Competitors: Another Gold Mine of Information
We’ve pointed out before here that expert assessors are not the only people with useful information to bring to the table when you’re examining a technology company. We posted some time back, for example, about how that company’s customers can be a gold mine of useful information.
Here’s another group worth talking to. Harder to access and perhaps not the ‘gold mine’ of information that the customers offer, but competitors often have some interesting insight to share too.
Obviously it’s not a good idea to phone up the target company’s greatest rival and alert them to the fact that you’re performing a due diligence, but a more subtle approach often bares fruit.
A competitor will likely have have a good deal of technical knowledge about your target company’s products, and particularly their shortcomings. Naturally these need to be taken with a large pinch of salt (”You think their products are inferior? Really?”) but sometimes it’s a quicker way to the truth.
The most important point is, just like with customer interviews, it has to be the technical expert on the due dilligence team who has these discussions. Understanding the technology you’re talking about is the only way to get the benefit of a competitor’s insight.