Data room readiness score.
The readiness score adds up weighted yes or no answers on the nine document sets investors check most, with the cap table, IP assignments and monthly financials weighted highest. A startup with six of the nine in place, missing customer contracts, employee files and security documents, scores 75 out of 100.
Readiness score out of 100
75
- Items in place
- 6
- Items still to do
- 3
Indicative result from the numbers you enter. Not financial, tax or legal advice.
How it is calculated.
- Each yes earns its weight: cap table 20, IP assignment 15, monthly financials 15, customer contracts 10, board consents 10, metrics pack 10, employee documents 10, security policies 5, folder index 5.
- The weights add up to 100, so the score is the sum of the weights for every item answered yes.
- Any value of 0.5 or more counts as yes; anything lower counts as no.
Worked example.
Six of nine items in place
| Step | Working |
|---|---|
| Yes answers | Cap table 20 + IP 15 + financials 15 + consents 10 + metrics 10 + index 5 |
| No answers | Customer contracts, employee documents, security policies |
| Score | 20 + 15 + 15 + 10 + 10 + 5 = 75 out of 100 |
| Items | 6 done, 3 to go |
Why the weights differ.
Problems with ownership stop a round; problems with formatting do not. That is why the cap table and IP assignments carry the most weight. An investor cannot wire money until it knows exactly what it is buying and that the company owns its code and brand.
Financials come next, because the price of the round rests on the numbers in the deck. Contracts, people files and policies matter more at Series A and later than at pre-seed, so they carry less weight here.
Reading the score.
Below 50: expect diligence to surface basic gaps; fix the ownership items before you send the deck. From 50 to 80: workable for an early round, with a short list of fixes. Above 80: most early-stage investors will find what they need without chasing you. These bands are our rule of thumb, not an industry standard.
From score to action.
Work the missing items from the highest weight down. Our startup data room checklist breaks each of the nine areas into individual documents and marks the earliest round where investors usually ask for them, so you can see which gaps matter for the round you are raising now.
Common mistakes.
- Answering yes for documents that exist only as unsigned drafts.
- Treating a spreadsheet cap table as reconciled without checking it against every signed grant.
- Skipping contractor IP assignments because the work was done before incorporation.
- Building the room the week a term sheet arrives instead of keeping it current between rounds.