The Proofscaling Standard, v0.2
Prove your venture on quarterly data.
Proofscaling is a shared, typed vocabulary for proving a venture on quarterly data. It is to ventures what schema.org is to web content. It is the alternative to Blitzscaling for companies that prove traction rather than outrun scrutiny.
The contrast
Blitzscaling outruns scrutiny. Proofscaling invites it.
Blitzscaling
- Raise on story.
- Outrun scrutiny.
- Chase one large outcome.
- Speed over proof.
Proofscaling
- Report on data.
- Invite scrutiny.
- Prove as you go.
- Proof over speed.
What a founder does with it
Four moves, one screen.
- 01
Pick your dimensions.
Five base types. Use the ones that describe your venture. Ignore the ones that do not.
- 02
Report the same shapes every quarter.
One Proof Cycle covers every dimension you report. Same form each time, so a reader can compare quarter to quarter.
- 03
Adopt a fund's Domain Thesis by consent.
Pin it by content hash. You and the fund read the same shapes for the term of the agreement. That is a Pinned Thesis.
- 04
Keep your proof portable.
One vocabulary across funds, quarters, and rounds. Your proof is citable, and it travels with you.
The vocabulary
Five Proof Dimensions.
Form
How the venture measures and discloses: assurance, timeliness, and completeness.
Playbook
What the venture committed to, and how binding the commitment is.
Conversion
What the venture delivered against what it declared.
Streak
How long and how consistently the venture has reported.
Stats
What the venture reports directly, beyond its filings.
Say it plainly
Proofscaling is a practice. The Standard is how you do it. The Screen is how anyone can see that you did.