Every project going into our hands is different. And there are a lot of them! Deciding on which ones should be looked into with further inquisitiveness and, later, which should be eventually shortlisted for the community voting, calls for employing some standards. With years of experience in scouting for, analysing and accelerating startup projects, we’ve decided to build our own system, seeking inspiration for it in a reporting methodology known in project management as RAG (from: red, amber and green).

RAG reporting is essentially a traffic light system that tells you that ‘red’ statuses are not good, ‘amber’ statuses signal caution and ‘green’ ones mean that everything is alright.

The system is simple and intuitive, and colours can be assigned to either fixed measures or threshold scores. In our case we came up with 11 selection criteria, listed below. Each of them has its own KPI, providing context to the presented data. And finally a measurement threshold is defined, which determines whether the report’s figures, for a given project, are assigned a red, amber or green colour for an instant visual assessment.

Here are the 11 evaluation criteria, presented together with all available statuses. Please note also that some of the criteria are interconnected, with certain dependencies between them (e.g., for a Customer Traction criteria to be in green, a previous one – Go To Market – has to be of the same colour).

1. TEAM

Criteria:	Explanation:
Proven ability to attract new team members	There is a proven ability to expand the operational and executive team. More people are attracted by the project idea and stay engaged because of the founders’ vision, ideals, added value, higher cause etc.
Complete team	Main (executive) positions are covered.
Leadership team incomplete	One (or more) of the early stage executives is missing.

2. PAIN POINTS

Criteria:	Explanation:
Quantified (time / money)	The team not only managed to identify a need but also knows how much time and money their prospective customers lose by using other products/solutions (or not using any).
Qualified	The team is able to define a problem (after conducting i.e. surveys).
Assumed	The pain points are only assumed.

3. VALUE PROPOSITION 

Criteria:	Explanation:
Proven value exchange	There are first customers (either paying ones or just testing) using the product on a recurrent basis.
Quantified (TCO + ROI)	The team can provide information covering customer acquisition costs and product development costs. This is related to an expected revenue.
Assumed / Qualified	The team is able to describe why someone should use their product/service.

4. PRODUCT

Criteria:	Explanation:	Conditions:
Completed	The product is validated by customers.	Pain Point (s) and Value Proposition in green, Customer Traction in yellow.
Beta	The beta version of the product is developed and tested by a number of (test) users.	Pain Point (s) and Value Proposition in yellow.
Specified	The product specification is defined, however not put into work (not operating) yet. Mockups, wireframes, tech specs or product specs are ready.	Pain Point (s) and Value Proposition in yellow.

5. GO TO MARKET

Criteria:	Explanation:	Conditions:
Executing	The team approaches and interacts with customers. There are paying customers.	N/A
Defined	The team has defined a go-to-market strategy and the product is in a testing stage (testing by a small number of users).	Value Proposition in green, Product and Customer Traction in yellow.
None	There is no defined plan to approach prospect customers.	N/A

6. CUSTOMER TRACTION

Criteria:	Explanation:	Conditions:
Exponential, provable and sustainable growth	Number of customers grows from one period to another at a good rate.	Go To Market in green.
Paying /non-paying customers	There is a certain number of customers using the product on a recurrent basis (either paying or testing/providing feedback).	Product in green.
No customers	No customers yet.	N/A

7. FINANCIAL TRACTION

Criteria:	Explanation:	Conditions:
Sustainable growth	Number of paying customers grows from one period to another at a good rate.	Go To Market in green.
Minimal growth	There is a certain number of paying customers using the product on a recurrent basis (either paying or testing/providing feedback).	Product in green.
No/few customers	No customers yet or the monthly revenue level is low..	N/A

8. BUSINESS MODEL

Criteria:	Explanation:	Conditions:
Scalable, repeatable & profitable	There is evidence of a business model working successfully (the project makes money, scales up, etc.).	N/A
Defined	The team has defined a strategy to make the project idea profitable. It is currently in a testing phase, with some test users involved.	Customer Traction in green.
Undefined	There is no precisely defined business model.	N/A

9. COMMUNITY

Criteria:	Explanation:
>10k followers	Across all channels.
2-10k followers	Across all channels.
<2k followers	Across all channels.

10.  REVENUE CAPITAL ECOSYSTEM

Criteria:	Explanation:
Defined added value	There is a well defined scenario of value added by the project to the RevCap Ecosystem (e.g. by cross selling actions).
Potential added value	There is a potential value added by the project to the RevCap Ecosystem (e.g. by cross selling actions) though it is not quantified/KPI’ed.
Not defined /Difficult to define	It is difficult to establish any added value to the RevCap Ecosystem for the time being.

11. COMPETITION

Criteria:	Explanation:	Conditions:
Sustainable differentiation	Providing great and hard-to-replicate value proven by a track record.	Customer Traction in green.
Differentiated(differentiation points identified)	Product differentiation points are defined though not validated.	N/A
Undifferentiated	Product differentiation points are not defined.	N/A