If you’re a serial acquirer or sponsor, the post-mortem is where your future IRR is built.
When: Within 60 days of exiting. Schedule half a day, followed by a celebratory meal.
Who: Independent Sponsor, Deal Team, CEO, CFO, Key Board Members & LPs, Advisors (banker).
Output: Take copious notes, ask AI to summarize, email it to all the relevant stakeholders.
Sample questions:
• Entry: How did the thesis & DD match reality, what was the effective valuation, which vendors would you re-use.
• Ops: How did mgmt perform, when/how should the team have been augmented, how could price and volume have been pushed higher throughout, what could be improved in cost mgmt (COGS, opex, capex), waterfall slide of value creation.
• Exit: When and which advisor did you select, how was the timing (GTM & length of process).
