# Business Scoring System When you bring an existing business and want to know where to grow next, IdeaTwister scores every growth opportunity 0 to 10 across five commercial dimensions built for a company that already has customers, channels, and revenue. The question is not "can this reach the first dollar?" but "how much does this add on top of what you already have, and how realistic is it for your team?" Every opportunity passes through an honest audit that assigns these scores using live market research. The final **Confidence Score** is a blend of all five dimensions, rounded to one decimal place, and always matches the Composite row in the per-opportunity score table. > If you are a founder bringing one new idea, see the [founder scoring system](/docs/scoring/founders). The five dimensions there reward cold-start speed instead of reuse, on purpose. --- ## The five business dimensions 1. **Revenue Expansion.** How much new revenue can this add on top of what the business already makes? 2. **Customer Demand.** How strong is demand from the customers this opportunity targets? 3. **Distribution Leverage.** How much can this reuse your existing reach (your base, channels, partners) instead of paying for cold acquisition? 4. **Execution Complexity.** How simple is this to pull off with the team and tools you already have? A higher score means simpler. 5. **Competitive Risk.** How well can you defend the position once you win it? A higher score means safer. Two of these read in the "good" direction even though their names sound like problems: a high **Execution Complexity** score means the opportunity is simpler to run, and a high **Competitive Risk** score means the position is safer to hold. The headline Confidence Score blends all five into one number, re-balanced to your stage, revenue, and team. The internal weighting is part of the engine and is not something you set. --- ## Score distribution Scores spread roughly across the **4.0 to 9.0** band on a typical run. Weak opportunities land in the 4 to 5 range; strong, high-conviction opportunities land at 8+. The headline score is an honest discriminator across the board, not a number that parks everything near 7. | Score range | Bucket | What it means | |-------------|--------|---------------| | **7.0 – 10.0** | High Conviction | Promoted to your Top Picks, the opportunities worth backing first. | | **5.0 – 6.9** | Risky | Viable but needs validation of a specific assumption before you commit budget. | | **0.0 – 4.9** | Reject | Significant problems on one or more dimensions. | --- ## 1. Revenue Expansion **The question:** How much new revenue can this add on top of what you already make? Rewards opportunities that grow the top line meaningfully, not ones that just shuffle existing revenue around. | Score | Signal | Example | |-------|--------|---------| | 9–10 | A large new revenue line or a step-change in pricing power. | "A new tier your top 20% of accounts have already asked to pay for." | | 7–8 | A clear, sizeable lift to an existing line. | "Add an annual plan that lifts average contract value 30%." | | 5–6 | A modest add, real but incremental. | "A small add-on a slice of customers will take." | | 3–4 | Marginal revenue, mostly reshuffling what you already earn. | "Repackaging the same features under a new name." | | 0–2 | No credible new revenue. | "A feature customers expect for free." | --- ## 2. Customer Demand **The question:** How strong is demand from the customers this opportunity targets? Checks that the people this opportunity is aimed at actually want it, with evidence, not a hunch. | Score | Signal | Example | |-------|--------|---------| | 9–10 | Customers are actively asking for it or already paying elsewhere for a workaround. | "Top accounts keep requesting this in renewals." | | 7–8 | Strong signals: support tickets, churn reasons, competitor traction on the same need. | "We lose three deals a quarter for missing this." | | 5–6 | Some demand, mixed or untested across the base. | "A few customers mentioned it; most have not." | | 3–4 | Thin demand, mostly your assumption. | "We think they would use it if we built it." | | 0–2 | No real demand signal. | "Nobody has asked, but it sounds nice." | --- ## 3. Distribution Leverage **The question:** How much can this reuse the reach you already have? The biggest advantage an existing business has over a startup is its base. This rewards opportunities that ride your current customers, channels, sales motion, and partners instead of buying cold traffic. | Score | Signal | Example | |-------|--------|---------| | 9–10 | Sells almost entirely into your existing base or channels. | "Upsell to current customers through the account team you already have." | | 7–8 | Mostly reuses existing reach with light new effort. | "Same audience, one new partner intro." | | 5–6 | A blend of existing reach and new acquisition. | "Half from current customers, half from new ads." | | 3–4 | Mostly cold acquisition into a new audience. | "A new segment you do not currently touch." | | 0–2 | Entirely cold, no leverage from what you have. | "A brand-new market with no warm path in." | --- ## 4. Execution Complexity **The question:** How simple is this to pull off with the team and tools you already have? A higher score means simpler. Rewards opportunities you can ship without a reorg, a new hire wave, or a long build. Higher is simpler and safer to commit to. | Score | Signal | Example | |-------|--------|---------| | 9–10 | Ships in weeks with the current team. | "A pricing change and a landing page." | | 7–8 | A focused project, no new hiring. | "A small feature your existing engineers can build." | | 5–6 | A real project that stretches the team. | "Needs a quarter and some reprioritizing." | | 3–4 | Heavy lift: new skills, tooling, or headcount. | "Requires a team you do not have yet." | | 0–2 | A major build or operational overhaul. | "A new product line from scratch." | --- ## 5. Competitive Risk **The question:** How well can you defend the position once you win it? A higher score means safer. Checks whether a rival can simply copy the opportunity the moment it works. Higher means the position is safer to hold. | Score | Signal | Example | |-------|--------|---------| | 9–10 | Hard to copy: your data, relationships, or workflow lock-in protect it. | "Built on proprietary usage data only you have." | | 7–8 | Defensible for a while through brand or focus. | "A niche you own that incumbents ignore." | | 5–6 | Copyable with effort; a head start matters. | "Rivals could follow in a couple of quarters." | | 3–4 | Easily matched once it shows results. | "Any competitor can add the same tier." | | 0–2 | Instantly copyable, no protection. | "A discount anyone can match next week." | --- ## Worked example One growth opportunity scored across the five dimensions: | Dimension | Score | |-----------|-------| | Revenue Expansion | 9.0 | | Customer Demand | 8.0 | | Distribution Leverage | 8.0 | | Execution Complexity (higher = simpler) | 7.0 | | Competitive Risk (higher = safer) | 6.0 | | **Composite (Confidence Score)** | **7.6** | The Composite is the headline Confidence Score shown on the opportunity card, and the highest-scoring opportunity becomes your recommended next opportunity to back. --- ## Important notes ### Relative scoring Scores are relative to your business: your stage, revenue, and team. A 10 for a $1M company is different from a 10 for a $10M one. ### The Red Flag rule Even with a high average, any single dimension scoring below 4.0 is a Red Flag worth fixing before you commit budget. ### Honest weaknesses Every opportunity includes a short Weaknesses section naming two specific places it is genuinely fragile. Read it before you back the opportunity. High scores do not mean no risk.