Private Equity
The growth plan assumes the platform can scale, margins can improve and the next add-on can integrate. We test those assumptions in the code, architecture and team, then explain what the evidence means for value, cost and timing.
The diligence brief
01 / Your thesis
What must the technology make possible?
02 / Our review
What do the code, systems and team support?
03 / Your decision
What changes in the model or ownership plan?
By deal goal
The deal goal sets the focus.
Every engagement covers the core technical review. What you plan to do after close decides how much further we go, and each goal builds on the one before it.
Preserving value
Hold and operate as is
The base layer of every engagement.
Which legal, reputational and competitive risks come with running it as it is?
Where we go deeper
Resilience and disaster recovery
Legacy drag and obsolescence
Exposure to commoditization
Increasing value
Grow users and geographies
Builds on Preserving value.
Can it handle many more customers, including customers in new countries?
Where we go deeper
Headroom for much higher volume
One code base serving many customers
New countries, languages and regulations
Leveraging value
Put the technology to new use
Builds on Increasing value.
Can its technology and team carry more than this one business?
Where we go deeper
New revenue models, subscription/usage pricing
Integration with platforms you already own
New offerings built on its data and logic
Investment questions
Where the technology meets the model
Deferred platform work, fragile dependencies and underestimated operating costs can change the economics after close. We surface material issues early and explain their implications, so you can address them in the terms and ownership plan.
We assess targets against comparable businesses seen across hundreds of deals, with their stage, resources and investment thesis in view. Good shortcuts can be exactly right for a lean team. We distinguish those choices from compromises that threaten the plan, using real operating experience rather than a theoretical ideal.
Can growth outpace complexity?
Look beyond today’s customer count. We examine the architecture, customer-specific code and delivery process behind the next stage of growth, including the work needed to absorb add-ons.
What does the margin plan depend on?
Cloud usage, manual operations and maintenance can consume the savings in the model. We identify technical constraints and improvement opportunities so your team can pressure-test the cost assumptions.
How much of the AI story holds up?
When AI supports the thesis, we examine the implementation behind the pitch: model dependencies, data, evaluation and operating cost. The question is what the capability can sustain as usage grows.
What needs to happen after close?
Findings need a place in the value-creation plan. We connect technical priorities to effort and sequencing, so the operating team can distinguish urgent remediation from longer-term opportunity.
Where we fit
One technical view across the hold period
Start with the investment question. Carry the evidence into ownership. Revisit it before the next buyer does.
Early Take, pre-LOI
About a week, screenshare-based, no code delivery. Enough signal to walk away or to double down before you spend on a full process.
Confirmatory diligence
8–21 days inside exclusivity. All of the code, the team, and the specific claims your thesis rests on. Findings ranked by what they do to value.
Value creation
Findings carry effort and sequencing, so they drop straight into the technical workstream. Roadmap sizing and remediation advisory are available. We assess, we do not remediate.
Exit readiness
Know what a buyer’s diligence will find before they do. Same method as buy-side but with feedback and coaching built in.
Straight answers
What sponsors ask us first
Can you turn this around inside our exclusivity window?
How is the fee set, and does deal size move it?
Is the report useful, or is it a scorecard?
Will you assess the platform against our thesis, not a generic checklist?
What about the AI claims?
Can you look at portfolio companies outside a deal?
What clients say
“Tech DNA consultants simply have a more substantial technical and M&A experience than the competition. They take the mystery out of software and show you, in plain English, just really clear and concise analysis, a technology company’s strengths and weaknesses.”
Integration consultant · Top 10 tech-focused private equity firm
Ready when the deal is
Bring the target, the investment thesis and the assumptions you most need to test. We’ll define the scope, timeline and fixed fee.