Verified

Audit Standard v2.1

The methodology behind every LaunchScore.

Five pillars. Twenty points each. A four-stage pipeline of automated checks, AI review and manual verification, then continuous monitoring. Published in full so creators can interrogate it and founders can prepare for it.

Verified

What the score answers

"Would a creator feel safe partnering with this founder?"

Not "is this app technically perfect?" Not "is this venture-backable?" The LaunchScore score is about partnership reliability - the specific question a creator silently asks before they ever hit reply.

The audit pipeline

Five stages. Roughly 48 hours. No shortcuts.

01
Submission
Founder submits domain, government ID, payout proof, repository access, and the partnership terms they'll offer creators. Required - no partial audits.
02
Automated analysis
We run synthetic uptime probes, security header scans, dependency CVE checks, public-footprint enrichment, and processor-status checks against the submission.
03
AI review layer
Models read the codebase, terms of service, partnership contract and public history to surface contradictions, missing trust factors, and category-specific risk.
04
Manual verification
A human auditor verifies founder identity on a live call, contacts at least two prior creators (where applicable), and signs off the final pillar scores.
05
Public profile published
Result is published as a permanent, versioned Trust Profile with the full pillar breakdown, badges, and a shareable link the founder can use in outreach.

The five pillars

Twenty points each. Earned, not assumed.

Each pillar is a checklist of objective signals plus a manual review. Points are deducted - not awarded - so an unverified profile starts at zero and works upward.

01 · 20 pts

Product Reliability

Does the product actually work for a real user, today?

Uptime over the last 30 days (synthetic monitoring)
Average response time and JS error rate on key flows
Onboarding success - can a new user reach the core value?
Support response time and ticket resolution rate
Mobile and accessibility baseline (WCAG AA spot checks)

02 · 20 pts

Founder Credibility

Is there a real, accountable person behind this product?

Government-ID verification of the named founder
Company registration cross-checked against the domain owner
Long-form public history (LinkedIn, GitHub, prior products)
Reachable contact channel and named legal entity
No unresolved fraud, chargeback or dispute history

03 · 20 pts

Partnership Fairness

Are the terms a creator would actually accept?

Rev-share rate vs category benchmark
Attribution window length and tracking method
Exclusivity, non-compete and content-control clauses
Termination rights and ownership of created content
Plain-language summary published on the trust profile

04 · 20 pts

Business Viability

Will this business still exist in 12 months to pay creators?

Revenue model clarity (subscription, usage, one-off)
Confirmed paying customers and rough retention signal
Payment processor in good standing (Stripe / Paddle / similar)
Banking entity matches the registered company
Refund and chargeback rate within healthy bounds

05 · 20 pts

Security & Risk

Would partnering with this product expose the creator's audience to harm?

Valid SSL, security headers, no exposed admin surface
Privacy policy, terms of service and data-handling disclosure
Third-party AI / data processors disclosed
Static codebase scan - dependency CVEs and secret leakage
Content-policy alignment and audience-safety risk review

Scoring bands

Four bands. One decision per band.

90-100

Verified Partner

Institutional-grade reliability. Proven payouts and continuous monitoring.

75-89

Strong Candidate

Stable product, transparent founder, clean partnership terms. Safe to engage.

60-74

Early but Promising

Valid concept and verified founder. Limited partnership history - proceed with smaller commitments.

Under 60

High Risk

Incomplete data, weak verification, or unresolved risk signals. We recommend creators decline.

Verification badges

The signals creators look for first.

Verified Revenue

Confirmed paying customers reviewed by our team against processor reports.

Verified Payouts

Past creators independently confirm they were paid the agreed amount on the agreed schedule.

Creator Recommended

Endorsed by audited creators in the network after a completed partnership.

Governance

LaunchScores must keep being earned.

Continuous monitoring

Verified Founder profiles are re-scanned weekly. Material drops in uptime, security or payout signals trigger an automatic re-review.

Dispute & takedown

Creators can raise a verified dispute against any profile. Substantiated reports update the score within 5 business days and are recorded in the version history.

Independence

Founders pay for the audit. They do not pay for the score. We publish the result whether it's flattering or not - including in the High Risk band.