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[Thread] Investing in early-stage startups is notoriously difficult. How can one filter out the gems from the noise? Here is the 7-factor model that I came up with in order to guide my decision-making process 
![[Thread] Investing in early-stage startups is notoriously difficult. How can one filter out the gems from the noise? Here is the 7-factor model that I came up with in order to guide my decision-making process](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/El6QgjJWMAEbujq.jpg "[Thread] Investing in early-stage startups is notoriously difficult. How can one filter out the gems from the noise? Here is the 7-factor model that I came up with in order to guide my decision-making process")
All factors are equally weighted and between 0 and 5 points. After having rated all factors, I get a score out of 100. These are the factors:
Engineering: is this tech a breakthrough, a game-changer? I'm looking for startups with a true engineering culture.
Timing: is now the right time to start this business? Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.
Monopoly: is it targeting a big market share of a small market? Nobody wants competition.
People: Is it the right team? Will this team be able to overcome the constant challenges that startups face?
Distribution: Has the sales strategy been validated by deals? For SaaS startups, this means that I typically wait for the 10K MRR-hurdle to be cleared.
Durability: is the market position defensible in the next 5/10 years? How high are the entry barriers?
Secret: Have they identified a unique opportunity that others don't see? Teams that scratch their own itch often see things because they dig deep into a particular problem.
I discard all startups with a score below 70%. For those above, I follow-up with the founders in order to better understand their vision. I generally invest in <2% of the deals I see. Regarding ticket size, I'm a high conviction investor and concentrate my bets.
I'd be curious to know what professional VCs and active BAs think about my model @yannickoswald @2lr @jdguyot @clemnt @cparraam @tiboel @tanguyles @maguitedetav @al_banban @bartjjj @HugoAmsellem
