Version history
Successive states of the same document, showing what moved and roughly when it moved.
THE VERSIONS, NOT THE FINAL
Version seven is the deliverable. Versions one through six are the thinking.
File storage keeps everything, which means it keeps the drafts. The changes between versions, and the comments that caused them, record judgement being exercised in a way the finished document deliberately hides.
Check your data
Six questions, roughly two minutes.
Drafts survive alongside finalsComments record why something changedBounded licence, scope agreed first
THE DOCUMENT QUESTIONS
What firms ask about file storage
Our Drive is a mess. Is that a problem?
Rarely. Tidiness is one of the weaker factors. Messy storage with drafts intact usually beats a curated folder containing only finals.
Can we exclude particular folders or clients?
Yes. The licence covers a defined slice, drawn however you prefer, and agreed before signature.
Do you need access to our file system?
No standing access. It is a one-time extract of what the licence names, not an integration.
Are old drafts really worth anything?
Frequently more than the finals. What carries value is visible reasoning, and that is precisely what editing removes.
SCOPE AND PRIVACY
Folders you exclude are simply not in the licence
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01
Establish what exists
Six questions about the systems in use. Nothing is accessed at this stage.
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02
You draw the boundary
By folder, by period, by practice area. What sits outside it is not licensed and does not become ours later.
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03
Anonymized in preparation
Identifying fields are stripped as part of preparing the data, ahead of any onward sharing.
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04
Paid on completion
Typically $100K to $2M, Net 30 to 60, once the data is approved, shared, and anonymized.
THE TRACK RECORD
Principals on the first call
“Raised $7.5M across venture and private equity rounds and brought an institutional asset manager onto the cap table.”
“Built Simplicity Solar to $35M in three years on systems he designed himself, then sold it.”
WHAT FILE STORAGE HOLDS
Four layers most firms have never thought about
Nobody curated any of this. It survives because deleting old versions was never worth anyone's afternoon.
Comments and suggestions
Marginal reasoning attached to specific passages, often more candid than the document itself.
Abandoned work
Directions started and dropped, which record a judgement that something was not going to work.
Working models
Spreadsheets with the assumptions still visible, including the ones that were revised.
SPEAK WITH A MANAGING PARTNER
The versions nobody kept on purpose have a value
Six questions and a short conversation. Nothing you tell us leaves Polyshares.
Check your data