The Coppice Labs Audit

See your product through the eyes of a buyer.

The best time to test the product story is before diligence, while there is still time to strengthen the evidence, resolve avoidable gaps, and make the growth opportunity easier to see.

5 pillars
14 focus areas
48 questions

A product assessment built for exit readiness

This is not generic technical, legal, or full commercial due diligence. It focuses on what you can actually change in the product and the product story to increase your chances of a successful exit and to maximise valuation.

Five pillars

Identify improvements which are in your control to change.

01 Deep dive

Customer Value

Does the product create meaningful, repeatable value for a clearly identifiable group of customers?

Assess whether a clearly identifiable group of customers experiences meaningful product value, reaches that value reliably, adopts the product in ongoing use, and continues to receive value that can strengthen over time.

Explore this pillar

02 Deep dive

Future Growth

Can the company reliably turn customer understanding into a valuable product and continue to develop and scale it?

Assess whether the company has a coherent and evidence-led product direction, can turn its priorities into shipped outcomes, and has technology capable of supporting continued product development and business growth.

Explore this pillar

03 Lighter touch

Commercial Model

Is the commercial model coherent and economically sensible, with no obvious weaknesses that undermine the business?

Assess whether the company has a coherent way to monetise the product, acquire customers and generate revenue that is broadly durable and commercially sensible, without undertaking a full commercial due diligence exercise.

Explore this pillar

04 Lighter touch

Transferability

Can the product and the capabilities required to sustain and develop it transfer effectively without unacceptable dependency on particular individuals?

Assess whether the product, the knowledge needed to operate and develop it, and the product-critical people and capabilities around it can transfer effectively through a change of ownership without creating material continuity risk.

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05 Lighter touch

Foundational Readiness

Are there obvious product-related issues around security, privacy, ownership or commitments that should be addressed or referred before diligence?

Perform a deliberately light-touch check for obvious product-related diligence issues outside the core product and commercial assessment, identifying gaps that can be addressed before a raise or sale and referring matters requiring specialist security, privacy or legal expertise.

Explore this pillar

Depth where it creates the most value

The Audit concentrates effort on the product questions most likely to strengthen the growth story, while still checking the surrounding conditions that can weaken it.

Pillars 1–2

Deep dive

Pillars 1 and 2 examine customer value and the company’s ability to keep learning, building, and scaling.

Pillars 3–5

Lighter touch

Pillars 3 to 5 test whether the commercial model, transferability, and foundational position support the product story without turning the work into a full diligence exercise.

Evidence over assertion

The questions are designed to expose variation, weak assumptions, and important gaps. Conclusions should come from the product’s own evidence rather than averages, generic benchmarks, or a polished narrative alone.

AI is a lens across the Audit

AI can change customer expectations, product value, delivery capability, commercial choices, and risks. It is considered wherever it materially changes the evidence, but it is not treated as a separate sixth pillar. AI is a possible solution and not the customer problem being solved so we always look at how it is used, what it depends on, and what it creates or exposes in the product story.

Explore the AI Lens

Talk to us

Free advice on your exit readiness

If you have a digital product we would love to chat to you to discuss your product and what you can make clearer before buyer scrutiny.

Discuss your exit readiness
Illustration of the Coppice Labs Audit framework.