Many companies spend weeks on their pitch deck and days on their data room. Investors do it the other way round. At the latest in due diligence, it becomes clear whether a company lives up to what the presentation promises.
More thorough than expected
Investors in the Gulf start with the person and the question of who introduced you. But when they review, they review carefully: with international advisers, extensive question lists and particular attention to compliance, source of funds and corporate structure.
The five most common gaps
- A cap table that does not match the corporate documents.
- Intellectual property rights held by founders, freelancers or the parent company instead of the company.
- A financial model without justified assumptions and without scenarios.
- Key contracts with unclear termination or change-of-control clauses.
- KPIs that differ between deck, model and accounts.
“Completeness matters more than perfection. An honest data room convinces more than one that covers gaps with gloss.”
How to go in prepared
Build the data room before the first investor meeting, not afterwards. Review it through an investor’s eyes: do all the figures match? Is every claim supported? Name open points yourself, with a plan for how you will resolve them. This shortens the review and shows that you have your company under control.
A prepared data room is not an administrative task. It is the strongest signal you can send an investor: there is nothing to hide here.
