> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dacard.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Score your product for investor conversations

> Get investor-ready receipts and capability positioning in minutes.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Investors increasingly read capability maturity as a differentiator. A Dacard.ai score gives you defensible receipts: where you sit on the maturity ladder, where your moat shows up, and which lever moves the needle next.

# Score your product for investor conversations

As a founder or CEO, you want to score your product so you have defensible positioning for investor conversations, board updates, and strategic planning. A score is an objective, framework-grounded read on where your product sits on the maturity ladder.

## Why investors care

Investors are evaluating capability maturity as a core differentiator. A score gives you:

* **Objective positioning:** where your product sits on the Foundation-to-Compounding ladder
* **Defensibility evidence:** specific dimensions where your moat shows up
* **Growth-lever read:** the highest-impact moves to invest in next
* **Benchmark context:** how you read against peer companies at your stage

## Score your product

**1. Open /score**

Head to [app.dacard.ai/score](https://app.dacard.ai/score).

**2. Drop your URL**

Use your main marketing or product page. Broadest signal coverage.

**3. Teach DAC (recommended)**

Hit **Add context** and drop a brief read: what your product does, who it serves, your company stage ("Series A, 12-person team, developer tools for ML teams").

**4. Read your receipts**

The maturity report carries your composite, stage placement, dimension breakdown, strengths, gaps, and the next move per dimension.

## Frame your score for investors

### If you land Foundation or Building (27-70)

Normal for pre-seed and seed companies. Frame it as:

* "We've surfaced exactly where our capability gaps sit and we have a prioritized plan to close them."
* "Our scoring shows strength in \[top dimensions], which lines up with our core differentiation."
* "We're investing in \[specific gap areas] this quarter and expect to move to Scaling by \[timeline]."

### If you land Scaling (71-91)

Strong read for Series A and early Series B. Frame it as:

* "Our capability maturity places us in the top tier for our stage."
* "We have systematic process across \[strong functions] and we're actively building \[growing functions]."
* "Our cross-framework read shows team capability and product capability moving together."

### If you land Leading or Compounding (92-135)

Exceptional at any stage. Frame it as:

* "Our maturity places us in the top tier of the ladder, meaning capability is deeply integrated across our product, team, and business model."
* "Our data flywheel is active: every user interaction improves the product."
* "Our operations maturity matches our product maturity, signaling sustainable execution."

## Score your competitors

One of the most powerful founder use cases is scoring competitor products.

**1. Score 3-5 competitor URLs**

Drop competitor URLs to get their maturity reads. These run on public signal only.

**2. Compare dimension by dimension**

Open each report and compare specific dimensions. Where do you lead? Where do they?

**3. Build your positioning narrative**

Use the comparison: "We score 3 on data flywheel where our primary competitor scores 1. Our data engine is 18 months ahead."

> [!TIP]
>
> Competitor scores run on public signal only (no adapter data). That makes the comparison fair, you're reading the same evidence surface.

## Key receipts for investor decks

Pull these from your Dacard.ai reports.

| Metric | Where to find it | How investors read it |
| - | - | - |
| Composite stage placement | Top of maturity report | Quick positioning signal |
| Function averages | Dimension breakdown section | Balanced vs. lopsided capability |
| Strengths (top 3) | Strengths section | Evidence of differentiation |
| Score trajectory | Dashboard (with re-scoring) | Improvement momentum |
| Competitive comparison | Side-by-side scores | Relative positioning |

## What's next

> **[Read tensions](https://docs.dacard.ai/knowledge-base/founder-tensions.md)**
>
> How people, process, and product tensions shape your growth.

> **[Share your scorecard](https://docs.dacard.ai/knowledge-base/founder-share.md)**
>
> Generate shareable links for investors and board members.

> **[Coach with DAC](https://docs.dacard.ai/knowledge-base/ic-coaching.md)**
>
> Ask DAC to help build an investor-ready improvement narrative.

> **[Benchmark against peers](https://docs.dacard.ai/knowledge-base/leader-benchmarks.md)**
>
> See how your score reads against companies at your stage.


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