Tech Due Diligence for private equity
What will the technology cost you after closing, and can it carry your value creation plan?
I assess all of the technology you are buying, estimate what it costs to close its gaps, and show where it supports or blocks your plan.
How an engagement works
We start from your value creation plan and the concerns of your investment committee, and agree the focus areas together. I assess all of the technology you are buying against evidence, estimate what it costs to close its gaps, and turn the findings into a 100-day plan.
Your input
Investor: Investment case
Your value creation plan and your concerns
Together
Focus areas
The parts of your plan that depend most on technology
- Cost
- Add-ons
- Exposure
- Exit
My assessment
Maturity
All seven domains below, checked against evidence
Costs
One-off cost to close the gaps, and today's yearly running cost
Deal risks
Findings that could affect the price or the purchase agreement
Report to your investment committee
Maturity rating per domain, red flags ranked by impact on the deal, cost estimates and deal risks
Plan and follow-up
100-day plan
What to fix first, in which order, and which manager owns each step
Oversight
After closing, on request: I track the plan for you
The seven domains
- 01
Architecture & Product Platform
Whether the platform can support the growth in the investment case: scalability, technical debt and how well the platform fits the product.
- 02
Engineering Execution & Quality
How reliably the team delivers: delivery discipline, testing and release quality.
- 03
Security, Privacy & Compliance
How access and data are protected, and whether there is evidence to support the company's security and compliance claims.
- 04
Infrastructure, Reliability & Operations
Cloud setup, resilience, observability and cost, and how the system is kept running day to day.
- 05
Data, Analytics & AI
The state of the data foundations, and how much substance there is behind any AI claims.
- 06
Team, Leadership & Delivery Model
The capability of the team and its leadership, key-person risk, and how the organisation is set up to deliver.
- 07
Technical Governance & Financial Awareness
Who owns which technical decisions, how they are made and recorded, and how well technology costs are understood and controlled.
Typical key questions
Each answered with evidence and, where it matters, a number.
What does the technology really cost to run, and what will closing its gaps cost?
Can companies you buy later move onto the target's platform, and at what cost?
What licence, open source, security or key-person risks come with the deal?
Will the technology pass the next buyer's Tech Due Diligence?
Where I am strongest
- Integrating acquisitions
- IT governance and operations
- Security and compliance
- Vendor costs and licences
- Cloud and data platforms
One contact, one report
When a deal needs an industry or domain specialist, I bring one in from my network and coordinate the work.
Engagements
Fixed fee, agreed in writing after a free 30-minute scoping call
Red flag review
Early, around the letter of intent
Interviews and existing documents, focused on what could stop the deal.
Full Tech Due Diligence
Before signing
The full assessment, with costs and a 100-day plan.
Carve-out and integration planning
When the deal needs it
I assess feasibility and plan the separation or the integration.
100-day plan oversight
After closing, on retainer
I track milestones and check reports against evidence. Management does the work.
I fit the scope to your deal schedule. When time is short, every material risk is still checked and the depth goes where your plan depends most.
About me
25 years in the software industry. Over five years at LiveEO, where I built the cloud infrastructure and IT from zero as the company grew from about 25 to 170 people, set up IT governance, took it through ISO 27001 and SOC 2, reported on security risk to the board, and was the technical contact for investor due diligence in several financing rounds. At Strato, I supported two acquisitions from the company side, by Deutsche Telekom and later by 1&1. At F5 Networks, over seven years, I planned and designed the integration of an acquired company's product into F5's core platform. BSc Computer Science, Executive MBA (ESCP). Interviews in English, German, Hebrew and Hungarian.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does an engagement start?
- With your value creation plan and the concerns of your investment committee. In the scoping call we agree the focus areas.
What does a Full Tech Due Diligence deliver?
- A maturity rating for each of the seven domains, red flags ranked by impact on the deal, one-off and yearly cost estimates, findings that could affect the price or the purchase agreement, and a 100-day plan.
Do you carry out the carve-out or the integration?
- No. I assess feasibility and plan it. Management carries it out.
What does 100-day plan oversight mean?
- After closing, on retainer, I track the milestones of the plan and check management reports against evidence. Management does the work.
Can our lenders or insurers rely on the report?
- We discuss it per deal. It depends on the scope and on my insurance cover.
What do you need from the target company?
- Time with management and engineering, existing documents, and for a Full Tech Due Diligence read-only access to code, cloud and configuration.
What is not included?
- Legal or investment advice, penetration testing, certification, or a full code audit.
How is an engagement priced?
- A fixed fee, agreed in writing after a free 30-minute scoping call.
From the Playbook
- Edition 1: Deal-Maker, Not Checkbox
The purpose of Technical Due Diligence and using a risk register as a deal-making tool
- Edition 2: One Size Never Fits All
Right-sizing Technical Due Diligence scope by transaction type: minority stake, majority buyout, and carve-out
- Edition 5: Scaling Without Bleeding Cash
Cloud cost analysis, FinOps practices, and spend optimisation as due diligence signals
- Edition 27: The Post-Close 100-Day Tech-Value Plan
Turning diligence findings into a sequenced, owned 100-day plan that reduces priced-in risk and builds the value thesis
- Edition 28: Exit-Readiness & Integration Playbooks
Preparing for a buyer's integration questions before an exit: code ownership, tested migrations, change-of-control clauses and a one-page exit-readiness canvas
- Edition 29: Continuous Due Diligence
Watching a handful of agreed tech signals between two diligences: what to track, information rights, a quarterly one-page note and signs it is not working
Preparing a transaction?
Please pick a time for a free 30-minute scoping call, or send me a few lines about your deal by email.