Bill Payne · 2011
Scorecard / Bill Payne
Bill Payne, an Angel Capital Association member, formalised the weights. The method is fundamentally an adjustment against a regional anchor — strong anchor selection matters more than the weights.
Best for
Pre-revenue startups compared against a regional pre-money median anchor.
Formula
Adjusted pre-money = Regional median × Weighted score (factors 1-7)Inputs needed
- Regional median pre-money for similar startups
- Strength of management team (30%)
- Size of opportunity (25%)
- Product/technology (15%)
- Competitive environment (10%)
- Marketing/sales channels (10%)
- Need for additional investment (5%)
- Other (5%)
Caveats
- Requires a defensible regional median anchor — Carta / PitchBook published medians are the cleanest source
- Subjective weighting on each factor (typically 0.5× to 1.5×) introduces material variance
- The 30/25/15/10/10/5/5 weights are Payne's defaults; adjust by industry if defensible
Source
↗ https://www.venionaire.com/startup-valuation-payne-scorecard-method/Verified 2026-06-03.
Other methods