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Financial Mastery

The 45 documents investors ask for in a data room

A startup data room usually has 8 folders: corporate, cap table & equity, financial, commercial, product & technology, people, legal & ip, compliance & data. Build it before the first partner meeting, so diligence doesn't slow down the close.

Not every item applies at every stage; a seed round usually needs less than a Series A. Mark what applies and work through the gaps.

Corporate

0 / 6

  • Certificate of incorporation and amendments

  • Bylaws / articles of association

  • Shareholder and investor agreements

  • Board and shareholder minutes and consents

  • List of subsidiaries and jurisdictions

  • Any outstanding warrants or options outside the plan

Cap table & equity

0 / 5

  • Fully diluted cap table (reconciled to legal documents)

  • All SAFEs and convertible notes

  • Option plan and every grant with board approval

  • Founder stock purchase and vesting agreements

  • Any side letters or promises of equity

Financial

0 / 7

  • Monthly P&L, balance sheet and cash flow (last 12-24 months)

  • Financial model with assumptions (Base case)

  • Budget vs actuals

  • Bank statements (recent months)

  • Tax filings and any tax liabilities

  • Debt agreements and liens

  • Revenue recognition approach

Commercial

0 / 7

  • Customer list with revenue (anonymised early)

  • Top 10 customer contracts

  • MRR / revenue movements by month

  • Cohort retention data

  • Pipeline and conversion data

  • Key partner and supplier agreements

  • Pricing and discount policy

Product & technology

0 / 6

  • Architecture overview

  • Product roadmap

  • Security practices, incidents and certifications

  • Open-source licence inventory

  • Third-party dependencies (incl. AI model providers)

  • Uptime and incident history

People

0 / 6

  • Org chart and headcount plan

  • Employment contract templates

  • Contractor agreements

  • Key person compensation

  • Employee handbook and policies

  • Any disputes or claims

Legal & IP

0 / 4

  • IP assignment agreements (founders, employees, contractors)

  • Patents, trademarks, domains

  • Litigation, threatened claims

  • Material contracts with unusual terms

Compliance & data

0 / 4

  • Privacy policy and data map

  • Data processing agreements

  • Regulatory licences (fintech, health etc.)

  • Insurance policies