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Funding exercise is down now, however it’s prone to choose up in 2023. And when investments ramp up, so does M&A. Will your group and your code go technical due diligence when it’s your flip?
Let’s begin with the positives: If an investor is continuing with technical due diligence (TDD), you’ll possible go. You’ve handed the exams for product-market match, financials and aggressive differentiation properly sufficient that they now wish to look underneath the hood.
Right here’s the not-so-good information: Corporations can go the enterprise take a look at, however fail TDD. Particularly for non-technical executives, the code-examination course of can really feel like … an audit … carried out in one other language … with a loud clock ticking away incessantly. Not enjoyable.
Our agency has analyzed the code of lots of of billions of {dollars} price of offers, from three-person software program corporations to corporations with hundreds of builders. We’ve seemed on the contributions of over 200,000 builders who’ve collectively written 4 billion traces of code.
Poor codebase well being is as a rule “prompted” by different groups quite than by engineering.
From that dataset, we’ve distilled eight questions that you could ask your self now. Even when TDD just isn’t on the horizon, having good solutions to those questions will guarantee your codebase is wholesome.
A fast primer on TDD
Earlier than we go any additional, right here’s a bit extra context on technical due diligence for software program:
- TDD applies to conventional software program corporations and non-software corporations enabled by customized created software program.
- It includes the examination of code written by staff or contractors.
- TDD is carried out by in-house specialists or by specialist consultancies.
- Traders and acquirers, particularly the bigger and elite ones, could ask to conduct a quantitative code scan to complement qualitative interviews. Such a code scan is successfully obligatory if the investor is looking for reps and warranties insurance coverage (RWI) for the deal.
The objectives of TDD are to:
- De-risk the deal by figuring out if the codebase is secure sufficient for funding.
- Determine alternatives for enchancment if the transaction goes by.
We are saying “codebase” as a result of it’s extra than simply the supply code that’s underneath the magnifying glass. Your documentation, processes and most significantly, the software program builders may also be underneath examination. The practical scope of TDD contains code high quality, code safety, mental property, DevOps, IT and, generally, product administration.
As a result of it’s extra than simply the standard of the code, we speak about codebase well being to embody all of those areas.
Query 1: What have you ever been engaged on?
Ensuring that the group is engaged on the software program merchandise that matter most is a crucial a part of de-risking the deal.
This will likely sound apparent, however generally, an organization claims to be engaged on a brand new product, however will truly be spending the vast majority of their time on customized growth for main shoppers or not working a lot on something in any respect.
Contemplate this instance of an organization’s software program growth over two years. Not solely is there a cyclicality within the work (greater in summer season), however it has declined considerably over time, particularly in 2022.
Picture Credit: Sema
Necessary level: Right here, and for all questions in TDD, any reply could be adequate to clear the examination.
This leads us to TDD Theme #1: A very powerful a part of TDD is making certain the state of the codebase is aligned with the group’s enterprise goals. For instance, U.S. training software program corporations sometimes see cyclical software program growth — greater in summer season and decrease in fall — to attenuate disruption for purchasers when college begins.
Query 2: How a lot unit testing does your codebase have?
We like to differentiate between underlying code high quality to incorporate such measures as its maintainability or the power to be prolonged, and the practical code high quality — how the product works for customers.
“Technical debt” is one other approach of describing any lack of perfection within the underlying code.
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