What Should Your Due Diligence Binder Include?

Excellent post on PureVC (www.purevc.com) regarding the key elements of a due diligence (or background materials) binder for a company seeking financing. The short list of the key elements for the binder are:

1. Background of the company
2. Background of management
3. The Company's Business plan
4. Audited and unaudited financials since company inception
5. Management discussion of company performance
6. Capitalization Table
7. Leases
8. Employment agreements
9. Purchase or sale agreements
10. Previous letters of intent

The post goes on to discuss issues of confidentiality - which and to what detail of the items above to make publicly available and which to disclose only after confidentiality agreements have been executed. A good workaround is to have shortened, publicly circulable versions of the above, with sensitive detail withheld until under non-disclosure. The full post can be seen here.