Methodology

Each issue lists its own data sources in the issue footer. The standing source classes are: [source class 1], [source class 2], and [source class 3]. Where a source is commercial or vendor-reported, it is labeled as such in the text rather than presented as neutral.

[Placeholder: describe the sampling frame, how records enter the sample, and any filtering applied. State the sample size as [sample size] and the population it is drawn from. Lorem ipsum placeholder until the first issue finalizes its data pipeline.]

Every issue states the date window its data covers, in the form [start date] to [end date]. Claims are limited to that window; nothing in an issue should be read as describing activity outside it.

• [Placeholder limitation 1: e.g. coverage skew of the underlying database toward certain geographies or stages.]
• [Placeholder limitation 2: e.g. reporting lag between a deal closing and appearing in the data.]
• [Placeholder limitation 3: e.g. survivorship effects in longitudinal comparisons.]

Stated plainly: extracts from third-party databases are not complete records of the market. An extract of [record count] records represents the portion of activity the source captures, not the whole. Coverage differs by geography, stage, and firm size, which introduces sample bias that no amount of analysis downstream can fully remove. Where a finding could plausibly be an artifact of coverage rather than a fact about the market, the issue says so next to the finding itself, not only here.

The data can support descriptive claims about the sample within its date window, and clearly labeled comparisons between segments of that sample. It cannot support causal claims, predictions about future activity, or generalizations to the whole market beyond what the coverage justifies. Where an issue speculates, the speculation is labeled as such.