prepare-data-room

name

prepare-data-room

description

Assemble a founder's fundraising data room — the structured set of documents investors expect in diligence — so a "send me the data" request never stalls the round. Produces a stage-appropriate checklist organized by section (corporate, financials, cap table, product/tech, traction, team, legal/IP) with a what-to-include and a what-to-redact note per item. Reach for this when the user asks "what goes in a data room?" or "I got a diligence request — am I ready?". Used by `fundraising-strategist` (primary).

Skill: prepare-data-room

Invoked by: fundraising-strategist (primary). Gates build-investor-pipeline (don't go wide before the room exists).

When to invoke: "what should be in my data room?"; "an investor asked for diligence materials — what do I send?"; "am I diligence-ready?".

Output: a sectioned, stage-appropriate checklist + access/redaction guidance + a readiness verdict.

Procedure

1. Right-size to the stage. A pre-seed data room is light (deck, lean model, cap table, incorporation docs); a Series A room is deep (audited-ish financials, detailed metrics, full contracts). Pull the stage from the fundraising-strategist / ../../knowledge/fundraising-stages-decision-tree.md. Don't over-build a pre-seed room or under-build a Series A one.
2. Assemble by section (see the checklist below). For each item, note what to include and what to redact (e.g., customer names under NDA, employee PII, unsigned drafts).
3. Reconcile with the deck. Every claim in the pitch (traction, revenue, market) must match a source in the data room. Mismatches surface in diligence and erode trust — flag any deck claim with no backing document.
4. Set access controls. Use a controlled-share folder (e.g., a permissioned drive or a dedicated data-room tool), view/download permissions per investor, and ideally access logging. Don't email sensitive docs as open attachments.
5. Stage the release. Share the lighter "first-look" set early (deck, summary metrics, cap-table summary); hold the sensitive set (contracts, detailed financials, full cap table) for investors past the first meeting / in active diligence.
6. Emit a readiness verdict: ready / gaps-to-close, with the specific missing or stale items.

The checklist (stage-appropriate — include what fits the round)

• Corporate & formation — certificate of incorporation, bylaws, board consents, prior financing docs (SAFEs/notes/priced-round docs), 83(b) elections.
• Cap table — current fully diluted cap table, option-pool detail, all outstanding SAFEs/notes with caps/discounts (pairs with ../model-cap-table-and-dilution/SKILL.md).
• Financials — historical P&L / burn, the financial model & projections (model mechanics route to finance), runway calc, current bank balance summary.
• Traction & metrics — KPI dashboard, cohort/retention, pipeline/ARR/MRR detail, key customer logos (redact names under NDA).
• Product & technology — product overview/roadmap, architecture summary, security/compliance posture as relevant.
• Team — founder bios, org chart, key hires & plan, employment/IP-assignment confirmations.
• Legal & IP — material contracts, customer/vendor agreements, IP assignments & filings, any litigation/disputes. (Binding review of these documents routes to legal-ops-clm — this skill organizes the room, it does not opine on the contracts.)
• Market & GTM — market sizing (bottom-up), competitive landscape, go-to-market plan.

Worked example

Founder mid-seed, an investor just asked for "the data room."

• Stage = seed → medium depth. First-look set: deck, one-page metrics, cap-table summary, lean model, incorporation cert.
• Diligence set (post-first-meeting): full fully-diluted cap table + all SAFEs, detailed P&L/burn + model, cohort retention, top contracts (NDA-name redactions), IP assignments.
• Reconcile: deck says "120% net revenue retention" → confirm a cohort doc in the room backs it. No backing doc → flag before sharing.
• Verdict: ready to share first-look; close two gaps (IP-assignment confirmations, cohort doc) before the diligence set goes out.

Guardrails

• Stage-size the room — over-building a pre-seed room signals inexperience; under-building a Series A room stalls the round.
• Reconcile every deck claim with a document — diligence surprises kill deals.
• Control access and stage the release — sensitive docs are permissioned, not emailed; full financials/contracts wait for active diligence.
• Redact PII and NDA-bound names.
• This skill organizes the room; it is not legal advice — the documents' substance routes to legal-ops-clm, the model to finance.