Financial diligence tells you whether the numbers tie out. Legal diligence tells you whether you can own the asset. Digital and growth diligence tell you whether the story you are buying still works Monday morning.
1. Branded demand vs. paid demand
Traffic can grow while organic branded search weakens. If new revenue depends on spend that is not durable, your multiple assumptions need to move.
2. Review and reputation velocity
Star averages lie. Velocity, topic clustering, and competitor-relative sentiment often explain churn before it hits the P&L.
3. Channel concentration
Two channels driving most qualified pipeline is a thesis risk — especially when one is a platform you do not control.
4. The real CAC story
Blended CAC is a fiction. Investor-grade views separate new vs. returning, channel-specific payback, and incremental vs. maintenance spend.
5. Post-close 90-day reality
Most value leakage is not fraud — it is operational. A clear post-close growth plan is part of the diligence product, not an appendix.
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