How to Evaluate Startup Founders: Signals That Predict Execution

At seed stage the founder is the investment, which means founder evaluation is most of the job. This post lays out the execution signals, technical depth, and team-building patterns that predict a founder can deliver, plus the red flags that override everything else.

Key stats

40%: Suggested seed-stage team weight in a scorecard (founder quality dominates early-stage decisions)

0: Cost to read a founder's public shipping record (the cheapest founder check available)

350+: Startup orgs in the public panel (a surface for spotting founders who ship)

References

[1] Engineering Acceleration as a VC Deal Flow Signal: SSRN

[2] VC Deal Flow Signal Methodology: GitDealFlow

[3] Y Combinator Startup Library: Y Combinator