skills/meeting-prep/references/meeting-type-playbooks.md

# Meeting type playbooks

## Table of contents
1. Management or founder diligence call
2. Banker pitch or client update
3. Buyer, sponsor, or investor meeting
4. Lender or credit committee meeting
5. Investment committee or internal deal review
6. Earnings, investor day, or public markets meeting
7. Expert call
8. Portfolio company operating review
9. CFO, budget, forecast, or board meeting
10. Deal process or diligence kickoff

## 1. Management or founder diligence call
Objective: test the company story, management credibility, KPIs, quality of growth, risks, and what evidence is needed next.

Must know:
- business model, product, customer base, market, unit economics, revenue quality, margin profile, cash flow, capex, working capital, and management incentives;
- what the model or memo assumes;
- seller or management claims that need verification.

Question focus:
- growth drivers and sustainability;
- customer concentration, churn, pipeline, pricing, retention, cohort behavior;
- gross margin and operating leverage drivers;
- non-recurring revenue, add-backs, revenue recognition, backlog, bookings, ARR/MRR, NRR/GRR as relevant;
- cash conversion, working capital, capex, debt, covenants, liquidity;
- what management would cut first in a downside case.

Useful companion skills: `company-tearsheet`, `cim-teardown`, `financials-normalizer`, `scenario-sensitivity-generator`, `three-statement-model-builder`, `lbo-model-build`.

## 2. Banker pitch or client update
Objective: prepare the user to advise, win trust, advance a process, or clarify next steps with a client.

Must know:
- client objective, current mandate status, decision-maker, process timeline, known sensitivities;
- relevant comps, precedent transactions, valuation range, market window, buyer/lender/investor universe;
- what the user should ask for to sharpen the pitch or process.

Question focus:
- strategic objective and constraints;
- valuation expectations and minimum acceptable outcome;
- buyer/lender/investor preferences;
- timing, approvals, confidentiality, and process risks;
- materials needed to launch or refresh process.

Useful companion skills: `pitch-deck-builder`, `ib-deck-qc`, `buyer-investor-list`, `comps-valuation`, `dcf-model-builder`, `private-credit-underwriting`, `covenant-package-analyzer`, `capital-markets-issuance`, `deal-process-tracker`, `style-guide-adapter`.

## 3. Buyer, sponsor, or investor meeting
Objective: help the user qualify interest, understand underwriting constraints, and identify what would move a counterparty toward action.

Must know:
- counterparty mandate, prior behavior, sector focus, deal size, check size, financing appetite, valuation sensitivity;
- why this opportunity fits or does not fit;
- likely diligence objections and decision process.

Question focus:
- investment mandate and non-negotiables;
- valuation, leverage, growth, margin, synergy, and exit assumptions;
- diligence priorities and timeline;
- committee process and gating concerns;
- reasons they might pass.

Useful companion skills: `buyer-investor-list`, `lbo-model-build`, `private-credit-underwriting`, `comps-valuation`, `dcf-model-builder`, `deal-process-tracker`.

## 4. Lender or credit committee meeting
Objective: pressure-test repayment capacity, downside protection, structure, collateral, covenants, liquidity, and lender asks.

Must know:
- capital structure, debt terms, maturity wall, collateral, covenant package, liquidity, cash burn, forecast, lender case;
- EBITDA adjustments, add-backs, NWC, capex, cash taxes, debt capacity, and recovery downside;
- sponsor support and covenant headroom.

Question focus:
- what protects lenders in the downside;
- covenant setting and cushion;
- liquidity runway and revolver usage;
- add-back support and recurring EBITDA;
- collateral and recovery value;
- reporting package and ongoing monitoring.

Useful companion skills: `private-credit-underwriting`, `covenant-package-analyzer`, `lbo-model-build`, `financials-normalizer`, `scenario-sensitivity-generator`, `distressed-recovery-waterfall`.

## 5. Investment committee or internal deal review
Objective: prepare the user to make or defend a recommendation, expose the decision needed, and resolve the highest-impact open questions.

Must know:
- thesis, variant view, key risks, valuation, returns, downside, catalysts, diligence status, kill criteria;
- what has changed since last review;
- what the committee must decide today.

Question focus:
- what has to be true to win;
- biggest disconfirming evidence;
- downside case and breakeven points;
- valuation sensitivity and exit assumptions;
- diligence gaps and who owns them;
- go/no-go recommendation.

Useful companion skills: `memo-builder`, `cim-teardown`, `lbo-model-build`, `comps-valuation`, `dcf-model-builder`, `scenario-sensitivity-generator`, `model-audit-tieout`.

## 6. Public-company client, investor day, or market-update meeting
Objective: prepare for a public-company client meeting, investor day, sell-side conference, or market-update discussion in an IB context.

Must know:
- latest print, guidance, consensus, KPIs, transcript commentary, estimate revisions, valuation, debate points, catalysts;
- what the market expected versus what changed;
- what question would test the variant view.

For an introductory public-company coverage meeting, treat the goal as earning informed follow-up rather than proving a mandate exists. Lead with the public-source strategic and capital-allocation read, identify potential mandate triggers, and use one compact question sequence. Keep detailed diligence branches secondary until management signals an actionable priority or agrees to follow-up work.

Question focus:
- guidance bridge and key drivers;
- demand, pricing, volume, mix, margin, capex, cash flow, buybacks, balance sheet;
- KPI definitions and comparability;
- competitive dynamics and channel signals;
- risks management is not emphasizing;
- what would cause estimates to move.

Useful companion skills: `company-tearsheet`, `financial-source-of-truth`, `financials-normalizer`, `comps-valuation`, `dcf-model-builder`, `capital-markets-issuance`, `pitch-deck-builder`.

## 7. Expert call
Objective: turn limited expert time into specific evidence on market structure, competitive position, customer behavior, operational reality, or industry change.

Must know:
- expert background and potential bias;
- hypotheses to test;
- what evidence is observable by the expert versus outside their scope;
- compliance restrictions and topics to avoid.

Question focus:
- observable facts and examples rather than opinions;
- triangulation against company claims;
- customer behavior, switching costs, procurement, pricing, sales cycles, churn, channel dynamics;
- competitor positioning;
- leading indicators and inflection points.

Useful companion skills: `company-tearsheet`, `buyer-investor-list`, `comps-valuation`, `cim-teardown`, `memo-builder`.

## 8. Portfolio company operating review
Objective: identify what changed in performance, what actions are needed, and what leadership should do next.

Must know:
- budget versus actuals, forecast, KPI trend, cash/liquidity, covenants, hiring, sales pipeline, initiatives, risks;
- prior action items and ownership;
- management explanations and data quality issues.

Question focus:
- misses versus plan and root causes;
- revised forecast and confidence;
- initiatives, blockers, owners, and timing;
- cash, working capital, hiring, capex, procurement, pricing;
- board-level decisions needed.

Useful companion skills: `scenario-sensitivity-generator`, `model-audit-tieout`, `memo-builder`, `three-statement-model-builder`, `private-credit-underwriting`.

## 9. CFO, budget, forecast, or board meeting
Objective: prepare finance leadership for decisions on budget, forecast, resource allocation, financial performance, or board communication.

Must know:
- current plan, actuals, forecast, variance drivers, asks, constraints, targets, approvals;
- what changed since prior forecast or board package;
- what decisions are needed and by when.

Question focus:
- source of variance and controllability;
- recurring versus one-time impact;
- tradeoffs, ROI, payback, hiring plan, vendor spend, budget ownership;
- forecast confidence and downside plan;
- decisions, approvals, and escalation path.

Useful companion skills: `budget-intake-challenger`, `financials-normalizer`, `excel-data-cleaner`, `model-audit-tieout`, `scenario-sensitivity-generator`, `memo-builder`, `ib-deck-qc`.

## 10. Deal process or diligence kickoff
Objective: align on process, responsibilities, gating questions, timeline, workstreams, and evidence needed.

Must know:
- process stage, buyer/lender/investor list, NDA status, deadlines, diligence workstreams, data room readiness, open issues;
- who owns each workstream;
- next milestone and decision gate.

Question focus:
- timeline and deliverables;
- owners and dependencies;
- top deal-breakers and workstream priorities;
- data room gaps;
- approval process and escalation;
- communication cadence.

Useful companion skills: `deal-process-tracker`, `cim-teardown`, `financials-normalizer`, `buyer-investor-list`, `memo-builder`.