Long-form pieces for founders building serious companies.
Methodology pieces, market analysis, fundraising patterns, document craft. Written by the team that ships investor-grade documents for a living. No SEO slop, no AI listicles, no “7 secrets” headlines.
Recent pieces.
How to use a feasibility study to kill a bad idea before you raise
A feasibility study earns its keep by being willing to recommend no-go. Six questions every study must answer, what separates real feasibility from dressed-up marketing, and a worked example from the Pinstripes bankruptcy.
The DSCR section every SBA lender reads first
Debt service coverage ratio is the first table an SBA lender opens. What it actually measures, what threshold gets a loan approved, and how to build the section so it does not get flagged.
Writing a use-of-funds that ties to milestones
A use-of-funds by percentage tells an investor nothing. A use-of-funds tied to milestones tells them what the round buys and what it produces. How to build the section investors hold you to.
The investor pitch deck that survives a partner meeting
A deck gets you the meeting. Surviving the meeting is a different test. Twelve slides, ordered to pre-empt the partner's questions, with the financial logic the room actually probes.
The investor package: why one researcher across all documents wins
Business plan, deck, and market research built by three different hands disagree in ways investors are trained to catch. The case for one researcher across the whole package, and what consistency actually buys you.
The financial model investors actually audit
Investors do not read a financial model. They audit it. What they trace, where models break under scrutiny, and how to build one that survives a line-by-line walkthrough.
Teaser one-pager vs full deck: what to send an investor first
The first document an investor sees decides whether there is a second. Here is when a teaser one-pager opens the door, when the full deck does, and the sequencing error that burns warm intros.
TAM, SAM, SOM: getting the three numbers right
The three market numbers exist to answer three different questions. What each one measures, how to build it bottom-up, and the mistakes that make an investor stop trusting the slide.
Sensitivity analysis: finding the point where the model breaks
A base case is a guess dressed as a forecast. Sensitivity analysis is the discipline that finds the exact point where the model stops working, and it is the part investors read most closely.
Primary vs secondary research: when founder interviews are worth it
Secondary research sizes the market. Primary research proves the demand. When to spend the time and money on real interviews, and when the public record is enough.
How to scope a feasibility study before you commit capital
Scope is the decision that determines whether a feasibility study protects you or wastes your money. What belongs in scope, what does not, and how to size the study to the size of the bet.
How to build a competitive landscape investors trust
A no-competition claim reads as naivety. A real competitive landscape names the players, maps the dimensions that matter, and locates the opening. How to build the section that proves the market is real.
Feasibility for income property: DSCR, ADR/RevPAR, rent ramps, and where deals fail
Income property lives or dies on three numbers: debt coverage, revenue per available room or unit, and the speed of the ramp. Here is how a feasibility study tests each one, and the four places these deals actually fail.
What an investor-ready business plan actually contains
Fourteen sections, ordered to pre-empt the questions an investor is going to ask. What goes in, what gets cut, and where most plans go wrong.
How to size a market when Statista is empty
A working method for founders whose category does not show up in the usual research tools. Top-down, bottom-up, and the cross-check that catches errors.
SBA business plan template: what 7(a) lenders require in 2026
The fourteen sections an SBA underwriter expects, the five places an SBA plan diverges from an investor plan, what SOP 50 10 8 requires for special-purpose properties, and a worked example.
Investor pitch deck template: the 12 slides every seed deck needs
The twelve-slide structure investors expect, what each slide actually has to answer, the five slides most founders should cut, and a worked example from a $3M seed raise.
Feasibility study template: the six questions every study must answer
What separates a real feasibility study from a marketing document dressed as one. The six structural questions, the litmus test, a worked example from a $1.8M restaurant expansion the study would have killed, and how to read the one a vendor sends you.
Business plan vs pitch deck: when you actually need both
What each document does that the other does not, the three diligence moments where a mismatched plan and deck kills the round, and the math on ordering them together rather than separately.
The investor-grade business plan in 2026: anatomy and examples
The 14-section structure investors actually expect, with anonymized examples and the most common mistakes that kill rounds.
Market research for founders: when to pay for it, when to do it yourself
A decision matrix for founders. DIY sources you can use. When DIY breaks down. How to evaluate research providers without becoming an expert in research.
Pitch deck or feasibility study? The decision most founders get wrong
When feasibility comes first. When the deck does. The sequencing errors that kill rounds and the test for which order is right for your situation.
Why your TAM slide is killing your round
The 1% capture trap, the IBISWorld trap, and the math that signals sophistication to a partner instead of triggering the eye-roll.
SBA Form 1010 narrative requirements: what underwriters actually check
The specific SBA narrative sections that get plans rejected, the DSCR math underwriters expect, and the repayment-ability framing that lands.
Five-stage market research methodology: how Pondera works
Scope, sizing, competitive landscape, customer evidence, synthesis. The order matters, and skipping stages is what produces the reports investors discount.
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