Methodology
How Proof Lab scores an idea — and what the score does not mean.
The Idea Readiness Score reflects the strength of an idea's current evidence and strategic readiness. It is not a probability of success, an investment recommendation, or a guarantee that the business will work.
Weighted dimensions
Weights adapt to business type, stage, funding strategy, market category and the evidence available. If a dimension cannot be assessed, it is marked “Not Enough Evidence” and excluded — never scored as zero.
Problem Severity
12%Frequent, costly problem reported across independent sources.
Customer Evidence
12%Founder assertions and small survey; no committed buyers yet.
Market and Timing
12%Growing category with regulatory tailwinds.
Solution and Value Proposition
10%Clear value statement; differentiation vs. incumbents is narrow.
Differentiation and Defensibility
10%Switching costs low; no proprietary data moat identified yet.
Distribution and Growth
10%Acquisition channel unproven; CAC assumptions unverified.
Business Model and Economics
10%Unit economics modelled, not yet observed in operation.
Founder-Market Fit
8%Relevant domain background; limited operating track record.
Execution Feasibility
8%Technical scope is achievable; hiring plan is optimistic.
Risk, Regulation and Ethics
8%Material regulatory ambiguity in target markets.
Score bands
- 80–100Strong Evidence Signal
- 65–79Promising, With Important Questions
- 50–64Material Assumptions Remain
- 35–49Weak Supporting Evidence
- 0–34Fundamental Issues to Resolve
We never conclude with “good idea” or “bad idea” alone.
Evidence confidence
- AStrong direct evidence
- BCredible supporting evidence
- CLimited or indirect evidence
- DMostly founder assertions
- UInsufficient information
Evidence levels
- 1Assertion
- 2Reasoned Hypothesis
- 3Secondary Evidence
- 4Primary Evidence
- 5Customer Evidence
- 6Operating Evidence
The evaluation pipeline
Start Evaluation
Capture the idea, website or pitch plus the outcome you want.
Website Analysis
Audit positioning and content, respecting robots.txt — no bypassing.
Research Planner
Decide which questions need answering and which sources to trust.
Research Agent
Gather cited public evidence with metadata.
Source Auditor
Check recency, independence and source quality.
Independent Lens Analysts
Apply each founder and investor framework separately.
Red-Team Analyst
Steelman the case against the idea.
Bull-Case Analyst
Steelman the case for it.
Consistency Auditor
Reconcile conflicting findings across passes.
Score Aggregator
Combine weighted dimensions into a score with a range.
Experiment Generator
Propose the cheapest tests that resolve the biggest unknowns.
What we never claim
- • “This idea has an 84% chance of success”
- • “[Investor] approves this idea”
- • “[Accelerator] would fund this”
- • “Investor approved”
Instead we say: strong evidence signal, promising but unproven, important assumptions remain unresolved, framework-informed assessment.
Run your own evaluation