Evaluating an AI idea before you raise
The six dimensions investors actually score — and how to pressure-test your AI idea against them, for free, before you walk into the room.
Good ideas die from weak cases, not weak merit
Plenty of strong AI ideas never get funded — not because they're bad, but because the founder couldn't show, on the dimensions investors actually weigh, why this one wins. The fix isn't a better pitch deck. It's pressure-testing the idea against the same framework a sharp investor would use, before you ever walk into the room.
The six dimensions investors actually score
- Problem–Solution Fit — is the pain real, acute, and poorly served? (Jobs-to-be-Done, Thiel's 7 Questions)
- Market Potential — is the opportunity big enough to matter? (TAM/SAM/SOM, comparable exits)
- Business Model — do the unit economics work? (LTV:CAC, payback, pricing)
- Competitive Moat — will it stay defensible as it grows? (Hamilton Helmer's 7 Powers)
- Go-to-Market — what's the credible path to first revenue? (ICP, first-10-customers, channels)
- Build Feasibility — can it be built, and at what cost? (tech stack, unit cost at scale)
What they're really listening for
Underneath the frameworks, investors are asking three quiet questions: Is this a real, urgent problem? Can this team win it? And if it works, will it stay won? An idea that scores honestly across the six dimensions answers all three — and an idea that can't is far better to find out about now than after a bruising raise.
Walk into a raise knowing exactly where your idea is strong, and where it isn't.
Pressure-test it free
Our free Startup Lab scores your AI software idea across all six dimensions, using these frameworks, and helps you turn the analysis into the case investors expect. When it's ready to build, our incubator can build it with you. Start here.
