Categories
Founders often expect programs and investors to publish clear evaluation criteria. In practice, criteria are frequently implicit, partially defined, or applied differently depending on stage and context.
Why criteria stay implicit
- Context changes: what matters depends on stage, cohort, and constraints.
- Comparative decisions: criteria evolve as reviewers compare startups.
- Operational limits: formal criteria can slow down review at scale.
What founders should do instead
Rather than guessing hidden rules, founders can focus on reducing ambiguity across core dimensions: problem clarity, market understanding, team coherence, and signals of learning.
Conclusion
When criteria are not explicit, the best strategy is to be consistently understandable and easy to evaluate across the most common dimensions.