SDE is a trailing metric. Technical Debt is a leading indicator.

Jesse Park's story about a $400k SDE write-down during financial diligence is the nightmare scenario. But there is a silent version of this that kills you after the wire hits. I just audited a Logistics target with $2M EBITDA. * QofE: Clean. * Customer Concentration: Low. * The Code: The core routing engine relied on a specific Google Maps API version deprecating in June. The Rewrite Cost? $150,000! That isn't a "bug." That is a $150k EBITDA adjustment that wasn't in the CIM. If you find it pre-close, it's a price reduction. If you find it post-close, it's a capital call. Don't just audit the bank statements. Audit the engine.