A platform team that adds up three lists without this step reports a network larger than it is and, worse, can send two colleagues after the same CEO in the same month.
Why three lists turn one company into three
Each list names companies its own way. The fund CRM tends to hold trade names. The LP and co-investor list often holds the holding company's legal name, because that is what the LP owns. A program roster records whatever employer a mentor or advisor typed, which may be a regional subsidiary. Names are also the weakest key over time: the SEC notes that a filer's Central Index Key is never recycled, yet one CIK can carry several names after name changes.
Double counting has two costs.
An inflated network. A "600-company network" that is really 450 companies leads to a staffing plan, a target and a report built on 150 phantom rows.
Colliding introductions. Three networks can produce three introductions, but the program terms credit one partner per company, the one behind the first valid introduction in the 90-day attribution window, and only after the company submits a verified application. Attribution is decided from dated records, and an earlier link click alone does not decide credit. Companies that already have an application, relationship or earlier valid introduction with SourceX are reviewed as duplicates and are not credited to a later partner, and a relationship includes any earlier lead, account or email correspondence. Two colleagues who each write to the same CEO produce one duplicate review, no second reward and a CEO who wonders why the fund cannot coordinate. Within a firm, who should register is covered in who gets referral credit, the firm or the individual.
The canonical company identity register
One row per legal entity, one group row per corporate family, and every source listing kept so a merge can be undone.
| Field | What goes in it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Canonical ID | Your own code, such as CO-0142 | Stays fixed when names change |
| Legal name | The name as registered | Matches registries and agreements |
| Other names | Trade names, former names, abbreviations | Catches branded and renamed listings |
| Official identifiers | Registration number from the registry where it was formed; LEI or SEC CIK where they exist | Strongest match key |
| Root web domain | The domain without subdomains | Strong second key |
| Parent group | The ultimate parent's canonical ID, or none | One first-transaction floor and one conversation per group |
| Source listings | Every list and row where the company appears | Proves the merge and lets you reverse it |
| Relationship owners | Everyone with a path to the CEO, and how they know them | Keeps alternatives visible |
| Designated owner | The one person who will ask the CEO | Stops parallel asks |
| Designated introducer | The person who will register and submit, agreed in writing | Avoids colleagues competing for credit |
| Already known to SourceX | The CEO's answer to whether they have been in touch with SourceX | A prior relationship makes it a duplicate |
| Fit facts known | 0 to 4 | Separates contacts from fit |
Match rules, strongest first.
- Same official identifier: same entity. Merge without debate. GLEIF describes the LEI as a 20-character alpha-numeric code based on ISO 17442 that identifies one legal entity; an SEC CIK is assigned to one filer and never reused.
- Same root domain: probably the same entity. Confirm before merging, because corporate groups share domains and so do brands hosted by one agency.
- Same normalized name and region: a candidate only. Lowercase the name, strip legal suffixes such as Inc. and LLC, drop punctuation and "the", and treat "&" as "and". A human decides.
- Different entities, same parent: separate entity rows under one group row. Where entities hold LEIs, GLEIF's Level 2 data records each one's direct and ultimate accounting consolidating parent; otherwise ask the company.
Never merge on a person's name (people move), a shared investor, or an industry and city alone.
One company, three listings (Illustrative)
Illustrative. The group and its three listings are invented, and nothing here implies an outcome.
A 480-person facilities maintenance group appears three times:
| Source list | How it was listed | Key found | Register decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fund CRM | Its trade name, tagged "LP knows them" | Root domain D | Merged into CO-0142 |
| LP relationship list | The holding company's legal name | Registration number R, domain D | Merged; supplies the legal name |
| Platform program roster | A regional subsidiary, employer of a program mentor | Domain D, a different registration number | Separate entity row under the CO-0142 group |
Result: three listings, one group, two entity rows, one first-transaction floor. The register then settles the people.
The network intermediary. Two paths lead into this group: the LP principal sits on the holding company's board, and the program mentor is the subsidiary's COO. The register names the LP principal as designated owner, because the holding company's CEO is the person who authorizes, and records the COO as an internal sponsor. Who submits is agreed in writing before the principal makes the ask.
The owner-led company. A 180-person engineering firm run by its founder-CEO appears in the CRM and on the LP list, entered by two partners who each met her. One entity, one row. The designated owner is whichever partner has spoken with her most recently and directly; the other partner's path stays visible in the relationship-owners field.
The no-fit counterexample: a false merge. Two listings share a trade name. One is in Ohio, the other in Arizona; their domains and registration numbers differ. They are two companies. One turns out to be a 45-person freight broker, below the size threshold. Had the rows been merged on name, the larger company's fit facts would have been carried onto the smaller one, and someone would have introduced a company that fails the first test. Matching on name alone fails in both directions.
Count companies, contacts and fit separately
Report these counts after the merge, never the raw total of listings:
| Count | Definition |
|---|---|
| Listings | Rows across all source lists |
| Unique companies | Canonical entity rows |
| Unique groups | Group rows; each carries the USD 50,000 floor once |
| Groups with a designated owner | A named person has agreed to ask the CEO |
| Groups with four fit facts known | All published fit facts known and passing |
Listings divided by unique companies is your duplication rate. No benchmark for it exists; measure your own and watch it fall as the CRM improves.
The four fit facts are the published criteria: a full-time payroll that reached 50 or more at its peak, with contractors kept out of the total; an operating history the company can document; the right to license the records; and location. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 70% of the data is in English. The register holds business facts only. Questions stay at metadata level (record types, rough volume, years, system, administrator), and nobody asks a company for files, samples or logins. What stays unknown until SourceX reviews the company: whether SourceX already knows it, whether its records match current demand, whether contracts limit reuse and what any license would cover.
Rank next conversations without projecting proceeds
Rank groups, not listings. A group gets one conversation, through its designated owner, with the CEO who authorizes; SourceX has not published conversion rates or typical payouts, so the queue ignores guessed deal value and orders groups by:
- A designated owner who has agreed to ask.
- Fit facts known, four before three.
- A documented event with a date, such as a system migration or an archive deletion.
- The answer to "already in touch with SourceX?", because a yes ends the row.
Whoever submits must first sign the SourceX Channel Partner Agreement (a copy signed under the older name, Channel Partner Non-Circumvention and Non-Disclosure Agreement, stays valid exactly as signed). Keep the dated record of the introduction itself, since that, not a click, is what attribution weighs; the written introduction versus referral link explainer shows what to keep.
Where the register fails
- False merges and false splits. Both happen. Keep every source listing on the row so a wrong merge can be reversed in a minute.
- Staleness. Acquisitions and rebrands change names and parents. Re-run the match when either happens, and see rebrand evidence for attribution and referral credit after an acquisition.
- Identifier coverage. An LEI exists only where an entity has registered for one, and a CIK only where the entity has signed up to file with the SEC. Many private mid-sized companies have neither, so the registration number and domain do most of the work.
- SourceX's own records are invisible to you. Only SourceX can say whether a company is already known; the register can only record what the CEO says.
- Privacy. Store company facts and the names of your own colleagues and contacts, nothing from inside the companies.
Methods note. The register records, per legal entity, identifiers, names, parent group, every source listing, relationship owners and fit facts. Its match rules rest on what GLEIF and the SEC publish about their identifiers and on the program's attribution and duplicate rules (SourceX terms and who-qualifies page, checked 2026-10-26). It does not measure relationship strength, record quality, demand or payout. For the consent steps that follow a merge, use the reachability audit.
Next step
Refer a company. No cap on rewards. Default reward on a company's first qualifying transaction: the greater of $50,000 plus 5% and 15% of Actual Supplier Payout, with no cap; further qualifying transactions first agreed within 12 months of the first Closing pay 15%. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, including the USD 100,000 Minimum Transaction, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
Once a group has one row, one designated owner and one agreed introducer, that introducer alone should register for a partner link, compare the group's operating company with who qualifies and read what the program terms say on attribution and duplicates before the ask goes out. For the wider program, see the overview for venture platform teams or browse the guides hub.
A fund weighing SourceX as a possible investment is making a separate decision from any referral; the SourceX investor overview is where to ask for investor materials.
This article is for information only and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy securities. Any offering by SourceX is made only to verified accredited investors through its offering documents.