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Six lessons, each one you can touch.

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Lesson 1 of 6

Present this lesson

Two questions, not one

Investment Quality is business substance. Funding Readiness is process preparedness. A company can be strong at one and weak at the other. Sort the six statements.

Does the team have the skill to build this?
Is the cap table clean and documented?
Is the market large and growing?
Could a data room survive diligence next week?
Do customers pay and renew?
Is there a target investor list and a sized raise?

Framework reference

What is Elevent Index?

Elevent Index is a startup assessment framework by Dr. Bitan Ghosh that separates Investment Quality—the substance of a business—from Funding Readiness—its preparation for the fundraising process. This Academy introduces the framework through free lessons and illustrative, dimension-level scoring exercises.

Source: Elevent Index: From Pitch Deck to Investment Decisions by Dr. Bitan Ghosh. Visit the official Elevent Index website.

Investment Quality Score (IQS)

IQS assesses business substance across 11 dimensions. Each dimension uses evidence to answer a specific question.

Founder and Leadership Strength
Can this team execute, learn, and hold together under pressure?
Market Opportunity Assessment
Is the market large, reachable, and genuinely changing?
Product and Innovation Strength
Does the product solve a real problem in a defensible way?
Business Model Viability
Does each unit of revenue eventually pay for itself?
Financial Strength
Do the numbers show discipline, runway, and honest forecasting?
Competitive Positioning
Why does this company win against the alternatives?
Customer and Growth Indicators
Is there evidence that customers pay, stay, and refer?
Governance and Compliance
Are ownership, controls, and regulation under control?
Operational Readiness
Can operations absorb the growth the plan assumes?
Investment and Exit Potential
Is there a credible route to a return for this investor?
Future Sustainability Index
Will the business still be healthy after the next round?

Funding Readiness Score (FRS)

FRS assesses fundraising preparation across five dimensions, separately from the quality of the business itself.

Financial Readiness
Are books, models, and metrics investor-grade?
Legal and Governance Readiness
Is the cap table clean and the paperwork in order?
Fundraising Strategy Readiness
Is there a target list, a narrative, and a raise sized to the plan?
Due Diligence Readiness
Could a data room survive an investor audit tomorrow?
Transaction Readiness
Can the team negotiate terms and close without chaos?

How is Capital Readiness Score calculated?

CRS = (7 × IQS) + (3 × FRS). IQS and FRS use 0–10 scales; CRS uses a 0–100 scale. The weighting gives 70% to investment quality and 30% to funding readiness.

The 5 × 5 Capital Readiness Matrix reads IQS and FRS together, not just the combined number. Its five bands are Very Low, Low, Moderate, High, Very High. A high score does not guarantee funding, replace due diligence or constitute a certified assessment.

How do startup maturity stages affect scoring?

Stage-specific dimension weights change what is expected at each of the five maturity stages. Choose the stage before interpreting results.

  1. 1. Idea / Pre-Seed

    Evidence is thin. Judge the founder and the problem, not revenue.

  2. 2. MVP / Pilot

    Early product signals matter more than financial polish.

  3. 3. Early Revenue

    First paying customers. Revenue quality and repeatable delivery matter.

  4. 4. Growth

    Unit economics, governance and repeatability gain weight.

  5. 5. Scale-Up / Pre-IPO

    Mature expectations. Weak controls cannot hide behind momentum.

Read the plain-text framework reference