Angel investors
How can an angel identify conflicts around a deal in a climate software startup?
a climate software startup: Identify conflicts by mapping incentives and relationships around the deal.
Identify conflicts by mapping incentives and relationships around the deal. A conflict is not automatically proof of wrongdoing, but undisclosed or poorly managed incentives can change how information should be interpreted. Ask about compensation, ownership, related parties, and competing obligations.
Start with the decision
Record who benefits from a completed investment, who controls information, and where interests may diverge. Review disclosures and ask how the conflict is handled. Use qualified advisers where legal duties or remedies need interpretation.
The illustrative scenario
This is an educational workbook. The company or fund and all numerical inputs below are fictional. They are not ADIN results, customer claims, market benchmarks, or a forecast.
The fictional product helps building operators reconcile energy data. A facilities team uses the dashboard, while a finance manager approves spending. Deployments depend on meter access and consistent records across properties.
A claimed environmental benefit is different from a measured change attributable to the product. Separate data quality, operational action, and any externally verified result.
Turn the scenario into an evidence decision
Consider a review of a climate software startup in which a confident explanation arrives before the supporting records. Start with the first question in the table. Write down what an answer would change: the next interview, the experiment's scope, a request for specialist review, or a decision to wait. A question without a consequence can produce a longer document while adding little understanding.
Next, inspect the record named in the table and record its date, owner, permission boundary, and limitations. Inspect permissioned meter samples, installation requirements, operator references, and the method used for claimed savings. Keep comparison periods and missing readings visible. If the record contradicts the explanation, preserve both accounts and ask which definition, period, or workflow differs. Do not silently select the version that makes the opportunity look strongest.
Finish with a conditional statement: if the specified evidence supports the claim under these conditions, take the named next step; otherwise investigate the unresolved question. The output should be a specific account of the incentive and the information needed to assess it. Avoid assuming that a disclosure alone removes the practical effect of a conflict. This worked exercise is about the decision process. It does not assert that a fictional company has met a real diligence standard or that a template can authorize an investment.
| Item | Illustration |
|---|---|
| Decision question | Who benefits from closing? |
| Case-specific constraint | A claimed environmental benefit is different from a measured change attributable to the product. Separate data quality, operational action, and any externally verified result. |
| Record to inspect | Inspect permissioned meter samples, installation requirements, operator references, and the method used for claimed savings. Keep comparison periods and missing readings visible. |
| Comparison to preserve | Compare the full deployment process with the operator's current reporting. A useful dashboard still needs someone able to act on its findings. |
| Unresolved case question | Who supplies reliable data? |
Use this worksheet
Answer the questions with a source, date, owner, and next action. Mark an unknown as unknown. Use public or permissioned information and involve a qualified specialist when a question requires expertise beyond the team’s competence.
- Who benefits from closing?
- What interests are held?
- Which relationships are related?
- What is disclosed?
- How is the conflict managed?
Questions specific to this scenario
- Who supplies reliable data?
- Which savings are actually measured?
- How long does a property rollout take?
Inspect permissioned meter samples, installation requirements, operator references, and the method used for claimed savings. Keep comparison periods and missing readings visible.
A concrete next test
Trace one claimed operational saving from raw meter data to a documented action and comparison period. Ask which part is measured and which part is inferred. Keep missing readings and unrelated changes visible before using the claim in an investment discussion.
Interpret the result
The output should be a specific account of the incentive and the information needed to assess it. Avoid assuming that a disclosure alone removes the practical effect of a conflict.
Compare the full deployment process with the operator's current reporting. A useful dashboard still needs someone able to act on its findings.
Sources and method
These primary resources provide background for the concepts. The fictional scenario, calculations, and worksheet are ADIN educational examples; the sources do not report or validate those invented results. Reviewed October 11, 2026.