The 4 Pillars of Product Due Diligence

Pillar 1: User Insights

• What to Review: Activation funnels, feature-usage heat maps, churn drivers.
• Why It Matters: Shows buyers which capabilities drive your business—and which are distractions.
• Best Practices:
  • Segment by persona and ARR tier.
  • Correlate usage spikes to revenue events (e.g., renewals).

Pillar 2: Feature Health

• What to Review: Code-backed telemetry on feature performance, error rates, and support tickets.
• Why It Matters: Demonstrates execution quality and post-close maintainability.
• Best Practices:
  • Run synthetic tests on core workflows.
  • Audit support logs for repeat issues.

Pillar 3: Roadmap Validation

• What to Review: Feasibility assessments, market-fit surveys, competitive landscape.
• Why It Matters: Aligns future promises with buyer expectations and resource realities.
• Best Practices:
  • Conduct rapid stakeholder workshops.
  • Use lightweight scoring (e.g., MoSCoW) to rank features.

Pillar 4: UX & Scalability

• What to Review: Usability audits, load-testing results, architectural constraints.
• Why It Matters: Buyers need confidence that your product scales and delights users.
• Best Practices:
  • Run a 1-day UX sprint with real users.
  • Simulate peak loads at 2× expected scale.

Putting It All Together

1. Kickoff: Define scope by mapping pillars to buyer KPIs.
2. Parallel Sprints: Run lightweight analytics, workshops, and tests simultaneously.
3. Synthesis: Build a dossier with four sections—User Insights, Feature Health, Roadmap Viability, and UX Scalability.

A pillar-based framework turns Product DD from a sprawling audit into a crisp, buyer-grade review. Focus on User Insights, Feature Health, Roadmap, and UX/Scalability to deliver maximum impact in minimum time.

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