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It’s beginning to look like the dot com era all over again. Everywhere you turn there is an abundance of enthusiasm among investors hoping to cash in on the next big thing. But we have observed, as have others, that the current environment is more like a feeding frenzy than anything else. And if it ends like the many feeding frenzies before it, a collapse is imminent.

As due diligence specialists, we do everything we can to make sure our clients make wise decisions. From industry-leading reports to a technologically based diligence platform, we have the tools and services necessary to help you avoid the feeding frenzy and subsequent collapse. We believe the key is combining your gut instincts with data-driven diligence-as-a-service (DaaS).

More About DaaS

As you already know, due diligence is a process of investigating business opportunities in advance of making decisions about them. We combine the fundamentals of early-stage diligence in a menu of services we offer to advisors, investors, entrepreneurs, and companies.

Our service model allows clients to pick and choose only the services they need when they need them. This benefits clients in the sense that they do not have to pay for services and diligence reports they don’t need. It benefits us in that it allows us to strategically focus on each client’s fundamental needs without distraction.

Now, more than ever, investors need that kind of focus. Now is not the time to allow gut instinct to be the only driver in making investment decisions. There is too much at stake. There are so many opportunities just waiting to be picked up, yet not all of them will make money. Many of them will not. Trusting gut instinct alone doesn’t cut it.

Data Is for Winners

The business world offers a few shining examples of investors who made a ton of money off gut instinct. Their stories are exciting and even a little sexy. But guess what? There are far more losers than winners in the gut instinct game. We don’t hear much about the losers because they keep their stories to themselves.

On the other hand, the number of successful investors who rely on data is quite significant. If it were not, there would be no need for DaaS. The fact that our services are in such high demand proves that data is for winners.

How do you see yourself? If you invest primarily on gut instinct, how is that working out for you? And if you don’t trust your gut instinct at all, relying exclusively on data alone, are you winning more often than you’re losing?

Room for Both

We have worked with enough investors to know that focusing exclusively on one or the other is not the smartest way to go. There is room for both gut instinct and data. And in fact, winning is about combining the two in just the right measure. If you are not doing it, you have a new goal to pursue.

Due diligence is our specialty here at Mezy. We can’t help you with your gut instinct. However, we can provide you with valuable data by way of startup valuation, business valuation, and other due diligence reports. We can compile the data you need in a format that is instantly usable. Our platform combines the latest technologies with proven data collection methods to create reports you can count on.

Is the current feeding frenzy leading to a repeat of the dot com crash? Signs are trending that way. Do not fall victim to the crash. Instead, temper your gut instincts with data.

As a firm offering due diligence-as-a-service (DaaS), we specialize in early-stage due diligence. We help startups by providing them the data they need to pitch investors. We help investors by supplying reports that help them understand the opportunities in front of them. We help both by guiding them through the process of fundraising – rather than focusing on a single event.

It has been our experience that client mindset plays a significant role in success. In simple terms, the right mindset understands that fundraising is not a single event. It is a process. Furthermore, it is a process that requires preparation on both ends of the transaction.

Entrepreneurs need to be prepared with the right data before pitching investors. They need to have answers to the questions they know are coming. Likewise, investors need to be prepared with foundational data before they meet with entrepreneurs. They need at least a basic understanding of what they are looking at so that they know what to ask.

Preparation Takes Time

By definition, a process is something that occurs in multiple steps. As such, processes take time. If you are an entrepreneur looking at fundraising as a single event, you’re missing it. Maybe the 30 minutes you have to pitch your opportunity to investors could be considered a single event. But it is the last event in the initial fundraising process.

Preparing for that event takes time. You need time to get your data together. You need time to compile that data and polish it. You need time to put together a startup valuation report that will grab investor attention and keep it.

This is one of the areas in which Mezy excels. Our startup valuation report offers the right data presented in the right way. Investors can thoroughly understand what they are looking at, giving them the opportunity to make a reasoned decision before moving ahead with more detailed due diligence.

How long does it take to prepare for an initial meeting? We cannot say in this type of setting. Every case is unique. What we can say is that Mezy takes the time to help every client thoroughly prepare. We will package your company the way investors expect to see it, with a format, design, and language capable of reaching them.

Don’t Be Frustrated by Deadlines

In our years as a due diligence provider, we have seen plenty of entrepreneurs who did not take the time to prepare. They established unrealistic deadlines and scheduled their investor meetings too early. They cobbled together a bit of data in a bare-bones presentation. Their self-imposed deadlines only frustrated them and their efforts.

We don’t want you to be frustrated by fundraising. We also do not want you to set unrealistic deadlines. Instead, let’s get the fundraising process in motion as early as possible. Let us take the necessary time to compile and package relevant data the right way.

From our perspective, due diligence is a lot like cooking a gourmet meal. It is worth taking the time to do it right. Master chefs do not pull food out of the freezer, throw it in the microwave, and present it as a five-star experience. They work in the kitchen for hours to create something they can be proud of.

Apply the same principle to fundraising. Take your time and do it right. And if you need help, get in touch with us. Here at Mezy, we bring entrepreneurs and investors together around comprehensive data and well-packaged reports. We specialize in the process rather than the event.

Due diligence is known to produce some pretty in-depth reports. With enough time and data, diligence providers can produce documents with enough pages to constitute a small novel. Sometimes that much data is necessary. But other times, a single-page summary is a more valuable tool. Do not underestimate its power.

We are a diligence-as-a-service (DaaS) provider offering a complete menu of services to a variety of clients. We help investors find the right opportunities for their money. We help financial advisors find the best products for their clients. We help entrepreneurs gain insights into what it takes to attract investment funds.

Detailed reports are absolutely part of our menu of services. But so are one-page summaries. A good one-page summary from Mezy can introduce you to a new company, opportunity, or investment product in just a couple of minutes. The information we offer lays the foundation for you moving forward if that’s what you decide to do.

Four Types of Summaries

If you would like to know more about our due diligence summaries, feel free to reach out to us at any time. In the meantime, know that we offer four types of summary reports as follows:

1. Mezy Screen – A one-page company summary designed to introduce investors to target companies they might be interested in learning more about.

• Mezy Estimate – A valuation estimate for investors looking to target startups or provide venture capital for more established companies.

• Mezy Brief – This is a single-page research overview. It is a product many of our clients find especially useful.

• Mezy Teaser – The Teaser is a powerful document for introducing investors to companies in the midst of fund raising. It represents a fantastic way to get some attention.

Though each of these reports is only a single page, the data contained on those pages is unquestionably strong. It is laid out in an easy-to-read and digest manner, in language readers understand. A good way to think of one-page summaries is to compare them to laser surgery. They are concise, targeted, and extremely effective.

Too Much of a Good Thing

Mezy one-page diligence summaries were developed based on the understanding that you can have too much of a good thing. You can put too much sugar in your coffee. You can put too much water in your swimming pool. And yes, you can provide too much data during early-stage diligence.

There is plenty of time for all the details at another point down the road. During the early stages however, our clients only need specific, targeted data as a means of filtering out opportunities they aren’t interested in. That is what we provide in our one-page reports.

Our reports are packed with valuable data presented in bite-size chunks. Being single-page reports, they can be read and understood in mere minutes. Rather than spending an hour or more pouring through page after page of data that is not relevant at the moment, our clients take two or three minutes to understand a summary.

Get Past the First Stage

Whether you are an entrepreneur looking to pitch your company or a financial advisor looking for new products, getting past that first stage of diligence is big. The first stage is where you take an unlimited number of opportunities and pare them down to a manageable number. You can spend way too much time doing it or minimize your time with Mezy one-page diligence reports.

Never underestimate the power of a one-page summary. We have been preparing them for our clients since the very beginning. Our clients love them because they deliver.

You and your startup’s co-founders are looking for a new round of funding. You are hoping to hit up angels or venture capitalists who find your company compelling enough to get on board. You are extremely proud of what you’ve accomplished thus far, so you set about creating a cold deck for pitching prospective investors. Can we offer you a bit of advice? Stop.

Mezy was once a startup. We have been through the same growth process. As specialists in due diligence, we have first-hand knowledge of how venture capitalists approach new deals. We know what they are looking for. We know what they want in terms of opportunities and management teams. We also know what they don’t want, and that’s the cold deck.

Your typical investor wants an easier way to filter opportunities. That is where the Mezy Teaser comes in. The Teaser is a single-page document that gives investors all the information they need in a quick read that takes less than three minutes.

Cold Decks Are like Resumes

Venture capitalists have plenty of opportunities to read detailed due diligence reports once they start looking into opportunities more deeply. But in the initial stages of filtering the many opportunities they come across, investors aren’t all that interested in reading page after page of data. Cold decks just don’t do it for them.

In some ways, cold decks are a lot like resumes. Over the years, we’ve learned that HR departments don’t spend a lot of time going through multi-page resumes. They want to see all of a prospective hire’s information on a single page. Give them too much and a resume ends up in the circular file.

We believe the same principle applies to pitching venture capitalists. You’re better off giving them a concise, single-page document rather than a multi-document cold deck. The cold deck still has its purpose, but not as your initial pitch product. You don’t want to give investors so much information that they do not even bother looking. You don’t want your cold deck ending up in the circular file.

Concise and Easy to Read

Human nature has changed very little since the beginning of time. When it comes to absorbing information, most people do better with targeted information. Investors certainly do. They prefer concise, easy-to-read documents that give them the most important information in bite-size chunks. That’s what our Teaser does.

The Mezy Teaser is designed to highlight your company’s strengths. In doing so, we create a document that shows exactly why venture capitalists should consider investing in your opportunity. We give them just enough to pique their interest. Then it’s your turn.

We see a cold deck as an opportunity to tell half of your company’s story over far too many pages. And yet, we know that startups only have a short window to tease an opportunity. That is why it is better to approach venture capitalists with the Mezy Teaser. Leave the cold deck for another time.

Follow up with a Meeting

We advise startups to send a one-page teaser first. Then, immediately schedule a follow-up meeting for discussing the details. A well-crafted teaser will get you those meetings among investors most likely to get on board.

The cold deck still has a place at the table. But in today’s fast-paced world, it’s no longer the best option for introducing a startup to venture capitalists. A better way to go is a single-page summary document that highlights a startup’s strengths. We offer such a document in the Mezy Teaser. Now that you know, let’s talk about preparing one for your startup.

Here at Mezy, we specialize in early-stage diligence-as-a-service (DaaS). Our clients are investors looking for new opportunities to help companies raise capital. They are companies utilizing our services to narrow down a hundred merger possibilities to five or six. What we offer plays a vital role in identifying the right investments regardless of your investment strategy.

DaaS is such a far-reaching discipline. Yet we believe there are plenty of circumstances that call for early-stage DaaS rather than diving right into the deep end of the diligence pool. Early-stage DaaS lays the foundation for what hopefully becomes a profitable deal. Here’s how you can use it to find the right investments:

Quickly Screen the Possibilities

There is no shortage of investment opportunities on any given day. You could spend hour after hour just tracking them all down and listing them. But at some point, you have to start looking at what each of those opportunities offers. That is where screening comes into play.

By looking at the basic components of each deal and comparing them under a standardized format, you can quickly screen a large volume of possibilities. Fast screening provides that all-important first impression in a bite-size overview that’s easy to absorb. That way, you don’t get bogged down in details that may prove to be unimportant in the long run.

Create Your Short List

A quick screening of all the possibilities quickly eliminates those opportunities the data demonstrates just aren’t acceptable. Now you have to create your shortlist. That’s where a deeper analysis comes in. Our DaaS services include what we call the Mezy Brief, a single-page examination of what each opportunity offers.

Preparing the Brief involves looking at a target’s fundamentals in more detail. Data focuses on financials, management teams, the competitive landscape, and other key performance indicators as dictated by investment type. Between fast screening and the Mezy Brief, you can reduce hundreds of opportunities to a more manageable number.

Assess Valuations

A key component of early-stage DaaS is company valuation. Every opportunity you are looking at has been valued prior to being offered. You need to know whether individual valuations are in line with industry standards. To know this, you also have to look at things like market trends, company metrics, and even how a target stacks up against others in the same industry.

The goal here is to ensure that you don’t spend too much on one opportunity or completely miss another because you believe it’s too good to be true. Accurate valuations keep you in your price range while ensuring exposure to the best opportunities available at any given time.

Uncover Hidden Gems

Early-stage DaaS done right can accomplish something you might otherwise fail to do – uncover hidden gems. They are out there, in the form of so many startups looking for enthusiastic investors willing to take a chance. The thing to remember in this regard is that valuations do not tell the whole story.

We can help you identify opportunities you might otherwise pass by. Once identified, you can decide for yourself how you want to proceed. Should you choose not to move forward, at least having the opportunity to consider a hidden gem is far better than missing it altogether.

Early-stage DaaS could represent the most valuable tool you have to find the right investment opportunities. When you choose Mezy as your service provider, we help you screen opportunities faster, create your shortlist more effectively, accurately assess valuations, and uncover those hidden gems. All combined, our services can point you to very profitable deals.