How ‘Happy Birthday Todd’ Coin Grading Exposes Critical Tech Due Diligence Blind Spots in M&A

How “Happy Birthday Todd” Coin Grading Reveals M&A Tech Blind Spots

Picture this: A rare coin collector notices tiny “Happy Birthday Todd” engraving hidden in Liberty’s torch. That moment of discovery? It’s exactly what happens when tech due diligence misses critical flaws during acquisitions. After 12 years evaluating companies from $20M to $2B deals, I’ve learned the real risks hide where most teams don’t think to look.

When Coin Grading Meets Code Review

Take coin appraisal techniques. Experts examining a 1958 Franklin Half Dollar check:

• Surface wear (like unresolved tech debt)
• Strike clarity (similar to clean architecture)
• Natural toning (think documentation quality)
• Rarity factor (your scalability potential)

That hidden “Todd” inscription? It’s the equivalent of unpatched security flaws or tangled microservices that only surface post-acquisition.

The Four Deal-Makers (or Breakers) in Tech Due Diligence

1. Code Quality: Your Valuation Multiplier

Just like CAC-certified coins fetch higher prices, maintainable codebases command premium acquisition multiples. Here’s what I actually check in repos:

def assess_code_health(repo):
tech_debt_score = analyze_complexity(repo)
test_coverage = get_test_stats(repo)
ci_cd_quality = evaluate_pipelines(repo)
return (0.4*tech_debt_score + 0.3*test_coverage + 0.3*ci_cd_quality)

What to request:
– Cyclomatic complexity heatmaps
– Weekly code churn reports
– Dependency chain mappings

2. Scalability: The Reality Check

Remember that fintech startup claiming 10M transactions capacity? Their system choked at 900K – the tech version of an overgraded coin. Always verify:

• Realistic load testing scenarios
• Database partitioning strategies
• Cloud cost spikes during traffic surges

3. Hidden Risks: The Deal-Killers Nobody Mentions

That “off-center mint error” analogy? It translates to:

Open-source licensing violations in proprietary code
Expired domain registrations in core infrastructure
“Temporary” admin passwords still in rotation after 18 months

Practical Lessons From Failed (and Saved) Deals

Red Flags That Should Stop Acquisitions Cold

After seeing deals implode, I now walk away when I find:

• Circular service dependencies (like coins with hidden corrosion)
• “It only breaks when we deploy on Fridays” workarounds
• Critical modules with less test coverage than a startup’s first MVP

Green Lights Worth Paying Extra For

These justify premium offers:

• Infrastructure reproducible in under 20 minutes
• Monitoring that alerts before users notice issues
• Onboarding docs that actually help new engineers

Tech Due Diligence: Your Secret Weapon

Just as numismatists spot the difference between MS61 and MS64 coins, thorough tech reviews create negotiation power. Spotting that hidden “Todd” in the codebase versus finding pristine infrastructure can swing valuations by 30% or more. Because in acquisitions, the best celebrations happen when you avoid post-close surprises.

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