Bad data can quietly destroy an acquisition
The Silent Deal Killer in Due Diligence and How to Avoid It - Mark Sims
For owners preparing to sell, unreliable financials, weak systems, and leadership friction can erode valuation or exhaust buyers before closing.
- 1Clean financials, reliable data, and responsive communication reduce diligence friction and help protect valuation.
- 2Strategic buyers and private equity pursue different theses, governance models, and methods for creating value.
- 3Expansion and founder-transition decisions can create upside or uncertainty, depending on operating history and post-close fit.
Don't miss
Sims explains how inconsistent information and prolonged requests can turn ordinary diligence issues into buyer fatigue, rising costs, and a failed deal.
The brief
Mark Sims draws on consulting and corporate acquisition experience at Scott's Miracle-Gro to explain how buyers assess founder-led businesses alongside larger transactions.
The central risk is deal fatigue: inconsistent financials, missing data, management conflict, and slow responses raise advisory costs and can make buyers walk away.
Outdated technology creates a second problem, because a buyer may be acquiring an integration project rather than a clean, scalable operation.
Sims distinguishes strategic buyers from private equity, then explains why governance, investment theses, and value-creation playbooks shape the seller's experience.
His Five Cs framework links everyday operating discipline to sale readiness, while recent expansion may require earn-outs when limited history makes value uncertain.
The conversation closes on founder transitions: staying involved can help or hinder the business, depending on the seller's ability to become part of a larger organization.
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