Diligence
Reference Call
A structured conversation with a third party - typically a former portfolio company CEO or a co-investing LP - to validate or challenge a GP's narrative.
The references a GP provides are not the references you need. The most useful calls come from off-list sources: founders the GP did not select, LPs who passed on a recent fund, executives who left a portfolio company on bad terms.
Use a structured script, ask open-ended questions, and listen for what is not said. A pause before a positive answer is more informative than the answer itself.