# New CEO data referral briefing: one-page packet | SourceX

Canonical: https://refer.sourcex.si/guides/how-to-brief-a-newly-appointed-ceo-about-an-existing-referral
Last updated: 2026-11-05

Brief the new CEO once, in writing, on a single page: where the introduction stands, what the predecessor approved and when, what you stand to gain as the introducer, and three equally weighted choices: continue, pause or end it. Treat the earlier yes as history rather than permission, keep anything learned from board materials off the page, and let the company, not the fund, tell SourceX what it decided.

It is for VC operating partners, platform leads and board members whose portfolio or network company changed CEOs mid-introduction. Program facts come from SourceX's terms (Version 2026-10-22.2, since replaced by version 2026-11-04), who-qualifies and how-it-works pages, read on 26 October 2026; the packet and its Illustrative replies are this page's own. A new CEO's own early records review belongs to [adding a data review to the first 100 days](/guides/new-ceo-first-100-days-plan); this page covers inheriting a referral somebody else began.

## What the new CEO is being asked to decide

One question, put once: do you want this to continue, and if so, who owns it on your side? The predecessor's approval answered that question for a different holder of the office. The program leaves both the go-ahead for a licensing discussion and the company's signature to the CEO, and SourceX's screening page asks introducers to date-stamp who the current CEO is, and since when. Once a company has been acquired, the acquirer's CEO decides for it.

The fund's relationship supplies none of this. A board seat gives a fund a voice in the boardroom, not the authority to open a licensing discussion, and SourceX's screening usually finds an introduction unfit when the new decision maker never knew it was happening. After a transition, three positions are common.

| Position | Who typically holds it after a CEO change | What it lets you do |
|---|---|---|
| Founder interest | The predecessor, now chair or shareholder; a co-founder who stayed | Nothing beyond telling the new CEO, if the new CEO wants to hear |
| Authorized sponsorship | The new CEO, who says continue and names an owner | Continue, with a new dated line in the approval note |
| Voluntary decline | The new CEO, or an interim CEO who prefers to end it | Close the row; nobody asks again through anyone else |

## When to send the packet, and who sends it

| Decision | Default | Why |
|---|---|---|
| When | After the new CEO holds the office and has settled in, not on the day of the announcement | An incoming or designated CEO does not yet decide for the company |
| Who sends it | Whoever holds the referral relationship with the new CEO | The packet carries one person's stake, so it should come from that person |
| Channel | A short email with the page attached, outside any board pack or agenda | Board materials turn an option into governance |
| Follow-up | None, unless the CEO asks for one | A new CEO's silence is an answer you can accept |
| Repeat | Once per CEO | A permanent CEO after an interim gets their own first packet |

If the sender sits on the board, the packet says so and says it is not a board request. That is accurate in law as well as courtesy: under section 141(b) of Delaware's General Corporation Law, the act of the board is the vote of a majority of the directors present at a meeting with a quorum, unless the certificate of incorporation or bylaws require more. One director's email is not that.

## The executive transition briefing packet

Seven blocks, in this order, on one page. Each block has a source for its facts and a list of what to leave out.

| Block | What it says | Where the facts come from | Keep off the page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Status | One line: discussed, introduced on a date, or applied on a date | The company's own records and the dated introduction record | Guesses about SourceX's review |
| 2. What your predecessor approved | The date, the scope and anything ruled out | The approval note the predecessor confirmed | The predecessor's reasons or enthusiasm |
| 3. What SourceX does | Two sentences: SourceX licenses approved business data directly from companies, and the company decides whether to proceed, what to offer and on what terms | SourceX's how-it-works page | Market claims and earnings estimates |
| 4. Who has been involved | Roles inside the company and the contact route to SourceX | The company's own list | People outside the company other than yourself |
| 5. My interest | You are a registered partner and a reward may follow; SourceX pays it separately and never deducts it from the company's payment | SourceX's terms | Any estimate of the amount |
| 6. Your three choices | Continue and name an owner; pause and name a condition; end it, with no reason needed | This page | A recommendation or a default |
| 7. What I will not do | No follow-up through the board, no contact with staff, nothing from board materials passed to anyone | This page | Promises you cannot keep |

Block 6 does most of the work. The three choices take the same space, appear in the same order every time and come with no suggested answer, so the new CEO is choosing rather than being steered.

**Sample packet (Illustrative).** An invented 280-person property management company whose founder became chair.

| Block | Sample text |
|---|---|
| 1. Status | "Your predecessor agreed to an introduction to SourceX on 3 September 2026. It was recorded on 8 September. The company has not applied." |
| 2. What was approved | "An introduction naming the company, with one line on its maintenance and tenant-service records since 2011. The fund was not to be named." |
| 3. What SourceX does | "SourceX licenses business data directly from companies for AI training and evaluation. Your company would decide whether to go ahead, what to include and on what terms." |
| 4. Who has been involved | "Your predecessor and the head of operations. No one at SourceX has been contacted by me since the introduction." |
| 5. My interest | "I am a registered SourceX partner. If a deal completes and the conditions are met, I may receive a reward from SourceX; it never comes out of the company's payment." |
| 6. Your three choices | "Continue, and tell me who owns it. Pause, and tell me what would need to happen first. Or end it, with no reason needed." |
| 7. What I will not do | "I will not raise this at the board, contact your team or share anything from board materials." |

## What stays off the page, and why

- **Board knowledge.** What the fund knows about the company's systems usually arrived through board packs or information rights. NVCA's model management rights letter puts information received under it within the confidentiality provisions of the Investors' Rights Agreement, which survive after the rights themselves end. SourceX's own screening page calls such knowledge a reason to ask the CEO, never material to pass along.
- **Numbers.** SourceX has not published typical payouts, and the terms say indicative ranges, unclosed data and unpaid supplier amounts are not Actual Supplier Payout. A packet with an estimate turns a choice into a sales pitch.
- **Your deadlines.** The attribution window is your concern, not the company's, and it has no place on the page.
- **Comparisons.** "Other companies we back have done this" is pressure, and usually unverifiable.
- **Records.** No samples, screenshots or exports, from either side.

## The predecessor's enthusiasm is not the new CEO's authority

A founder who hands over the CEO role often stays on as chair, shareholder or adviser, and their enthusiasm is now personal interest. A packet that leans on "your predecessor was keen" quietly asks the new CEO to defer, so the predecessor appears only in block 2's dates and scope.

The same holds for a board majority that likes the idea. The board may well have chosen the new CEO, but under the program it is the CEO who authorizes a licensing discussion. Fit does not change with the CEO either. The tests are still a peak headcount of 50 or more full-time employees, leaving contractors out; years of records the company made itself; the rights to license them; 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.

Acquisitions add two points. Once the company sits inside a group, the parent and every subsidiary draw on a single reward cap between them. And if the new owner has dealt with SourceX before, nothing in the published terms settles what that means for your credit; that is left to SourceX's duplicate review. Who holds the records after a sale is covered in [who owns a startup's data after an acquisition](/questions/who-owns-startup-data-after-acquisition).

## Where the referral stands, in plain status lines

Block 1 should be one sentence a new CEO can read without the program terms open. Behind each status sits a rule from the terms.

- **"Discussed, never introduced."** Nothing has been sent. The new CEO decides whether there is an introduction at all.
- **"Introduced on a date, no application yet."** Once the company submits a verified application, credit goes to whichever valid introduction of the new company came first inside the 90-day attribution window, and continuing contact protection does not stretch that window. A long transition can cost you the credit. That is your risk, and it stays out of the packet.
- **"Applied on a date."** SourceX may communicate directly with a referred company without affecting valid attribution, so the new CEO can contact SourceX directly and update the company's contact without routing anything through you.
- **"Signed."** The company's own agreements govern from here, and a signed agreement alone does not make a reward payable.

## Three replies to the packet (Illustrative)

Invented companies and people; no outcome is implied.

| Case | Who is CEO now | Reply | What you record | What happens next |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | A new CEO at the 280-person property manager above, appointed by the board | Continue; the COO owns it | A new dated approval line; the predecessor's line marked superseded | The company applies itself through the partner link |
| B | An interim CEO at a 150-person freight forwarder | Pause until a permanent CEO is appointed | The condition, in the interim's words | The permanent CEO receives their own first packet |
| C | An acquirer-appointed CEO at a 420-person facilities services company | End it | The date and "ended by the CEO" | Nothing; no approach through the former founder |

## Hand off only what the new CEO approves

Add one dated line to the approval note: the new CEO's name and role, what they approved, anything they ruled out and the owner they named. Keep the predecessor's line as history and mark it superseded; do not delete it, because dated records decide attribution. From that point, pass on only what the new line allows, and let the company give SourceX its own news. If the person introducing the company has not yet signed the SourceX Channel Partner Agreement, that comes before anything is submitted. Talking points for the CEO conversation itself are on [what to tell a portfolio CEO about data licensing](/resources/what-to-tell-portfolio-company-ceo-about-data-licensing).

## Where the packet can misfire

- **Any note from an investor can read as pressure.** A new CEO may feel the fund's weight however neutral the page. Block 7 reduces that; it cannot remove it.
- **Transitions are political.** A board that replaced the predecessor may see the referral as the predecessor's project; if the moment feels wrong, wait.
- **The window may lapse.** A slow transition can outlast the 90-day attribution window. The packet accepts that rather than hurrying anyone.
- **Programs move.** SourceX checks relevance to its current data needs in review; a company that fit before the transition may not fit the program running after it, and the reverse can happen.
- **Nothing here is measured.** SourceX has not published how often referrals survive a CEO change, and this page estimates nothing.

**Methods note.** The packet applies SourceX's terms (Version 2026-10-22.2, since replaced by version 2026-11-04), who-qualifies and how-it-works pages, NVCA's model management rights letter and section 141(b) of Delaware's General Corporation Law, all checked on 26 October 2026, with the program's settled rules that the CEO authorizes and a corporate group shares one cap. It does not measure how new CEOs respond or what any company earns. To test it, record per transition whether the new CEO answered and which choice they picked; no benchmark has been published.

## 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.

When a new CEO chooses to continue and names an owner, make sure the introducer holds a partner link from [registration](/register), confirm the company still meets [who qualifies](/who-qualifies) under its new leadership, and go back over the attribution rules in the [program terms](/terms) before anything further goes to SourceX. The operating-partner and platform views of the program are on the [private equity operating partners page](/for/private-equity-operating-partners) and the [venture platform teams page](/for/venture-platform-teams), with more playbooks in the [guides hub](/guides).

Briefing a new CEO is part of managing a referral, while sizing up SourceX as a potential holding is a separate piece of diligence; for that, ask for investor materials on the [SourceX investor overview](https://sourcex.si/investors).

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.

## Sources

- https://refer.sourcex.si/terms
- https://refer.sourcex.si/who-qualifies
- https://refer.sourcex.si/how-it-works
- https://nvca.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/NVCA_Model_Management-Rights-Letter.doc
- https://delcode.delaware.gov/title8/title8.pdf
- https://sourcex.si/investors