# Company Profile Research Blueprint

Use this blueprint to build the research package behind every company profile page in the deck feedback reference library.

The goal is not to write a normal company summary. The goal is to build an investor-grade, source-backed dossier that lets the product:

- understand what the company claimed in the deck
- verify what happened before and after the deck
- explain why the company was fundable
- identify which slides are useful references for other founders
- surface risks, missing proof, and claim-quality issues
- generate a polished profile page with embedded deck, funding graph, timeline, investor context, founder voice, and comparable-slide recommendations

## Inputs

Required:

- Company name
- Deck file path
- Deck stage if known
- Deck date or approximate time period if known
- Sector or consumer category if known
- Output slug

Helpful:

- Company website
- Crunchbase URL
- LinkedIn company URL
- Founder names
- Known round amount or target round
- Any prior notes from the user

## Research Principles

1. Preserve source truth.
   - Keep the exact round labels, employee ranges, dates, investor names, and categories shown by sources.
   - Add our own internal interpretation in separate fields.
   - Example: source label "Seed"; internal label "pre-seed-equivalent."

2. Separate deck-time facts from later outcomes.
   - Deck-time claims tell us what investors saw.
   - Later outcomes tell us whether the thesis played out.
   - Never use later success to rewrite what was actually proven in the deck.

3. Use claim status labels everywhere.
   - `deck_claimed`
   - `company_claimed`
   - `independently_reported`
   - `database_reported`
   - `third_party_estimated`
   - `founder_interview_claim`
   - `contradicted`
   - `unknown`

4. Record confidence, not just facts.
   - High: multiple reliable sources or primary source.
   - Medium: one reliable source or strong database record.
   - Low: third-party estimate, podcast claim, uncited blog, or ambiguous source.

5. Capture contradictions.
   - Founding year, employee count, headquarters, round labels, investor count, and product claims often conflict.
   - Do not collapse conflicting values into a single artificial answer.

6. Treat founder interviews as founder voice.
   - Founder podcasts and interviews are valuable for narrative, operating lessons, and fundraising context.
   - They are not independent validation of revenue, science, health claims, user counts, or legal claims.

7. Treat every profile as training data.
   - Research should explain what future founders can learn from the company.
   - The most important question is not "what happened?" but "which patterns should the product recommend and why?"

## Source Priority

Use this source priority order when claims conflict:

| Tier | Source Type | Best Used For | Cautions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Supplied deck | Deck-time claims, narrative, slide structure, ask, traction, positioning | Company-authored and investor-facing; claims may be unverified |
| 1 | SEC filings, court filings, regulator decisions | Legal facts, disputes, public securities records, advertising/regulatory decisions | Can be narrow, legalistic, or incomplete without docket access |
| 1 | Company press releases and official blog | Launches, partnerships, product expansions, company-claimed metrics | Company-authored; mark as company-claimed |
| 1 | Crunchbase or similar funding database | Funding rounds, investors, dates, total funding, stage labels | Labels can be inconsistent; logged-in data may differ from public data |
| 2 | Major business/tech press | Funding announcements, company milestones, named investors, strategic context | Often repeats company-provided numbers |
| 2 | Retailer/product pages | Distribution validation, assortment, pricing, current retail presence | Availability changes over time |
| 2 | LinkedIn public company page | Company size range, industry, HQ, public jobs | Range is broad and may lag reality |
| 2 | Jobs pages and role descriptions | Current operating priorities, team buildout, channel focus | Open roles are point-in-time signals |
| 3 | Founder podcasts/interviews | Founder narrative, lessons, fundraising process, strategy, category insight | Founder voice, not independent verification |
| 3 | Third-party people-data tools | Headcount estimates and leadership roster | Estimated and often stale |
| 3 | Product reviews and review sites | Product quality, customer experience, durability, objections | Reviews can be subjective or affiliate-driven |
| 4 | Social media and newsletters | Brand heat, community, launch timing, creator/influencer strategy | Usually hard to verify and should not anchor financial claims |

## Research Modules

### 1. Deck Ingestion And Claim Map

Create a complete deck record before researching the outside world.

Capture:

- deck file name
- slide count
- deck stage
- likely deck date
- stated raise amount
- implied use of funds
- target customer
- product category
- business model
- founder/team claims
- traction claims
- economic claims
- market claims
- distribution claims
- product roadmap claims
- competitive claims
- risk or moat claims

Outputs:

- rendered slide images
- contact sheet
- extracted slide text
- slide intelligence CSV
- deck-time claim table

Deck-time claim fields:

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| claim_id | Stable ID, for example `caraway_claim_001` |
| slide_number | Slide where the claim appears |
| claim_text | Exact or close paraphrase of the claim |
| claim_type | revenue, users, market, margin, CAC, team, investor, channel, product, IP, safety, retention, pipeline |
| numeric_value | Normalized number if any |
| unit | dollars, users, stores, percent, reviews, patents, etc. |
| time_period | Month, quarter, year, YTD, since launch, forecast period |
| source | supplied deck |
| claim_status | `deck_claimed` |
| verification_status | verified, partially verified, not yet verified, contradicted, not independently verifiable |
| profile_relevance | why this matters for the page or feedback product |

### 2. Company Identity

Resolve the company precisely before collecting data.

Capture:

- official company name
- legal name
- brand name
- website
- current status
- headquarters
- founding year
- public launch date
- founder names
- CEO/current leadership
- category
- business model
- customer type
- price point
- core product
- current product scope
- company description in one sentence
- company description in three sentences

Disambiguation checks:

- domain matches deck
- founders match deck
- logo/brand matches deck
- location matches sources
- category matches deck
- funding sources refer to the same company

Profile-page use:

- hero summary
- company dossier table
- current positioning
- tags
- deck context

### 3. Founder, Team, And Founder-Market Fit

Build a founder signal section, not a biography dump.

Capture:

- founder names and roles
- prior company experience
- category expertise
- product/manufacturing expertise
- growth/marketing expertise
- retail/channel expertise
- scientific/regulatory expertise if relevant
- prior exits or notable outcomes
- founder origin story
- whether the founder story creates a credible category wedge
- advisors and their signal
- early team functional coverage

Founder signal labels:

- `category_insider`
- `repeat_founder`
- `operator_founder`
- `technical_founder`
- `brand_builder`
- `commerce_operator`
- `scientific_expert`
- `celebrity_or_creator`
- `community_native`
- `supply_chain_advantaged`
- `weak_or_unclear`

Profile-page use:

- founder/team signal panel
- deck feedback note on whether the team slide reduces real investor risk
- comparable-slide recommendation for team/advisor slides

### 4. Funding History

Research every round, but over-index on pre-seed, seed, and the first meaningful later round.

Capture for each round:

- source round label
- internal round label
- date announced
- date closed if available
- amount
- amount confidence
- valuation if available
- lead investor
- participating investors
- partner names
- investor count
- source URLs
- source type
- whether the round happened before, during, or after the supplied deck
- deck ask versus actual closed amount
- whether the round was upsized
- whether early investors followed on
- notes on ambiguity

Internal stage taxonomy:

- `friends_family`
- `accelerator`
- `angel`
- `pre_seed_equivalent`
- `pre_seed`
- `seed`
- `seed_extension`
- `bridge`
- `venture_debt`
- `series_a`
- `series_b_plus`
- `private_equity_or_growth`
- `undisclosed`

Profile-page use:

- funding graph
- funding timeline
- key stats
- later outcome signal
- investor mix chart or table
- "went on to raise" comparability

### 5. Crunchbase Extraction Checklist

When using the user's logged-in Crunchbase account, capture:

- organization URL
- description
- operating status
- founded date
- founders
- headquarters
- employee range
- categories
- website
- social links
- total funding amount
- number of funding rounds
- last funding type
- each funding round row
- each investor in each early round
- lead investor flags
- partner names if visible
- acquisitions if any
- news links if visible
- similar companies if relevant

Rules:

- Never request or handle credentials.
- Use the logged-in browser state if already available.
- Preserve visible Crunchbase labels exactly.
- Add `accessed_date`.
- If Crunchbase hides data or blocks access, record the gap and use public alternatives.

### 6. Investor Intelligence

Create a real investor map for pre-seed and seed, not just a list.

Capture:

- investor name
- investor type
- fund or individual
- lead status
- round participated
- partner if known
- relevant portfolio companies
- consumer/category expertise
- operator background
- whether they followed on
- why they matter as signal
- source

Investor types:

- `venture_fund`
- `micro_vc`
- `angel`
- `operator_angel`
- `celebrity_or_creator_angel`
- `strategic`
- `corporate_venture`
- `accelerator`
- `venture_debt`
- `syndicate`
- `family_office`
- `private_equity`
- `unknown`

Profile-page use:

- investor table
- investor mix
- signal commentary
- repeat-investor signal
- comparable tags such as `operator_angels`, `consumer_fund`, `retail_expertise`

### 7. Traction And Business Model

Create separate records for deck-time traction and post-deck traction.

Consumer brand traction fields:

- revenue
- GMV
- orders
- units sold
- AOV
- gross margin
- contribution margin
- CAC
- ROAS
- payback period
- email/SMS list
- waitlist
- subscribers
- social following
- creator/community count
- repeat purchase rate
- retention
- cohort quality
- reviews
- NPS
- retail doors
- retail sell-through
- wholesale partners
- marketplace performance
- press hits
- affiliate performance
- ambassador/influencer performance
- pipeline value

For every traction item, capture:

- metric name
- value
- period
- source
- claim status
- confidence
- whether it appeared in the deck
- whether it was later validated
- investor meaning

Profile-page use:

- deck-time traction section
- later validation section
- investor questions answered
- risks and caveats

### 8. Product, Category, And Roadmap

Track how the company moved from wedge to platform.

Capture:

- initial product
- hero SKU
- price point
- launch date
- materials/ingredients/technology
- design differentiation
- category claim
- product roadmap in deck
- current product lines
- notable product launches
- retail exclusives or collaborations
- patents/IP claims
- product quality signals
- third-party reviews
- product objections

Product expansion classification:

- `single_hero_sku`
- `assortment_expansion`
- `category_platform`
- `adjacent_category`
- `new_use_case`
- `retail_exclusive`
- `premiumization`
- `lower_price_access`
- `subscription_or_repeat`

Profile-page use:

- product evolution timeline
- platform thesis validation
- product risk and customer objections
- comparable tags

### 9. Channel And Distribution

Capture how the company gets customers and whether the deck's GTM thesis aged well.

Channel types:

- DTC website
- Amazon
- marketplace
- wholesale retail
- owned retail
- hospitality
- trade/designer channel
- affiliate
- influencer/creator
- organic social
- paid social
- paid search
- retail media
- community
- partnerships
- corporate/bulk
- subscriptions

Capture:

- deck-time channel claims
- named retail partners
- actual later retail partners
- current retailer list
- store count if available
- channel mix if available
- channel economics if available
- CAC and attribution issues
- strategic role of retail, for example acquisition, brand, volume, or credibility

Profile-page use:

- omnichannel section
- channel proof table
- "slide claim to later execution" callout
- feedback on GTM slide quality

### 10. Headcount, Hiring, And Org Signals

Use headcount and hiring to infer current operating priorities.

Capture:

- Crunchbase employee range
- LinkedIn company size range
- third-party headcount estimates
- leadership roster
- recent executive hires
- open jobs
- function of open jobs
- geography
- remote/hybrid policy if relevant
- hiring signal interpretation

Operating priority tags:

- `performance_marketing`
- `lifecycle_retention`
- `retail_sales`
- `supply_chain`
- `product_development`
- `finance_ops`
- `brand_creative`
- `data_analytics`
- `customer_experience`
- `regulatory_compliance`
- `international_expansion`

Profile-page use:

- current scale section
- recent hiring section
- current operating priorities
- "what changed after the deck" analysis

### 11. Recent News And Milestone Timeline

Build a dated timeline that mixes financing, product, retail, legal, hiring, and press events.

Event types:

- `funding`
- `founding`
- `launch`
- `product_launch`
- `retail_expansion`
- `partnership`
- `hiring`
- `headcount`
- `press`
- `podcast`
- `legal`
- `regulatory`
- `product_review`
- `award`
- `acquisition`
- `shutdown`
- `unknown`

For each event:

- date
- event type
- event title
- details
- source
- source type
- claim status
- profile relevance
- training dataset relevance

Profile-page use:

- timeline table
- recent news strip
- later outcome signal
- risk and claim-quality notes

### 12. Founder Voice, Podcasts, And Interviews

Founder interviews should be a distinct research module.

Search for:

- `[founder name] [company] podcast`
- `[founder name] [company] interview`
- `[founder name] founder story`
- `[founder name] fundraising`
- `[founder name] seed round`
- `[founder name] direct to consumer`
- `[company] CEO podcast`
- `[company] founder interview transcript`

Capture:

- show or publication
- episode title
- URL
- date if available
- format: podcast, video, transcript, article, webinar
- topics covered
- founder quotes if short and valuable
- fundraising lessons
- product lessons
- GTM lessons
- hiring/culture lessons
- category insight
- confidence and caveats

Profile-page use:

- founder voice section
- qualitative founder-market fit
- deck feedback note on founder narrative
- source audit

### 13. Market And Competitive Context

Build both deck-time and current competitive maps.

Capture:

- market size claim in deck
- source for market size if provided
- why-now argument
- incumbents named in deck
- modern direct competitors
- indirect substitutes
- legacy incumbents
- new entrants since the deck
- category trend
- consumer behavior shift
- distribution shift
- regulatory shift
- price and positioning map

Competitor fields:

- competitor name
- category
- positioning versus company
- price tier
- channel
- stage/outcome if known
- source
- relevance to profile

Profile-page use:

- competitive context table
- market narrative synthesis
- feedback on competitor slide
- comparable matching tags

### 14. Risk, Legal, Regulatory, And Claim Quality

Every profile needs a risk section, even successful companies.

Risk categories:

- unverified traction
- thin retention evidence
- low gross margin
- high CAC or attribution pressure
- retail concentration
- inventory and working capital
- supply chain complexity
- regulatory risk
- health/safety claim substantiation
- scientific evidence gap
- litigation
- advertising compliance
- product durability
- low repeat purchase
- competitive response
- founder/key-person risk
- seasonal demand
- commodity price exposure
- channel-platform dependency

Risk record fields:

- risk title
- risk category
- source
- evidence
- claim status
- severity: low, medium, high
- timing: deck-time, post-deck, current
- investor diligence question
- profile-page note

Profile-page use:

- risk table
- claim-quality notes
- feedback warnings
- "what founders should fix before pitching" logic

### 15. Comparable Slide Intelligence

This is the most important module for the product.

For every slide, capture:

- slide number
- slide title
- slide type
- primary claim or function
- key data points
- investor question answered
- investor objection reduced
- proof mechanism
- why the slide is compelling
- weakness or follow-up question
- source of claim
- comparable tags
- recommendation score from 1 to 5
- when to recommend this slide to another founder
- when not to recommend it

Slide pattern labels:

- `founder_market_fit`
- `category_wedge`
- `why_now`
- `hero_sku`
- `owned_audience`
- `waitlist_to_launch`
- `early_revenue`
- `retail_pipeline`
- `omnichannel_math`
- `unit_economics`
- `gross_margin`
- `CAC_payback`
- `product_roadmap`
- `category_expansion`
- `working_capital`
- `supply_chain_advantage`
- `social_proof`
- `press_momentum`
- `competitive_gap`
- `investor_signal`
- `use_of_funds`
- `financial_forecast`
- `claim_risk`

Profile-page use:

- "most useful comparable slides" section
- slide recommendation engine
- founder-facing feedback
- training labels

## Required Output Files

For each company slug, create:

| File | Purpose |
|---|---|
| `output/research/[slug]_research.md` | Narrative research memo and synthesis |
| `output/research/[slug]_slides.csv` | Slide-level intelligence |
| `output/research/[slug]_investors.csv` | Early investor and round intelligence |
| `output/research/[slug]_sources.csv` | Source audit |
| `output/research/[slug]_timeline.csv` | Dated milestone and outcome timeline |
| `output/research/[slug]_competitive_context.csv` | Competitive context |
| `output/research/[slug]_podcasts.csv` | Founder interviews, podcasts, and video appearances when available |
| `output/research/[slug]_claim_map.csv` | Deck-time and public claim map |
| `output/research/[slug]_traction.csv` | Deck-time and post-deck traction records |
| `output/research/[slug]_risks.csv` | Risk and claim-quality records |
| `output/research/[slug]_contact_sheet.jpg` | Rendered contact sheet |
| `output/profiles/[slug]/index.html` | Polished profile page |
| `output/profiles/[slug]/reference.html` | Deep reference page |
| `output/profiles/assets/[slug]-funding.svg` | Funding graph |

## Profile Page Architecture

The polished profile page should include these sections in this order:

1. Embedded deck
   - deck PDF
   - contact sheet fallback
   - deck metadata and direct deck link

2. Profile hero
   - company name
   - category
   - concise positioning
   - most important tags
   - key funding stats

3. Funding graph
   - x-axis: years
   - y-axis: dollar amount raised
   - markers for undisclosed rounds
   - notes for debt or non-equity financing

4. Company dossier
   - identity
   - website
   - headquarters
   - founders
   - status
   - current positioning
   - source-specific headcount values

5. Funding record
   - source labels
   - internal labels
   - round dates
   - round amounts
   - investor counts
   - lead investors
   - deck ask versus closed round

6. Investor signal
   - early investors
   - investor type
   - category relevance
   - operator angels
   - repeat investors
   - follow-on signal

7. Deck-time claims
   - traction
   - economics
   - product
   - distribution
   - team
   - market
   - source status

8. Later outcome signal
   - later funding
   - product expansion
   - retail expansion
   - major milestones
   - outcome strength

9. Current company scale
   - headcount
   - hiring
   - operating priorities
   - current leadership if known

10. Founder voice
   - podcasts
   - interviews
   - founder narrative
   - fundraising lessons
   - operating lessons

11. Product and channel evolution
   - original wedge
   - roadmap validation
   - current product lines
   - channel expansion
   - named retail partners

12. Competitive context
   - deck-time framing
   - current direct competitors
   - indirect substitutes
   - legacy incumbents
   - critique of competitor slide if relevant

13. Risk and claim quality
   - deck-time risks
   - current risks
   - legal/regulatory issues
   - product-review objections
   - claim substantiation

14. Comparable slide patterns
   - top 5 to 12 slides
   - what pattern each teaches
   - when to recommend it
   - follow-up questions founders should answer

15. Data room links and source audit
   - research memo
   - slides CSV
   - investors CSV
   - sources CSV
   - timeline CSV
   - competitive CSV
   - podcasts CSV
   - claim map
   - risks

## Detailed Research Prompt

Use this prompt when starting a new company profile.

```text
You are building a source-backed company research package for a pitch deck feedback and comparable-slide product.

Company:
- Name: [COMPANY_NAME]
- Slug: [SLUG]
- Deck file: [DECK_FILE_PATH]
- Known stage: [KNOWN_STAGE_OR_UNKNOWN]
- Known category: [KNOWN_CATEGORY_OR_UNKNOWN]
- Website: [WEBSITE_OR_UNKNOWN]
- Crunchbase URL: [CRUNCHBASE_URL_OR_UNKNOWN]
- LinkedIn URL: [LINKEDIN_URL_OR_UNKNOWN]
- Output folder: /Users/kevinweatherman/Documents/deck-review/output

Primary objective:
Build the research record needed to generate a polished company profile page and a detailed reference page. The research must connect the deck's slide-level claims to external company facts, funding outcomes, investor signals, founder voice, current scale, product/channel evolution, risks, and comparable-slide lessons.

Non-negotiable rules:
- Do not invent data.
- Use exact dates when available.
- Preserve source labels exactly.
- Add internal interpretation in separate fields.
- Separate deck-time claims from later public outcomes.
- Mark every material claim with a claim status and source.
- Treat founder interviews as founder voice, not independent validation.
- Mark unavailable fields as unknown and explain the source needed.
- Record contradictions instead of hiding them.
- Every major profile-page claim must be traceable to the deck, a source URL, or a local research artifact.

Step 1 - Deck ingestion:
- Render the PDF into slide images.
- Extract text for each slide.
- Create a contact sheet.
- Count slides.
- Identify likely deck date, stage, ask, product, market, traction, economics, team, GTM, competition, roadmap, and financial forecast.
- Build [SLUG]_slides.csv and [SLUG]_claim_map.csv.

Step 2 - Identity:
- Verify company name, legal name, website, HQ, founding year, public launch date, founder(s), current status, category, business model, and current product scope.
- Resolve naming collisions by checking founder, domain, deck brand, logo, category, and location.

Step 3 - Funding:
- Use Crunchbase first when available.
- Capture all rounds, but go deepest on pre-seed, seed, and first later institutional round.
- Preserve source round labels and add internal stage labels.
- Capture amount, date, lead investor, participating investors, partners, investor count, source URL, confidence, and notes.
- Compare deck ask to actual closed amount.

Step 4 - Investors:
- Build a seed/pre-seed investor map.
- Classify investor types.
- Identify operator angels, category specialists, strategic investors, syndicates, venture debt, and follow-on investors.
- Explain why each meaningful investor matters.

Step 5 - Traction and business model:
- Extract deck-time traction and economics.
- Search for post-deck traction separately.
- Capture revenue, units, orders, users, waitlist, reviews, retention, NPS, CAC, ROAS, margin, payback, retail doors, partnerships, and pipeline where available.
- Mark each metric as deck-claimed, company-claimed, independently reported, database-reported, third-party-estimated, or unknown.

Step 6 - Product and channel:
- Map the launch product, product roadmap, current product lines, major product launches, pricing, retail partners, marketplace presence, DTC strategy, and channel mix.
- Identify whether the deck's wedge-to-platform and GTM claims were later validated.

Step 7 - Headcount and hiring:
- Capture Crunchbase employee range, LinkedIn public company size range, third-party estimates, leadership roster, recent open roles, and operating-priority signals.
- Keep source-specific values separate.

Step 8 - Recent news:
- Build a dated timeline of funding, launch, product, retail, hiring, legal, regulatory, review, and press events.
- Prioritize recent public sources, press releases, trade press, regulatory/legal records, and company announcements.

Step 9 - Founder voice:
- Search podcasts, videos, interviews, and transcripts for the founder.
- Capture show, title, URL, date, format, topics, fundraising lessons, operating lessons, product/category lessons, and caveats.

Step 10 - Market and competition:
- Capture deck-time competitors and current competitors.
- Separate direct peers, indirect alternatives, legacy incumbents, and category-adjacent substitutes.
- Explain whether the deck competitor slide is accurate, oversimplified, or missing key alternatives.

Step 11 - Risk and claim quality:
- Research legal, regulatory, advertising, science, health/safety, product performance, retention, CAC, supply chain, and margin risks.
- Create [SLUG]_risks.csv.
- Add investor diligence questions for each meaningful risk.

Step 12 - Profile synthesis:
- Write [SLUG]_research.md.
- Build [SLUG]_timeline.csv, [SLUG]_sources.csv, [SLUG]_competitive_context.csv, [SLUG]_investors.csv, [SLUG]_podcasts.csv if founder interviews exist, [SLUG]_traction.csv, and [SLUG]_claim_map.csv.
- Build /output/profiles/[SLUG]/index.html and /output/profiles/[SLUG]/reference.html.
- Build /output/profiles/assets/[SLUG]-funding.svg.

Profile-page output must include:
- embedded deck at top
- funding graph
- company dossier
- deck-time claim map
- funding history
- investor signal
- headcount/current scale
- founder voice
- product/channel evolution
- recent news timeline
- competitive context
- risk and claim-quality section
- comparable slide recommendations
- links to all local research artifacts

Final validation:
- CSVs parse cleanly.
- Local profile links resolve.
- Funding graph uses real amounts and marks undisclosed rounds clearly.
- No profile claim lacks a source, deck reference, or unknown marker.
- The profile distinguishes deck-time data from later outcomes.
```

## Search Query Cookbook

Use these query templates for each company.

Identity:

- `[company] official website founder headquarters`
- `[company] about founder launched`
- `[company] Crunchbase`
- `[company] LinkedIn company`

Funding:

- `[company] seed round`
- `[company] pre-seed round`
- `[company] funding investors`
- `[company] raises seed`
- `[company] raises Series A`
- `[company] total funding`
- `[company] [founder] funding`

Founder and podcasts:

- `[founder] [company] podcast`
- `[founder] [company] interview`
- `[founder] [company] founder story`
- `[company] CEO podcast`
- `[founder] fundraising lessons`
- `[founder] [company] transcript`

Traction and growth:

- `[company] revenue`
- `[company] customers`
- `[company] waitlist`
- `[company] retail stores`
- `[company] wholesale`
- `[company] Amazon`
- `[company] Shopify case study`
- `[company] growth strategy`

Product and retail:

- `[company] product launch`
- `[company] collection launch`
- `[company] retail partnership`
- `[company] Target`
- `[company] Whole Foods`
- `[company] Sephora`
- `[company] Nordstrom`
- `[company] Crate & Barrel`

Headcount and hiring:

- `[company] LinkedIn employees`
- `[company] jobs`
- `[company] careers`
- `[company] headcount`
- `[company] leadership team`
- `[company] executive hire`

Risk and diligence:

- `[company] lawsuit`
- `[company] regulatory`
- `[company] NAD`
- `[company] advertising claims`
- `[company] FDA`
- `[company] FTC`
- `[company] BBB National Programs`
- `[company] reviews durability`
- `[company] product review`
- `[company] recall`

Competitors:

- `[company] competitors`
- `[company] alternative`
- `[category] DTC brands`
- `[category] startup funding`
- `[company] vs [competitor]`

## Quality Checklist

Before a profile is considered ready:

- The deck is embedded at the top of the profile.
- The contact sheet exists and renders.
- The funding chart has years on the x-axis and dollars on the y-axis.
- Undisclosed rounds are shown as notes or markers, not as zero-dollar rounds.
- Every funding round has both a source label and internal label.
- Pre-seed and seed investors are classified.
- Repeat investors are identified.
- Deck ask and actual close are compared.
- Deck-time traction is separated from post-deck traction.
- Founder podcasts/interviews are captured when available.
- Current headcount includes source-specific values.
- Recent news is dated and sourced.
- Product/channel evolution is connected to the deck thesis.
- Competitors are separated into direct, indirect, legacy, and category-adjacent groups.
- Risk and claim-quality notes are included.
- The profile explains which slides are worth recommending to other founders.
- CSV files parse cleanly.
- Local links resolve.
- The final page can be read without needing the raw research memo.