Methodology
How the fit check scores your answers
By Matt Burns
Every weight, threshold and sentence below is read from the same file the fit check scores with.
What the score is
The weights and thresholds below are our own design choices. They are not market data and not a valuation model. Outcome linkage and exportability outweigh raw size because Troveo's guide counts connected context and documented outcomes toward a dataset's value.
Rights and personal-data answers act as gates and never as dollar multipliers: an answer that contracts restrict this use, that rights are unchecked, or that the records are health, financial or education data hides micro1's published range and routes you to a rights review or to counsel.
A rights check that stops at a blocker does the same, even when the rights answer says cleared: the result becomes Clarify rights first and points to counsel.
The tool cannot tell whether you hold the rights. It only reads your answers.
This is a preliminary screen based on your answers. It does not establish licensing rights, buyer acceptance or a valuation.
Seven questions, five scored inputs
The check asks seven questions. Five of them add points: company size, years of records, systems in use, outcome linkage and exportability. The personal-data answer takes points away.
The rights answer adds no points and works only as a gate, and so does a personal-data answer of health, financial or education records. An optional industry answer is never scored.
| Input | Weight (of 100) | How points work |
|---|---|---|
| Company size | 20 | 0 to 9 staff: 0 of 5. 10 to 19 staff: 1 of 5. 20 to 49 staff: 2 of 5. 50 to 199 staff: 3 of 5. 200 to 999 staff: 4 of 5. 1000 or more staff: 5 of 5. |
| Years of records | 15 | Under 2: 0 of 3. 2 to 4: 1 of 3. 5 to 9: 2 of 3. 10 or more: 3 of 3. |
| Systems in use | 20 | Each system adds points, capped at 5. Email 1, Chat (Slack, Teams) 1, CRM 1, Support or ticketing 1, Project management 1, Code repositories 1, Contracts 1, Call or meeting recordings 1, Docs and wiki 0.5, Accounting or ERP 0.5, Other 0.5. |
| Outcome linkage | 25 | Yes, for most of it: 3 of 3. For some of it: 1.5 of 3. No: 0 of 3. |
| Exportability | 20 | Full export or API: 2 of 2. Manual exports per system: 1 of 2. Hard or not possible: 0 of 2. |
Each input contributes its points divided by its maximum, times its weight. The sum is the raw score from 0 to 100.
Outcome linkage and exportability outweigh size on purpose, because Troveo's guide names connected context across systems and documented outcomes among what makes company data valuable.
The personal data penalty
The raw score drops by a fixed amount for the kind of personal data in the records: Business contacts only 0, Some customer or staff personal data 5, Mostly consumer data 15, Health, financial or education records 20. The result is rounded to a whole number and held between 0 and 100.
Score bands
- 75 or more: Potential buyer fit
- 55 to 74: Ready after prep
- 30 to 54: More information needed
- 0 to 29: Too early
Gates override the score
Rights and personal data answers decide what the tool shows, whatever the score is. The first match wins.
- Rights answer "We know some restrict it": Your contracts restrict this use
- Personal data answer "Health, financial or education records": Regulated data needs specialist handling
- Rights answer "Not sure": Clarify rights first
So a gated result shows no range. The one exception is "Clarify rights first": at 30 or more staff and a score of 30 or more, micro1's range can show after you take the rights check and it flags no blocker.
A score under 30 sits in the "Too early" band, and a "Too early" result shows no range either. An introduction under "Clarify rights first" needs the same score and a rights check with nothing left to settle.
The tool cannot tell whether you hold the rights.
It only reads your answers, and an answer that contracts restrict this use, that rights are unchecked, or that the records are regulated is enough to hide the range and send you to a rights review or to counsel.
A rights check that stops at a blocker turns any scored result into "Clarify rights first", even when you answered that rights are cleared. That result shows no range and no introduction, and its fix list sends you to counsel.
What each result says
- Your contracts restrict this use. Your answers say some customer contracts restrict this use. Bring counsel into a review of those contracts before you talk to any buyer.
- Regulated data needs specialist handling. Health, financial and education records come with their own rules. They need counsel and a buyer built for that kind of data, so a generic buyer introduction does not fit. The rights guide lists what to ask counsel.
- Clarify rights first. Whether you have the right to license these records matters more than the score, so take the rights check before anything else. With 30 or more staff and a score of 30 or more, micro1's published range can show once the rights check flags no blocker.
- Too early. Most buyers want more history, more connected systems or easier exports than your answers show. The two lowest areas below show what would move the score.
- More information needed. Your records have some of what buyers ask about. The weakest areas need more detail or preparation before a buyer conversation makes sense.
- Ready after prep. Your answers look close to what buyers screen for. A short readiness pass on the weakest area helps, and a buyer introduction is a fair next step.
- Potential buyer fit. Nothing in your answers rules out a first buyer conversation. Every buyer still runs its own rights and quality review, and none of this promises a deal or a price.
When micro1's published range shows
The reference card shown with a result depends on company size: S is fewer than 30 staff, M is 30 to 199 staff, L is 200 or more staff.
A range shows only at 30 or more staff, for a result that is neither gated nor "Too early", with one exception: a "Clarify rights first" result with a score of 30 or more shows it once the rights check flags no blocker.
The 30-staff line exists because micro1's current pages publish both a 30+ floor and a range for approved data packages, so the fit check graphs only that range.
Under 30 staff the card lists buyers' published floors and names Replay's own size band in words, and the fit check graphs no range.
Every range is micro1's own claim, printed with its source, its check date and the line "This does not estimate your payout."
Published criteria for companies under 30 people. micro1's current pages ask for 30+ employees for a data partnership, so a company under 30 is below that floor. micro1's separate video program asks hands-on businesses for 20+. Handshake AI's referral page asks for 20+ full-time employees and 3+ years in operation.
Replay's own page lists a value band of $10K to $100K for 20 to 50 employees (its own claim, source on its profile). Other companies we list state no headcount minimum. The fit check graphs no range under 30 staff. This does not estimate your payout.
What micro1 publishes. micro1's Enterprise Data Partnership listing says $100K-$2M+ for approved data packages (its own claim). Troveo says there is no public price list. Value depends on history, connectedness and rights, and it can be $0. This does not estimate your payout.
What micro1 publishes, with a size question to confirm. micro1's Enterprise Data Partnership listing says $100K-$2M+ for approved data packages (its own claim). micro1's undated Enterprise Data Partnership post asks for 30 to 200 employees, while its main pages state no upper limit, so confirm the program with micro1.
Troveo says there is no public price list. Value depends on history, connectedness and rights, and it can be $0. This does not estimate your payout.
These are each company's own published claims. They are not a quote, they promise nothing, and they do not estimate your payout. Public figure, see source
What the score does not do
This is a preliminary screen based on your answers. It does not establish licensing rights, buyer acceptance or a valuation. It does not predict a payout.
Nobody publishes a price list for company data, and Troveo says so on its own site. The weights are our design choices and not market data.
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. Ask for a referral
Tested at the edges
The tests in the repository check every band edge against this file: scores of 29 and 30, 54 and 55, 74 and 75, and company sizes of 29 and 30, 199 and 200 staff.
They also check that each gate hides the range, and that "Clarify rights first" shows it only at a score of 30 or more after a rights check that flags no blocker.
A rights check that stops at a blocker turns any scored result into "Clarify rights first", which the tests check with rights answered as cleared.
Corrections
Corrections log. When a figure changes, the change goes here with its date. Found a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it and log it.
13 Oct 2026. A rights check that stops at a blocker now outranks a "rights cleared" answer.
Before, the same answers could show the top result, micro1's range and an introduction after the rights check had stopped at a blocker. Now the result is "Clarify rights first" and the fix list sends you to counsel.
11 Oct 2026. A "Clarify rights first" result now shows micro1's range only with a score of 30 or more, the same as an ungated result.
Before, a rights check with no blocker showed the range at any score, so a score in the "Too early" band could show a range the same answers with cleared rights did not. Introductions under "Clarify rights first" follow the same score rule.
10 Oct 2026. Result labels renamed: "Buyer ready" is now "Potential buyer fit", "Prep first" is now "More information needed" and "Rights first" is now "Clarify rights first".
The range now starts at 30 staff, to match micro1's current published floor (it started at 20). The small-company card no longer shows a shutdown-sale range, and the large-company card no longer compares a bankruptcy bid with job losses.
The example results on the home page and the fit check page no longer show a dollar figure.
