PE/VC · the practitioner's lab Report cover Chapters Lab
Companion tools · 22 solvers · all client-side

The practitioner's lab

A working bench for the report. Build the LBO, walk the waterfall, model the option-pool shuffle, score the diligence, draft the IC memo, and run the weekly deal review — all in your browser. No backend, no telemetry. Each tool links to the chapter it belongs to.

22 tools 0 backend ~6 hr to clear all drills
Tool 01 · Ch. 18 · 28
LBO · MOIC · IRR solver

Sources & uses, hold-period EBITDA growth and debt paydown, exit equity, MOIC, IRR, and a value-creation bridge that splits return between EBITDA growth, multiple expansion, and debt paydown.

Tool 02 · Ch. 21 · 24
VC dilution & option-pool solver

Pre/post-money math, price-per-share, and the cost of the pre-money option-pool shuffle versus a fair post-money top-up.

Tool 03 · Ch. 22 · 24
Cap table & waterfall

Multi-round cap table with founders, options, and any number of priced rounds. Computes 1× non-participating, participating, and stacked-preferences waterfalls at three exits.

Tool 04 · Ch. 22
Liquidation waterfall

A focused waterfall solver: stack any sequence of preferred rounds (1×, 2×, participating with cap), sweep across exit values, and identify the price at which the founder economics flip.

Tool 05 · Ch. 16
Balance-sheet checker

Identity check (A = L + E), eight tells (working-capital, AR/inventory days, debt structure, goodwill, deferred revenue), and a verdict band.

Tool 06 · Ch. 16
QoE add-back checker

Score each EBITDA add-back against a quality rubric. Returns adjusted EBITDA, what the seller will defend, and what diligence should challenge.

Tool 07 · Ch. 14 · 15 · 16
Diligence red flags

A weighted checklist of patterns that have killed deals — commercial, financial, legal, team, tech — with a verdict band that’s a sanity check, not a decision.

Tool 08 · Ch. 37
IC memo builder

A seven-block scaffold for the investment committee memo. Drafts in your browser, exports to clean Markdown.

Tool 09 · Ch. 14 · 38
Case study analyzer

Reduce any deal to its five questions: what changed, who’s the buyer, the moat, the unit economics, the exit. Forces an answer in under a page.

Tool 10 · Ch. 34
Sector thesis canvas

A one-page thesis: secular driver, structural advantage, target archetype, value lever, exit market, and the disqualifiers that would prove you wrong.

Tool 11 · cross-cutting
Capability drills

Thirty drills, three per other tool, graded beginner / intermediate / expert. Mark each not-started / attempted / passed; progress saved locally.

Tool 12 · Ch. 23 · 24
VC Portfolio Construction & Power Law

Model a VC fund’s portfolio: fund size, check size, reserve ratio, ownership target. Simulates power-law return distribution — shows how many companies need a 50× outcome to hit 3× fund.

Tool 13 · Ch. 21 · 22
Term Sheet Scorecard

Score 16 key term sheet provisions — valuation, option pool, pro-rata, board seats, anti-dilution, pay-to-play, and more. Returns a founder-friendliness rating with negotiation priority flags.

Tool 14 · Ch. 17 · 20
Startup Valuation Comparator

Run four valuation methods side-by-side: VC method, DCF, comparable transactions, Berkus scorecard. Highlights convergence and divergence to stress-test your entry price.

Tool 15 · Ch. 29 · 30
Fund Return Metrics

Live DPI / TVPI / RVPI / Net IRR calculator with a J-Curve bridge chart. Enter fund commitments, called capital, distributions, and NAV. Flags LP pressure triggers and benchmark gaps.

Tool 16 · Ch. 30 · 31
LP Capital Call & Distribution Waterfall

European waterfall model: layer-by-layer distribution of fund proceeds. Return of capital, preferred return, GP catch-up, and carried interest split. Computes LP MOIC and effective carry rate.

Tool 17 · Ch. 13 · 14 · 15
VC Deal Scorecard

16-criterion weighted evaluation matrix across sourcing, market, team, traction, moat, business model, exit, and valuation. Returns a conviction rating with category bar breakdown and flags.

Tool 18 · Ch. 13 · 14 · 37
Live deal evaluation worksheet

Built for the cohort's weekly cadence — six-step framework from sourcing through IC memo, with vertical-aware (B2B / Consumer / Deep Tech / Impact) pass-email and follow-up email drafters.

Tool 19 · Ch. 20 · 34
Industry thesis builder

Seven-section thesis canvas with seeded templates for HealthTech, FinTech, Defense, Climate, SaaS, Deep-Tech / AI, and Consumer. Outputs an investable one-pager.

Tool 20 · Ch. 17 · 18 · 28
PE deal evaluation engine

Six-module PE evaluation: bear / base / bull IRR & MOIC, value-creation bridge, sponsor fit, and a PE-specific quality score for control buyouts.

Tool 21 · Ch. 38
Job application fit scorer

Score yourself against any PE/VC posting on six dimensions, generate a gap analysis, role-specific talking points, a cover-letter draft, and a 30-60-90 plan.

Tool 22 · Ch. 14 · 19
Pitch deck data extractor

Structured intake with stage benchmarks and the four-vertical Q&A model. Hands off cleanly to IC memo, deal scorecard, and valuation comparator.

How the lab fits the report

The 38 chapters teach the architecture and the craft. The lab is where you do the work. Every tool is one click from the chapter it belongs to, and every chapter that has a tool links into the lab from its body. If you only do the reading, you’ll know what an LBO is. If you do the reading and the lab, you can build one.

Privacy & mechanics

All math runs in your browser. No data is sent anywhere. Your inputs persist in localStorage on this device and can be cleared from each tool. The lab is a static GitHub Pages site — no backend, no accounts.