When the work changed the decision.

The seller's narrative leaned on "dominant local share" and stable organic demand. Financials were clean enough that traditional diligence was trending toward proceed.

Our digital footprint and competitive work showed a different picture: declining branded search share of voice, a thin backlink profile propped up by paid placements, and a new regional competitor capturing the queries that historically fed the pipeline. CAC sensitivity to two channels was far higher than represented in management materials.

Outcome: the buyer walked. The diligence fee versus the protected equity check was an easy trade.

The platform team liked the target's top-line growth. Marketing claimed a majority of new customers arrived "organically."

We reconstructed channel contribution using public signals, creative library history, and SEO/traffic trends. Organic was growing — but not at the rate implied, and a large share of "direct" traffic correlated with episodic brand campaigns that were winding down.

Outcome: the buyer renegotiated purchase terms. The adjustment alone exceeded our engagement cost several times over.

Revenue was real, but every investor conversation stalled on the same question: "Where do customers actually come from?" GA4, HubSpot, and Stripe each told a partial story.

We rebuilt the GTM narrative around a single funnel truth, cleaned event and property mapping, and packaged cohort-style views the data room could support. Positioning shifted from feature list to repeatable motion.

Outcome: the next diligence cycle completed without a third round of "can you prove that chart?" — and the founder reported materially faster partner feedback (timing and tone).