In October 2026 I reflected on common metric misrepresentations I see in founder pitches and investor communications, detailing strict definitions and verification steps.
A customer is someone who has actually handed over money.
Run rate is your average taken out linearly over 12 months, not your best days.
Big Name Investor is in the round.
The number of customers in their deck was different from the number on their website.
Trust starts at 100% and only goes down from there.
These definitions feed into my October LinkedIn posts where I apply a metric verification checklist, automated scrapers, and a trust ledger.