The craft
Founder reference calls
How to run the reference calls that actually surface something — who to call, what to ask, and how to hear the answer that is not being said.
Realistic time Three to five calls, 20-30 minutes each
Reference calls are the highest-yield hour in early-stage diligence and the one most often skipped. They are the only source of information about how someone behaves over years rather than over a pitch, and they consistently surface things that no number of founder meetings would.
The reason they are skipped is discomfort. Asking a founder for references feels like an accusation, and calling their former colleagues feels intrusive. Neither is true — it is completely standard practice, founders expect it, and a founder who resists it has told you something valuable at no cost.
The reason they often produce nothing is technique. Most reference calls consist of vague questions producing vague praise. The calls that work are specific, and they include people the founder did not nominate.
01
Who to call
Founders will offer a list. Take it, and treat it as the floor rather than the ceiling — everyone on it will be positive, which is what a reference list is for. What those calls establish is a baseline and, more usefully, the names of other people.
The most informative references are people who worked for the founder rather than with them, and people who worked alongside them in a difficult period. Former direct reports know how someone behaves when they have power; peers during a crisis know how they behave under pressure.
Off-list references are where the real information is. The standard technique is to end every call by asking who else worked closely with them during that period — which produces names, warmly introduced, that were not on the original list.
Check
- Take the founder's list, and expect it to be uniformly positive.
- Ask each reference who else worked closely with the founder then.
- Prioritise former direct reports over former peers or managers.
- Try to reach at least one person from a period that went badly.
- Speak to a customer if the founders will allow it.
02
What to ask
Open by establishing the relationship precisely: how they worked together, for how long, and how closely. A reference who turns out to have worked in a different office for four months is a data point about the founder's list rather than about the founder.
Then use comparative and specific questions rather than general ones. "How do they compare with others you have worked with at that level?" produces a real answer; "are they good?" does not. "Tell me about a time they handled something badly" gives permission to be honest and is the single most productive question available.
Close with the two questions that consistently produce the most: "Would you work with them again, and in what role?" and "What should I know that I have not asked about?" The pause before the answer to the first is often more informative than the answer.
Check
- Establish the exact nature and duration of the working relationship.
- Ask comparative questions rather than absolute ones.
- Ask directly about a time something was handled badly.
- Ask what the founder is weakest at.
- Ask whether they would work with them again, and listen to the pause.
- Ask what you have not asked about.
03
Hearing what is not said
Reference calls are governed by politeness. Almost nobody will say something damning about a former colleague to a stranger, so the information arrives as hesitation, qualification and omission rather than as statement.
The patterns to notice: praise that stays entirely at the level of competence and never mentions judgement or integrity; enthusiasm that drops noticeably when a specific area comes up; a long pause before an answer that then arrives carefully worded; and a reference who repeatedly redirects to the founder's co-founder.
When you notice one, ask about it directly and gently. "You paused there — is there something worth understanding?" gives the reference permission, and they will frequently take it. This is the moment where reference calls earn their reputation.
Check
- Notice whether praise covers judgement and integrity or only competence.
- Notice where enthusiasm drops, and return to that topic.
- Ask about a pause directly rather than moving past it.
- Notice repeated redirection to a different person.
- Compare what each reference volunteers without prompting.
04
Doing it properly
Tell the founder you will be taking references — it is standard and hiding it damages a relationship you may have for a decade. Keep what you hear confidential; a reference who discovers their comments were relayed will not be a reference again, and word travels.
Where a reference raises something serious, put it to the founder directly and give them a fair chance to respond. Most such things have an explanation, and how the founder responds to being asked is itself among the most useful information in the entire process.
Check
- Tell the founder you will take references.
- Keep individual comments confidential.
- Raise anything serious with the founder directly and fairly.
- Note how the founder responds to being asked about it.
Stop and think
Red flags
- A founder who resists or discourages reference calls.
- A reference list consisting entirely of current advisers or investors.
- Praise that never touches judgement or integrity.
- Several independent references hesitating in the same place.
- A reference who will not say whether they would work with the founder again.
- A founder who reacts defensively when asked about something a reference raised.
Take these into the room
Questions to ask the founders
- How exactly did you work together, and for how long?
- How do they compare with others you have worked with at that level?
- Tell me about a time they handled something badly.
- What are they weakest at?
- Would you work with them again, and in what role?
- Who else worked closely with them in that period?
- What should I know that I have not asked about?
From the decoder