deal-memo-drafting

# Deal Memo Drafting

## Problem

The hardest part of memo drafting is not prose. It is turning incomplete diligence,
competing evidence, and meeting fragments into a clean recommendation without hiding
the gaps.

## Audience

- Primary: investors and diligence teams
- Secondary: operators writing partnership, acquisition, or strategic decision memos

## When to Use

- Drafting an IC memo or deal memo from an existing diligence packet
- Turning research, model review, and meeting notes into a single recommendation document
- Producing a first-pass memo that makes open questions and decision risk explicit

## When Not to Use

- Raw market mapping without a memo deliverable: use `competitive-analysis`
- Reviewing a model in isolation: use `financial-model-review`
- Synthesizing a source set before the memo is ready to draft: use `research-synthesis`
- Cleaning a transcript or extracting actions: use `meeting-synthesis`

## Required Context

Gather or confirm:

- the memo type: deal, IC, partnership, acquisition, board, or internal decision memo
- the target audience and decision owner
- research findings, market context, and supporting docs
- model review findings if economics matter
- meeting outputs if decision-makers or management conversations matter
- the current state of conviction and the biggest open questions

## Process

1. Frame the memo.
   - State the decision the memo supports.
   - State the audience and how formal the document should be.
2. Inventory the evidence.
   - Separate confirmed findings, inferences, and unresolved gaps.
3. Build the memo spine.
   - Thesis, market, business, economics, risks, open questions, recommendation.
4. Draft with explicit honesty.
   - If a section is weak because the diligence is weak, say so.
   - Do not quietly fill missing evidence with confident prose.
5. Tighten for decision-readiness.
   - End with what the decision-maker should do, why, and what still needs verification.
6. Optionally use Open Brain.
   - Search for prior deal notes, past meetings, or earlier thesis fragments.
   - Capture the final memo summary or recommendation after the draft is complete.

## Evidence and Judgment Rules

- Use the best available evidence from research, model review, and meetings.
- Always distinguish known facts from inference and unresolved gaps.
- Never overstate conviction just to make the memo feel complete.
- If economics are weak or unclear, say the memo should not lean on them heavily.
- Preserve contradictory evidence where it materially changes the recommendation.

## Output

Default output:

- thesis or recommendation summary
- market and business summary
- economics or model implications when relevant
- key risks and open questions
- recommendation with explicit confidence and next-step requirements

## Works Well With

- `competitive-analysis` for market and positioning sections
- `financial-model-review` for economics and downside framing
- `research-synthesis` for source-backed findings and contradictions
- `meeting-synthesis` for management, partner, or internal decision input

## Notes

- This skill drafts from diligence. It should not pretend to replace diligence.
- A good memo is allowed to say "not ready", "needs more proof", or "do not proceed yet".