Due diligence for venture funds

Fig. 1
Despun platform, held still

1,880 pages before lunch. Every one of them quoted. Nothing made up.

Not a person. A satellite part.

Private beta · By introduction

Reads everything.
Quotes everything.
Invents nothing.

A live finding

Is the cap table fully diluted and reconciled?

Not fully. The table reconciles to 12,485,000 shares, but records two outstanding SAFEs outside the count.

Verbatimchecked character for character

“12,485,000 shares fully diluted as of 31 January 2026. Two SAFEs remain outstanding.”

cap-table.xlsx · sheet 1 · read 14:02:11

cap-table.xlsx · sheet 1
Common shares outstanding9,120,000
Series A preferred2,310,000
Option pool, allocated and reserved1,055,000
12,485,000 shares fully diluted as of 31 January 2026
SAFEs outstanding2

The same characters, lit on the source page.

01Why the name

A satellite spins to stay stable. Its antenna cannot.

Rotor: spinsPlatform: despun. Held still.

The antenna sits on a despun platform. A motor holds it still while the rest turns, so it stays pointed at the ground.

Every data room spins.

Despun holds still.

DESPUN, adj. Past participle of despin. Already done.

02Product

A summary is an opinion. A quote is a fact.

01

Drop the room in.

PDFs, decks, spreadsheets, scans. Every page, charts included.

02

Pick the questions.

Answers come from the room. Nothing else.

03

Every answer is checked.

Quoted character for character, or thrown out.

04

Gaps become the interview.

What the room cannot prove becomes a question for the founder. Written before the call.

Step 03, on screen
Contradictiontwo sources disagree

“The Company has no outstanding convertible instruments.”

shareholders-agreement-v7.pdf · p. 22 · disagrees with cap-table.xlsx sheet 1

Step 04, on screen
No evidencenothing invented. drafted for the interview

Is there key-person cover on the founding team, and who holds the policy?

Drafted question · People · 0 of 1,880 pages match

03For investors

Know what the other funds don't.

The room, read. Not the deck.

Readiness on one scale

Eight categories, one scale. Established, Partial, Unproven.

Answers that cite

Verbatim, checked against the source.

Red flags that mean it

A missing document is a gap. Two documents that disagree is an alarm.

The interview, drafted

Every gap becomes a question. Copy the list.

Ask the room

It reads the room. It cannot write to it.

Every read on the record

Who read what, and when.

Readiness, on screen
Corporate62
62partial
Financial84
84established
Legal71
71partial
Technology & IP66
66partial
People31
31unproven
Commercial78
78established
Security38
38unproven
Data & privacy55
55partial

Security has two gaps. Both are drafted for the interview.

Correct, or silent.

04For founders

Know your room before they do.

“We don't have it yet” is an answer. Say it once. The chasing stops.

Is key-person insurance in place?

People · Gap

UploadDeclareLater

Which SAFEs remain unconverted?

Corporate · Declared

“Two SAFEs, both on YC post-money terms, converting at the Series A.”
Recorded on your word. 2026-09-17 14:31:07

05Security

Enforced by code, not by policy.

One door to every file.

One authorisation check. No side doors. Every pass logged.

Injection flagged at the door.

A document that tries to instruct the reader is held for a human. Never quoted.

Reads the room. Cannot write to it.

The room leaves as it arrived.

06Pricing

In private beta.

A handful of funds, by introduction. Pilot rooms are free, and pricing lands with general availability.