Research Synthesis & Due Diligence

Last verified: 14 February 2026 | Applies to: All plans (web search on Pro+; Cowork for large document sets)

In 30 seconds

Operators regularly need to synthesise large amounts of information quickly — evaluating an acquisition target, sizing a new market, mapping a technology landscape, or pulling together a strategic brief. Claude is genuinely good at this. It can process long documents, cross-reference sources, identify patterns, and produce structured analysis. The key is knowing how to structure the research task so you get rigorous output, not a surface-level summary.

Prerequisites

• Any Claude plan for basic research synthesis
• Pro or above for web search (real-time data)
• Cowork for processing large document sets (PDFs, spreadsheets, data rooms)
• The Data plugin for structured analysis of quantitative research

What it does

Claude handles four types of research work that operators commonly need:

1. Due diligence — processing data rooms, financial statements, contracts, and org charts for M&A or investment decisions
2. Market sizing — estimating TAM/SAM/SOM using public data, analogies, and bottom-up calculations
3. Competitive landscapes — mapping competitors, their positioning, features, pricing, and trajectories
4. Deep research — synthesising information from multiple documents or sources into a structured brief

The common thread: you have too much information (or too many places to look), and you need a structured, defensible output in hours rather than weeks.

How to set it up

1. Define your research question precisely

   Vague research questions produce vague outputs. Before you start, write down:

   • The specific decision this research will inform
   • The audience (just you? your board? an investor?)
   • The output format you need (memo, scorecard, slide deck, spreadsheet)
   • The deadline and depth required

   This isn’t Claude-specific advice — it’s good research practice. But Claude benefits more from precise framing than a human researcher would, because it tends to run with initial instructions rather than pausing to clarify ambiguity the way a person might.

2. Choose the right mode

   Research type	Best mode	Why
   Quick market question	Chat + web search	Fast, uses current data
   Document review (< 5 docs)	Chat with file uploads	Upload PDFs directly
   Large document set (data room)	Cowork	File system access, can process dozens of documents
   Quantitative analysis	Cowork + Data plugin	Can run calculations, build charts
   Competitive landscape	Chat + web search, then Cowork for synthesis	Gather first, synthesise second

3. Run a due diligence review

   For M&A or investment due diligence, upload documents to a Cowork folder and use a structured prompt:

   I'm evaluating an acquisition target. I've uploaded their data room documents to this folder. Please review all documents and produce a due diligence memo with these sections:
   
   1. Company overview (what they do, business model, key customers)
   2. Financial summary (last 3 years revenue, margins, growth rate, cash position)
   3. Key assets (IP, contracts, customer relationships, team)
   4. Risks and red flags (anything concerning in the financials, contracts, or structure)
   5. Key questions for management (things the documents don't answer)
   6. Preliminary valuation considerations (revenue multiples, comparable transactions)
   
   Be specific. Quote from the documents. Flag any inconsistencies between documents.

   Claude will read through the uploaded documents, cross-reference them, and produce a structured memo. This typically takes 3-5 minutes for a standard data room.

4. Size a market

   Market sizing works well in Chat with web search enabled:

   Help me size the Australian market for [specific product/service category].
   
   Use a bottom-up approach:
   1. Estimate the number of potential customers (companies/individuals that fit our ICP)
   2. Estimate average annual spend per customer
   3. Calculate TAM, SAM (our serviceable segment), and SOM (realistic 3-year capture)
   
   Show your assumptions at each step. Where you're estimating, give a range and explain the logic. Use ABS data, IBISWorld-style industry breakdowns, and any other public sources you can find.
   
   Output as a one-page memo I can include in a board deck.

5. Map a competitive landscape

   Map the competitive landscape for [your category] in [your market].
   
   For each competitor, include:
   - Company name and HQ
   - Estimated revenue or funding (if available)
   - Core product/positioning
   - Key differentiators
   - Pricing model and approximate price point
   - Strengths and weaknesses vs. us
   - Recent moves (last 12 months — launches, funding, acquisitions)
   
   Organise into tiers: direct competitors, adjacent competitors, and emerging threats.
   Present as a table, then add a 2-paragraph narrative summary of the landscape dynamics.

6. Synthesise a deep research brief

   For research that draws on multiple sources:

   I need a research brief on [topic] for a strategy session with my leadership team.
   
   Synthesise information from:
   - The three reports I've uploaded
   - Current web sources (search for the latest data)
   - Your existing knowledge of this space
   
   Structure:
   1. Executive summary (half page)
   2. Current state of [topic] (key facts, data points, trends)
   3. Key players and their positions
   4. Implications for our business specifically (we are [brief description])
   5. Recommended actions (3-5 specific things we should consider)
   6. Sources and confidence level (flag where data is estimated vs. confirmed)
   
   Be rigorous. Where sources conflict, note the disagreement. Where data is thin, say so.

How operators actually use it

M&A due diligence

The scenario: A founder evaluating a bolt-on acquisition. The target company shared a data room with 40+ documents — financials, contracts, org chart, customer list, IP filings.

Before Claude: Hire an analyst or spend a weekend reading documents, building a spreadsheet, and writing notes. Cost: $5,000-15,000 for advisory support, or 20+ hours of founder time.

With Claude: Upload the data room to Cowork. Run the due diligence prompt. Get a 4-page structured memo in 5 minutes. Spend 2 hours reviewing, asking follow-up questions, and stress-testing the analysis. Total: 3 hours of focused founder time.

The honest bit: Claude’s memo is a strong first draft. It catches things a tired human might miss (inconsistencies between financial statements and contract terms, for example). But it doesn’t replace legal and financial counsel for material transactions. Use it to get smart before the expensive meetings — not instead of them.

Market sizing

The scenario: An operations leader asked to estimate the market opportunity for a new product line by end of week.

Size the Australian market for cloud-based inventory management software for mid-market retailers (50-500 employees).

Bottom-up approach:
1. Number of Australian retailers with 50-500 employees
2. Percentage likely to adopt cloud inventory management in next 3 years
3. Average annual contract value for this segment
4. Our realistic capture rate given competitive dynamics

Show all assumptions. Flag confidence levels.

Claude produces a structured estimate with explicit assumptions at each step. The operator can then challenge specific assumptions (“I think the adoption rate is higher because of the regulatory change in 2025”) and Claude recalculates.

Key insight: Claude’s market sizing is only as good as its inputs and assumptions. The value isn’t the final number — it’s the structured framework that makes assumptions explicit and adjustable.

What operators say

“I used to pay a research firm $8,000 for competitive landscape reports. Claude’s output is about 80% as good for routine analysis. I still commission the research firm for major strategic decisions, but for quarterly updates and internal briefings, Claude is more than sufficient.”

“The due diligence memo Claude produced flagged a revenue recognition inconsistency I’d missed in my first manual review. It compared the P&L to the contract terms and noted that two large contracts had different recognition timing. That alone justified the exercise.”

What to watch out for

• Web search has recency limits. Claude’s web search finds current information, but it may not catch very recent developments (last few days). For time-sensitive research, supplement with your own checks.
• Claude can hallucinate statistics. When citing specific numbers — market sizes, revenue figures, growth rates — always verify against the source. Claude sometimes generates plausible-sounding statistics that aren’t grounded in real data. Ask it to cite sources and check them.
• Large document sets take time and usage. Processing a 40-document data room in Cowork uses significant plan capacity. On Pro, you may hit usage limits if you’re doing this frequently. Max or Team plans give more headroom.
• Confidentiality is your responsibility. Data rooms contain highly sensitive information. Review your Claude plan’s data policies before uploading. Enterprise plans offer stricter data controls. Consider your NDA obligations.
• Don’t anchor on the first output. Claude’s initial synthesis reflects the structure you asked for. Push back. Ask “what’s the weakest part of this analysis?” or “what did you leave out?” The second and third passes are where the real rigour emerges.
• Free plan limitations. Basic document analysis works on Free, but you won’t have web search, Cowork file processing, or the Data plugin. Useful for analysing a single uploaded document, but not for multi-source research.

Related

• Competitive Analysis — deeper guide on competitor mapping and positioning
• Vendor Evaluation — apply research synthesis to vendor selection decisions
• Data Analysis — quantitative analysis workflows for the data in your research
• CEO / Founder Guide — strategic workflows for founders, including board prep and market analysis

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