Because the Fluency Score process is longitudinal, measuring the speed and focus of work, it can measure innovating companies from Day 1 all the way through Series A, and is vertical agnostic. If a company is innovating their business model, the Fluency Score can quantify and illustrate that risk.

However, it’s important to note that each Fluency Score measures a single business model. Some companies are an umbrella for two business models — for example, a consulting business and a direct to consumer e-commerce business. In that case, our clients often chose to measure the business model which promises to be the future of the company, or perhaps the one with the most potential to scale. Measuring both business models is also something we do, as that’s simply two separate scores. In these cases, two scores keep the risk factors clearly separated for the business entity to make smart decisions that further their goals.

The Fluency Score deliberately focuses on product-market fit because 1) PMF contributes to 16 of the top 20 reasons startups fail and 2) it’s the factor entrepreneurs have the most control over. PMF is something that can be managed and optimized. Bringing data and more objectivity to this critical element is a huge win for startups and the innovation industry. k.

The algorithm is focused on product-market fit on purpose, to bring clarity and objectivity to an area of business development that is often the source of the greatest risk in an early stage company. We recognize there are other very important elements in evaluating a company that are outside of the focus area of this tool.

Half of the Fluency Score is measuring the Velocity with which the team is de-risking their business model assumptions (the speed they are executing at and to what extent they are focusing on their riskiest assumptions). This Velocity data is often a very clear window into the team’s execution strategy and is a great way to visualize/measure team performance as well. Not exactly the same thing as grit/experience, but definitely in the same category.

A Fluency Score is a snapshot in time that can be used for diagnostic purposes, not a set-in-stone final output. In fact, a score should change over time! The only way to improve a Fluency Score is to build a better business, derisking the business model in fast and focused ways.

Clients who order a single Fluency Score for a company see enormous value in that single report. However, more than one score shows the true power of this data tool.

Multiple Fluency Scores for a company start to draw a trend line for that company, illustrating their progress and tracking how inflection points (programming, resources, investment) impact them.

We recommend multiple Fluency Scores because businesses are constantly growing and evolving. Some clients choose to order pre- and post-program scores. Others prefer to set a cadence of scores quarterly to be able to communicate company progress with third-party objective data.

Because scores are a snapshot in time they are no longer “fresh” after three months. The measure of business model risk should change in that amount of time.

Many data tools trying to solve for similar problems either scrape data or rely on self-reported data. Scraped data is too lightweight and contains too many vanity metrics. It cannot help us understand product-market fit in rich ways, nor can it accurately (or even at all) measure what’s happening in early-stage companies. Self-reported data can be overly optimistic, or simply. It can also bias against founders who are not steeped in the language of the startup industry..

Innovative businesses are most often asked to pitch a vision of a future state they hope to create. The vision is important, but often masks the reality – and the risks – inherent in that approach.

The Fluency Score takes an objective approach to measuring what is already built, already known and de-risked about the business as a counterpoint and reality check to the pitch.

Innovation industry experts know how to reliably and predictably build entrepreneurial success. They use best practices in design thinking, lean startup methodology, and agile frameworks.

The Fluency Score incorporates these best practices into the algorithm’s core measurement and reporting.

Our standardized qualitative data collection process asks jargon-free questions that will nots urprise you as a supporter of entrepreneurs, as they are based on a logical progression of de-risking a business model in the market with customers.

What has this business learned in its journey to product-market along the following vectors: Problem-Customer Validation, Solution and Market Demand, and Growth Strategy?

Our proprietary algorithm quantitizes (yes, it’s a word!) over 300 data points to produce a single, standardized, numerical score and a visualization of how that risk breaks out.

To complete a Fluency Score, a founder answers questions online (no prep needed!). The time needed varies based on the maturity of the company, but is less than 30 minutes.

Founders love talking about the work they’ve already done to derisk their business. So often as an industry we ask them to pitch what their business will become, which requires the art of storytelling. But the Fluency Score isn’t interested in that narrative. Rather, it evaluates what is true about the business as it is right now — a snapshot in time of what has been derisked in the market with customers. And founders love to share what they already know about their company’s product-market fit!

Getting started is easy! All we will need are the email addresses of the companies for which you are ordering scores. 

De-risking a business model in the market with customers, at every step, is the basis for the Fluency Score. 

Return to vectors that have “gaps” and think of those as opportunities to really move the needle for the company. What is still unknown in that area, and how can you push ahead with high quality learnings from customers to continue to resolve your business model assumptions.

There are lightweight recommendations in each Fluency Score report to help you kick off strategic thinking about how to do that work. 

Also in the platform, founders will find a place to take the riskiest assumption, as identified by the Fluency Score, and design a lean experiment to test that assumption in the market with customers! We call this the Fluent Lean Experiment system (FLEX). Acceleration for your company, the work of designing lean experiments to rapidly de-risk your business model will be the focus of your weekly work with our coaches. 

The need for the Fluency Score came out of our founder Beth McKeon’s work leading 20 startup accelerator cohorts. As she sought to iterate on tailored, focused founder support, a system for working founders through the “how” of de-risking a business model emerged. 

The FLEX (Fluent Lean Experiment) Acceleration program brings value to founders by helping them de-risk their business model in fast and focused ways by combining coaching expertise in weekly sessions with a streamlined platform that organizes founders’ work. 

The FLEX Acceleration program starts with the Fluency Score 1) to provide baseline data for the organization for tracking/reporting and 2) so the coach knows precisely what founders need and can hit the ground running in the very first session, creating a plan within our online platform for how the company will begin to tackle the riskiest assumption in its business model in the very first week.

The FLEX Acceleration program will deliver value to founders week over week. There is no other programming that will keep them accountable to doing the hard work of working on their business model, and for that reason it can stand alone as programming or it’s often an incredible value add to the wrap-around support being provided by entrepreneurial support organizations. For more on this plug and play acceleration including pricing, contact the Fluent team.