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Is My Startup Fundable?
VERDICT is a software-based evaluation engine built on venture capital first principles.
It applies VC-style decision logic to assess your startup impartially, and explains clearly why investors would say yes or no.
Evaluations follow explicit venture capital rules across multiple layers, where certain risks are decisive on their own and others only in combination. AI is used only to interpret and sanity-check inputs, and explain the framework’s output.
Founders interact directly with a guided interface to describe their startup.
What is VERDICT? A VC-style Framework For Evaluating Startups
VERDICT answers two questions:
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Would a venture capital firm fund this startup?
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Why or why not?
Some founders may phrase this question differently:
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Will VCs fund my startup?
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Is my startup investable?
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Am I VC-ready?
VERDICT addresses the same underlying question.
VERDICT evaluates startups using foundational gates, not scores. Each gate represents a qualification for venture funding, such as:
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Whether the problem is real and acute
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Whether the idea can scale
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Whether the business can return venture capital money
These gates are assessed both independently as well as in combination as per the set "rules". In practice, venture decisions are rarely driven by a single challenge. They emerge from how multiple challenges interact, reinforce, or compound risk. VERDICT mirrors this same logic.
If the startup is not fundable, VERDICT explains why VCs will not be convinced and which foundational issues prevent funding.
VERDICT uses AI only to:
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Interpret, and sanity-check inputs given by the founders (such as market size, pricing, and competition)
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Convert the output of the framework into a descriptive report
The rules reflect long-standing patterns in venture capital decision-making; this is very different from scoring a pitch on its quality and story telling.
Founders select their primary operating market (India, Middle East, Southeast Asia, or Global). This context is used to interpret certain inputs by the founders but the underlying VC decision framework remains the same.
How Founders Use VERDICT
1
Fine -Tune an Existing Startup for VC Readiness
Founders working on an active startup use VERDICT to identify foundational gaps that may limit VC fundability - such as how the problem is defined, how customers adopt the solution, or how the business is expected to scale.
Additional runs of VERDICT are typically used after meaningful changes are made to the business model, market focus, or positioning, to reflect genuine change rather than surface-level edits.
2
Compare Different Startup Ideas from a Funding Perspective
Many founders are deciding between multiple ideas, or different directions within the same idea.
VERDICT is used to compare options at a foundational level - helping founders understand which idea is more aligned with venture capital investors.
This is especially useful before committing significant time, capital, or effort to a particular path.
3
Prepare Before Meeting Investors
VERDICT is commonly used as a private preparation tool before engaging with investors. It helps founders:
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Pressure-test core assumptions
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Clarify the foundational logic of the business
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Identify potential concerns before they surface in live conversations
This allows founders to approach investor meetings better prepared and more confident, without learning these lessons for the first time in a pitch meeting.
What “Fundable” Actually Means in Venture Capital
“Fundable” does not mean the startup is good, interesting, or will be profitable. It means the startup fits the economic and risk criteria of venture capital funds. Many strong, profitable, and durable businesses are not venture-fundable.
Venture capital is a narrow asset class with consistent economics across regions, despite local differences in fund sizes. It requires outcomes that are rare, asymmetric, and driven by scale.
A startup can be viable, profitable and still be structurally incompatible with VC.
Venture Capital Is Highly Selective
VC is governed by portfolio mathematics, not individual startup potential. Because returns follow a power law:
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Most investments return little or nothing
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A small number must return the fund
This forces VCs to apply hard filters early.
Most Rejections Happen Before the Pitch Is Fully Heard
Many startups are filtered out before detailed evaluation.
Not because they are weak but because they fail foundational tests. These tests are rarely articulated or shared clearly.
The "5" Non-Negotiable Tests Behind VC Fundability
These tests are applied - explicitly or implicitly - in almost every investment committee.
Each test is binary in nature, but venture decisions emerge from how multiple failed or constrained tests interact.
1
Market Must Support Venture Outcomes
Large markets alone are not sufficient.
VCs look for markets that:
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Can support outsized outcomes
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Do not cap growth too early
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Do not rely on speculative expansion assumptions
Many startups fail here quietly.
2
The Business Must Scale Without Breaking
Models that become:
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Headcount-heavy
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Margin-negative with growth
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Operationally fragile at scale
are structurally unattractive to venture capital.
3
Go-To-Market Must Be Repeatable at scale
Founder-led traction is common and misleading.
VC conviction depends on whether demand:
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Is repeatable
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Can be institutionalized
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Does not collapse without the founders
4
Differentiation Must Exist Beyond Speed
Execution is important but differentiation must come from:
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Structural advantages
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Embedded distribution
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Compounding effects
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Brands
Story telling moats rarely survive diligence.
5
Founder–Problem Fit Must Be Obvious
Capability mismatch is a frequent silent killer.
VCs look for:
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Domain credibility
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Execution depth
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Teams that can survive scale, not just ideation
How VERDICT Works
VERDICT makes clear how venture decisions are actually made.
In practice, most venture rejections are driven by foundational concerns, not by poor storytelling, weak decks, or presentation gaps.
These concerns often cannot be fixed quickly - and are rarely articulated and shared clearly by investors, especially at early stages.
VERDICT determines venture fundability, it does not:
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Review pitch decks
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Suggest growth or go-to-market strategies
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Provide coaching (though it gives rationale)
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Predict success or failure of the startup
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Review financial models or unit economics
VERDICT exists upstream of all of that.
It addresses a more basic question: is this startup compatible with venture capital at all in terms of how investors evaluate risk and scale?
The emphasis is on foundational soundness rather than numerical optimization.
VERDICT evaluates founder-provided inputs using a fixed, rule-based VC decision framework. Founders respond to a focused set of 20–25 questions which extract information across:
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Market dynamics
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Business model
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Go-to-market evidence
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Scalability
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Capital return logic
For select questions, AI may flag obvious issues where inputs do not appear reasonable but the outcomes are governed by the rules framework, not AI.
Completing VERDICT typically takes 60 - 90 minutes. Responses can be saved and resumed. These responses feed into multiple independent gates, each representing a criterion. Some gates are hard constraints, while others are only supportive and some work in tandem with others. The final VERDICT follows an explicit, rule-based logic. There are no scores or averages or cut offs.
Possible VERDICT Outcomes
Every startup evaluated under the VERDICT framework will receive one of three outcomes.
VERDICT: FUNDABLE (As‑Is or With Conditions)
The startup would clear an early‑stage VC investment committee. Investors would engage or move to diligence as there are no fatal blockers. If conditions exist, they represent resolvable risks rather than disqualifying flaws.
VERDICT: POTENTIALLY FUNDABLE
The startup has promising elements but would likely receive an IC pass today. Execution, traction, or model gaps prevent full conviction at this stage. This is the most common outcome. VERDICT explicitly identifies the constraints that limit invest ability.
VERDICT: NOT VC FUNDABLE YET (As‑Is)
The startup does not meet institutional VC criteria in its current form. Structural issues around market, model, or positioning would result in a clear IC rejection. VERDICT highlights the constraints that require fundamental rethinking, not incremental improvement. VERDICT reflects institutional VC decision logic - not a funding guarantee.
Program Format
19 Video Sessions in an Asynchronous Format.
Deal Room Simulator Exercises.
Case Study – Detailed Evaluation of an Investment.
Option to Interact with the Instructor in a Group for Clarifications and Guidance.
Why VCs Rarely Explain Rejections Clearly To Founders?
Time and Incentive Asymmetry
VCs optimize for deal flow (that’s their job), not explaining to startups that do not meet their criteria.
Social and Legal Risk
Clear rejection reasons invite debate, offense, or misquotation.
Ambiguity Is Safer Than Precision
“Too early” ends conversations cleanly. Structural rejection prolongs them.
VERDICT exists to make these rejections clear and open so that you do not waste your valuable time.
Institutional Use
The VERDICT framework is designed to scale beyond individual evaluations.
Institutional versions extend the same core decision logic with:
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Cohort-level dashboards
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Comparative views across startups
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Additional gates, including founder–problem fit
These extensions are intended for accelerators, funds, and venture programs evaluating startups at scale.
Institutions use VERDICT to:
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screen applications using a common decision framework
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reduce subjective or mentor-driven noise
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classify startups by structural readiness
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understand cohort-level patterns and weaknesses
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make selection decisions more defensible
VERDICT operates at the decision layer, not the mentoring layer. Human discretion remains intact.