A ₹62 Cr deal died in 40 minutes.
The promoter walked in confident but he walked out humiliated.
I’d seen this exact moment before.
He had paid Rs. 4 lakhs for a valuation report. He’d read three pages, the rest, he felt “looked like the usual technical stuff.”
He took the number into the room but He didn’t take the argument.
The PE analyst was kind. She opened the methodology. Asked about the discount rate. The growth assumptions for years 3 to 5. The terminal value.
The promoter knew the number was Rs. 62 Cr.
He didn’t know why.
He’d paid for the wrong thing.
The report was a document. The work was supposed to be a conversation.
He had collected the document and skipped the conversation.
A valuation is not a deliverable. It is an argument built on assumptions and judgments that another professional will test.
If you haven’t read the argument, you cannot defend it. If you cannot defend it, the counterparty assumes you didn’t believe in it either.
That is exactly when deals die.
The promoters who close strong valuations treat the report as a starting point.
They read every page. They sit through one painful rehearsal where the valuer plays devil’s advocate.
That rehearsal is the real product.
The Rs. 4 lakhs bought him a report. It was supposed to buy him preparation.
He never asked for the second half.
Have you watched someone walk into a high-stakes meeting carrying a number they couldn't defend?
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