Technical Due Diligence
Know what you are buying before you sign
Senior technical due diligence for private equity and mid-market deals. What is actually built, what breaks after close, and what it costs to fix, in a written verdict your investment committee can act on.
Led by an operator who has founded six companies, exited two, acquired 40+ businesses, and advised over 500 since 2010.
The technology is the deal, and the risk
In most mid-market deals the software is both the asset you are paying for and the risk you are inheriting. A confident demo and a tidy pitch deck tell you almost nothing about what happens after close, when the platform has to carry the growth your model assumes.
The failures are expensive and quiet. A re-platform nobody priced in. A security gap that surfaces in month three. A single engineer who holds the whole system in their head and leaves. Technical debt that caps the multiple you were underwriting at exit. None of it shows up in a vendor-supplied architecture diagram.
A generic diligence report of green checkmarks does not close that gap. A sponsor needs a code-level read, ranked by severity, with a number attached to each finding, so the risk is priced into the deal before the exclusivity clock runs out.
When a sponsor calls us
The diligence adapts to where the deal is and how much time is on the clock.
Pre-LOI screen
A fast read before you commit, so the technical risk is on the table before the exclusivity clock starts.
Confirmatory diligence
A deep, code-level assessment between LOI and close, sized to the investment thesis and the timeline.
Platform assessment
A baseline on a newly acquired platform: what to fix first, what it costs, and what can wait through the hold.
Add-on and roll-up
Integration risk across targets, so the synergy case survives contact with the code, not just the model.
What the diligence covers
- Architecture and code. The real state of the platform, the quality underneath the demo, and how much of the roadmap the current design can actually carry.
- Security and data. Exposure that surfaces after close: access, secrets, third-party risk, compliance posture, and the data model the business runs on.
- Scalability and cost. Whether the platform carries the growth the thesis assumes, and what it costs to run and scale through the hold period.
- The team and delivery. Key-person risk, delivery velocity, engineering culture, and whether the roadmap you are underwriting is real or aspirational.
- A costed path. Every material finding ranked by severity, each with an estimate, so the number in your model is grounded in evidence rather than optimism.
Five days to a verdict
Kickoff and data room
We scope the thesis, agree the risk areas that matter for this deal, and get access to the code, the cloud, and the documentation.
Technical review
Code, architecture, security, and infrastructure, assessed against a benchmark built from hundreds of prior transactions.
Team interviews
Time with the engineering leaders to test the roadmap, the velocity, the culture, and the key-person risk.
The written verdict
Findings, severity ratings, and a costed remediation path, in a document you can put straight in front of an investment committee.
Why an operator, not a checklist
The difference between a useful diligence and a box-ticking exercise is who is doing the reading. This is done by an operator who has built engineering organisations, run acquisitions, and sat on the buy side, not a junior analyst working from a template.
That means the read goes to the code, not just the documentation, and the findings are framed the way a sponsor thinks: what it means for the thesis, what it costs, and what it does to the exit. Severity is judged against a benchmark from hundreds of prior assessments, so a red flag is a red flag for a reason, not a reflex.
The same person who writes the verdict has founded six companies, exited two, and built a firm that manages $1.45B in GMV. This is diligence from someone who has lived with the consequences of the code, on both sides of the table.
Advisory, not implementation
This engagement carries no obligation to buy the build. Growth Shuttle advises. DevriX builds. They are separate businesses.
That separation is the safeguard. If the advice existed to sell an implementation, it would be worthless to the sponsor reading it. Here the only incentive is to be right. You can take the advisor alone, the builders alone, or both.
Who runs it
The work is led by Mario Peshev, a value creation advisor to private equity firms and an active operator. He has founded six companies, exited two, acquired and integrated more than 40 businesses and digital properties, and advised over 500 companies since 2010. He is also the founder of DevriX, a 40-person firm that builds technology, data, and revenue systems, with $1.45B in GMV under management, and he angel-invests in early-stage founders. Two decades in and around engineering organisations means the read is code-level, not a survey. Advisory and training work spans VMware, SAP, CERN, and Saudi Aramco, with coverage in Forbes, BBC, Inc, and Entrepreneur.
Questions sponsors ask
What exactly do I get?
A written report a sponsor can put in front of an investment committee: findings, severity ratings, and a costed remediation path. Not a slide of green checkmarks, and not a survey filled in by the target.
How long does it take?
Five business days for the fixed-scope engagement. Pre-LOI screens are faster; confirmatory diligence on a larger platform can run longer, scoped and priced up front.
How much is it?
The 5-Day Tech DD is $15,000 fixed. Larger or confirmatory scopes are quoted against the thesis. Every one-off credits in full toward a deeper program if the deal proceeds.
Who actually does the work?
A principal who has built and exited companies, reads code, and has run acquisitions. Not a template completed by an analyst you never meet.
Do you build the fix afterwards?
Only if you choose to, and through DevriX, a separate business. The advice carries no obligation to buy the build, which is the point.
What if we walk away from the deal?
Then you have spent $15,000 to avoid a mistake that would have cost multiples of it. A clear no is as valuable as a clear yes.
What size deals do you work on?
PE-backed and mid-market companies, from a lower-mid-market platform to a confirmatory read on a larger asset. The scope flexes to the deal.
Get a technical verdict you can underwrite
Five days, a written report, a costed path, ranked by severity. Scoped and priced in full before you commit.
Growth Shuttle is the advisory practice of Mario Peshev, founder of DevriX. Advisory and implementation are separate businesses.