# How many years of data do AI labs want? > How many years of data do AI labs want? No lab page states a minimum. Calculators from Troveo and Handshake AI both weight company history. By Matt Burns, Vaultfish. Canonical: https://vaultfish.com/answers/how-many-years-of-data-do-ai-labs-want Published: 2026-07-16 Updated: 2026-10-13 ## The short answer No AI lab states a minimum number of years. Calculators from Troveo and Handshake AI both weight company history. Handshake showed $383,083 to $896,969 for 10 years and 100 staff. These are lead-form formulas. I read the [micro1](/buyers/micro1), Mercor, [Handshake AI](/buyers/handshake-ai) and [Troveo](/buyers/troveo) data pages. None states a minimum of years of records, so this page reports what the calculators do with the number. ## What do the calculators weight? - **Troveo:** its [estimator](https://www.troveo.ai/business-data) offers four buckets, under 3 years, 3 to 7, 8 to 15 and 15 or more. - **Handshake AI:** its [calculator](https://joinhandshake.com/ai/data-partnerships/) asks for years of operation. For 100 employees and 10 years it showed $383,083 to $896,969, and says the figure is indicative and not an offer. Each one sits in front of a lead form, so I read the history input as a way to sort leads. ## Why does Troveo say data history matters? [Troveo's guide](https://www.troveo.ai/resources/how-much-is-company-data-worth) says patterns need time, such as seasonal cycles, product changes and how problems recurred and got solved, and that a long history is hard to substitute. [Troveo's second guide](https://www.troveo.ai/resources/data-monetization-examples) says Google's Spirit Airlines bid put a public price on a company's entire operating history. Both are views from a marketplace that licenses data. ## Does the age of the company count? A micro1 referral partner said in a micro1 video that she looks for companies that have been around at least a few years, with a sizable amount of data (self-reported, about 4:40). micro1's undated recorded forum talk named no age rule. That is a company-age screen from a partner, not a requirement for years of data, and micro1 publishes no minimum. ## Can newer years of data be added later? micro1's David Revland, who works on human data, said in an undated recorded forum talk that a top-up is possible about six months after a first transfer, taking data created since then (self-reported). That makes your count of years a moving number. ## Does Polyshares count all years the same? Not by its own account. Ryan Lock, a managing partner at Polyshares, wrote that it credits years with full context, meaning chat and work tools and not only email or Drive ([X article](https://x.com/RyanLockAI/status/2107864069105389717)). In his example, ten years of tool switching earned full credit for two. He is one buyer describing his own method, so this does not set a minimum. ## How should you count your years? Note the start date of the records in each tool, then the volume per year. Years of Slack and years of email rarely match. The free [fit check](/business) asks how many years of records you hold and where the work happens, and our [rights check](/rights-check) covers whether you may license them. Figure: comparison of How two calculators ask about history: Troveo (Four age buckets), Handshake AI (emphasized: Takes a number of years, Years of operation). Both calculators ask how old the company is, and neither asks how many years of records you kept. micro1 may pay us a referral fee if a company we introduce goes ahead with it. [How we are paid](https://vaultfish.com/disclosure) [Apply to micro1's data partnership (paid link)](https://req.micro1.ai/post/74520e8b-4673-4da5-b855-53609aaf6710?referralCode=f82e519e-5d64-4e0e-9574-760c84371cf2&utm_source=referral&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=data_referral) ยท [micro1's own data-partnerships page](https://www.micro1.ai/data-partnerships) _Paid link. [How we are paid](https://vaultfish.com/disclosure)_ _Vaultfish helps you run the process. We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice. If you need counsel who knows this area, we can point you to one._ ## Sources - [estimator](https://www.troveo.ai/business-data) - [calculator](https://joinhandshake.com/ai/data-partnerships/) - [Troveo's guide](https://www.troveo.ai/resources/how-much-is-company-data-worth) - [Troveo's second guide](https://www.troveo.ai/resources/data-monetization-examples) - [X article](https://x.com/RyanLockAI/status/2107864069105389717)