Why we're publishing our diligence process

Fundraising can feel like a black box. Founders send their pitch decks, jump on rapid fire calls with VCs that feel like a brain extraction, answer the same questions repeatedly, then wait, often without any sense of where they stand with an investor. The process strains the very trust great partnerships require. It’s the opposite of what a term sheet is meant to do: create alignment.

So, just as we made our standard term sheet public, we’re now opening up details on our investment process. You can see exactly how we evaluate a company from first intro to final decision.

Why do this?

• Speed. See the questions up-front, so you can answer them once, properly. That alone cuts down weeks of back and forth - time a founder doesn’t have building a high growth business.
• Signal. When the process is visible, noise disappears. You’ll know which questions matter because there aren’t any hidden ones.
• Self-selection. The founders who read our process and come prepared are the kind we want to partner with.

Without further ado, here is our investment process: How we invest at Dogwood

We hope this leads to deeper conversations with founders, faster decision making, and greater founder-investor partnerships.