Key takeaways
- Assess fit per criterion, with the evidence for each.
- Unknown means a question to ask, not a reason to reject.
- Fit, evidence quality and diligence readiness are different readings.
Assessing thesis fit criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Rule | Observed | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage | Pre-seed or seed | Raising a seed round (slide 12) | Met |
| Geography | Headquartered in Europe | Lisbon (slide 2) | Met |
| Customer | Sells to businesses | Sells to consumers (slide 4) | Mismatch |
| Revenue | Some paying customers preferred | Not stated in the deck | Unknown |
Why Unknown is not Mismatch
Early decks leave out many facts. A screen that treats every gap as a failure rejects companies for what founders didn't think to include. Turning Unknown into a question for the founder keeps good companies in play and gets the fund the fact it needs.
Thesis fit in Delsivo
Thesis screening, planned for the Pilot release, records for each criterion the rule, the observed value, a rationale and the source, with the result Met, Mismatch or Unknown. Mismatch is surfaced for review and never rejects a company on its own. Thesis fit, evidence quality and diligence readiness are shown separately, and overriding a result needs a written reason.
Common confusions
- Thesis fit versus quality: fit says whether the fund should look; it says nothing about whether the company is good.
- A fit score is not a decision. People decide what happens next.
- Fit depends on the thesis version. Re-screening after a thesis change can change the result.