Article · 12 min read

What to include in your startup's data room

Airtree Ventures · Airtree Ventures (Open Source VC) Free Beginner

Written by a VC for early-stage founders, it explains what light-touch seed diligence actually is: at seed the room skews qualitative (story, market, product, early metrics) while growth-stage rooms go quantitative, so you are not expected to have the paperwork a Series A demands. It also gives the practical mechanics, folder structure, naming, and having it ready before meetings start rather than trickling documents out.

  • Seed diligence is deliberately lighter: the room leans on narrative (overview, market, product, early traction) rather than the exhaustive legal file a later round requires
  • Have the room ready before your first pitch, drip-feeding documents mid-process signals disorganization and kills momentum
  • Organize by intuitive folders with clean naming and track engagement (DocSend-style) so you know which investors are actually reading
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The question it answers

  1. What documents and diligence do investors ask for at seed, and how do I get ready?

Read with it

  1. This is the exact list a founder gets handed once a term sheet lands, written by YC Continuity's general counsel after hundreds... Y Combinator Startup Library Article · ~10 min read Series A Diligence Checklist Jason Kwon (Y Combinator)
  2. This is the India-specific piece the global guides cannot give you: it names the exact ROC and MCA filings investors reconcile... Treelife Article · 18 min read Legal Due Diligence Checklist for Indian Startups: What Investors Actually Check Treelife
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