You describe the idea, what you can put behind it, and what you're actually good at. Merit grades it live across seven weighted dimensions and emails you the full evaluation — scored against you specifically: your skills, your hours, your budget. The same idea grades differently in different hands.
THE FORMULA
final score = Σ ( weight × dimension score / 10 ) → out of 100
each dimension scored 1–10, then weighted
THE SEVEN DIMENSIONS
WEIGHTS SUM TO 100
THE VERDICT
Merit is deliberately calibrated so that most ideas land in the 50s and 60s. A score above 85 is rare enough to mean something — if every idea scored 85, the number would be worthless. The tool will tell you something you don't want to hear, with reasons pulled from your own submission.
SCORE ANCHORS — WHAT EACH BAND MEANS
THE RULES
When a dimension sits between two scores: absence of proof rounds up, active harm rounds down. Not having validated yet is normal. Math that can't work is not.
Skill Fit is graded strictly against your stated skills, weekly hours, and budget. If the idea needs a team and you have five hours a week, the score says so — and says why.
If you've already shipped part of it, Merit never grades you as if starting from zero. Ease of Launch and Speed to First Sale account for the work by name.
No generic feedback. Every justification must point at something specific in your submission — your claims, your numbers, your constraints. If it could be pasted under another idea, it's rewritten.
Any dimension scored 6 or below must end by naming the cheapest concrete action that would raise it. Below 65 overall, the summary ends with the single change that would most raise the grade. The score is a measurement, not a verdict on you.
WHAT ARRIVES IN YOUR INBOX
The grade, the verdict, all seven dimensions with their reasoning, two to three genuine strengths, the real risks, and one specific action to take this week.