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YouNoodle Predicts the Future of Early-Stage Startups With New Valuation and Ratings Technology
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Startup Predictor(TM) Forecasts Growth and Manages Risk for Early-Stage Companies
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- YouNoodle, the online platform for
the global entrepreneurial community, today introduced Startup Predictor(TM),
the first technology that analyzes data on early-stage startups and generates
a scientific prediction of the companies' future outcomes, as well as the
first standardized score for pre-funded startups.
The first version of Startup Predictor has been made publicly-available
and is a free Web-based service that allows entrepreneurs, investors and other
startup supporters to enter information about early-stage companies through an
online test. Users receive an estimate of the startup company's valuation in
three years, as well as a "YouNoodle Score" -- a number similar to a credit
rating, based on a 1,000-point scale, that gauges the feasibility and promise
of the company's future.
After taking the free online test, users will also be matched with other
YouNoodle members determined by the YouNoodle search engine to be of value to
that particular startup company -- potential employees, advisors, journalists,
service providers, business partners and more.
"This is the first time technology has been used to help manage risk and
predict growth for early-stage companies," says Bob Goodson, CEO and
co-founder of YouNoodle. "For more established companies, quantitative,
systematic decision-making for investors is standard -- using
technology-driven credit rating services such as Moody's and Standard &
Poor's. But until now, no similar system has existed for companies in their
earliest stages."
Startup Predictor uses a sophisticated and patent-pending algorithm that
evaluates a number of variables, including backgrounds of the founders and
advisors, business concept and team dynamics. Users must input details about
key team members or advisors, relationships between team members, current or
future products, patentable technology, and any capital invested by the
founding team.
To determine the information needed to generate an accurate and reliable
score, YouNoodle's development team studied thousands of current and past
startups, using both publicly available and proprietary data, to determine
patterns of predictive factors for early-stage companies' success.
"We learned that a company's DNA -- the fundamental things that can
strongly influence its future success -- is generally formed in the very first
days that the company is in business," says Kirill Makharinsky, co-founder of
YouNoodle, who led the development of the mathematical algorithm behind
Startup Predictor. "Our technology analyzes data based on those early
days -- going back to the pure concept and the bones of the business built by
the founders. Our research has proven that the patterns in the data we
measure from those days can be surprisingly prophetic about how a company will
perform in the future."
Calibrated specifically for companies that were founded recently and have
not yet received capital investments in its first version, Startup Predictor
is the first in a series of decision-making tools YouNoodle plans to introduce
for the startup industry, including predictive tools for later-stage
companies.
"Recent scientific findings in the field of social network analysis have
allowed us to accurately measure and quantify the social network of a team and
its individual team members," says Rebeca Hwang, a Ph.D. candidate from
Stanford in Social Network Theory, and Director of Network Strategy and
Development at YouNoodle. "The precise composition and position of the
startup founding team within the social graph have both been shown to offer
significant insights on the startup's potential for success."
After taking the Startup Predictor test, users can print an official
certificate to prove the startup's predicted valuation and YouNoodle Score.
"As entrepreneurs seek seed and early-stage investments in their startup
companies, we believe Startup Predictor's results and YouNoodle Score will
become a core part of the pitch," says Goodson. "In 2007, VCs and angels
invested more than $67 billion in cash in startups in the United States
alone -- decisions made subjectively, without any kind of standardization to
the process. Our sophisticated technology will provide a baseline, based on
powerful data, to change the way those decisions are made."
YouNoodle members can take the online Startup Predictor test at
http://www.younoodle.com. YouNoodle site registration and the first version
of Startup Predictor are both free.
About YouNoodle
YouNoodle develops innovative ways to bring together the information,
people and technology that help startups succeed. The company provides an
online networking platform for entrepreneurs, investors, journalists, service
providers, technologists and others devoted to the startup ecosystem.
Recognizing that some of the world's most groundbreaking startups came from
university communities (where all of YouNoodle's founders began their
careers), YouNoodle also serves as a platform for so far 50 of the world's top
university entrepreneurship clubs and competitions, encompassing 40,000
members and 1,700 startups. Additionally, YouNoodle develops decision-making
technology software and tools for the startup community.
http://www.younoodle.com
SOURCE YouNoodle
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