Private equity due diligence
The operational workstream, on a deal timeline.
Every deal gets a quality-of-earnings review. Almost none get a real read on how the company actually operates, because that workstream never fits the timeline. The Deal Package is ready inside 24 hours of the run, signed when confidence clears the bar, so operational diligence stops being the workstream you cut when the clock tightens.
Three people, three uses
One Deal Package. Three ways to read it.
Zoe Score
6464 out of 100
Attention
Findings ordered by severity
- The top 5 customers bring in 59.6% of revenue.
- New business is slow: 14% of closed deals were won, and wins took 132 days.
- Releases are frequent, but 22% of dated work finishes late.
Each finding is one declarative sentence with the causal string in it: the behavior, its date, and the evidence behind it. The signed opinion above them is issued when confidence clears the bar.
Against the alternative
Six to eight weeks, or twenty-four hours.
6–8weeks · boutique ODD engagement
24hours · Zoe
| Dimension | Boutique ODD engagement | Zoe |
|---|---|---|
| Time to the Deal Package | Six to eight weeks | Inside 24 hours of the run |
| Method | Management interviews and document review | Deck claims checked against the books the company connects, plus a scored Company Call |
| Output | A deck of opinions | An IC memo and evidence appendix, a signed opinion when confidence clears the bar, with a trail per finding and Ask Zoe for follow-ups |
| Traceability | Cited where the analyst chose to cite | Every point decomposes to a dated data pull |
| Coverage | Whatever the scope bought | All nine dimensions, with a confidence percentage and a coverage tier |
| Re-run cost | A new engagement | Run another diagnostic as the deal progresses |
The decision room
Make the investment with conviction.
Bring a clearer company view to the investment committee.
The private equity due diligence checklist →
Frequently asked questions
How is Zoe different from a traditional operational diligence engagement?
Traditional ODD is people-driven: consultants interview leadership, observe meetings, review processes, and write up findings over six to eight weeks. Zoe starts from the company’s own deck and turns it into a Claim Ledger, checks each claim against the books and systems the company connects (Said vs True), scores the Company Call transcript for what was answered, dodged or contradicted, and returns a scored Deal Package inside 24 hours of the run, signed when confidence clears the bar.
Does the company need to know we’re running Zoe?
Yes. You never hold their logins. The company contact, often the CEO or CFO, opens a signed link, is shown the DPA, and the acceptance is logged as a consent event. They then connect each system through OAuth in their own session: QuickBooks, one CRM (HubSpot or Salesforce), GitHub, Jira, Slack. Zoe only reads, though the permission a provider grants can be broader than what Zoe reads. Connection status shows in the diagnostic. Most sponsors run Zoe as a condition of moving to LOI, just as they would request audited financials or a QofE.
What happens to the data after a diagnostic?
Synced records and diagnostic evidence are stored in an isolated workspace. Normalized metrics, the Claim Ledger and the Deal Package itself stay available; closing a diagnostic deletes nothing. Delete the workspace and Zoe deletes its data and revokes its grants. Slack message text is scored and then dropped, so message bodies are never stored; the deck, data-room files and the books the company connects are read as cited evidence for Said vs True. See /security for the full data-handling spec.
How does Zoe work alongside our existing CDD/ODD providers?
Zoe augments them, she does not replace them. Zoe handles the operational and cultural layer (deck claims checked against the books, the Company Call scored, a scored Deal Package inside 24 hours) while your consultants handle the strategic and structural layer. On larger or more complex deals (carve-outs, roll-ups, regulated industries) that division of labor matters most. They’re complementary, not competitive.
How is the Zoe Score weighted?
Each of the nine dimensions has a weight that varies by company stage. Financial vitality and delivery execution dominate at growth stage; culture and C-Suite weight more at early stage. The weights are visible in every Deal Package and you can override them for your fund’s thesis.
The workstream that finally fits the timeline.
Operational diligence used to be the first thing cut when the clock tightened. Now it is the deck checked against the books, the Company Call scored, and an IC memo on your desk inside 24 hours of the run.
Rather not wait? Start a diagnostic, add the company’s deck, invite the company to connect, and receive the Deal Package inside 24 hours.