Week one: the closing conditions
Bind the D&O the term sheet requires, at the limit it states, effective no later than closing. Confirm workers comp is live for every state you employ in. These two are the items that can actually delay a closing.
Weeks two and three: the contract stack
Collect every insurance clause you have already signed: customer MSAs, the lease, partner and bank agreements. Compare them line by line with the bound programme. The gaps you find here are your first placement list.
Week four: the forward programme
Set the renewal calendar, benchmark limits against your stage (seed full stacks generally run $3,000 to $10,000 per year in the market; California Series A programmes generally run $30,000 to $60,000), and document AI use and controls while the answers are fresh. Your next round's diligence will ask for exactly this file.
What good looks like
A programme that matches your contracts, on paper your customers accept, with a broker who can produce certificates same day and explain every line to an investor's counsel without notes.
Frequently asked questions
Our term sheet requires D&O we do not have yet. Is that a problem?
It is a closing condition, so treat it as week one work. D&O for a clean seed company can move quickly when the application is complete; incomplete cap table and financial information is what slows it down.
Should we raise limits right after the raise?
Raise them to what your contracts and board require, not to the largest number offered. Limits are cheap to raise at renewal and awkward to justify mid term.
Talk through your stack before you sign the next contract
Send us the term sheet, the customer MSA, or the renewal you are worried about. We will tell you plainly what it requires, what your current programme does about it, and what we would place differently.