How the assay works

The method.

Every idea is read through ten venture lenses. Each lens scores several named sub-criteria, and each gets a verdict and a one-line finding drawn from your idea. Here's what each lens looks for — in plain language.

The verdict scale

Every lens and every sub-criterion lands on one of these.

Holdssurvives scrutiny This criterion is genuinely satisfied — it stands up under pressure.

Weakreal but unproven Plausible, but not yet demonstrated or shaky — a gap to firm up.

Breaksfails under pressure A genuine flaw here — this is what to fix first.

Re-runcouldn't be read The model's output wasn't usable — sharpen the input and re-run.

Overall readiness

The ten verdicts roll up into one of three bands on the gauge.

Early Core lenses break — significant rework needed before it's ready to build or pitch.

Promising A real seed with fixable weaknesses — mostly weak-but-addressable, not broken at the core.

Strong Holds up across the lenses with no broken core — ready to push forward.

The ten lenses

Each lens, what it checks, and the sub-criteria it scores.

PAIN

Problem Quality

Whether the problem is real, unavoidable, and pressing enough that people will act.

Tests Is the problem real and worth solving?

Real Is the pain genuine and significant — not imagined, trivial, or already tolerable?
Unavoidable Must the customer actually face this, or can they sidestep it entirely?
Pressing Does it demand action now, or is it easy to put off indefinitely?
Poorly served Do today's alternatives handle it badly, leaving a real gap?

PULL

Positioning & Timing

Whether customers feel the problem now, and whether you're entering open, ownable space.

Tests Where does the problem sit, and is the timing right?

Felt now Do customers consciously feel this problem today, or is it still latent?
Genuine need Is solving it a must-have, or merely a nice-to-have they can live without?
Open space Is there unowned, defensible positioning here, or is it already crowded?

EDGE

Solution Breakout

Whether the solution is a genuine breakout and hard for others to copy.

Tests Is the solution a true breakout, and is it defensible?

New Is this a real break from how things are done, not just a small improvement?
Disruptive Does the model change the game on cost or access, not just the feature set?
Hard to copy Could a funded competitor clone it quickly, or is it genuinely defensible?

RISK

Risk Register

The dependencies, outside forces, and adoption hurdles that could sink the venture.

Tests What are the risks around the venture?

Dependencies What you rely on (platforms, suppliers, a single vendor) that could change under you.
Outside forces Regulation, market shifts, and other forces beyond your control.
Adoption burden The switching cost, behaviour change, and pushback that slow people down.
Timing Why now — and the cost of being too early or too late.

VALUE

Value-Prop Math

Whether the gain to the customer decisively outweighs the cost of switching.

Tests Does the value clear the adoption bar?

Gain magnitude How large and obvious the benefit is to the customer.
Switching cost The money, effort, and habit-change required to adopt and keep using it.
Decisive margin Whether the gain beats the switching cost by a wide enough margin to overcome inertia.

SEGMENT

Beachhead Segment

Whether there's one reachable group that all shares the same need to win first.

Tests Who is the smallest segment with the same need?

Reachable Can you actually find and reach this group through identifiable channels?
Shared need Do they all share the same need, or is it several audiences bundled together?
Tightly bounded Is it narrow enough to win, rather than a broad market in disguise?

MOAT

Defensible Engine

The one asset you protect and compound so your lead widens over time.

Tests What single asset do you protect and compound?

Differentiation The true, non-commodity essence that sets you apart.
Operations How efficiently you can scale that core advantage.
Relationships Partnerships, supply, and community that widen the ecosystem around it.
Lifecycle value Whether each customer grows more valuable over time so the model compounds.

FRICTION

Ease of Adoption

Whether the product is easy to adopt, quick to prove value, and hard to leave.

Tests Is the product friction-free enough to pull adoption?

Easy to adopt How low-friction it is to start — cost, setup, and effort.
Fast to prove value How quickly a new user sees a real payoff (time-to-first-value).
Hard to leave Whether value and switching cost make people stay once they're in.

MODEL

Business-Model Quality

Whether the business makes money repeatably, scalably, and defensibly.

Tests Will it make money, repeatably?

Repeatable Does the same sales motion work again and again?
Scalable Can it grow without cost rising in lockstep?
Valuable Does each customer generate real, lasting revenue?
Profitable Once true costs are counted, does the unit economics actually work?
Defensible Is the revenue protected from being competed away?

PACE

Funding & Sequence

Whether spending and fundraising are paced to match the market.

Tests How should building and funding be paced?

Paced to market Is spending matched to real market readiness, not ahead of it?
Raise ahead of need Is capital raised before it's urgently needed, staying a round ahead?
Fund the moat Does the money build the defensible core, not just buy short-term growth?

Assay an idea