on the site.

License

The checklist is released under CC BY 4.0. Attribute the dataset as "Private-company first-pass due diligence checklist by DDScore.ai" and retain the source link when adapting it.