Business model and traction
Strategy, value proposition, revenue model, and milestones.
The Pre-Mortem Insights model
A distinctive Narrative + Numbers model born from doctoral research.
One standardized framework connects founder narrative, measurable evidence, company documents, historical failure pathways, and human review. The research base is informed by 700 startup histories.
Confidential. Human-reviewed. No failure score.
The method is standardized; the insight is bespoke.
Every startup is reviewed through the same core structure and six connected diagnostic areas. This gives programme and portfolio teams a consistent view while conclusions, priorities, and actions remain specific to each company.
Four evidence streams, connected by human review.
No single source decides the outcome. Reviewers examine where evidence agrees, conflicts, or remains incomplete.
Founder narrative
Strategy, assumptions, decisions, dependencies, concerns, and possible failure pathways.
Financial and operating evidence
Funding, runway, revenue, spending, acquisition activity, investor concentration, customer indicators, and performance direction.
Supporting documents
Company records that support, challenge, or leave uncertainty around the narrative and numbers.
Historical pathways
Relevant patterns drawn from 700 startup histories, including historically comparable businesses in the same or adjacent market, industry, or business-model context.
Six connected diagnostic areas
Product and technology
Solution–market fit, technical risk, and readiness.
Market and external conditions
Industry dynamics, competition, and external change.
Customer and commercial
Customer needs, go-to-market, retention, and sales motion.
Team, operations and governance
People, execution capability, controls, and decision rights.
Financial history
Funding, runway, unit economics, and performance context.
A dashboard, report, and action plan built for one startup.
Standardized analysis does not mean generic conclusions. Each output reflects the startup’s own narrative, financial history, documents, market context, and evidence quality.
Context for decisions—not a prediction.
Historical similarity does not mean two startups will follow the same outcome. Pre-Mortem Insights does not calculate a probability of failure, provide a guarantee, or replace professional advice. It identifies relevant pathways, evidence gaps, protective factors, and practical actions for human consideration.
Explore the model · Join the free pilot
The method is standardized; the insight is bespoke.
Every startup is reviewed through the same core structure and six connected diagnostic areas. This gives programme and portfolio teams a consistent view while conclusions, priorities, and actions remain specific to each company.