For founders and investors · Scoring guide

How your startup gets scored

Understand what each score considers, how the available evidence affects the result, and where comparisons have limits. Founders can use the glossary to report consistent figures; investors can use it to interpret a profile and identify questions for due diligence. You do not need every metric to get listed.

Filling in your profile? Keep this guide open beside the form. Its metric links take you directly to the relevant definition.

Overview

Two tracks, ranked independently

Growth Track supports companies with revenue. Early Radar is a separate track for companies working toward their first revenue. The tracks use different evidence and are not ranked against each other.

Growth Track

Revenue stage

For startups with a product in market and real revenue. Ranked by hard KPIs: investors compare four data-driven signals and weight them to their own strategy. The financial metrics block in the form feeds this ranking.

Early Radar

Pre-revenue

Designed for pre-product and pre-revenue startups. The Early Radar score assesses the team as a whole, the problem and insight, why now, the competitive field, traction and execution, rather than financial KPIs.

Rule of thumb: if you have paying customers and can report revenue, pick Growth Stage. If you are still building toward first revenue, Early Radar is your track; you can switch to Growth Stage in your profile once you earn revenue.

Growth Track

The four signals behind your ranking

Quality Core combines four signals on a 0 to 100 scale. The default weights are shown below. Investors can adjust the mix, disable a signal and save preferences for sectors or individual companies. A profile can therefore rank differently for different investors. Report complete, current evidence so each investor can assess it against their own priorities.

M&A Readiness, Risk and Investor Intelligence are different decision lenses, not statistically independent predictions. Some underlying facts can matter in more than one lens: runway is relevant to both financing risk and transaction readiness, for example. The Quality Core weighting therefore expresses an investor's screening priorities; it must not be read as four independent confirmations. The deterministic models are expert screening heuristics, versioned and testable, but they are not yet trained or back-tested on InvesTTable investment and exit outcomes.

Quality Core is the investor-facing decision score used for Growth Track ordering and score-based alerts. Visibility Rank is a separate internal discovery signal based on profile activity and engagement; it is not substituted into Quality Core, M&A Readiness, Risk, Investor Intelligence or Personal Relevance.

Personal Relevance describes how a profile fits an investor's active alerts: sector, stage, location, score and financial requirements, deal intent, strategic needs and data freshness. It reflects the selected criteria rather than universal company quality. Unselected criteria and an unavailable Quality Core are excluded; missing information for other selected criteria can reduce the match.

M&A Readiness

Default weight 31%

How prepared a company appears for transaction discussions and diligence. It does not predict an acquisition.

  • Commercial scale(annual gross profit, with monetary inputs compared in EUR)
  • Sustainable growth(revenue growth in the context of the current revenue base and the available history)
  • Revenue quality(customer concentration, business-model margins and relevant retention evidence)
  • Defensibility(declared barriers and the operating evidence supporting them)
  • Financial resilience(runway, burn efficiency and reliance on further financing)
  • Organization readiness(team commitment, capacity and relevant experience)
  • Diligence readiness(profile completeness, financial documentation, materials and data freshness)

Risk Assessment

Default weight 31%

Higher scores indicate lower observed risk in the assessed areas. Evidence coverage matters: a sparse profile cannot establish that a company is low risk.

  • Financial resilience(runway, burn efficiency, financing dependence and revenue direction)
  • Team and cap table(commitment, key-person concentration, ownership and dead equity)
  • Operating resilience(customer concentration and reported controls evidence)

Investor Intelligence

Default weight 31%

A view of operating quality across financial performance, growth, alignment and defensibility, with evidence confidence shown separately.

  • Financial quality(gross profit scale, business-model margins, EBITDA and unit economics)
  • Growth quality(growth in context, relevant retention or repeat demand and customer diversification)
  • Team and alignment(commitment, ownership, capacity and relevant experience)
  • Product and moat(declared barriers compared with reported operating evidence)
  • Controls evidence(reported data-protection and security assurance, not a compliance opinion)

Geo-Political

Default weight 7%

Location and sector context from an AI-assisted assessment supported by sources. The application calculates the result from the assessed criteria.

  • Capital access(relevant funding and financing conditions)
  • Regulatory predictability(the clarity and practical effect of sector rules)
  • Business partners and infrastructure(access to customers, suppliers and supporting infrastructure)
  • Operating conditions(location-specific costs, logistics and market access)

Read the score together with its evidence

  • Performance: the result reflects reported business evidence in the areas assessed. It is a screening signal, not a probability of success, funding or an exit.
  • Coverage: missing applicable information reduces how much of the company can be assessed and can lower the result. A missing company signal keeps its place in the blend; it is not silently dropped. Structurally non-applicable factors are excluded.
  • Confidence: coverage and documentation inform evidence strength. A verification marker or uploaded file does not independently validate every reported figure.
  • Unavailable results: Quality Core is withheld when company evidence or the required comparison context is insufficient. Geo context cannot replace company evidence. An unavailable score does not establish poor company performance.

Documents also affect transaction readiness. Missing financial documentation, a pitch deck or a one-pager can lower M&A Readiness and therefore Quality Core. Financial-snapshot age and the freshness of a founder's profile confirmation also matter. Keep the underlying figures and supporting materials current, and explain material changes.

How comparisons stay meaningful

  • Commercial scale: annual gross profit reflects both revenue and the direct costs of delivering it. Revenue alone does not establish this part of the assessment.
  • Growth: growth is assessed relative to the current revenue base. Historical results, forecasts and short-term movements provide different strengths of evidence and are not interchangeable.
  • Business model and peers: margins, retention and unit economics are interpreted using relevant comparison groups where usable, with defined reference assumptions where necessary. Peer percentiles need enough comparable observations. Missing comparison data is not presented as a measured market benchmark.
  • Score scale: the combined assessment is calibrated onto the displayed scale while preserving its ordering. It is not a simple average of the visible signal scores, and a score is not an outcome probability.

Currency: enter monetary figures in your reporting currency (EUR, USD, GBP or CHF). Investors see the reported figures; comparisons normalize monetary inputs to EUR using a fixed reference snapshot. The current currency reference is European Central Bank euro foreign exchange reference rates, dated 2026-08-20. Keep reporting periods consistent, and clearly distinguish actual results from forecasts.

These models are screening heuristics, not universal market laws. Absolute gross profit and transaction readiness are sensitive to company maturity. Acquisition costs, retention and repeat purchases also depend on customer segments and purchase cycles. For example, durable hardware may naturally have infrequent repeat purchases; the current retention input does not distinguish that pattern from products bought regularly. Use the stage, sector and business-model context alongside the headline scores, and investigate differences before making a decision.

The profile contains both scoring inputs and information for investor context. Financial performance, relevant operating metrics, team alignment and defensibility evidence inform the scores. Other information helps explain the opportunity and funding plans. Completing a field does not guarantee a higher score. The glossary defines how to report each metric consistently.

Reference framework

External research informs our reference assumptions. It does not validate InvesTTable's composite scores or make them outcome probabilities.

GDPR, SOC 2 and ISO 27001 are optional, self-reported controls evidence. GDPR confirmation is not required to list. Report only the controls and assurance you can support, and distinguish a declaration from an independent assessment. Missing confirmation is not proof of non-compliance; the score is not a legal or regulatory opinion.

Moat describes the barriers that make a business difficult to replicate. Declared barriers are considered alongside relevant operating evidence. Contradictions and gaps matter, and these metrics remain self-reported unless explicitly marked verified. A pitch deck alone does not demonstrate defensibility. Describe how the barrier works and what evidence supports it.

Company Valuation is a separate screening range, outside Quality Core. It uses reported financial performance, business-model reference assumptions and, where supported, a cash-flow scenario. The available evidence affects the uncertainty of the range. It is an enterprise-value indication before cash, debt, working-capital, tax, capex and preference adjustments, not a transaction price or a fairness opinion. Non-SaaS reference assumptions remain screening assumptions until sufficient documented transaction comparables exist. Validate them against the company's circumstances before using the range in negotiations.

Growth Track

Metrics glossary

The same definitions as the small "?" icons in the form, collected in one place and grouped the way the form groups them. These are formulas for reporting business metrics, not formulas for converting them into score points. They explain what to include and leave out so figures are comparable. The form only shows the groups that fit your business model; skip any group that does not apply to you.

Revenue & Growth

ARR - Annual Recurring Revenue

Annualized recurring subscription revenue. Use it for SaaS or recurring-revenue businesses, not for one-off services or non-recurring setup fees.

Formula

ARR = MRR x 12

  • Include recurring subscriptions, committed recurring platform fees, and recurring usage that is contractually recurring.
  • Exclude one-time setup fees, professional services, hardware sales, grants, and non-recurring project revenue.
  • If contracts are annual but paid upfront, normalize the recurring contract value to an annual run rate.

MRR - Monthly Recurring Revenue

Normalized recurring subscription revenue for one month. It shows the current recurring revenue base before annualizing it into ARR.

Formula

MRR = sum of monthly recurring revenue from active customers

  • Convert annual contracts into their monthly equivalent.
  • Exclude one-off setup fees, non-recurring implementation work, and purely variable non-recurring revenue.

Annual Revenue

Total revenue generated over a 12-month period. For non-SaaS businesses, this is usually the better top-line metric than ARR.

Formula

Annual revenue = recognized revenue over the selected 12-month period

  • Use the same accounting basis each time, preferably recognized revenue rather than cash received.
  • For last fiscal year, use the revenue from the last completed fiscal year.
  • For last 12 months, use the most recent rolling 12-month period.

Revenue Last FY

Revenue recognized in the last completed fiscal year. This should be a completed accounting period, not a forecast.

Formula

Revenue last FY = total recognized revenue in the last completed fiscal year

  • Use the same revenue recognition basis you use in your financial statements.
  • Do not mix bookings, invoices, and recognized revenue unless clearly explained.

Forecast Current FY

Your expected revenue for the current fiscal year based on actual year-to-date results and realistic pipeline assumptions.

Formula

Forecast current FY = actual revenue to date + forecast revenue for the remaining fiscal year

  • Separate committed revenue from uncertain pipeline internally.
  • Keep the forecast updated when actuals or assumptions change.

MoM Growth - Month-over-Month Growth

The percentage change from one month to the next for the same metric, usually revenue, MRR, users, or active customers.

Formula

MoM growth = ((current month - previous month) / previous month) x 100

  • Use the same metric in both months.
  • If the previous month is zero, the percentage is not meaningful; explain the raw change instead.

3Y CAGR - Compound Annual Growth Rate

The smoothed annual growth rate over three years. It shows the constant yearly growth rate that would connect the start value to the end value.

Formula

CAGR = ((ending revenue / starting revenue)^(1 / years) - 1) x 100

  • Use comparable annual revenue periods.
  • If starting revenue is zero or negative, CAGR is not meaningful; use absolute growth or MoM growth instead.

Gross Margin

The percentage of revenue left after direct costs of delivering the product or service.

Formula

Gross margin = ((revenue - cost of goods sold) / revenue) x 100

  • For SaaS, direct costs often include hosting, support, payment processing, and delivery-related third-party costs.
  • For physical products, include direct production or procurement costs.

EBITDA Margin

Operating profitability before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, expressed as a percentage of revenue.

Formula

EBITDA margin = EBITDA / revenue x 100

  • EBITDA means earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
  • Negative EBITDA margin is common for early-stage companies investing in growth.
  • Be consistent about whether adjustments are included or excluded.

NRR - Net Revenue Retention

Recurring revenue retained from existing customers after expansion, contraction, and churn. New customers are excluded.

Formula

NRR = (starting recurring revenue + expansion - contraction - churn) / starting recurring revenue x 100

  • Use the same customer cohort at the beginning and end of the period.
  • NRR above 100% means expansion revenue more than offset contraction and churn.
  • Use MRR, ARR, or contracted ARR consistently.

Activation Rate

The percentage of signups or accounts that reach your defined core value moment.

Formula

Activation rate = activated users or accounts / signups or trials x 100

  • Define activation clearly, for example first project created, first payment connected, or first report exported.
  • Use the same definition over time so investors can compare trends.
  • Do not compare activation rates across companies unless the event, denominator, cohort window, and customer motion are equivalent.

Retention & Churn

Annual Logo Churn

The percentage of customer accounts lost over a year. It counts customers, not revenue.

Formula

Logo churn = customers lost during period / customers at start of period x 100

  • Use logo churn for customer retention, and NRR for revenue retention.
  • Exclude newly acquired customers from the starting cohort for the period being measured.

Trial-to-Paid Conversion

The percentage of trial, freemium, or demo users that become paying customers.

Formula

Conversion = paying customers from cohort / trial or signup cohort x 100

  • Use a clear cohort window, such as users who started a trial in a specific month.
  • Separate self-serve, freemium, and sales-led conversion if the motions differ.

Top Customer Concentration

The share of revenue that comes from your largest customer. It helps investors understand dependency risk.

Formula

Top customer concentration = largest customer revenue / total revenue x 100

  • For SaaS, use ARR or recurring revenue consistently.
  • For non-SaaS businesses, use annual revenue or last-12-month revenue consistently.

Unit Economics

LTV - Customer Lifetime Value

Estimated gross profit expected from an average customer over the customer relationship.

Formula

Common SaaS approximation: LTV = ARPA x gross margin % / churn rate

  • ARPA means average revenue per account.
  • Use cohort-based data where possible; LTV is sensitive to churn and gross margin assumptions.
  • If churn is not stable, explain the assumptions behind the LTV estimate.

CAC - Customer Acquisition Cost

Average sales and marketing cost required to acquire one new customer.

Formula

CAC = sales and marketing spend / new customers acquired

  • Use the same period for costs and acquired customers.
  • Include paid media, sales compensation, marketing tools, agency costs, and acquisition-related spend where relevant.
  • Separate blended CAC and paid-channel CAC if both are used internally.

CAC Payback

The number of months needed to recover customer acquisition cost through gross profit from that customer.

Formula

CAC payback = CAC / (monthly revenue per customer x gross margin %)

  • Use monthly gross profit, not only monthly revenue, for a margin-aware payback period.
  • For annual contracts, convert annual revenue per customer into a monthly amount.

LTV:CAC Ratio

Compares expected customer lifetime value with the cost to acquire that customer.

Formula

LTV:CAC = customer lifetime value / customer acquisition cost

  • A ratio above 1 means expected lifetime value exceeds acquisition cost.
  • Context matters: stage, sales motion, retention quality, gross margin, and payback period all affect interpretation.
  • Treat the result as directional: small retention assumptions can cause large changes in calculated lifetime value.

Burn & Efficiency

Monthly Burn

Average net cash consumed per month. It indicates how quickly the company uses cash to operate and grow.

Formula

Monthly net burn = cash outflows - cash inflows

  • Use operating cash burn, excluding financing inflows such as new investment rounds.
  • Average over several recent months if one month is unusually high or low.

Runway

Estimated number of months the company can operate before cash runs out at the current burn rate.

Formula

Runway = cash balance / monthly net burn

  • If net burn is zero or negative, runway is not constrained by current burn.
  • Runway changes quickly when burn, revenue, or cash balance changes.

Burn Multiple

Capital efficiency metric showing how much net cash burn is required to add one unit of net new ARR.

Formula

Burn multiple = net burn / net new ARR

  • Use the same period for net burn and net new ARR.
  • If net new ARR is zero or negative, burn multiple is not meaningful.
  • The metric is most useful for SaaS or recurring-revenue companies.
  • A 1.0-1.5x range is a strong early-growth rule of thumb, but stage and growth quality still matter.

Rule of 40

SaaS efficiency benchmark combining growth and profitability into one screening signal.

Formula

Rule of 40 = revenue growth rate (%) + profit margin (%)

  • Investors often use EBITDA margin or free cash flow margin as the profit margin component.
  • Use the same growth metric and profit metric consistently across periods.
  • It is a screening heuristic, not a full assessment of company quality.
  • InvesTTable shows it for SaaS / recurring-revenue software only: for commerce, hardware, marketplaces or services the 40-point threshold is not an established benchmark.

Default Alive

A company is default alive when its current cash, revenue trajectory, and burn profile suggest it can reach break-even without raising more capital.

Formula

Assessment uses cash balance, burn, growth, gross margin, and path to break-even

  • This is a planning signal, not a guarantee.
  • Default dead means the company likely needs additional capital or a major operating change to survive.

Funding & Market

Total Raised

Total external financing raised to date.

Formula

Total raised = sum of equity, convertible, SAFE, note, and similar financing rounds

  • Do not include customer revenue.
  • If grants or non-dilutive financing are included, keep that convention clear and consistent.

Next Round Target

The amount of capital the company plans to raise in its next financing round.

Formula

Next round target = planned financing amount for the upcoming raise

  • Use the target raise size, not valuation.
  • Keep it updated if fundraising plans change.

Next Raise Timeline

Expected timing or status of the next financing round.

Formula

Example: Q3 2026, preparing, actively raising, or not currently raising

  • Use concrete timing when possible.
  • Avoid implying that funding is committed unless it is already legally agreed.

TAM - Total Addressable Market

Estimated annual revenue opportunity if the company could serve the entire relevant market.

Formula

TAM = total potential customers x annual revenue per customer

  • Use realistic market boundaries and avoid double-counting segments.
  • TAM is the broadest market lens and is not the same as near-term reachable revenue.

SAM - Serviceable Available Market

The portion of TAM that fits the company's current product, geography, customer segment, and go-to-market reach.

Formula

SAM = reachable target customers x annual revenue per customer

  • SAM should be narrower than TAM.
  • Use current capabilities and sales reach rather than the entire theoretical market.

Cap Table & Team

Founder Equity

The percentage of company equity still held by active founders after financing and dilution.

Formula

Founder equity = active founder shares / fully diluted shares x 100

  • Use a fully diluted basis if possible, including option pools and convertible instruments where applicable.
  • Low active-founder ownership can affect incentive alignment, especially at early stages.

Dead Equity

Equity held by departed founders or early contributors who no longer have an active role.

Formula

Dead equity = inactive holder equity / fully diluted shares x 100

  • High dead equity can create cap table friction in future rounds.
  • Use a fully diluted basis where possible.

ESOP Pool

Equity reserved for current and future employee options or similar incentive grants.

Formula

ESOP pool = option pool shares / fully diluted shares x 100

  • Investors often review whether the pool is large enough for future hiring.
  • Clarify whether the pool is pre-money or post-money when discussing a financing round.

Founder Prior Exits

Number of meaningful prior exits achieved by the founding team.

Formula

Count completed acquisitions, IPOs, or liquidity events where founders had a material role

  • Use completed exits only.
  • Do not count abandoned processes or informal acquisition discussions.

Full-Time Founding Team

Indicates whether the founding team is working full-time on the company.

Formula

Mark yes only if active founders are committed full-time

  • Investors use this as a commitment signal.
  • If some founders are part-time, explain the transition plan separately.

Moat & Defensibility

Moat / Defensibility

The barriers that make a business difficult to replicate or displace, and whether those barriers strengthen as the company operates.

Formula

Assessment considers declared competitive barriers, reported operating evidence, and intellectual property

  • Select the barriers the company actually relies on and explain how they work in practice.
  • Consider whether the advantage strengthens through customer relationships, usage, data, or scale, and what could weaken it.
  • Declared barriers are checked against applicable reported metrics. Missing evidence limits confidence, and contradictions are highlighted for review.
  • Retention, repeat demand, pricing power, and margins provide context for these claims. They remain self-reported unless explicitly marked verified.
  • Uploading a pitch deck does not affect this score. Profile completeness is tracked separately.

Patents / IP

Intellectual property reported by the company, including pending and granted patents. It is one part of defensibility and does not establish a durable market position on its own.

Formula

Report patent status and filing count, distinguishing pending applications from granted patents

  • Keep the status current and describe how the IP relates to the product or business.
  • Select patents as a competitive barrier only when that claim is supported by the company's filings or rights.
  • A reported patent is not an independent assessment of its scope, enforceability, or commercial value. Investors should verify those separately.

Commerce & Hardware

Gross Margin per Unit

Gross profit generated by one unit before overhead and fixed costs.

Formula

Gross margin per unit = unit selling price - direct unit cost

  • Use direct unit cost, including production, procurement, or delivery costs that scale with each unit.
  • This is a currency amount, not a percentage.

Contribution Margin

Revenue left after variable costs. It shows how much each sale contributes toward fixed costs and profit.

Formula

Contribution margin = (revenue - variable costs) / revenue x 100

  • Variable costs may include production, shipping, payment fees, returns, and fulfillment costs.
  • Use the same cost categories consistently over time.

Inventory Turnover

How many times inventory is sold and replaced during a year.

Formula

Inventory turnover = cost of goods sold / average inventory

  • Higher turnover usually indicates faster inventory movement.
  • Very low turnover can indicate overstocking or slow demand.
  • Healthy turnover varies materially by product category, lead time, seasonality, and stock-out tolerance; compare like with like.

More Metrics

Active Paying Customers

The number of customers currently paying for your product or service. Together with revenue it shows the average revenue per customer.

Formula

Active paying customers = distinct customers with a paid, active relationship

  • Count paying customers, not sign-ups, free users, or trials.
  • For B2B, count accounts or logos, not individual seats.
  • Investors divide revenue by this number to sanity-check LTV and contract sizes.

AOV - Average Order Value

The average revenue per order. With order volume and repeat rate it explains whether growth comes from more orders, bigger baskets, or price increases.

Formula

AOV = total revenue / number of orders

  • Use net revenue after discounts and returns.
  • Use a recent, representative period (e.g. the last 12 months).
  • A rising AOV signals pricing power; flat AOV with rising revenue signals volume growth.

Repeat Purchase Rate

The percentage of customers who buy again within 12 months. For commerce this is the counterpart of retention in SaaS: it shows whether revenue recurs.

Formula

Repeat purchase rate = customers with 2+ purchases in 12 months / all customers x 100

  • Use a fixed 12-month window so the number is comparable over time.
  • One-off buyers are not recurring revenue; investors discount growth that never repeats.
  • Interpret the rate against the category's normal purchase cycle; durable goods and frequent-consumption products are not directly comparable.

GMV - Gross Merchandise Volume

The total value of all transactions flowing through your marketplace per year, before your commission. GMV is not your revenue.

Formula

GMV = sum of all transaction values processed in 12 months

  • Include completed transactions only; exclude cancellations and refunds.
  • Your net revenue should roughly equal GMV x take rate.
  • Report GMV and net revenue separately; conflating them is a common diligence red flag.

Take Rate

Your net revenue as a percentage of GMV: the share of each transaction the marketplace keeps.

Formula

Take rate = net revenue / GMV x 100

  • Include commissions, listing fees, and payment margin you retain.
  • Marketplace take rates vary from low single digits into the mid-30s depending on vertical, fragmentation and operational value added.
  • A rising take rate can signal pricing power or extraction; investors must check it against supply and demand retention.

Early Radar

The Early Radar score

Early Radar profiles are never assessed on revenue, margins or any other financial KPI. Every startup answers the same questionnaire: ten questions in the standard flow, five in Fast Track. They cover the problem and the founders' insight, why now, alternatives and who already failed at this, traction and programs, the team as a whole and the biggest risks. The answers are assessed consistently across six criteria:

Traction and team structure are computed by fixed formulas on continuous scales, never as yes/no points. AI grades the written answers against fixed bands and checks them against independent web research on competitors, failed predecessors and why-now signals, with sources. Marketing language earns no points: an answer that is hype without a single concrete fact cannot reach the top bands, and claiming there are no competitors caps the competition criterion. InvesTTable code calculates the weighted total and the startup's percentile in the Early Radar cohort once there are enough peers. The team is assessed only as a whole and only with the founders' consent; names, photos and contact details never reach the model, and no individual founder is scored. Without consent the team is left out and the total is computed from the other five criteria, so declining neither costs nor helps. A solo founder is not scored on time working together, and earlier companies only add a bonus. Evidence confidence is reported separately, and the result remains a qualitative screening aid rather than a validated probability of fundraising or company success.

Founding Team

What it assesses: The team as a whole: what it has built, shipped or achieved before, domain experience, founding experience, full-time commitment, whether the product is built in-house and how long the founders have worked together. Never an individual founder, never names or employers.

What to include: Describe what the team has accomplished together and before, with numbers where you can. Leave out names.

Reads from: Team structure and team track record (only with the founder's consent)

Problem & Insight

What it assesses: A specific customer with a frequent, painful problem, how it is solved today, and a non-obvious insight the founders hold.

What to include: Name the customer and the situation. Explain what you learned that others in this market have missed.

Reads from: Company description, problem, insight

Market & Why Now

What it assesses: What recently changed (technology, regulation, cost, behaviour) that opens this market now, checked against independent research.

What to include: Point to a concrete, recent change and explain why it matters for your customer.

Reads from: Why now, independent market research

Competition & Failed Attempts

What it assesses: Awareness of the real alternatives (compared with the competitors our research finds), credible differentiation, and whether the founders know who already failed at this and why they will not.

What to include: List direct and indirect alternatives, name failed predecessors and explain what you do differently.

Reads from: Competitors, differentiation, prior attempts, independent competitor research

Traction & Validation

What it assesses: Product stage and evidence of demand on a continuous scale (paying customers weigh most, then pilots and letters of intent, active users and waitlist least), plus accelerator, grant and partner programs.

What to include: Enter only numbers you can show an investor. Paying customers and pilots count more than sign-ups.

Reads from: Product stage, demand numbers, programs

Execution & Risks

What it assesses: Whether the funding milestone is concrete and achievable with the amount raised, and how honestly the founders name risks and counter them.

What to include: Make the milestone measurable and name your biggest risks with what you do about each.

Reads from: Funding target and milestone, risks and countermeasures

Writing tip: describe what exists today, what you have learned and what remains unproven. Use numbers you can show an investor, name real alternatives and failed predecessors, and describe what your team has built or achieved without personal names. Adjectives such as revolutionary or unique earn nothing.

Company names are withheld from the model, and personal names in supplied text must not be reproduced in its output. Focus your answers on business context, roles and evidence.

Data gaps

If you do not have a number

Report actuals and label forecasts.

If an actual figure is unavailable, leave it blank rather than inventing one. Use forecast fields for supported projections and keep them distinct from completed results. Explain reporting periods and assumptions consistently.

Missing evidence affects the assessment.

A blank applicable field is unknown, not an observed zero. It reduces evidence coverage and can lower a score; a missing company signal is not simply removed from the blend. Truly non-applicable factors are excluded. Insufficient company evidence or comparison context can leave Quality Core unavailable, and Geo cannot fill that gap. Missing transaction materials also reduce diligence readiness.

Only relevant metrics are asked.

The form adapts to your business model: SaaS metrics like NRR are hidden for hardware companies, commerce metrics like inventory turnover are hidden for SaaS. If a visible metric still does not apply to you, leave it blank.

Everything can be updated later.

Save updates from your startup account as new results become available. Complete the review and confirmations to publish your changes. Keep the underlying data current when you confirm Data Freshness; a confirmation alone does not verify the figures.

Required fields are marked in the form.

Follow the required-field markers and review messages for your track. Optional financial fields may be left blank, but any values you supply must pass validation. GDPR confirmation is optional. A complete submission and enough evidence for a score are different requirements.

Support

Unclear question, or stuck?

Every metric field in the form has a "?" icon: one click gives you the definition, the formula and what to include. The glossary above is the long form of exactly those definitions.

If your accounting treatment differs from a definition, explain the difference and keep the reporting basis consistent from period to period. Investors should clarify material differences before comparing companies.

If you are stuck, missing every metric in a group, or believe neither track fits your company, contact us before guessing. We read every founder message and would rather clarify once than let a wrong number go live.

Bookmark this guide or share it with your team when preparing or reviewing a profile.