The Questionnaire tab collects the qualitative facts about your company: the team, the business model, the market and your IP. Your answers are the main input to the Scorecard method and the Checklist method, and a few also shape the VC method and the two DCF methods. Until the questionnaire and your financial projections are both complete, the dashboard shows a valuation range instead of a single figure, and you cannot generate a valuation report.
How is the Questionnaire organised?
It has four sections, each with a button in the top bar: Team (questions 1 to 10), Business Model (11 to 16), Product and Market (17 to 32) and IP and Legal (33 to 37). Three follow-ups appear only when relevant: 15a (number of advisors), 17a (Calculations Country, a similar country used when yours is not in Equidam's full country data) and 34a (Year of incorporation, once a legal entity exists).
Question 18 (product category) and the closing Just three more questions (A, B and C) do not affect your valuation.
Which answers feed the Scorecard method?
The Scorecard method starts from the average pre-money valuation of early-stage companies in your country and scores you on six criteria:
Strength of the team: questions 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10.
Size of the opportunity: your total addressable market (TAM, question 22) grown for 3 years at the question 23 rate, international expansion (29), and a revenue forecast from Financials.
Strength and protection of the product: questions 20, 31, 36 and 37.
Competitive environment: questions 24 to 28.
Strategic relationships: partners (32).
Funding required: the amount you plan to raise, from your funding data.
TAM is optional, but if you leave it empty the market-size score is zero. For question 36 you can tick several IP types; only the highest-scoring one counts.
Which answers feed the Checklist method?
The Checklist method starts from the maximum valuation for early-stage companies in your country and assigns part of it to five criteria:
Quality of the core team: questions 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10.
Quality of the idea: questions 21, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31.
Product roll-out and IP protection: questions 20, 36 and 37.
Strategic relationships: questions 15, 15a, 32 and 35, plus the shareholder types in your cap table.
Operating stage: development stage (13) and breakeven (14).
Shareholder types now come from Current Shareholders in SAFEs & Ownership, and saving the questionnaire does not overwrite them.
Which answers reach the VC and DCF methods?
Development stage (question 13) sets the default method weights and VC method discount, both editable in Advanced Settings. Country (question 17, or the Calculations Country) also sets the DCF survival rates. Industry (19), employees (6), development stage and company age (from the year of incorporation) set the beta behind the discount rate (WACC).
For question 19 you can click Identify with AI, describe your company in up to 700 characters and click Suggest Industry. You choose from up to 6 suggestions.
What counts as a complete questionnaire?
The questionnaire counts as complete once questions 1, 3 to 7, 9, 12 to 16, 20, 21, 24 to 31 and 37 are answered. You need at least 1 founder; zero employees is valid. A question's number is highlighted while it has no valid answer, and Show only unanswered hides everything you have answered.
While it is incomplete, Equidam fills the gaps with values from your first estimate. Generate report stays disabled with the message "Complete your Questionnaire and Financials to generate this report."
How do AI pre-filled answers work?
If your company came through AI Discovery or Document Upload, answers the AI supplied carry a Pre-filled by AI badge. A coloured dot shows high, medium or low confidence. Click Confirm to record that you checked it; if you change the answer, the badge disappears. Confirming does not change the value and is not needed for completeness. The AI does not decide your valuation; the methods do, from the answers you save.
Limits
You can save only after your first estimate is complete.
Nothing is saved until you click Save questionnaire. Leaving with unsaved changes opens a Data not saved dialog with Exit without saving.
Questions 6 and 33 (year started) are required to save, and so is the year of incorporation once you say a legal entity exists. Both years must be no later than the current year.
After a save, the bar shows your updated pre-money valuation, or "The calculation resulted in a negative valuation" with steps to check.
Common questions
Do I have to answer every question?
No, but empty answers are filled from your first estimate, so the result reflects those estimates rather than your own data.
I changed an answer and the valuation did not move. Why?
Questions 18 and A to C do not feed any method, and the result only updates after you click Save questionnaire.
Where did the question about investor types go?
It moved to SAFEs & Ownership, where the shareholders you add feed the Checklist method.