How VC can fix their portfolios
Venture losses are not caused only by a flawed investment thesis at entry, but by insufficient scrutiny after the capital is deployed.
Investors often shift attention to new deals, fund activity, and broader portfolio demands, while founders continue to shape the narrative through updates and board materials. The result is that some growth can mask more serious issues underneath.
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Meet us at Startup Grind 2026
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Meet us at Startup Grind 2026
* Meet us at Startup Grind 2026 * Meet us at Startup Grind 2026
Our Methodology
Startup IQ partners with investors and founders to validate the foundational assumptions that determine whether a startup is ready to scale.
Our methodology is built around five critical “Fits”: Founder - Problem Fit, Customer - Problem Fit, Problem - Solution Fit, Product - Market Fit, and Business - Revenue Model Fit. Collectively they reveal the true health of a venture beneath its surface-level traction.
Three Services
Purpose: Give VCs a structured, independent assessment of where a prospective investment stands across all five fits before committing capital.
Purpose: Provide investors with an ongoing diagnostic layer that flags when a portfolio company’s foundational fits are weakening—before those weaknesses show up in lagging financial metrics.
Purpose: Help portfolio managers identify recurring patterns across its portfolio to strengthen future investment decisions and operating playbooks.
Engagement Model
Review founder story, target customer assumptions, pain-point evidence, product narrative, positioning, commercial motion, pricing logic, and early traction signals.
Pressure-test the company through the Five Fits framework. Score each fit, conduct relevant research, identify gaps, and isolate root causes of any performance issues.
Return a concise assessment report of where the company is aligned, where it is weak, and what actions should come next. Present to the investors and startup leadership and/or Board.
Contact us
Interested in working together? Fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly. We can’t wait to hear from you!
Michael Queralt | michael@startup-iq.com
(914) 450-0879
Jack Nolan | jack@startup-iq.com
(917) 509-8171