Check Every Claim Before They Do
The claims a careful reader checks first — and how to make each one hold up before the meeting. For any deck that has to survive scrutiny: an investment round, a board pack, a lender review or an enterprise buyer's procurement team.
Get the Checklist
PDF downloads instantly. We'll also email you a copy. One signal every Friday — unsubscribe in one click.
For decks facing investor, board, lender or procurement scrutiny
What a Careful Reader Asks First
Three Questions That Start a Dig
Each comes from the checklist, with the red flag it is listening for and what to say instead.
"Walk me through the bottom-up."
"It is a £40bn market" is the red flag. Say instead: the segment you can serve — and the build behind it. Customers × price × frequency should land within the quoted figure's order of magnitude.
"Show me the cohort behind that retention figure."
A cohort table should back every retention claim — it exists, it matches the headline and it is ready to share. When one number fails a check, every other number inherits the doubt.
"What does the customer do today instead?"
"We have no real competition" means either the market does not exist or the search was not done. Name the status quo — spreadsheets, agencies, in-house teams, doing nothing — and the real alternatives.
The checklist covers 23 checks across five claim categories, eight trigger phrases, a 60-second pre-meeting test and a claim log worksheet.
Get the Free PDF →Go deeper
This Checklist Is Where Verification Starts
The checklist gives you the framework. A free First Signal reads your deck or page and flags the claims a careful reader would doubt. Release Assurance checks every claim against named sources, and a named verifier signs the result before it goes out.