Which five questions reveal valuable records in a first meeting?
Five questions about approvals, exceptions, review, outcomes and history tell you whether a company holds decision-with-outcome records, without anyone opening a file. Ask them conversationally, then map the answers to the size, history and rights screens before you suggest an introduction.
AI developers training agents need records of real work: who decided what, why, and what happened next. Those records sit in ordinary systems, so the useful discovery is not "what software do you run" but "where does the reasoning get written down." This list is for any partner, whatever your background.
The five questions
1. Where are approvals logged?
- Do approvals happen inside a system (ERP workflow, ticket status, e-signature) or by verbal sign-off?
- Is the approver's name and date stored with the item?
An approval with a name, a date and the thing approved is a decision record. Verbal approvals leave nothing to license.
2. Where do exceptions go?
- When a case does not fit the normal process, who gets it and where is it written down?
- Is there a queue, a channel or a shared inbox for those cases?
Exceptions with dispositions are the scarcest material; the guide to exception handling records explains why.
3. Who reviews work before it goes out?
- Is there a second pair of eyes on entries, quotes, contracts, code or claims?
- Do reviewers leave comments, or just click approve?
Written reviewer comments are the label. An example is the trail described in journal entry review records.
4. How are outcomes recorded?
- Can someone see later whether the decision was right: a forecast versus actual, a deal won or lost, a customer saved or lost?
- Is the outcome stored where the decision is, or in a different system?
Outcomes turn a log into a lesson. Forecast histories graded by actuals are one form, as in cash forecast versus actual records; a save attempt and its result are another, covered in cancellation and save-attempt records.
5. How far back does it go?
- How many years of this are still retrievable?
- Were any systems retired, and were exports kept?
Five to ten years helps, and archived systems count. Deleted archives do not.
How do the answers map to the screens?
Match what you heard to the baseline before you propose anything.
| What you heard | Which screen it informs | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| "About 120 people, 15 years in business" | Size and history: 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), several years documented | Continue; confirm peak headcount |
| "Approvals are in the workflow tool, with comments" | Records depth | Note the system names only |
| "We keep everything but nobody can pull it" | Exportability | Ask who administers the system |
| "Our clients own most of what we handle" | Rights | Park it unless clients have consented |
| "Mostly patient records" | Rights and privacy | Park it; health data needs authorization or de-identification |
| "I handle this, but my partner owns the company" | Authority | Ask for an introduction to the authorized sponsor |
The who qualifies page lists the full baseline.
How should I run the meeting?
- Open with their business, not data. Let them describe a normal week.
- Ask questions one to three as follow-ups to what they said. Listen for specific systems and roles.
- Ask questions four and five near the end.
- Do not ask to see anything. Never accept files, screenshots or exports.
- Close by asking whether they would consider a licensing conversation, using the permission approach in how to ask a business owner for permission to make an introduction.
- Write your notes in a few lines: size, years, systems, who the sponsor is.
What are the red flags?
- The data mainly belongs to someone else, such as an outsourcer's or agency's clients, without consent.
- The records are mainly consumer personal data or health information with no licensing basis.
- Archives were deleted, or nobody can export the data.
- A court, trustee or assignee controls the assets and has not been involved.
- The data was already licensed for AI training, or the owner will not consider an exclusive license.
- The company never reached 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded).
What do I do once the answers look good?
Use the data inventory builder to help the owner list systems and years, without describing the content of any record. Then register and submit the company with basic fit information, or share your referral link so the company can apply itself.
Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 per referred company. The reward is paid only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee; an introduction, meeting or signed agreement alone does not trigger payment, and no reward is guaranteed. Read the program terms for current details.
Next step
Pick the next business owner you are meeting and bring the five questions. If the answers are strong, register as a partner and make the introduction.