Researching a specific failure mode in sub-$5M deals -the gap between what a seller says about how the business runs and what the financials/systems actually show, and whether that gap predicts post-close pain. A few of my colleagues left their jobs to buy businesses, and all of them found massive gaps post-close - a couple of deals almost blew up in their faces. Two things I'm testing: 1. whether a seller's resistance to explaining how the business runs is itself a leading indicator of what breaks post-close 2. if/how knowledge captured during diligence and the first few months of ownership can become a bigger system that endures and improves over the long term Talking to searchers under LOI/in diligence and, separately, searchers 3 to 18 months post-close. 20 minutes, not selling anything. Happy to share findings back. Comment or DM if open.