> ## 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.
</Note>

# 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

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open /score">
    Head to [app.dacard.ai/score](https://app.dacard.ai/score).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Drop your URL">
    Use your main marketing or product page. Broadest signal coverage.
  </Step>

  <Step title="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").
  </Step>

  <Step title="Read your receipts">
    The maturity report carries your composite, stage placement, dimension breakdown, strengths, gaps, and the next move per dimension.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## 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.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Score 3-5 competitor URLs">
    Drop competitor URLs to get their maturity reads. These run on public signal only.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Compare dimension by dimension">
    Open each report and compare specific dimensions. Where do you lead? Where do they?
  </Step>

  <Step title="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."
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Tip>
  Competitor scores run on public signal only (no adapter data). That makes the comparison fair, you're reading the same evidence surface.
</Tip>

## 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

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Read tensions" icon="scale-balanced" href="/knowledge-base/founder-tensions">
    How people, process, and product tensions shape your growth.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Share your scorecard" icon="share" href="/knowledge-base/founder-share">
    Generate shareable links for investors and board members.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Coach with DAC" icon="message-bot" href="/knowledge-base/ic-coaching">
    Ask DAC to help build an investor-ready improvement narrative.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Benchmark against peers" icon="chart-bar" href="/knowledge-base/leader-benchmarks">
    See how your score reads against companies at your stage.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>