This checklist belongs to the portfolio operations review guide for VC platform teams, which holds the six-company screen. That guide answers which companies to talk to; this page answers when, because reviews often trigger the cost cuts that end access to history.
Why a review needs a countdown
Portfolio operations reviews look forward: burn, hiring, runway. Their outputs often include software consolidation, which means canceling tools. A help desk, CRM or chat workspace canceled to save a few thousand dollars can take a decade of operating history with it. Nobody decided to delete the history; it simply went with the subscription. A short countdown makes sure the founder makes that choice knowingly.
| Milestone | What it is | Set by | If not planned |
|---|---|---|---|
| Review kickoff | The platform team's data request to founders | Platform lead | Use the date the request goes out |
| Tool consolidation | The date a replacement system or a cheaper plan takes over | Company COO or CTO | Leave open; ask whether consolidation is on the table |
| Subscription lapse | The renewal or cancellation date of the old tool | Company finance | Leave open; no assumed dates |
Milestone 1: at review kickoff
Add three lines to the data request the platform team already sends. They take a founder minutes to answer and touch no records.
| Confirm | Owner | If skipped |
|---|---|---|
| Peak full-time headcount and when it occurred, contractors excluded | Founder or head of people | Companies that shrank are screened out by today's number |
| Main record systems and the year each started | COO or CTO | Multi-system history is invisible to the review |
| Which systems are on free tiers or short retention settings | CTO or IT lead | The screen assumes years that no longer exist |
Two definitions cause errors here. SourceX's test is full-time employees at peak, contractors excluded. The IRS applicable large employer test is different: it averages full-time employees plus full-time equivalents over the prior calendar year. A company can meet one and not the other, so ask for peak full-time staff specifically.
Milestone 2: before tool consolidation takes effect
Consolidation is the moment history is most often stranded. Ask before the new system goes live.
| Confirm | Owner | If skipped |
|---|---|---|
| Whether the old system's history migrates, is exported or is left behind | Company CTO or project lead | History is left in a tool scheduled for cancellation |
| Whether the export keeps threads, notes and links between records | Company admin | Records survive as flat files without their context |
| Whether customer contracts limit how history may be used | Company counsel | Rights questions arise after the export is already made |
| Who at the company could authorize a licensing discussion | CEO or board | A later conversation has no decision-maker |
Milestone 3: before old subscriptions lapse
After lapse, what was not kept may be gone. Retention on lower plans can be short: Slack's help center says free workspaces hide messages and files older than 90 days and, since August 26, 2024, permanently delete those more than one year old. Check each tool's own documentation and the company's plan.
Slack| Confirm | Owner | If skipped |
|---|---|---|
| The renewal or cancellation date of each old tool | Company finance | Access ends at a date nobody connected to history |
| Whether a downgrade, rather than cancellation, changes retention | Company admin | A cost saving quietly deletes years |
| Where any export will be stored, and who can describe it | Company CTO | Nobody can say what still exists |
| Whether the founder wants an introduction to SourceX before lapse | Founder | The decision is made by default |
Worked example: a fund's countdown across four companies
Illustrative. A seed-to-Series C fund's platform team tracks the four companies that passed or nearly passed its first screen.
| Company (illustrative) | Peak full-time staff | Kickoff facts | Consolidation | Lapse | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B2B logistics software, Series C | 140 | Help desk since 2015, CRM, incident tool | Help desk replacement planned | Old help desk renewal date known | Founder opted in |
| Clinical staffing marketplace, Series B | 85 | CRM, scheduling, chat | None planned | No date | Founder considering |
| Construction estimating SaaS, Series B | 62 | Project tool, help desk | Moving project tool to a suite | Date set by COO | Export route at risk |
| Consumer app, Series A | 55 | Chat on a free plan, analytics | None | Free-plan deletion already applies | Years likely missing |
The third row is the one to raise: the export route drops comment threads. That is worth flagging to the founder as an operational point whatever happens with a referral. The fourth row shows why milestone one asks about free tiers.
Who decides, and what stays unknown
- Records: systems and years, as each founder describes them.
- Owner: the company, subject to customer contracts.
- Authority: the company's CEO or board, never the fund.
- Fit: 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), a documented operating history, rights to license 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.
Unknown until SourceX reviews it: demand for the record set, the rights result, any offer 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 SourceX pays any reward separately, never from the company's payout. Illustrative only: if a company were paid $250,000 for a qualifying completed handoff, the reward would be $62,500. See rewards.
Related pages: the portfolio review handoff checklist covers passing a lead on, the portfolio company legal checklist covers counsel's questions, the portfolio operations annual calendar shows where reviews fall in the year, questions to ask a portfolio CEO about AI helps open the founder conversation, and the VC platform team page covers the program for funds.
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 whose founder opted in before an old tool lapses, register as a partner, confirm it against who qualifies and share the program terms with the founder.