What clears institutional diligence, and what does not
Family offices and infrastructure funds review a high volume of opportunities each year. The variable that predicts a second meeting is rarely the return projection.
August 2025
It is whether the land and offtake structure is clean, whether documentation is complete on first request, and whether the team presenting the opportunity can answer a technical question about it without deferring to someone not in the room. Return assumptions are checked, but they are rarely the reason a credible deal is declined.
Project readiness work is, in practical terms, the systematic removal of the reasons a fundamentally sound opportunity receives a polite no. The projects that clear diligence fastest were prepared for it before an introduction was ever made.
