# The Portfolio GTM Diligence Checklist.

Financial diligence tells you what happened. This tells you what happens next.

## The gap in most diligence

- Financial diligence is rigorous. GTM diligence is a gut check, a few conversations with the CRO and a look at the pipeline report.
- Pre-close metrics, ARR, logo count, NRR, don't reveal whether the engine underneath them will hold up once capital is deployed.
- Post-close GTM problems look like execution failures, when they were structural gaps that existed before the investment closed.

## Ask before you deploy capital: four questions the pipeline report won't answer

- Can the CRO reproduce last quarter's pipeline coverage number independently of the CEO's version of it?
- What percentage of current ARR came from the top two reps, and what happens if either leaves in the next 90 days?
- Has CAC trended up or down over the last four quarters, independent of marketing's explanation?
- Is there a single, named owner of the revenue forecast?
- If this company doubled headcount tomorrow, would the GTM system absorb it, or just double the chaos?

## Frequently asked questions

### Is this meant for pre-close diligence or post-close operating review?

Both. The same questions expose different things depending on when you ask them.

### How is this different from a standard commercial due diligence report?

Most commercial DD focuses on market size and competitive position. This focuses on whether the internal GTM system can absorb the growth capital is buying.

### What's the next step if a company fails several of these checks?

It's a scoping conversation, not an automatic red flag.