What Counts as Traction at the Earliest Stage

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Traction at the earliest stage is rarely revenue or scale. Evaluators often look for evidence that the team is learning quickly and moving toward validated behavior.

Early traction is often qualitative

  • consistent user conversations with clear insights
  • repeated patterns in feedback
  • pilot commitments or active usage in a small group

Why traction is stage-dependent

What counts as traction depends on what is realistically measurable at your stage. Evaluators usually prefer honest signals over forced numbers.

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