Week 2, Apply · Day 11 of 30
Day 11: Score candidate #3, the wildcard
The unread one, where the framework earns its keep.
Day 11 in one paragraph: Wildcards are the asymmetric bet category. A pre-revenue, stealth-ish, or deeply-technical org is the hardest to read with a gut alone. The composite turns 'unreadable' into a number, and the number gives you a frame for the founder conversation. You will spend about five minutes, end with a concrete artifact, and the whole curriculum stays free at this URL permanently.
Where this day sits in the 30
Week 2 combines the atomic signals into a composite score and runs it against real candidate orgs. Day 11 of 30 sits 37% of the way through, in week 2, apply, one of four one-week phases. This day also carries a bonus exercise for anyone with extra time. Everything in this challenge is built from public GitHub signals, the same data that powers the weekly deal-flow feed, and the day's lesson is worth roughly €89 in equivalent consulting time by the anchoring we use across the curriculum.
Yesterday
Yesterday the obvious one. Today the unread one, and probably the one where you'll feel the framework working hardest.
Why this signal matters
Wildcards are the asymmetric bet category. A pre-revenue, stealth-ish, or deeply-technical org is the hardest to read with a gut alone. The composite turns 'unreadable' into a number, and the number gives you a frame for the founder conversation.
The 5-minute exercise
- 1Open candidate #3 GitHub org. Same six signals.
- 2Be deliberate about signal 3 (dependents) and signal 5 (new repos), those tell the most about a stealth team.
- 3Total composite. Compare to gut.
- 4Write the next-step: pass, second meeting, or watch-only.
What you’re filtering for
A composite score that gives you a defensible reason to take a meeting (or not). 'Score 4/6, asking about hiring plan' is a stronger frame than 'feels interesting.'
Edge case
A wildcard that scores 6/6 is rare but real. When it happens, the second meeting is almost mandatory, the framework just told you something nobody else has surfaced.
Bonus
The wildcard is where the composite generates the most diligence-conversation leverage. The score becomes the question, not the conclusion.
Tomorrow
Tomorrow: compare all three. We'll pull out the signal that pulled the heaviest weight across your candidates, it's usually the one you'd have skipped.
Common questions about day 11
- How long does day 11 take?
- About five minutes of hands-on work against the org you picked on day one. The reading adds another two or three. If you are short on time the exercise alone still delivers the day's point.
- Do I need any tools or paid data for score candidate #3, the wildcard?
- No. Every exercise in the challenge runs on public GitHub data and a browser. The feed that automates the same checks is available, but the curriculum itself is deliberately tool-free so the habit lands before the tooling.
- What if I miss a day?
- Every day is permanent at its own URL, so you can pick up exactly where you stopped. The sequence matters, each day builds on the previous one's artifact, but the pace is yours. Many people run the 30 days across six or seven weeks instead of four.
Curriculum: /challenge · Methodology: /methodology · Paper: ssrn.com/abstract=6606558