Which portfolio companies reached 50 full-time staff at peak and retain years of records?
Usually the older, operationally heavy companies in the portfolio, including some that have since cut staff. A portfolio operations review already collects headcount and system data, so the screen takes minutes and touches no company records.
Two definitions trip people up. First, SourceX's test is full-time employees at peak, contractors excluded. It is not the IRS applicable large employer test, which averages full-time employees plus full-time equivalents over the prior calendar year. A company with 35 full-time staff and many part-timers might be an ALE and still fail the SourceX screen; a company that peaked at 70 two years ago and now has 40 can pass it. Second, "years of records" means operating records spread across systems such as CRM, help desk, ticketing, project tools and chat, not just finance ledgers.
Why multi-system archives go unsurfaced in a review
A portfolio operations review is built to answer forward-looking questions: burn, hiring plans, pipeline, runway. Records are treated as a cost line (tool spend) or a risk line (security, retention policy), almost never as an asset. Founders rarely volunteer them either, because no one inside the company sees the help desk, the CRM and the incident tool as one history. The platform team is the only group that sees system lists across many companies at once, which is why the screen below belongs in the review rather than in a separate exercise.
The portfolio screen (evidence asset)
Illustrative. A seed-to-Series C fund's platform team reviews six companies using its own operating data. Nothing comes from inside the companies' systems.
| Company (illustrative) | Peak full-time staff | Today | Founded | Main record systems | Screen result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B2B logistics software, Series C | 140 | 130 | 2015 | Help desk, CRM, incident tool | Talk to founder |
| Clinical staffing marketplace, Series B | 85 | 48 | 2017 | CRM, scheduling, chat | Talk to founder (peak counts) |
| Construction estimating SaaS, Series B | 62 | 62 | 2019 | Project tool, help desk | Talk to founder |
| Fintech API startup, Series A | 38 | 38 | 2021 | Ticketing, chat | Not yet: below 50 at peak |
| Consumer app, Series A | 55 | 20 | 2022 | Chat on a free plan, analytics | Check retention first |
| Hardware startup, seed | 14 | 14 | 2023 | Docs, chat | Not yet |
The fifth row is the one to watch. A company whose main operating history sits in a tool with short retention may not have the years the screen assumes. Slack's help center, for example, says free workspaces hide messages and files older than 90 days and, since August 26, 2024, permanently delete those more than one year old. Ask the founder where the history actually lives before assuming it exists.
SlackThree of six pass the first screen. That is not a forecast of interest or value; SourceX decides fit after review, and many founders will decline.
Four metadata questions for each founder who passes
Ask these only after the founder has agreed to talk about records at all, and write down answers, not files:
- What was the company's peak full-time headcount, and when? Contractors excluded. Payroll history settles it if memory is unsure.
- Which systems hold operating history, and from which year? A short list such as help desk since 2016, CRM since 2015 is enough.
- Is any of that history on a plan or retention setting that deletes it? Free tiers, expired licenses and short retention policies are the common gaps.
- Do customer or partner contracts limit how the company may use its records? "Unsure" is a fine answer; SourceX's rights review exists for it.
Does the company qualify, and who decides?
The company needs 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), a documented operating history, rights to license the records, and an authorized contact. 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.
| Question | Who answers | What the platform team records |
|---|---|---|
| Which records exist? | Founder or COO | System names and earliest year |
| Who owns them? | Founder, with counsel if customer contracts apply | "Company-owned" or "to confirm" |
| Who can authorize a licensing discussion? | The company's CEO or board, not the fund | Name and role of the contact |
| What stays unknown? | SourceX, after review | Not recordable yet: SourceX's current data needs, rights outcome, price and any reward |
Sign the Channel Partner Agreement before submitting. The first valid introduction within the 90-day window is credited when the company submits a verified application, one partner per company. Tell each founder that the platform team may receive a referral reward, paid separately by SourceX and never deducted from the company's payout; details are on /rewards. The VC platform team page covers the program for funds, the email templates for platform teams give wording for the founder note, and the portfolio operations team explainer covers how operating teams are organized. Other roles are on the partner hub.
Keep the founder note short: why their company came up in the review, the systems and years they named, one sentence on SourceX licensing approved operating records directly from companies, and the reward disclosure. The default reward is the greater of $50,000 plus 5% and 15% of the Actual Supplier Payout, with no cap. Illustrative arithmetic only: if a company were paid $250,000 for a qualifying completed handoff, the reward would be $62,500. A reward becomes payable after SourceX has paid the referred company under its signed agreement and the payout conditions in the program terms are met, including finance approval and your tax and payment details. Introduce only founders who said yes, and never send records on their behalf.
Go deeper on portfolio operations reviews
- Portfolio operations review archive context checklist: a checklist for confirming where each passing company's records live, how long they are kept and who controls them.
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.
For each company that passed the screen and whose founder opted in, register as a partner, confirm it against who qualifies, and share the program terms with the founder before the introduction.