Technology Due Diligence: Not Just a Soundbite
The “soundbite method” works something like this:
An investor finds a company with an interesting technology. He spends months analysing the business, and thousands of dollars on the financial due diligence.
He doesn’t know much about the technology, so he calls a few friends and advisers – technical people who work in related fields. He gets a few opinions – soundbites – often based on incomplete knowledge of the technology.
The investment decision ends up being based on a very thorough assessment of the balance sheet and a very sketchy awareness of the technology.
There’s something back-to-front here: future performance will be much more dependent on technology than on financial history. Shouldn’t technology be the focus of the due diligence? Shouldn’t it at least have the same rigour applied as the financial due diligence?
Technology due diligence is not a soundbite.
Casual opinions are not enough if you’re about to jump into a technology investment. It needs a thorough, professional assessment.
No one would make an investment based on a cursory glance at the balance sheet. It’s not a good idea to make one based on a cursory glance at the technology either.