Questions — Climate Sprints

Do you take equity, carry or referral fees on deals you assess?

No. Fixed fee only, agreed before we start, paid by you. We do not take equity in companies we assess, we do not receive success fees, and we are not compensated by any company you ask us to look at. An assessment you paid for should not be compromised by our own exposure to the outcome. We are not a placement agent or a broker-dealer, and we do not want to be.

What happens if you conclude we should not do the deal?

You pay the same fee. The assessment is the product; the answer is not. A well-argued no, delivered in three weeks with the evidence attached, is usually worth more than a yes, because it is the cheaper of the two findings by an order of magnitude.

Who owns the assessment, and can we share it?

You own it. It is prepared for the client who commissioned it and cannot be relied upon by another party, which is standard for this kind of work and is stated in the engagement letter. Circulating it inside your own investment committee, or to your LPs as part of a position write-up, is expected and fine. Handing it to a co-investor as a substitute for their own diligence is not, and if someone wants formal reliance that is a separate conversation and a separate letter.

Will you sign an NDA?

Yes, before anything confidential moves. The disclaimer asks you not to send confidential material through this website, which is a different point: until an agreement is in place we cannot treat unsolicited material as confidential, and neither of us wants that ambiguity. Book a call, we paper it, then you send the data room.

What if the specialist we need has a conflict with a company in our portfolio?

We check before we staff, not after. If the specialist the mandate requires has a live conflict, we disclose it and either propose a different specialist or decline the mandate. Bench members are independent professionals with their own practices, which is what makes the model work and also what makes conflict checking a standing obligation rather than an occasional one.

Do you work with companies directly, or only through a fund?

Both, though the default is through the fund. Portfolio work is usually bought by the investor and delivered to the company, which keeps the incentives clean and the readout honest. Direct engagements happen where the mandate warrants it, most often a company preparing to raise or a developer at a first-of-a-kind decision. If you are a founder reading this, the door is open; the site is written for the people who usually pay.

How long does diligence take, and what does it cost?

Three weeks from the close of definition, plus a paid one-week definition phase before that. Fixed fee, agreed before Stage 1 begins, from [FLOOR FIGURE]. If your timeline is shorter than three weeks, say so on the call. We will tell you whether we can do useful work in the time you have rather than agree and then thin the work out.

What do you not do?

We do not manage money, place capital, broker introductions for a fee or provide investment advice, and we are not a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer. We also do not do technology-only diligence. If you want a bench test and nothing else there are specialists who will do it faster and cheaper than we will, and you should use them.

Can you work outside the sectors listed on the Approach page?

Often, if the underwriting question has the same shape: a technology that works, a buyer who may or may not be compelled, and a clock. Not if it needs domain expertise the bench does not have. We will tell you which of the two it is before you commit, rather than learning on your money.

Are there deals you decline?

Two situations, consistently, for reasons that are about duration rather than ethics. The reasoning is on the Approach page.

The questions that usually come up on the call.