If you’ve ever tried to compare two promising startups and found yourself hand-waving—“great team,” “cool product,” “early traction”—you’re not alone. Ideas are easy to love; execution is hard to measure. The 100-Point Startup Scorecard gives founders, investors, and advisors a shared language to evaluate a company’s strength systematically—and to spot the blind spots that hype tends to hide.
At its core, the scorecard is a simple, practical framework that converts qualitative judgment into a clear, comparable score out of 100. It focuses on the drivers that most reliably predict durable value: Moats, Pricing, Scalability, Differentiation, Team & Leadership, Market Opportunity, Traction, Regulation & Risk, Financial Health, Unit Economics, and Execution & Velocity. Each area gets a defined weight and a 1–5 rating scale for specific criteria, so you can move beyond vibes to evidence.
The 100-Point Startup Scorecard is a free, browser-based tool that turns qualitative judgment into a clear, comparable score. Built for VCs, angels, accelerators, and founders, it measures moats, pricing, scalability, differentiation, unit economics, and execution—and highlights the highest-leverage areas to improve next. Developed by Dr. Mashiur Rahman, a leading scientist and innovation leader with 20+ years across digital technologies and entrepreneur. Tthe scorecard brings rigor and consistency to evaluations, reduces bias, speeds diligence, and helps teams make better, faster, lower-risk decisions.
You can use the interactive version right away in any browser—no installs, no sign-ups:
Try the 100-Point Startup Scorecard
What the Scorecard Measures
Moats (15 points)
Durable advantage comes from data, distribution, and trust. Proprietary data sets make products smarter and harder to copy. Strong distribution lowers acquisition costs and lets you launch at scale. Trust—brand, reliability, security, and compliance—keeps customers from churning when competitors knock.
Pricing (15 points)
Pricing is strategy, not a sticker you slap on later. Good pricing signals who the product is for, aligns with positioning (premium vs. mass market), and anchors to outcomes customers value—time saved, revenue gained, risk reduced.
Scalability (15 points)
Every feature must scale economically. If serving 10× more users requires 10× more people, your costs will outrun your growth. Look for one-to-many architectures, automation, self-serve flows, and unit costs that hold as volume rises.
Differentiation (20 points)
Saying “we use AI” isn’t differentiation. Demonstrating outcomes others can’t match is. The most defensible differences come from domain knowledge + unique data, experience that solves core user problems with fewer steps and less risk, and measurable value deltas (hours saved, error reduction, higher conversion).
Team & Leadership (5 points)
Winning teams blend technical depth with go-to-market skill and a track record of execution. You’re looking for hiring ability, stress-tested judgment, and the humility to pivot when data contradicts the plan.
Market Opportunity (5 points)
A growing market lifts good teams. Validate TAM/SAM/SOM, budget expansion, and a clear whitespace where you can win without head-to-head slugfests from day one.
Traction & Progress (5 points)
Evidence of product-market fit—active users, repeat usage, referrals, and real (not pilot-only) revenue. Retention is the loudest signal the product solves a pain that matters.
Regulation & Risk (5 points)
Assess compliance exposure (HIPAA/GDPR/PCI, etc.), data security, and copy risk. Prefer moats that strengthen with scale (network effects, data compounding), not weaken.
Financial Health (5 points)
Runway, burn, and cost structure. Can the company survive the next 12–18 months on realistic plans, not wishful thinking? Hiring and infra costs should map to milestones.
Unit Economics (5 points)
Healthy businesses earn back CAC quickly and keep robust gross margins. Track LTV/CAC, payback period, and how these improve as the company scales.
Execution & Velocity (5 points)
Teams that ship regularly learn faster. Look for clean releases, quick incident response, and a roadmap that hits dates without burning the team out.
Why This Matters (and to Whom)
Founders get a diagnostic mirror. The scorecard helps you see the gaps that will slow fundraising or sales: an afterthought pricing model, a manual-heavy feature that won’t scale, a market story that’s fuzzy on who really pays and why. Fixing these early is cheaper than repairing them post-launch.
Investors gain a comparable view across deals. Instead of scattered notes, you get a structured rating that highlights where conviction is earned—and where you need more diligence. It also becomes a useful artifact to align a partnership around the “why” behind a yes/no.
Operators and advisors get a coaching tool. The single score is handy, but the section subtotals are where the insight lives. You can point a team to the two or three levers that will most improve outcomes over the next quarter.
How to Use It (Fast)
- Open the tool and rate each criterion from 1–5 based on concrete evidence (customer interviews, metrics, demos, contracts, compliance posture).
→ Try the 100-Point Startup Scorecard - Discuss the deltas. Don’t argue about whether the total is 73 or 75. Ask: Which two sections, if we lift by one point each, would most change our trajectory?
- Turn scores into action. A weak Differentiation score? Tighten the wedge: clarify the use case, harden the outcome metrics, sharpen the UX. Fragile Unit Economics? Revisit packaging, raise price to value, or reduce cost-to-serve via automation.
- Re-score monthly or per milestone. It’s not a one-time exam; it’s a continuous calibration of what’s working.
What “Good” Looks Like
- 85–100: Excellent. Durable moats, validated pricing, scalable architecture, and proof of fit. Double down and scale responsibly.
- 70–84: Strong. Clear strength with fixable gaps. Focus on 1–2 leverage points (often pricing and unit economics).
- 55–69: Moderate. Don’t scale yet. Prove retention, refine positioning, and de-risk costs.
- 40–54: Weak. Too many unknowns; experiment in smaller, faster loops.
- 0–39: High Risk. Reframe the problem or the target customer before adding features.
Common Pitfalls the Scorecard Surfaces
- “AI as a label.” Replace the buzzword with repeatable, superior outcomes and data advantages competitors can’t access.
- Pricing as an afterthought. It should be designed with the product. If price doesn’t map to value, adoption or margins will stall.
- Manual heroics. Hand-holding your first logos is fine; building your model on manual work isn’t. Automation is the path to healthy unit economics.
Your Takeaway: Test It on a Real Company—Today
Frameworks only become useful when you apply them. Take 10 minutes to score:
- your own startup,
- a portfolio company, or
- a well-known product you admire.
You’ll leave with a single number you can track over time and a shortlist of high-leverage improvements to pursue next.
Ready to try it?
➡️ The 100-Point Startup Scorecard