skills/cim-builder/references/section_standards.md

# CIM Section Standards

Use these standards when drafting or reviewing a CIM section. Adapt to sector, transaction type, and available evidence.

## Table of contents

- [Universal page standard](#universal-page-standard)
- [Executive summary](#executive-summary)
- [Investment highlights](#investment-highlights)
- [Company overview](#company-overview)
- [Market overview](#market-overview)
- [Competitive positioning](#competitive-positioning)
- [Product / services / solution overview](#product--services--solution-overview)
- [Customers and revenue quality](#customers-and-revenue-quality)
- [Go-to-market and sales engine](#go-to-market-and-sales-engine)
- [Operations and delivery model](#operations-and-delivery-model)
- [Management team](#management-team)
- [Historical financial performance](#historical-financial-performance)
- [Forecast and growth plan](#forecast-and-growth-plan)
- [Adjusted EBITDA / QoE bridge](#adjusted-ebitda--qoe-bridge)
- [Risks and mitigants](#risks-and-mitigants)

## Universal page standard

Each page should pass these tests:

- The title makes an argument, not just labels a topic.
- The buyer underwriting question is obvious.
- The exhibit supports the title.
- The time period, units, and source are clear.
- The page has a clear so-what.
- Unsupported claims are removed or labeled.
- Internal banker concerns are not mixed into external-ready copy.

## Executive summary

Purpose: give the buyer the investment memo in miniature.

Include:

- one-sentence business definition.
- transaction opportunity.
- scale and financial profile.
- 5-7 most important investment highlights.
- market and competitive context.
- growth runway.
- buyer-specific value creation paths.
- concise financial snapshot.

MD test: could a buyer's investment committee understand why this asset is worth time after reading only these pages?

Common mistakes:

- generic adjectives with no proof.
- repeating the table of contents.
- burying the transaction rationale.
- avoiding known diligence issues that will matter immediately.

## Investment highlights

Purpose: establish the investable reasons to engage.

High-quality highlights are specific, quantified, non-overlapping, and tied to buyer underwriting. Convert generic claims into evidence-backed claims.

Weak:

- large market opportunity.
- strong management team.
- attractive financial profile.

Strong:

- mission-critical workflow embedded in enterprise operations, supported by 96% gross retention and 7.4-year average customer tenure.
- scaled independent platform in a fragmented, compliance-heavy category with national delivery capability.
- high-visibility revenue model with 78% recurring revenue, 118% net retention, and signed backlog equal to 42% of next-twelve-month revenue.

MD test: can each highlight support valuation, process tension, debt capacity, strategic synergy, or sponsor underwriting?

## Company overview

Purpose: make the business understandable and investable.

Include:

- what the company does.
- who it serves.
- how it makes money.
- ownership and history.
- locations and operating footprint.
- products/services.
- customer segments.
- revenue model.
- key milestones.

MD test: can a buyer explain the business model back to their team in two minutes?

## Market overview

Purpose: prove that the company's growth opportunity is real and relevant.

Include:

- market definition.
- addressable budget pool.
- growth drivers.
- regulatory or secular tailwinds.
- fragmentation/consolidation dynamics.
- competitive landscape.
- company's right to win.
- TAM/SAM/SOM methodology where appropriate.

MD test: does the market section explain why this company can capture a specific attractive growth pool, not just that the market is large?

Common mistakes:

- inflated TAM with no methodology.
- dated third-party data.
- market pages disconnected from company products.
- claiming market leadership without source support.

## Competitive positioning

Purpose: show why the company wins and why the advantage is durable.

Include:

- competitor map.
- differentiation by product, service, compliance, cost, data, distribution, footprint, or vertical expertise.
- win/loss evidence.
- switching costs.
- barriers to entry.
- customer testimonials or approved case studies.
- procurement or regulatory barriers.

MD test: would a buyer believe the differentiation after customer calls and competitor diligence?

Avoid claiming there are no competitors unless the evidence is unusually strong.

## Product / services / solution overview

Purpose: show what the company sells and why customers value it.

Include:

- product/service suite.
- customer use cases.
- revenue contribution by product where available.
- pricing model.
- implementation/delivery model.
- roadmap if approved.
- IP, data, or platform advantage if real.

MD test: does this section connect product features to customer ROI and revenue quality?

## Customers and revenue quality

Purpose: establish durability, concentration, retention, and growth within customers.

Include:

- customer segmentation.
- top customer concentration.
- revenue by cohort or vintage.
- gross retention and net retention where relevant.
- tenure.
- contract length and renewal cadence.
- churn and churn reasons.
- expansion revenue.
- case studies.
- pipeline/backlog if tied to customer demand.

MD test: would a buyer view revenue as recurring, repeat, contractual, durable, or at risk?

If concentration is high, show tenure, contract status, renewal history, diversification trend, embeddedness, and pipeline mix.

## Go-to-market and sales engine

Purpose: explain how growth is generated.

Include:

- sales channels.
- sales cycle.
- pipeline funnel.
- quota attainment.
- sales productivity.
- CAC/payback where relevant.
- channel partnerships.
- marketing efficiency.
- pricing.
- expansion motion.

MD test: can buyers underwrite future bookings or revenue growth from the data shown?

## Operations and delivery model

Purpose: show scalability and execution quality.

Include:

- operating footprint.
- labor model.
- capacity/utilization.
- vendor/supplier dependencies.
- quality metrics.
- implementation/delivery process.
- automation/productivity initiatives.
- procurement or supply chain.
- compliance operations.

MD test: does the operating model support margin expansion and growth without breaking service quality?

## Management team

Purpose: assess whether the team can execute the forecast and stay through the transaction.

Include:

- leadership bios.
- relevant experience.
- organization chart.
- second-level bench.
- key hires and gaps.
- incentives and retention.
- founder transition considerations.

MD test: would a sponsor or strategic buyer trust this team to run the plan post-close?

## Historical financial performance

Purpose: prove quality and trajectory.

Include:

- revenue growth by driver.
- segment/product/geography mix.
- gross margin and margin drivers.
- operating expenses.
- EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA.
- LTM results.
- budget vs. actual where relevant.
- cash flow conversion.
- working capital and capex.

MD test: do the numbers support the story, and do they tie to source data?

## Forecast and growth plan

Purpose: make management's plan underwriteable.

Include:

- forecast by driver.
- pipeline/backlog support.
- revenue bridge.
- margin bridge.
- headcount and cost assumptions.
- capex and working capital.
- historical forecast accuracy if available.
- sensitivity or downside framing where useful.

MD test: can a buyer build a credible base, upside, and downside case from the materials?

## Adjusted EBITDA / QoE bridge

Purpose: show normalized earnings and likely diligence sensitivity.

Include:

- reported EBITDA.
- each add-back by category.
- amount and period.
- rationale.
- recurrence risk.
- source.
- QoE support status.
- buyer skepticism rating.

MD test: would a QoE provider and credit committee accept the bridge, or will it create retrade risk?

## Risks and mitigants

Purpose: build credibility by framing material issues responsibly.

Include:

- risk.
- why buyers will care.
- evidence or context.
- mitigant.
- disclosure stage.
- owner and next step.

MD test: does this section make the seller more credible without volunteering unnecessary process-damaging detail too early?