Identify Team Contradictions Missing Evidence and Risks
Systematically audit the founding team for misaligned expectations, missing legal protections, key-person dependencies, and unaddressed interpersonal friction points. Document all instances where verbal assurances contradict written agreements or where critical team alignment lacks empirical proof.
This action uncovers hidden structural liabilities and co-founder friction before they compound into venture-threatening disputes. It equips the main stress test with an unvarnished risk matrix that prioritises survival-critical human and governance vulnerabilities.
Produce a prioritised risk log detailing all identified co-founder alignment gaps, missing legal assignments, skill deficits, and unresolved governance ambiguities. Each risk must include an impact assessment, likelihood score, and clear evidence of its current status.
Five questions an expert would ask when reviewing your output
Use these to challenge assumptions, pressure-test your logic, and check the quality of this action's output in the context of the parent task and wider venture development.
- 1
What unwritten assumptions about founder working hours, salaries, or external commitments present the largest unhedged risk to operations?
- 2
Where is the empirical proof that all intellectual property created to date has been fully and unreservedly assigned to the corporate entity?
- 3
How would the venture survive if your most critical technical or commercial co-founder resigned tomorrow with full equity?
- 4
Which co-founder relationship dynamic represents the single point of failure during high-stakes investor negotiations?
- 5
What missing evidence prevents you from verifying that all co-founders share identical expectations regarding exit horizons and dividend policies?