Question 1

What is samCIO?

Accepted Answer

samCIO is the AI investment operating system for private markets. It covers sourcing, underwriting, IC preparation, diligence, portfolio tracking and LP reporting, with an AI reasoning layer (Sam) that grounds every recommendation in your firm's thesis.

Question 2

Is this just ChatGPT on top of my data room?

Accepted Answer

No. Sam grades every deal through your firm's weighted, thesis-tied framework at deterministic model settings, and shows the reasoning behind every score, so grades are comparable across deals and vintages. A chatbot gives you prose. Sam gives you a repeatable process: pillar scores, an audit-ready memo, fact-checked claims and a decision record.

Question 3

How does the free trial work?

Accepted Answer

Pick any plan and you get 14 days of full access, no credit card required, and we never auto-charge you. When the trial ends, add a card to keep working; your data stays exactly where you left it.

Question 4

How long does setup take?

Accepted Answer

You can create a workspace, load your thesis, and underwrite your first deal the same day. No twelve-month rollout, no implementation team.

Question 5

Can I bring my whole team?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Pricing is per workspace with member limits by tier (1, 5 or 15), not a per-seat license. Extra seats beyond your tier are $99/mo each.

Question 6

How much does samCIO cost?

Accepted Answer

Pricing is per workspace, whole team included: Solo $199/mo (1 seat), Fund $899/mo (up to 5 seats), Firm $2,499/mo (up to 15 seats). Annual plans get 2 months free, extra seats are $99/seat/mo, and Enterprise dedicated deployments start at $150k per year.

Question 7

How does samCIO standardize underwriting?

Accepted Answer

samCIO applies your firm's thesis, anti-thesis, sectors, stage and underwriting metrics to every opportunity. Each deal gets a weighted grade across four pillars (thesis fit, market opportunity, team & execution, and traction & deal terms) with one overall Pursue / Diligence / Pass call, in about 60 seconds.

Question 8

Does Sam read image-only decks and DocSend links?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Paste a DocSend link and Sam opens the session, captures every slide and reads it, including image-only or screenshot-based decks. OCR fallback runs automatically when a deck has no extractable text.

Question 9

What integrations does samCIO support?

Accepted Answer

Gmail and Outlook inboxes (per-user OAuth, read-only), the AI notetakers Granola, Fireflies and Fathom (per-user API keys), and DocSend deck import. Sam automatically pulls the email threads and call transcripts that match each deal, distills them into notes on the deal, and weighs them in memo scoring, team confidence and risks. Credentials stay private to each teammate; disconnect anytime. Enterprise deployments add custom integrations like data providers and email deal intake.

Question 10

Can I model follow-on rounds and track MOIC and IRR?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Add priced rounds and cashflows to any portfolio company. samCIO computes ownership, dilution, MOIC and XIRR on every round, and rolls it up across the portfolio.

Question 11

Can samCIO handle multiple vintages (Fund I, II, III)?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Run multiple funds, one per vintage, inside a single workspace. Each fund carries its own thesis weights and check-size bands, and a fund switcher scopes the pipeline, portfolio, IC and LP reporting to the selected fund.

Question 12

How is my data kept separate from other firms?

Accepted Answer

Every workspace is fully isolated: every table in the database enforces tenant isolation with row-level security, every privileged endpoint authenticates server-side, and the two most critical safety properties (cross-tenant isolation and account-takeover resistance) are covered by automated tests that run the actual attack on every code change. Enterprise customers can run on a dedicated instance.

Question 13

What happens to my data if I leave?

Accepted Answer

You can delete your data whenever you want, and a full export is available on request. Your data is yours.

Question 14

What if we need custom integrations or workflows?

Accepted Answer

The Enterprise plan is a private, custom-built deployment: your own dedicated instance, bespoke integrations, custom workflow stages and white-glove onboarding. An annual license with strategic support, from $150k per year. Book a call and we'll scope it to your firm.

Question 15

Who built samCIO?

Accepted Answer

samCIO was built by Emily Buckley / EBM Capital, LLC, a 3x tech founder who scaled and exited a company to private equity. The underwriting discipline Sam encodes comes from thousands of hours working with venture firms, study at Harvard Business School, and work with one of the world's largest private-markets asset managers.

Question 16

Can I cancel anytime?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Plans renew monthly or annually and you can cancel from Settings → Billing at any time; access continues to the end of the paid period. No multi-year commitment.

samCIO: Meet Sam, your AI Chief Investment Officer

What samCIO does

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