Field Notes
Notes from the work.
What high-stakes deals teach, written straight — the patterns behind the costly misses, and how to see them coming. You’ve seen one of these up close, haven’t you.
The notes
Field Notes index
01 · The thesis
The deal fails before the data room.
Most deals don’t go wrong in the diligence. They go wrong in the order — long before anyone opens the data room.
Read the note → 02 · The methodClean on the surface.
Two reports can both come back clean — and still, read together, be the whole problem.
Read the note → 03 · In the roomWhat to listen for.
A report tells you what was found. The next conversation tells you what it’s worth — if you know how to read the answer.
Read the note →More notes in the works — including what a record backlog of unsold assets means for the next buyer.
And once you’ve seen the pattern, you can’t unsee it. The reason these patterns matter — in the founder’s own words.
Read the Letter →