Lesson 01
Decision Rights, in writing
Every capital commitment above $250K should be traceable to a name, a threshold, and a review — before the wire moves, not after.
- Pillar
- Scalable Infrastructure
- Deal anchor
- Governance & Controls
- Read
- 6 min
Most mid-market companies don't have a decision problem. They have a decision-rights problem. Authority lives in someone's head, not in a document a director could produce on demand.
What a real matrix looks like
A working matrix names the role (not the person), the dollar threshold, the required reviewers, and the artifact that gets filed after the decision. Four columns. Signed by the CEO and the sponsor.
- Role, not person — turnover cannot invalidate the document.
- Threshold in dollars, not adjectives like 'material'.
- Named reviewers with a defined escalation path.
Where deals leak
In diligence, buyers price ambiguity as risk. When decision rights are undocumented, the discount shows up in indemnities and escrow — not in the headline multiple.
The fix is not more process. It is one page, signed, revisited quarterly, and referenced every time the board is asked to ratify a commitment above the threshold.