How do you read a 10-k / ramp up on a name?

I’m currently at a large LO (Fidelity, Capital, Wellington, etc.) covering Software and what I found most useful is this:

1. Start with understanding how the business makes money (pay per use/seat, product split, geo, etc.) and what the addressable market is/how fast it’s growing. Keep it simple.

1. Listen/read the last four quarters of earnings calls and an analyst day if avail - this will give you a sense of what the SS is focused on (a new cloud product, developer toolset, etc) that is expected or is already making a dent in the P&L.

1. Understand where competitions are positioned for the top 3-5 products/services and try to do channel checks around competition - this will give you a better sense of what customers are looking for when choosing the product/service.

1. If you don’t understand a certain technology, product, etc. turn to YouTube or the like to get a visual representation of how things work.

1. Turn to the filings - look at the managements commentary on the market, growth drivers, etc. knowing that these will likely not be as targeted as what the SS is looking for. That’s okay. At the end of the day ~3 things move a stock fundamentally (ARR growth, NRR, OPMs,etc), see if you have a thesis you can work with to dig deeper, basing it on what investors are looking for (a new product release that will contribute x%/y% of growth/OP).

1. Talk with past employees, have more targeted discussions with management/IR/SS.

1. Have fun.