How do I prepare my company's data for licensing?
Short answer: you do not export anything yet. Preparation is eight small checks that make the buyer's review faster and the offer higher: ownership, contracts, an inventory of systems and years, history tracking turned on, purging turned off, secrets removed from code, a list of exclusions, and a same-day introduction. Most owners finish it in an afternoon. Start with the two-minute estimate.
The checklist
- Confirm ownership. Contractors who wrote code or built systems: do you have their IP assignments. If not, get them signed. Founders usually can.
- Read three contracts. Your three largest customer agreements. Look for "data," "confidential," "secondary use," "derivative." Silent is good. Restrictive means those customers are excluded, not that the deal is off.
- Inventory your systems. Name, what it holds, how many years. The table below is what buyers ask for.
- Turn on history tracking. Salesforce field history, Google Drive version history, Slack retention set to keep everything. Value lives in the history.
- Stop purging. If a retention policy deletes tickets or messages after a year, pause it. Years of records are the asset.
- Scan code for secrets. Keys and passwords in old commits get a repository rejected. A free scanner finds them in minutes.
- Decide what is excluded. HR channels, executive mailboxes, privileged matters, anything regulated. Write the list. The buyer will honor it.
- Get introduced the same day you decide. Several buyers only credit the first introduction and some change terms monthly.
The inventory that buyers ask for
| System | What it holds | Years | Linked to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Example: Zendesk | Support tickets with internal notes | 2018 to now | Jira, Slack |
| Example: QuickBooks | Invoices, bills, close | 2014 to now | ServiceTitan |
| Example: GitHub | 12 repositories with full history | 2017 to now | Jira, Slack |
Peak headcount matters as much as today's. Note both.
See what your company's records could get.
Ten questions, under five minutes, built from the buyers' own published ranges.
Get my estimate →Mistakes that cost money
- Exporting a code snapshot instead of a mirror. The history is the value.
- Downloading Drive files without versions.
- Deleting old Slack channels to "clean up" before the review.
- Emailing a sample of data to anyone, including us. We never receive data; send it to the buyer under the agreement, or not at all.
- Waiting for the perfect moment. One enterprise buyer changed its published terms in September 2026. Terms move.
Then what
The buyer scopes, you approve, your admin exports with the buyer's checklist, the buyer de-identifies and reviews, you sign, you are paid. The four steps, and how long each takes.
In short
- Preparation is eight checks, not an export. Most owners finish in an afternoon.
- Ownership and contracts are the two that decide speed. Fix contractor IP now; read three contracts.
- Turn on history tracking and stop purging. Value lives in years of records.
- Never send a sample of data to anyone. The buyer takes it under the agreement.
Questions owners ask.
Do I need to clean the data?
No. Buyers want it real. They de-identify; you do not.
Should I write SOPs first?
They raise the value; one enterprise buyer lists them first. One small-operator buyer writes them for its clients. Not required to start.
What if a contractor will not sign?
That code is excluded or priced lower. The rest proceeds.
Can I prepare and then wait?
Yes, but terms move monthly. Get the introduction and let the buyer's timeline run.
Briggs AnalyticsWe introduce business owners to the buyers that license company records. We never see your data. Philadelphia, PA.