At the beginning of July, IDS Group’s commercial director, Dominic Deacon, took the stage at Climb25 to cover a crucial topic in the world of tech investment — how to truly understand what you’re buying when you invest in a digital business.
His session, titled ‘Code, Capability, Chaos’, focused on what’s really going on under the hood of tech platforms, and how Technical Due Diligence (TDD) can help investors de-risk deals, avoid costly surprises, and unlock real value.
If you missed Dom’s talk, here’s what he covered, and why it’s more relevant than ever.
Why does TDD matter now?
We’re currently experiencing a tougher investment climate. Capital is tighter, LPs are more cautious, and reputational damage from a bad deal travels fast.
At the same time, technology has become the backbone of almost every growth story. Whether you’re looking at SaaS, marketplaces, AI products, or infrastructure plays, the technology lies at the core of the business.
That’s why understanding a company’s technology, how it’s built, how it operates, and how it can scale, is a critical part of assessing the true value and potential of a business. Technical Due Diligence (TDD) can bring that clarity.
Acting an independent assessment of a company’s technology, TDD covers architecture, infrastructure, codebase, engineering processes, and the people behind the scenes.
In short, TDD helps to answer the big questions, such as ‘Can this platform actually scale the way the forecast says it will?’ ‘Is the code maintainable, or am I inheriting a mess of technical debt?’ ‘Are there security or compliance issues lurking in the background?’ and ‘Is the tech team actually equipped to deliver post-investment?’
But aside from flagging risks, TDD can also highlight a company’s strengths, value drivers, and quick wins, so you’re walking into the deal with both eyes open.
What are the common red flags?
We’ve seen monolithic platforms claiming to be SaaS. AI features that sound impressive but are really just bolted-on MVPs using bad data. Infrastructure with single points of failure, both in terms of tech and the people running it. Sometimes, the code isn’t tested. Other times, the company’s most critical systems are owned by a third-party contractor, with no IP transfer in place.
For venture and private equity firms, TDD brings clarity and confidence to the table, helping to validate pricing and understand whether the valuation reflects reality. It can spot risks that could turn into major post-deal costs, like the need to replatform an entire product. And perhaps most importantly, it helps shape the post-deal strategy. You’ll know what needs to be fixed, what’s already working, and where the real areas for growth are.
Why IDS?
At IDS, we approach Technical Due Diligence differently because we understand the pace of deals and what’s really at stake. We don’t just follow a checklist, we align our work with your investment strategy, connecting technical insight directly to commercial outcomes.
Our team includes engineers, product leaders, and ex-founders, so we know how to engage constructively with management teams. We move fast, communicate clearly, and deliver insights that support confident decision-making without disrupting the deal.
Take a B2B SaaS company we reviewed ahead of its Series B. Their “multi-tenant” platform turned out to be single-tenant under the hood, which was a serious scale limitation. Our work helped investors avoid a £1.5 million replatforming bill.
And for a marketplace preparing for exit, the fundamentals were solid, but the tech story wasn’t landing with buyers. We helped sharpen their roadmap, benchmark performance, and reframe the narrative, leading to stronger buyer confidence and a better valuation.
Ready to invest with confidence?
It was great to connect with so many of you at Climb25. We hosted roundtables, 1:1s, and even gave away a £10K AWS Cloud Audit — with the help of our now-legendary spin-the-wheel!
“Great businesses aren’t just built on vision, they’re built on robust technology foundations.”
If you missed us, or want to dig deeper, we’d love to talk.
Whether you’re looking for a light-touch portfolio review or a full platform assessment, we’re here to help.
