deal-memo-drafting

Deal Memo Drafting

Standalone skill pack for turning existing diligence materials into a structured deal, IC, partnership, or acquisition memo.

What It Does

This skill helps an AI client draft a real decision memo from work that already exists. It takes market findings, model review output, meeting synthesis, and supporting documents, then shapes them into a recommendation-ready memo while keeping evidence gaps and confidence levels explicit.

For the OB1 composition workflow that feeds this skill from earlier analysis steps, use the Research-to-Decision Workflow recipe.

Supported Clients

• Claude Code
• Codex
• Cursor
• Other AI clients that support reusable prompt packs, rules, or custom instructions

Prerequisites

• Working Open Brain setup if you want the skill to use memory search or capture (guide)
• AI client that supports reusable skills, rules, or custom instructions
• A real diligence packet, not just a company name and a blank page

Installation

1. Copy SKILL.md into the reusable-instructions location for your AI client.
2. Restart or reload the client so it picks up the skill.
3. Test it with a prompt like: Draft an IC memo from this research summary, model review, and meeting notes.

For Claude Code, a common install path is:

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/deal-memo-drafting
cp skills/deal-memo-drafting/SKILL.md ~/.claude/skills/deal-memo-drafting/SKILL.md

Trigger Conditions

• "Draft a deal memo"
• "Write the IC memo"
• "Turn this diligence packet into a memo"
• "Draft the partnership recommendation"
• "Write the acquisition brief"

Expected Outcome

When installed and invoked correctly, the skill should produce:

• a structured memo with thesis, market, business, economics, risks, and recommendation
• explicit open questions instead of hidden assumptions
• confidence signaling that matches the evidence quality
• optional Open Brain capture of the final memo summary or recommendation

Troubleshooting

Issue: The memo sounds polished but thin Solution: Provide the actual underlying diligence materials. This skill is strongest when it has research, model review, and meeting outputs to work from.

Issue: The draft hides uncertainty Solution: Preserve the rule that evidence gaps stay visible. The memo should never become more certain than the diligence allows.

Issue: The skill gets used too early Solution: If the source set is still messy or contradictory, run research-synthesis first. If the economics are still unreviewed, run financial-model-review first.

Notes for Other Clients

Keep the core behavior intact even if your client uses different tool names. The skill should draft from diligence, separate fact from inference, and finish with a recommendation that reflects the evidence instead of smoothing over it.