A portfolio company can have revenue and growth and still stall in a sale process. When buyers dig into the sales motion, the story falls apart if the ideal customer is fuzzy, results depend on founder-led selling, or the value proposition doesn’t survive a diligence call. The exit timeline slips from a quarter to ‘TBD.’
Three checks worth running before a company goes to market:
- The Revenue Stress Test – Pull 12 months of closed-won deals and ask: If the founder left tomorrow, would the next rep know who to call, what to say, and why they’d buy? If the answer isn’t ‘yes’ with data, flag it.
- The ICP Audit – Take the company’s stated ICP and cross-reference it against their last 20 wins. If more than 20% of deals came from outside the ICP, the narrative isn’t defensible. Buyers will punish it.
- The Discount Autopsy – Look at win rates by discount tier. If deals only close at >30% off list, the pricing power isn’t real. That’s a red flag for buyers.
Each check uses data the company already has, and each answers a question a buyer will ask anyway. Better to know the answer before they do.
The hard truth: In this market, ‘good enough’ GTM gets you stranded. Defensible GTM gets you out.