Before you wire the money, know what you're actually buying.
I read the code, the architecture, and the team for investors and acquirers — then give you a calm, plain-language picture of what's really there. Independent, vendor-neutral, and on your deal's clock.
Confidential and NDA-friendly. We'll talk through the deal, the clock, and whether the Tech Screen is the right first step.
Most of my diligence conversations start with some version of "we like this deal — we just can't see inside the tech." That's the job — a calm, independent read of what's really there, applied before the money moves instead of after.
The problem, in a deal team's words
We can't tell if the target's tech is an asset or a liability.
The founders' claims sound right — but nobody on our side can actually verify them.
We need a senior read before close. Not a junior checklist wrapped in forty pages of boilerplate.
Half this codebase was AI-generated. What does that mean for what we're paying?
If any of those sound like your deal, the Tech Screen below exists for exactly this.
The read is the product — I'm not selling you a rebuild, a dev team, or a follow-on engagement. Teams I've led have called me their last line of defense; in a deal, that's the role: the person who checks — carefully, calmly — before it's too late to check. Candid, but never theatrical. And a good diligence process doesn't burn the relationship you're about to invest in — founders usually come out of mine feeling heard, not audited.
Is this right for you?
A Tech Screen is usually the right fit when
- A term sheet, LOI, or formal diligence window is open — there's a real decision on a real clock.
- The target has a working product and a codebase substantial enough that "we'll just glance at the repo" isn't a real plan.
- You need a decision-grade answer in days to a couple of weeks — not a quarter.
- You want one senior, independent voice you can put in front of the partnership — not a vendor's checklist.
When it's earlier than that
- Pre-product, or still just exploring? A one-off advisory call is the more honest first step — and I'll say so.
What you get
A clear-eyed written read, in plain language a partner can forward without translation. No jargon walls, no hedging — if something would stop me from wiring my own money, I'll tell you so in plain words.
Architecture & code quality
What's sound, what's brittle, and what it realistically costs to fix.
Team & key-person risk
Who actually built this, and what happens to the asset if they leave.
Delivery risk
Whether this team can ship the roadmap the valuation assumes.
Hidden liabilities
Technical debt, licensing, security posture, AI-generated code provenance, infrastructure cost traps.
A bottom line
Asset, liability, or fixable — plus what I'd negotiate, and what I'd watch in the first 100 days.
Why investors trust the read
~30% budget overrun caught before it landed
On a virtual-events platform build, I sat between the founders and their dev partner, translated claims into actual scope, and stopped a ~30% cost escalation before it hit the budget. The same instinct is what catches an overrun hiding inside a deal model.
Told rescuable from doomed — then proved it
A self-hosted AI initiative at a US VoIP company had been stalled for nine months. I diagnosed why, recruited the right specialists, and it shipped in two. In diligence, the hardest call is exactly that one: is this asset fixable, or is it quietly dead?
7+ platform & vendor evaluations
For a PE-revived heritage travel brand: build-vs-buy, scalability, integration, and cost assessments where my read directly shaped where the money went. Vendor-neutral, every time.
Vibe-coded AI app → App Store production
Hardened a founder-"vibe-coded" AI app to App Store production. I know what AI-generated codebases look like from the inside — which is, increasingly, the precise question a deal turns on.
Engagements anonymized — happy to walk through any of them on a call.
Confidential and NDA-friendly. We'll talk through the deal, the clock, and whether the Tech Screen is the right first step.
Request a confidential diligence call →How a diligence engagement runs
Built for exclusivity clocks — days and weeks, not quarters.
- 1
Confidential diligence call
Day 0
We talk through the deal, the tech question, and the clock — under NDA if you like. If a Tech Screen isn't the honest first step, I'll say so.
- 2
Pre-Deal Tech Screen
Days
Fixed scope, fixed fee. I read the code, the architecture, and the team, and come back with a clear picture before you commit to anything bigger.
- 3
Full technical due diligence
Before close
When the deal warrants it: code, architecture, team, and delivery risk in a decision-grade written report — the bottom line, what I'd negotiate, and what to watch in the first 100 days.
- 4
Post-close oversight (optional)
6–12 months
Fractional technical oversight after the deal closes, to make sure the first-100-days plan actually happens.
Independent and vendor-neutral: I'm not selling you a rebuild, a dev team, or a follow-on engagement. The read is the product.
I bill only the exact time I work — no padded retainers, no flat 160-hour months.
Book a confidential diligence call. We'll talk through the deal, the clock, and whether the Tech Screen is the right first step — independent, NDA-friendly, no pitch.
Request a confidential diligence call →Scoped for a deal clock
Pre-Deal Tech Screen
$3.5–6K fixed
Fixed scope, fixed fee, delivered on your deal's clock. A small, honest first step: a clear picture before you commit to anything bigger.
Book itFull Technical Due Diligence
$8–20K per deal
Code, architecture, team, and delivery risk in a decision-grade written report (specialist scope higher). Optional continuity: post-close technical oversight, fractional, 6–12 months.
Confidential by default — NDA-friendly; your deal stays your deal.
Fair questions
We have someone technical internally.
Good — keep them in the room. An independent, senior, vendor-neutral read protects both the deal and that relationship. I'll tell you what the pitch deck won't, and your person doesn't have to be the bearer of bad news.
The target's CTO walked us through everything.
Founders believe their own architecture diagrams. That's not dishonesty — it's optimism. My job is to check the diagram against the code.
Can you work on our timeline?
The Tech Screen exists for exactly this: a fixed-scope read built for exclusivity clocks, in days, not quarters.
What if the tech is bad?
A bad finding isn't always a kill. Sometimes it's negotiating leverage; sometimes it's a 100-day plan. I'll tell you which — and I've seen enough stalled builds come back to life to know the difference.
Know what you're buying — before the money moves
Book a confidential diligence call. We'll talk through the deal, the clock, and whether the Tech Screen is the right first step — independent, NDA-friendly, no pitch.
Email works best right now — write a couple of lines about where things stand and you’ll get a real reply from a real person, usually within a day.