Source Documentation Standards

All due diligence findings must be traceable to their sources. This enables audit trails, follow-up verification, and legal defensibility.

Source Quality Tiers

Tier 1: Primary Sources (Highest Credibility)

• SEC filings (10-K, 10-Q, S-1)
• Court documents and legal filings
• Government databases (USPTO, state registrations)
• Company's own audited financials
• Direct customer/reference interviews

Tier 2: Secondary Sources (High Credibility)

• Established data providers (Crunchbase, PitchBook, CB Insights)
• Major news outlets (WSJ, Bloomberg, TechCrunch)
• Industry analyst reports (Gartner, Forrester)
• LinkedIn profiles (for employment verification)
• Academic research and papers

Tier 3: Tertiary Sources (Use with Caution)

• Social media posts
• Blog articles
• Glassdoor reviews
• Wikipedia (only as starting point)
• Forum discussions

Citation Format

Every fact must include a source citation:

{
  "source": {
    "name": "Full source name",
    "type": "SEC_FILING | NEWS | DATA_PROVIDER | INTERVIEW | GOVERNMENT | OTHER",
    "url": "https://... (if available)",
    "access_date": "2024-01-15",
    "publication_date": "2024-01-10",
    "tier": 1,
    "excerpt": "Relevant quote or data point"
  }
}

Best Practices

DO:

• Capture URLs at time of access (pages change/disappear)
• Note the access date for all web sources
• Quote relevant passages, don't just link
• Use multiple sources for critical claims
• Prefer recent sources over older ones

DON'T:

• Cite a source you haven't actually reviewed
• Use company press releases as independent verification
• Rely on a single source for material claims
• Cite sources behind paywalls without noting limitation
• Mix up "stated by company" vs "independently verified"

Source Tracking in Output

Include a sources section in every analysis:

{
  "sources_used": [
    {
      "id": "S1",
      "name": "Crunchbase - Acme Corp Profile",
      "url": "https://crunchbase.com/...",
      "access_date": "2024-01-15",
      "tier": 2,
      "used_for": ["funding_history", "employee_count"]
    }
  ],
  "source_statistics": {
    "tier_1": 3,
    "tier_2": 8,
    "tier_3": 2,
    "total": 13
  }
}

Handling Source Conflicts

When sources disagree:

1. Note the discrepancy explicitly
2. Prefer higher-tier sources
3. Prefer more recent sources
4. Document both versions with reasoning for which to trust