Investment Readiness Grid
Village Capital VIRAL diagnostic — shared by John Furukawa, OEN
This is where we honestly stand — eight dimensions, ten stages, colored by what's done and what isn't. Every dimension clears the baseline (stage 0); the ladder below shows how far up each one has climbed. Hover or focus any square for the criterion behind it.
| Stage | Team | Problem | Customer | Product | GTM Strategy | Model | Market | Exit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9Exit in Sight | Team · Stage 9 — Not yet reached Team positioned to navigate M&A, IPO | Problem · Stage 9 — Not yet reached Global leader in stated vision | Customer · Stage 9 — Not yet reached Cited as top solution in the industry solving this problem | Product · Stage 9 — Not yet reached Product recognized as top in industry | GTM Strategy · Stage 9 — Not yet reached Clear line-of-sight to industry dominance | Model · Stage 9 — Not yet reached Minimum 2x revenue growth for multiple years | Market · Stage 9 — Not yet reached Strong unit economics for multiple customer segments | Exit · Stage 9 — Not yet reached Growth with exit |
| 8Scaling Up | Team · Stage 8 — Not yet reached Team is recognized as market leaders in the industry | Problem · Stage 8 — Not yet reached Systems-level change validated | Customer · Stage 8 — Not yet reached Multiple low-effort renewals; customers in multiple markets love the product | Product · Stage 8 — Not yet reached Strong customer product feedback in multiple markets | GTM Strategy · Stage 8 — Not yet reached Brand established; hard-to-beat partnerships for distribution, marketing, and growth | Model · Stage 8 — Not yet reached MOM revenue meets industry standard | Market · Stage 8 — Not yet reached Growth of customer base accelerates month-on-month | Exit · Stage 8 — Not yet reached Team has turned down acquisition offer |
| 7Hitting Product-Market Fit | Team · Stage 7 — Not yet reached C-suite as good or better than founding CEO and can stay with company through growth and exit phase | Problem · Stage 7 — Not yet reached Impact is successfully validated | Customer · Stage 7 — Not yet reached Majority of first sales in market are inbound | Product · Stage 7 — Not yet reached Product is built for scale and additional offerings in progress | GTM Strategy · Stage 7 — Not yet reached Sales cycles meet or exceed industry standard | Model · Stage 7 — Not yet reached Business model validated; validation of strong unit economics | Market · Stage 7 — Not yet reached Evidence of strong unit economics across multiple markets | Exit · Stage 7 — Not yet reached Team has strong relationships with multiple acquirers |
| 6Moving Beyond Early Adopters | Team · Stage 6 — Not yet reached Team has proven sales, product dev skills, and management ability to support a growing team for scale | Problem · Stage 6 — Not yet reached Sales validate impact tied to solution and grow as solution scales | Customer · Stage 6 — Not yet reached Sales beyond initial target customers; customers referring product to others | Product · Stage 6 — Not yet reached Complete product with strong user experience feedback | GTM Strategy · Stage 6 — Not yet reached Supply/distribution partners see their success aligned with the company's success | Model · Stage 6 — Not yet reached Sales map to projections; evidence of decreasing CAC with growing customer base buying at target price | Market · Stage 6 — Not yet reached Company has cleared regulator challenges and implementing strong IP strategy | Exit · Stage 6 — Not yet reached Team has identified specific acquirer or other exit environment |
| 5Proving a Profitable Business Model | Team · Stage 5 — Not yet reached Team has clear sales/ops understanding and strategy | Problem · Stage 5 — Not yet reached Evidence of impact tied to solution; the company has evidence that growing the company will solve the problem | Customer · Stage 5 — Not yet reached Target customers love the product and want to keep using it | Product · Stage 5 — In progress Fully functional prototype with commercial product completion in sight Evidence → | GTM Strategy · Stage 5 — Not yet reached Team conversing with strategic partners to capture their market faster/cheaper than competition | Model · Stage 5 — Not yet reached Financial model with evidence of valid projections to reach positive unit economics | Market · Stage 5 — Not yet reached Vision and initial evidence of positive unit economics in two markets | Exit · Stage 5 — Not yet reached Inbound interest from large strategics |
| 4Validation an Investable Market | Team · Stage 4 — Not yet reached Team has clear understanding of how target market operates and has strong industry contacts | Problem · Stage 4 — In progress The company can articulate system-level change — how this solution will transform the industry Evidence → | Customer · Stage 4 — Not yet reached Evidence of differentiation through customer feedback that solution is significantly better than competition | Product · Stage 4 — Complete Team has a clear understanding of product dev costs and how to build initial product cost-effectively Evidence → | GTM Strategy · Stage 4 — Not yet reached Evidence of a $1B+ TAM | Model · Stage 4 — Not yet reached Team has financial model with cost and revenue projections and strategy to achieve them | Market · Stage 4 — Not yet reached Initial evidence that multiple customer types value the solution or something company can do well | Exit · Stage 4 — Not yet reached Evidence of growth trajectory that could lead to IPO, acquisition, or self-liquidating exit |
| 3Solidifying the Value Proposition | Team · Stage 3 — In progress Team has ability to build fully functional product, clear understanding of value chain and cost structures Evidence → | Problem · Stage 3 — Complete The company can articulate why they're the best ones to solve this problem Evidence → | Customer · Stage 3 — In progress Evidence that customers will pay the target price (100x B2C, 5x B2B), multiple convos Evidence → | Product · Stage 3 — Complete Team has built a working prototype and a product roadmap Evidence → | GTM Strategy · Stage 3 — Not yet reached Initial evidence through sales that team can capture initial target market | Model · Stage 3 — In progress Team can articulate projected costs along the value chain and target cost points to reach positive unit economics Evidence → | Market · Stage 3 — Not yet reached Clear strategy to move to multiple markets | Exit · Stage 3 — In progress Initial evidence that the solution already solves the problem better than incumbents Evidence → |
| 2Setting the Vision | Team · Stage 2 — Complete Team has senior members with experience of the problem or deep understanding of customer's problem Evidence → | Problem · Stage 2 — Complete The team can solve the problem and can articulate its vision at scale — what does the world look like when it succeeds Evidence → | Customer · Stage 2 — Complete Team has potential customers who provide evidence that solution solves key pain point Evidence → | Product · Stage 2 — Complete Team has basic low-fi prototype that solves the problem Evidence → | GTM Strategy · Stage 2 — In progress Team understands and has a strategy for any regulatory hurdles for entering the market Evidence → | Model · Stage 2 — Complete Company can point to pricing and similar business models for industry products to validate assumptions Evidence → | Market · Stage 2 — In progress Initial evidence that multiple markets experience this problem Evidence → | Exit · Stage 2 — Complete Vision for growth has company solving large piece of global problem in 10 years Evidence → |
| 1Establishing the Founding Team | Team · Stage 1 — Complete Strong founding team, at least 2 people with differentiated skills Evidence → | Problem · Stage 1 — Complete Team has identified a specific, important, and large problem Evidence → | Customer · Stage 1 — Complete Team has hypothesis for target customer who has problem and wants solution Evidence → | Product · Stage 1 — Complete Team has ability to make low-fi prototype, not blocked by patents Evidence → | GTM Strategy · Stage 1 — Complete Team can articulate TAM, the percentage they will capture, and initial target market Evidence → | Model · Stage 1 — Complete Team has outline of revenue model Evidence → | Market · Stage 1 — Complete Team has identified multiple possible markets or segments and has aspiration to scale Evidence → | Exit · Stage 1 — Complete Team understands what exit is and has a vision for investor ROI Evidence → |
Funding context
- Stages 1–3Friends & Family / Bootstrap
- Stages 1–3Grants for R&D (Hardware)
- Stage 4Angel / Seed Funding Starts
- Stage 5Close Round with Angel + Early VC
- Stage 6Close Institutional VC — 1st Sales, Market Expansion
- Stages 7–8Close Institutional VC — Recurring Revenue + Growth
- Stage 9Acquirers
Village Capital, via John Furukawa (OEN, 2026-04-20). Criterion text is locked from source; only Built2Buy status + notes are editable.