Just got reamed for missing APAC gaming sector multiples in a last-minute client deck. Senior associate mumbled something about ‘leverage the community resources better’ - has anyone built a reliable checklist for cross-verifying market data under tight deadlines? Specifically looking for the bare minimum validation steps that bulge bracket VPs actually care about.
here’s the real checklist: 1) check if the number makes MD look smart 2) ensure it’s from a source the client hates so they can’t verify 3) round to nearest billion so nobody notices errors. pro tip: steal the EY media sector benchmarks from '21 - still gets rubber stamped
the shared drive’s ‘emergency comps’ folder has saved my as* twice! the 5-min crosscheck guide in the README is 
just watch the timestamps - some datasets are pre-covid lol
Three non-negotiable checks: 1) Verify against latest CapIQ sector averages using the bulk export macro, 2) Cross-reference with the ‘living benchmarks’ document maintained by the London TMT team, 3) Always include a footnote citing both Bloomberg and S&P Global even if you only used one. Takes 12 minutes but prevents 90% of revision requests.
Analysis shows teams using the community’s standardized comps template reduce validation errors by 42%. The template enforces: 1) 3 independent data sources minimum 2) Timeframe alignment across datasets 3) Automatic normalization adjustments based on deal size quartiles. See ‘Comps Validation Protocol v3.2’ in Resources.