What we will publish only after verification
A figure without a definition is an impression dressed as a fact. Here is the rule by which quantitative metrics reach public pages, and why we prefer an empty space to an unverified number.
Every company presentation runs into figures: so many locations, so many guests, this much growth. We deliberately keep public pages without them until a metric has passed verification.
Four mandatory fields
A metric is published only if it has all four attributes. Missing any one turns the number into an estimate.
- Definition: what exactly is counted and what is excluded.
- Period: over what interval it is calculated and as of what date.
- Methodology: how it was obtained, by what means and under which assumptions.
- Source: where the underlying data comes from and who can confirm it.
Why the definition matters more than the number
The same word hides different quantities. Is a “guest” a unique person, a transaction or a visit? Is a “location” one working today, one ever opened, or does it include partner sites? The gap between readings is often wider than the gap between a good and a bad result.
“Until it is written down what is being counted, arguing about the number is pointless: the sides are discussing different quantities.”
A placeholder instead of an estimate
Where a metric belongs by meaning but has not passed verification, we show a visible placeholder marked “requires verification” rather than an approximate value. It looks worse in a deck and is more honest in substance: the reader sees that a number belongs here and why it is not there yet.
The same principle governs investor pages. Rates, expected returns, payback periods, collateral, buy-back, DSCR and projected payments are not published on a public page at all: they are calculated per project and shared in a closed dialogue after qualification.
What it costs
The rule has a price. Public materials look more modest than those of companies that name figures freely. Part of the audience reads the absence of metrics as the absence of results.
We accept that knowingly. A published number outlives the context in which it was given, and one day it has to be defended. It is easier not to publish than to explain later what was meant.
This piece reflects the team’s operating experience as of the publication date and is not investment advice. Where quantitative data appears, it carries a definition, period and source.