Distinguish facts from beliefs
Customer statements are useful, but observed behaviour, time invested, signed pilots, and payment usually provide stronger evidence.
Idea validation scorecard
Startup idea score calculator
Assess the evidence behind your idea and identify the assumption that deserves your next validation experiment.
- Free to use
- Runs in your browser
- No details saved
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Enter your assumptions
Score what you know today. Lower scores help prioritise learning; they do not automatically mean the idea is bad.
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Score what you know today. Lower scores help prioritise learning; they do not automatically mean the idea is bad.
How to use this tool
Use the output as a decision prompt
A scorecard does not predict startup success. It separates assumptions so founders can see whether confidence comes from customer evidence, personal excitement, market stories, or actual behaviour.
Rate the current evidence conservatively. The tool weights customer evidence, problem severity, and distribution more heavily than ease of building. Use the lowest material dimension to design the next interview, landing-page test, concierge service, pilot, or pre-sale experiment.
Method and interpretation
What the calculation is designed to show
Score the current version
Evaluate the customer and offer you can describe today. Do not give credit for a future pivot that has not been tested.
Convert gaps into experiments
Choose the smallest responsible test that can change your confidence in the riskiest assumption.
Useful applications
When this tool can help
Revisit the calculation when assumptions or evidence change. Keep the inputs with the result so another founder or adviser can understand the reasoning.
- Prepare customer discovery
- Compare two idea directions
- Prioritise validation experiments
- Review an accelerator application
- Discuss an idea with a co-founder
- Track evidence as the concept changes
Questions and limitations
Understand what the result cannot decide
What score means I should build the startup?
No score makes that decision. Higher scores suggest stronger reported evidence, while lower scores show where learning is needed. Consider personal goals, risk, ethics, capital, and professional obligations as well.
How should I rate customer evidence?
Use lower ratings for opinions and compliments, middle ratings for repeated observed pain or active trials, and higher ratings for credible commitments, repeated usage, or payment.
Can I compare different ideas?
Yes, if you use the same evidence standard. The comparison is most useful for deciding what to test next, not declaring one idea certain to win.
How often should I update the score?
Update it after meaningful new evidence: customer interviews, experiments, pilots, pricing tests, technical discoveries, or distribution results.
Turn analysis into a founder conversation
Build the company with someone who complements you.
Create your profile and meet founders who can challenge the assumptions with you.
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