Expiring and Deactivating Links When a Raise Ends

Founders put a lot of thought into how their fundraising materials go out. Very few think about how access ends.

But every link you share during a raise keeps working until you stop it. Months after your round closes, an old deck with outdated numbers can still be opened by anyone who has the link, including people it was forwarded to that you never knew about. Old financial models, earlier versions of your cap table, and materials you shared with investors who passed can all stay accessible long after they should be.

Two ways to end access

Deactivate on demand. You turn off a link whenever you decide. This is the right tool when something happens: a conversation ends, an investor passes, a deal falls through, or you realize a link went somewhere it shouldn’t have.

Set an expiration date. The link stops working automatically on a date you choose. This is the right tool when you know in advance how long access should last, and it protects you from forgetting.

A good sharing setup uses both.

When to use expiration dates

Time-limited reviews. If you’ve shared detailed materials with an investor for a specific decision window, set the link to expire shortly after it.

Materials that go stale. Financial projections and traction data reflect a moment in time. An expiration date keeps old numbers from circulating as if they were current.

Anything sensitive. For materials you’d only share during an active conversation, an expiration date is a sensible default. You can always extend it.

When to deactivate on demand

An investor passes. There’s no reason for them to keep access to anything beyond your outreach deck.

A deal falls through. If an acquirer or lead investor walks away during diligence, close their access promptly.

You retire a version. When you stop using an old deck version, deactivate its link so it doesn’t resurface through an old forward.

Something went wrong. If a link was sent to the wrong person or shared further than intended, deactivate it immediately and share a new one with the right people.

Close out a raise deliberately

When a round closes, take an hour to review every link you created during the raise. Keep active what still serves a purpose, such as the outreach deck you’ll reuse for introductions. Deactivate the rest. For data room access, remove investors and their advisers who no longer need it, and keep a record of who had access to what and when.

That record matters. If a question ever comes up about what an investor saw, or whether confidential information was handled properly, you’ll want to be able to answer it.

How DocChief helps

DocChief lets you deactivate any sharing link on demand or set it to expire on a date you choose, and manage every link from one dashboard. Inside the data room, you can remove access for specific people when a conversation ends, while engagement records keep a history of who accessed what.

Related guides

Public or Private Links for Fundraising Materials
Managing Multiple Pitch Deck Versions for Different Investors
How to Close a File Sharing Project Cleanly