A polished pitch is a useful first look, not proof that a company has a durable business. Evaluate what you saw by separating demonstrated facts from founder assertions, then test the company on eight questions: Is the problem painful and specific? Does the product work and differ meaningfully? Is the market reachable? Does the team have an unusual right to win? Do customers use and keep it? What alternatives are they replacing? Can the business acquire customers profitably? And will the proposed funding produce measurable risk-reducing milestones?
TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield criteria are a sensible starting lens: ambitious early-stage companies, differentiated products, meaningful problems, early traction, thoughtful execution, market understanding and founders with relevant experience and insight. Those are selection criteria for a program, not a universal investment formula or an independent verification of any company you saw at Disrupt.
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What a TechCrunch Disrupt pitch can—and cannot—tell you
A stage presentation reveals how clearly founders understand their customer, product, market and plan. A live demonstration may show that a feature worked at that moment. It can also expose whether the team answers difficult questions directly or hides behind broad claims.
It does not, by itself, establish customer retention, the accuracy of a market-size estimate, revenue quality, financial statements, legal status, intellectual-property ownership, customer references, regulatory compliance or the terms of a possible investment. Event selection and confident stage presence are not independent evidence of those matters. Treat a compelling pitch as a reason to investigate, not as a substitute for investigation.
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TechCrunch’s current Startup Battlefield guidance describes an application process that can involve up to four review rounds. The current program page says the event may feature 200 companies and a $100,000 equity-free prize; those figures are page-specific and should be checked against the edition you attended. They describe the program, not the prospects of an individual startup.
Use a three-pass evaluation instead of a gut reaction
Pass one: capture claims while the pitch is fresh
- Write down exact claims. Record the customer named, the problem, the product promise, every traction number, the market figure, the amount sought and the milestones promised. Do not paraphrase a percentage or convert a pilot into a paying customer.
- Label each statement. Mark it as demonstrated (you saw a working action), evidenced (the founder supplied a metric or document), asserted (a claim without supporting detail) or unknown. This prevents the emotional high of a good presentation from becoming an accidental fact.
- Note what was omitted. Missing information is not automatically a failure, especially for a very early company, but it tells you what to ask next.
Pass two: test the business model
Work through the eight sections below. Ask the same core questions of every startup you are comparing and keep the company’s stage in mind. A pre-revenue company should not be judged by the same evidence threshold as one claiming millions in recurring revenue, but both should be clear about what is known and what remains an assumption.
Pass three: verify company-specific evidence
Request a product walkthrough outside the scripted demo, speak with customers when appropriate, and ask for definitions behind every metric. Check that the legal entity, ownership of critical technology, stated pricing and fundraising terms are internally consistent. If the founders will not provide reasonable evidence for a claim central to the investment case, downgrade confidence rather than filling the gap with optimism.
1. Problem and customer: identify a painful, specific job
Define the user and economic buyer
Ask the founders to name the person who experiences the problem, the person who approves a purchase and the person who uses the product. In a consumer company those roles may be one individual; in enterprise software they often are not. “Businesses” or “everyone with a smartphone” is not a customer definition. You want a reachable first segment with a shared need, budget and buying process.
Measure severity and frequency
Find out how often the problem occurs, what it costs in money, time, risk or lost opportunity, and what happens when the customer ignores it. A frequent annoyance with no budget can be less valuable than a monthly problem that triggers a large, unavoidable expense. Ask for a recent example from a real customer rather than accepting only a large abstract problem statement.
Understand the current workaround
Customers already use something: a competitor, an internal tool, spreadsheets, email, agencies, manual labor or a decision to do nothing. Ask what the customer does today, what it costs and why that approach has not been replaced. The answer reveals both urgency and the switching barrier.
Evidence to request
- Interview notes or a description of how many target customers were observed.
- Paid orders, signed letters of intent, renewal data or a waitlist with a clear conversion plan.
- A before-and-after measure tied to the problem, such as hours saved or error rates reduced.
- Examples showing that the same pain exists beyond one unusually enthusiastic design partner.
Be cautious with “the market is huge” language when the company cannot explain which customer has the problem, how that customer pays and why the issue is urgent now.
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Separate a demonstration from a product
TechCrunch’s Battlefield application guidance calls for a functional minimum viable product and a demonstration showing it in action. That is a useful baseline, but a scripted demo can conceal manual work, incomplete integrations or a feature that is not ready for ordinary users. Ask which steps are automated, which are performed by staff, what happens with bad input and how long deployment takes.
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Describe the difference in customer terms
“Uses artificial intelligence,” a lower price or a prettier interface is not automatically durable differentiation. Ask which measurable outcome is better than the incumbent alternative and why a customer would switch now. The answer might be a workflow that was previously impossible, materially lower total cost, much faster implementation, a trusted distribution channel or proprietary data generated through use.
Check adoption friction
Clarify installation, integration, training, data migration, security review and procurement requirements. A product can be technically impressive yet commercially weak if a buyer needs a year-long implementation for a low-value use case. Ask how many customers reached the promised “aha” moment and how long that took.
Look for a path to defensibility
Early startups may not have patents or a large data advantage, and that is not automatically a problem. Look for a credible path: compounding usage data, a difficult-to-replicate process, network effects, exclusive access, deep customer workflow integration, regulatory approvals or a brand trusted by a specific community. Distinguish a present advantage from a future hope.
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3. Market and ambition: turn a headline number into a reachable plan
Ask how the market number was built
Request the assumptions behind total addressable market, serviceable market and the initial segment. A top-down figure based on an entire industry does not show that this startup can reach those buyers. A bottom-up estimate should identify the number of plausible customers, expected annual spend and a realistic adoption rate.
Match ambition to entry point
TechCrunch looks for companies that could reshape an industry or create a category, but a large ambition still needs a narrow first wedge. Ask which geography, vertical or use case the company will win first, why that segment is accessible and how expansion follows from the initial product. A plan that names every industry at once usually has not made a prioritization decision.
Stress-test timing and constraints
Determine whether adoption depends on a regulatory change, a platform policy, a hardware supply chain, a new technical standard or a temporary event. Ask what happens if that assumption is delayed by a year. The strongest plans identify dependencies and show a version that can progress without perfect conditions.
4. Team and founder-market fit
Identify the specific right to win
TechCrunch says it examines founders’ experience, insight into the problem and why they are uniquely positioned to build the company. Ask for the concrete connection: years operating the workflow, a technical breakthrough, access to a difficult customer group or prior experience navigating the relevant regulation. “Passion” is valuable, but it is not a substitute for capability or learning speed.
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Find the missing capabilities
List the functions needed over the next 12 to 18 months—product, engineering, sales, security, operations, finance or regulatory expertise—and identify who owns each one today. A candid plan to hire a missing leader is stronger than pretending the gap does not exist.
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Examine working dynamics and incentives
Ask how the founders divide decisions, what happens when they disagree and whether key technical or customer knowledge is concentrated in one person. Confirm that founders are committed for the long term and understand their equity, vesting and board arrangements before treating the team as stable.
5. Traction and execution: define the metric before admiring it
Use the right evidence for the stage
Traction can mean different things at different stages. A prototype company may show repeated use by a small design cohort and rapid learning. A launched product should be able to discuss activation, retention, conversion and support load. A mature revenue story should include recurring versus one-time revenue, gross retention, net retention, concentration and collection.
Interrogate every number
For each metric, ask:
- What is the precise definition?
- What period and customer cohort does it cover?
- Is it measured, estimated or self-reported?
- What was the baseline and what changed?
- How many customers are included, and how many stopped using the product?
Separate usage, pilots, revenue, retention and signed commitments. A pilot may be unpaid and temporary; a signed contract may include a cancellation condition; revenue may come from one unusually large customer. TechCrunch’s 2023 pitch-deck guidance places traction among the highest-priority sections and asks whether a measure demonstrates success or is merely vanity.
Look for execution velocity and learning
Ask what the team shipped in the last quarter, which assumption was disproved and what changed as a result. Consistent learning from customer evidence can matter more than a single impressive but unexplained growth percentage. Seek cohort-level trends rather than a cumulative total that grows simply because time passes.
6. Competition and alternatives: include “do nothing”
Ask the founders to name direct companies, adjacent products, internal tools, manual processes and the option of leaving the problem unsolved. TechCrunch’s official guidance is explicit: “Saying you have no competitors is a red flag.” A founder who can describe alternatives accurately is more likely to understand the buyer’s decision.
Build a customer-choice comparison
| Alternative | What the customer gets | Why the customer might switch | What could block switching |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct competitor | A similar product and established workflow | A measurable improvement in outcome, price or speed | Existing contract, trust or feature parity |
| Internal tool or manual work | Control and customization | Lower labor cost, fewer errors or faster delivery | Migration effort and loss of control |
| Adjacent product | A partial solution bundled into another purchase | Better results for the specific use case | Convenience of the existing bundle |
| Do nothing | No new spending or disruption | Problem cost becomes too high to ignore | Low urgency or no budget owner |
Test the claimed moat
Ask what a well-funded incumbent could copy in six months, what customers would lose by leaving and what evidence shows the advantage is increasing. “First to market” is a lead, not a moat. A credible answer ties defensibility to a process, distribution position, data asset or switching cost that is visible in customer behavior.
7. Business model and go-to-market
Trace money from buyer to company
Clarify who signs, who pays, what is included, how pricing is calculated and whether revenue is recurring. Ask about gross margin, implementation fees, usage overages, refunds and payment timing. If the product is free, identify the event that converts a user into revenue and the evidence that the conversion can repeat.
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Determine whether the company sells through founders, a direct sales team, partners, marketplaces, a community or self-serve distribution. Ask for the sales cycle, decision-maker, average contract value, conversion rate and expected acquisition cost. Early estimates are acceptable when clearly labeled as assumptions; presenting them as proven economics is not.
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Check repeatability
A founder personally closing five customers is evidence of demand and founder-led selling, not proof that a sales organization can close 500. Ask what part of the motion is documented, which channel has produced the best customers and whether retention supports continued acquisition spending.
8. The ask, use of funds and milestones
Connect dollars to risk reduction
Ask how much the company is raising, on what instrument or terms if disclosed, and what the money will fund. “Hire engineers and grow” is incomplete. A useful plan links spending to milestones such as a validated retention threshold, a production launch, a regulatory approval, a repeatable sales channel or a specified number of paying customers.
Test the runway and next financing point
Request the planned monthly burn, runway under the base case and the assumptions that would shorten it. Then ask what evidence must exist before the next round or break-even. A milestone should change the company’s risk profile, not merely increase activity.
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Look for contingency planning
Ask what the team will cut if revenue arrives later, a key hire slips or a channel underperforms. A founder who can explain the downside plan demonstrates operational control. The proposed amount should be enough to reach the stated milestone without relying on an uncommitted future round.
Compare two pitches on identical, stage-aware axes
When two companies appear similar, use one worksheet for both. Record facts, assertions and unknowns separately; do not turn a private scoring system into an objective TechCrunch or investor rating. The sources describe evaluation questions, not a validated numerical scale.
| Axis | Questions to answer | Evidence to record |
|---|---|---|
| Problem | How severe and frequent is the pain, and who pays? | Customer examples, cost of status quo, urgency |
| Product | Does it work, and what is materially different? | Live workflow, automation level, switching benefit |
| Traction | Are customers using, paying and staying? | Cohorts, retention, revenue quality, pilots versus contracts |
| Market | Is the entry segment reachable and expandable? | Bottom-up assumptions, channel access, timing risks |
| Team | Why this team, and what capability is missing? | Relevant experience, roles, hiring plan |
| Competition | What alternatives control the buyer’s budget? | Named rivals, internal processes, do-nothing choice |
| Go-to-market | Can acquisition and sales repeat economically? | Cycle length, pricing, channel, acquisition assumptions |
| Funding plan | What milestone will this capital achieve? | Amount, use of funds, runway, measurable next proof point |
Keep the comparison fair: a pre-launch company may have strong problem evidence but no retention data, while a later-stage company should be held to a higher standard for revenue quality and repeatability. “Not yet measured” is different from “measured and weak.”
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Red flags that deserve a follow-up, not an automatic verdict
- No competitors. The company has probably defined competition too narrowly or has not studied customer behavior.
- One giant market figure. Ask for the calculation, reachable segment and assumptions.
- Unqualified growth percentages. Request the base, period, cohort and absolute numbers.
- Pilots presented as revenue. Establish whether the pilot is paid, renewed and used in production.
- A demo that depends on hidden manual work. Ask what a normal customer experiences without founder intervention.
- Feature lists without an outcome. Tie each capability to a customer result and willingness to pay.
- Vague use of funds. Demand a link between spending and a measurable milestone.
- Founder defensiveness about definitions. Disagreement is normal; refusing basic clarification is a credibility problem.
- Concentration risk. A single customer, platform, supplier or founder may account for most of the value.
None of these signals proves failure. They tell you where verification has the highest expected value.
Questions to ask after the event
Customer and product
- Which customer used the product most recently, and what did that customer replace?
- What part of the workflow still requires manual intervention?
- What is the most common reason a trial does not convert or a customer churns?
Traction and economics
- How do you define an active user, paying customer and retained customer?
- What were the figures at the beginning and end of the stated period?
- How much revenue is recurring, and how concentrated is it?
Market and competition
- Which segment will you win first, and why can you reach it now?
- What does a buyer use if your product is unavailable?
- What would an incumbent copy, and what would remain difficult to copy?
Team and capital
- Which capability must be hired next?
- What exact milestone will this round fund, and what happens if the next round is unavailable?
- Which assumption, if wrong, would invalidate the plan?
How to interpret TechCrunch’s published guidance
TechCrunch’s 2023 article, “Where founders go wrong with pitch decks,” describes 21 items its author checks when evaluating a deck and groups several as high- or medium-priority sections. That list is useful for organizing questions about problem, product, traction, market, competition, business model, team and funding. It is not a statistical model, a promise of selection or a substitute for company-specific diligence.
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The official “About Startup Battlefield” guidance emphasizes ambitious early-stage companies with differentiated products, meaningful problems, early traction, thoughtful execution, market understanding and relevant founder experience. It also considers external signals such as advisers, investors and other supporters. Those signals can provide context, but they are not proof that a company has verified revenue, sound governance or a good investment price.
Use the program’s criteria to ask better questions, then make your own evidence-based judgment. A startup can fit the event’s editorial goals and still fail to find product-market fit; another can be commercially sound while being a poor fit for a stage competition.
Financing context: what a pitch cannot explain by itself
If the conversation moves from evaluating the business to evaluating an investment, you also need to understand dilution, liquidation preferences, pro-rata rights, option pools, board control, information rights and exit scenarios. A presentation rarely contains enough detail to assess those terms. Review the actual term sheet and obtain qualified legal and financial advice before committing capital.
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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteVenture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist, fourth edition (2019), by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson, is a general reference on venture-capital fundraising, deal structure, term sheets and negotiation. Wiley describes that scope, and the author’s books page lists the edition. It can help explain financing vocabulary; it is not a TechCrunch-endorsed pitch rubric and does not replace diligence on a particular startup. Verify the edition and current availability before buying.
A compact decision record
After each pitch, write a one-page record before speaking with other attendees. Start with the company’s precise customer and problem, then list the strongest evidence, the most important unknown and the single follow-up that could change your view. Add the product’s switching advantage, the best and worst traction interpretation, the principal competitive threat, the acquisition assumption and the milestone funded by the ask.
Finish with a conditional conclusion: “I would investigate further if the company can verify X; I would pass if Y is confirmed.” This format keeps enthusiasm useful while preserving the distinction between a promising presentation and a proven business.
Bottom line
Evaluate a TechCrunch Disrupt pitch as a structured first conversation. Start with the customer’s painful, specific problem; verify that the product works and is meaningfully different; examine stage-appropriate traction; test the reachable market, alternatives and go-to-market economics; assess the founders’ right to win; and connect the funding ask to measurable milestones. The best pitch is not the one that creates the strongest immediate feeling—it is the one that leaves the fewest important claims unsupported and gives you a clear path to verify the rest.
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