Startup Evaluation Report

Illustrative overall score: 72/100 · Advance to focused diligence.

HarborGrid offers workflow software for small logistics operators. Early paid adoption and founder-market proximity warrant a closer look. Revenue quality, customer concentration and acquisition economics remain the central questions before an investment decision.

Fictional company: HarborGrid · B2B operations software · Seed stage.

Seeking $1.5 million to strengthen the product, diversify the customer base and build a repeatable sales process. The investment case depends on moving beyond founder-led selling to measurable, repeatable growth.

Fictional founder: Jordan Ellis · Founder Signal: 81/100.

Jordan spent eight years managing logistics operations and saw teams lose hours reconciling dispatch updates across disconnected tools. Jordan and a technical co-founder tested their solution with five operators before forming a four-person team.

Human signal: first-hand problem insight and early execution. Verify prior roles, references, commitments and responsibilities; understand how the team responds to setbacks.

Scores are illustrative. Higher scores indicate stronger signals; the Risk score reflects resilience rather than risk severity.

• UX / Adoption · 68/100 — Early paid adoption; retention needs validation.
• Growth · 74/100 — Recurring revenue growing from a small base.
• Risk · 61/100 — Concentration and runway require attention.
• Readiness · 78/100 — Seed-stage proposition with outstanding diligence items.
• Founder Signal · 81/100 — First-hand domain experience and an early team.

All figures are fictional. Annualized recurring revenue is monthly recurring revenue × 12, not a forecast. Runway assumes revenue and spending remain unchanged.

• Cash on hand: $450,000
• Monthly cash spending: $65,000
• Monthly recurring revenue: $35,000
• Annualized recurring revenue: $420,000
• Monthly net burn: $30,000
• Implied runway: 15 months
• Paying customers: 28

• Specific, recurring operational problem with a defined business buyer.
• Paid customer adoption beyond registrations or a waitlist.
• Founder experience supports proximity to the problem and access to buyers.

• Three customers account for 46% of recurring revenue in this example.
• Retention, acquisition costs and sales-cycle consistency are unverified.
• The founder leads both sales and product, creating key-person dependency.
• Expansion could shorten the projected runway.

Illustrative categories only—not confirmed investor interest or funding commitments. Verify each investor's current mandate, geography, check size and requirements; review strategic conflicts and exclusivity expectations.

• B2B software angel investors — Operator-led problem insight and early commercial traction.
• Seed-stage enterprise software funds — Recurring revenue with a defined business buyer.
• Logistics-focused strategic investors — Potential alignment with workflow modernization.

• Validate revenue: reconcile six months of invoices and receipts; review customer retention cohorts.
• Reduce concentration: diversify the pipeline and model losing the largest customer.
• Demonstrate repeatable acquisition: document sales cycle, acquisition cost and conversion by channel.
• Test the funding plan: prepare base and downside cash forecasts tied to measurable milestones.

Proceed to customer references, revenue reconciliation and a founder discussion before deciding whether to invest. Revisit the assessment if evidence contradicts supplied information or the funding plan changes.

• Verify founder identity, company registration and ownership.
• Confirm customer agreements, financial statements and intellectual-property ownership.
• Review the cap table, terms and legal or regulatory obligations with qualified advisers.