Private Company Tear Sheet Generator

Produce a decision-grade tear sheet on a private company. The output reads like something a sharp research analyst would hand to the person about to walk into the meeting: concise, fact-dense, well-sourced, and honest about what's confirmed vs. rumored.

Why This Skill Exists

Professionals constantly need quick, structured overviews of private companies — a sales rep preparing for a discovery call, a partnerships lead sizing up a potential ally, a recruiter or candidate evaluating an employer, a product manager mapping a competitor, a procurement team vetting a supplier, an investor screening a deal. The challenge with private companies is that data is scattered, often unconfirmed, and mixes hard numbers with speculation. This skill enforces a consistent structure and sourcing discipline so the reader always knows what's solid and what's soft.

Inputs

Required:

• A company name (disambiguated with a website, location, or sector if the name is common)

Optional but high-value:

• The purpose: sales prospecting, partnership, competitive intel, recruiting or job search, supplier vetting, acquisition or investment screening. This shapes which sections get the most depth and how Section 9 is framed.
• Context like "Series C stage," "family-owned since 1980s," "recently taken private," "our competitor in the mid-market"
• Anything the user already knows or has (a deck, a prior brief, a LinkedIn export) so research builds on it rather than repeating it

Missing-input behavior: If the purpose is not stated, produce the full general-purpose tear sheet and frame Section 9 neutrally. Do not ask a stack of questions first — ask at most once if the company name is ambiguous, then proceed.

How It Works

1. The user provides a company name (and optionally the purpose and context).
2. You research the company extensively using WebSearch.
3. You produce a structured markdown tear sheet saved to the outputs directory.

Research Phase

Use WebSearch aggressively. Run at least 8–12 searches to cover:

• Company name + "funding" / "valuation" / "acquired" / "owned by" / "Series [A/B/C/D/E]"
• Company name + "revenue" / "ARR" / "customers" / "employees"
• Company name + "CEO" / "founders" / "leadership" / "owner"
• Company name + "competitors" / "market" / "alternatives"
• Company name + "IPO" / "acquisition" / "sale" / "merger"
• Company name + "lawsuit" / "recall" / "layoffs" / "expansion" for operating signals
• Company name + recent year (e.g., "2025" or "2026") for fresh coverage
• Industry/sector searches for competitive context

Prioritize these source types (in order of reliability):

1. Company press releases, official blog posts, the company's own website and careers page
2. Regulatory filings and public records — securities filings where they exist, company registries, court records, government contract and grant databases, permits and licenses
3. Investor, acquirer, or parent-company announcements
4. Reputable business media and the sector's trade press (e.g., WSJ, Bloomberg, Reuters, FT, and the trade publications that cover the company's industry)
5. Credible private-company databases (PitchBook, Crunchbase, CB Insights, and industry-specific equivalents)
6. Founder/CEO interviews, podcast appearances, and conference presentations
7. Industry analyst reports
8. Employee review sites, job postings, and customer review platforms — useful for operating signals, weak for financial facts

Fetch the most promising URLs to get detailed data. Don't stop at search snippets when a full article would give you funding round details, revenue figures, customer names, or management bios.

Sourcing Rules

These matter because people make real decisions — whom to pitch, whom to partner with, where to work, what to build against — based on this information:

• Hyperlink every important claim. Valuation, funding amounts, revenue, headcount, customer counts, owner and investor names — all need a source link.
• Distinguish confidence levels. Use these labels consistently:
  • Confirmed — from the company itself, regulatory filings, or official investor/acquirer/parent announcements
  • Reported — from reputable media citing named sources
  • Estimated — from analysts, databases, or unnamed sources
  • Rumored — from unverified reports, speculation, or single unnamed sources
• Mark gaps honestly. Write "Not disclosed" when data isn't available. Readers respect honesty about gaps far more than they respect fabricated numbers.
• Include source dates. A revenue figure from 2023 means something very different from one from 2025. Always note the time period.
• Prefer recent sources. Prioritize the last 24 months, but include older sources when they're the best (or only) available data on a topic. Note the date so the reader can judge currency.

Output Format

Save as a .md file to the outputs directory. Name it [company-name]-tear-sheet.md (lowercase, hyphens).

The tear sheet follows this exact 11-section structure:

Template

# [Company Name] — Tear Sheet

*Generated: [today's date]*
*Prepared for: [purpose — sales / partnership / competitive intel / recruiting / supplier vetting / investment / general]*
*Sources current as of: [date of most recent source cited]*

---

## 1. Company Snapshot

| Field | Detail |
|-------|--------|
| **Company** | [Full legal name] |
| **Website** | [URL] |
| **Headquarters** | [City, State/Country] |
| **Founded** | [Year] |
| **Founder(s)** | [Names] |
| **CEO / Owner** | [Name] |
| **Ownership Type** | [e.g., Venture-backed, PE-owned, Family-owned, Bootstrapped, Employee-owned, Subsidiary of X] |
| **Status** | [e.g., Private, Pre-IPO, Acquired, In sale process] |
| **Most Recent Valuation** | [Amount, date, confidence level — or "Not disclosed"] |
| **Total Outside Funding** | [Amount — or "None known / bootstrapped"] |
| **Major Owners / Investors** | [Names] |
| **Headcount** | [Number, date, source] |

**Company Description:** [One paragraph — what the company does, who it serves, and why it matters. Keep it to 3–4 sentences.]

**Core Customer Segments:** [Bullet list of primary buyer personas or segments]

---

## 2. Business Description

- **Problem:** [What pain point or gap the company addresses]
- **Buyer/User:** [Who purchases and who uses the product — these may differ]
- **Why It Matters:** [The "so what" — why this problem is worth solving at scale]
- **Value Chain Position:** [Where the company sits — raw materials, manufacturing, infrastructure, platform, application, distribution, services]
- **Differentiation:** [What makes this company defensible or hard to replicate]

---

## 3. Funding and Ownership History

| Date | Event | Amount | Reported Valuation | Lead Investor / Acquirer / Owner | Other Notable Parties | Source |
|------|-------|--------|--------------------|-----------------------------------|------------------------|--------|
| [Date] | [Series X / PE buyout / founder-funded / recapitalization / ownership transfer] | [$XXM] | [$X.XB] | [Name] | [Names] | [Link] |

**Summary:**
- Total outside capital raised: $[X] (or "None known")
- Current ownership structure: [Who controls the company — founders, family, fund, parent, employees]
- Most recent valuation: $[X] ([date], [confidence level])
- Valuation trajectory: [Up/flat/down rounds, recaps, write-downs — where applicable]
- Secondary or ownership-transfer activity: [Any known secondary sales, buyouts, succession events]
- Sale, IPO, or exit signals: [Any credible reporting]

For bootstrapped or family-owned companies, this section is about ownership and control rather than rounds — say so and fill in what is known.

---

## 4. Revenue, Profitability, and Operating Signals

| Metric | Reported Value | Time Period | Source | Confidence |
|--------|---------------|-------------|--------|------------|
| Revenue / ARR | | | | |
| Revenue Growth (YoY) | | | | |
| GMV / Volume (if applicable) | | | | |
| Gross Margin | | | | |
| EBITDA / Net Income | | | | |
| Customer Count | | | | |
| Enterprise / Key Account Count | | | | |
| User Count | | | | |
| Net Revenue Retention | | | | |
| Churn | | | | |
| Headcount and Hiring Trend | | | | |
| Locations / Facilities | | | | |
| Notable Customers or Contracts | | | | |

Use "Not disclosed" for any metric without a credible source. Do not estimate revenue from valuation multiples or headcount unless clearly labeled as an estimate with the methodology shown. Where hard financials are absent, operating signals — job postings, office openings, product launches, customer logos, layoffs, executive departures — are the best available proxy and should be labeled as such.

---

## 5. Management Team

| Name | Role | Prior Experience | Decision-Relevant Notes | Source |
|------|------|-----------------|------------------------|--------|
| [Name] | [Title] | [Key prior roles] | [Tenure, board seats, domain expertise, founder or family status, public statements about priorities] | [Link] |

Focus on the top 4–6 executives. Tailor the notes to the purpose: for sales, who owns the budget and what they have said publicly about priorities; for recruiting, tenure and culture signals; for partnerships, who runs the relevant function; for investment, prior exits and scaled-company experience.

---

## 6. Products and Services

| Product | Description | Target Customer | Pricing Model | Source |
|---------|-------------|-----------------|---------------|--------|
| [Name] | [What it does] | [Who buys it] | [Subscription / usage / transaction / project / unit price / license / etc.] | [Link] |

---

## 7. Business Model

- **Revenue Model:** [How the company makes money — subscriptions, transactions, usage-based, project fees, product sales, licensing, etc.]
- **Pricing Structure:** [Price points if disclosed, tier structure]
- **Go-to-Market Motion:** [Self-serve, inside sales, enterprise field sales, channel/partner, distributors, retail]
- **Margin Profile:** [What's known or estimated about unit economics]
- **Key Revenue Drivers:** [What levers drive top-line growth]
- **Key Cost Drivers:** [Largest expense categories — R&D, sales and marketing, manufacturing, labor, infrastructure]
- **Key Dependencies:** [Critical suppliers, platforms, channels, or customers the business relies on]

---

## 8. Market and Competitive Landscape

**Market Size:** [TAM/SAM if available, with source]

**Industry Tailwinds:** [What macro or sector trends help this company]

**Industry Risks:** [What could slow the market — regulatory, macro, technology shifts]

| Competitor | Public/Private | Description | How It Competes | Relative Strengths | Relative Weaknesses | Source |
|------------|---------------|-------------|-----------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------|
| [Name] | [Public/Private] | [One line] | [Direct/indirect, which segments] | [vs. subject company] | [vs. subject company] | [Link] |

**Substitution Risks:** [What alternatives exist outside direct competitors — incumbents, in-house builds, status quo]

**Regulatory Risks:** [Any pending or potential regulation that could affect the business]

---

## 9. Outside Perspective

Frame this section for the stated purpose. The default framing is neutral.

**The Case For:**
[3–4 sentences on why an outside party — buyer, partner, candidate, acquirer, investor — would be excited to engage]

**The Case Against:**
[3–4 sentences on the key risks and concerns]

**Key Questions to Ask:**
1. [Question the user should put to the company, or answer through further research, before committing]
2. [Question]
3. [Question]
4. [Question]
5. [Question]

**Likely Trajectory:** [Where the company appears to be headed over the next 1–3 years — growth, sale, IPO, succession, consolidation, decline — and the evidence for that read]

**What Would Need to Be True:** [For investment: what revenue, growth, or share would justify the latest valuation. For sales: what would make this account worth the pursuit. For partnership: what would make the fit real. For recruiting: what would make this a good bet as an employer.]

---

## 10. Five Recent Decision-Relevant Articles

| # | Title | Publisher | Date | Link | Summary | Why It Matters |
|---|-------|-----------|------|------|---------|----------------|
| 1 | [Title] | [Publisher] | [Date] | [URL] | [One sentence] | [Relevance to the purpose] |
| 2 | | | | | | |
| 3 | | | | | | |
| 4 | | | | | | |
| 5 | | | | | | |

Prefer articles from the last 12 months. If fewer than five recent articles exist, include the best older ones and note the age.

---

## 11. Source Quality and Confidence Assessment

- **Well-Sourced Claims:** [Which sections have strong, primary-source backing]
- **Uncertain Claims:** [Which data points rely on single sources, unnamed sources, or estimates]
- **Unavailable Data:** [What information could not be found — and whether that absence is notable]
- **Contradictions:** [Any cases where sources disagreed, and how you resolved it]
- **Recommended Follow-Up:** [Specific next steps — e.g., "request financials under NDA," "verify customer count via reference calls," "confirm headcount with a recruiter," "ask for a product demo," "pull the state registry filing"]

Quality Checklist

Before delivering the tear sheet, verify:

• Every section is present (all 11). If a section has no data, include it with "Not disclosed" rather than omitting it.
• Valuation, funding, ownership, and revenue claims all have hyperlinked sources.
• Confidence labels (Confirmed / Reported / Estimated / Rumored) are used for key financial and ownership claims.
• Section 9 is framed for the stated purpose, or neutrally if none was given.
• Tables are well-formed markdown that will render cleanly.
• The document reads in 5–7 minutes — cut ruthlessly if it's running long. Readers skim; density beats length.
• No invented facts. If you're uncertain about something, say so. The reader is making a real decision.

Edge Cases

• Very early-stage companies (seed/Series A, or a two-year-old bootstrapped business): Many sections will be thin. That's fine — use "Not disclosed" liberally and focus on what's available (founders, product, early traction, backers).
• Family-owned or closely held companies with no outside capital: Section 3 becomes an ownership and succession section. Lean on company registries, trade press, local business journals, and the company's own history page. Note that financials are typically unavailable and operating signals carry the weight.
• Companies with minimal press coverage: Note the coverage gap in Section 11. Lean harder on private-company databases, the company website, job postings, and LinkedIn for management data.
• Recently acquired companies or subsidiaries: Note the acquisition and parent in the Company Snapshot. Still complete the full tear sheet — the historical data is useful context, and the parent's disclosures may cover the subsidiary.
• Companies with conflicting data: Present both figures with their sources and flag the contradiction in Section 11.
• Companies in distress or in a sale process: Say so in the snapshot, source it, and weight Section 9 toward what the situation means for the user's purpose.

Works well with

Use company-first-pass for the public-company equivalent. Use professional-profile-brief when the meeting is really about one executive rather than the company. Use market-map-builder when one tear sheet turns into a need to see the whole competitive set. Use counterparty-diligence when the company is about to become a vendor, supplier, or partner and the question shifts from "who are they" to "can we rely on them." Use watchlist-news-alert to keep following the company after the tear sheet is written.