CIMple Truths

Unqualified Opinions masthead: the hand-lettered logo above the line "A Permanent Equity Daily from CIO Tim Hanson," beside a dot character saying "And other things…"

Look, we have empathy for the analysts at investment banks tasked with putting together lengthy decks about small private businesses (aka Confidential Information Memorandums or CIMs for those not in the know). Information is often incomplete or missing altogether, there are skeletons in the closet, and the people approving your work probably don’t appreciate how difficult it is to make a color pop.

That said, we occasionally see some things that make us scratch our heads. In no particular order…

Cutting off the numbers on an oddly specific date…

A CIM table header reading "P & L for 11.25 Months Ending 12/8/2022," alongside columns for the three prior tax years

What happened in the last three weeks of the year? Don’t worry about it.

Puzzling celebrity pull quotes…

A pull quote slide crediting a musician with a line about making cool things without being wasteful

Hell yes you can, Billie Eilish.

Math that doesn’t quite add up…

A financials table for 2023 through 2025 in which the EBITDA figures don't reconcile against the revenue and expense lines above them

Wait, what?

Showing really big numbers with wanton disregard for base rates.

A financials table projecting revenue growth of 374%, 136%, and 171% across four years, with EBITDA margins between 66% and 96%

In your face, probability.

Have a great weekend.

— Witnessed By Tim Hanson


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