Fordel StudiosDiligenceSquared uses AI, voice agents to make M&A research affordable
What Happened
Instead of relying on expensive management consultants, the startup uses AI voice agents to conduct interviews with customers of the companies the PE firms are considering buying.
Our Take
PE firms spend $200K–500K per deal on management consultant reports. Voice agents doing customer interviews at 10% of the cost? That's pure arbitrage.
The catch: quality. Consultants read between the lines, prod on competitive threats, notice what customers *don't* say. AI agents get you the baseline fast but probably miss the nuance. Fine if you're screening 50 deals a year for obvious duds. But for conviction decisions? You're still calling the consultants.
The real win is speed and cost for portfolio reviews. For PE firms doing 100+ small-cap deals, this shifts the econ entirely.
What To Do
Test this on your next 10 boring deals before killing your consultant relationships.
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