MIT DUAL-USE READINESS MODEL 

Introducing the Dual-Use Readiness Model

We believe Dual-use is a Strategy not a Category.

The Dual-use Readiness Model offers a comprehensive approach to self-evaluate the progression of a dual-use strategy:

1. Dual-use Readiness Levels – Customer, Funding and Technology Readiness: This segment enables the assessment of readiness in securing customers, funding and technological advancement. It features detailed stages, ranging from exploring a potential dual-use strategy to securing long-term funding and achieving technological milestones.
2. Team Evaluation: Startups assess their team’s performance using a modified, subjective Founder and Advisor Net Promoter Score (NPS). This evaluation does not follow a linear scale, emphasizing the importance of individual assessments regarding the founders, team performance, and company culture.
3. Other KPIs: This includes various metrics such as revenue generated, funding raised, proportions of dual-use funding, number of formal relationships with mission and commercial customers, mission user engagement, team growth and diversity, and comfort in navigating the government/mission sector.  For later-stage startups, additional assessments are provided for scalability and supply chain resilience, helping them gauge their business model’s capacity for increased sales without proportionally increasing costs, and the robustness of their supply chain. 

Our innovative Dual-Use Readiness Levels™️ system offers a strategic framework for startups and ventures navigating the complexities of both the commercial and mission markets. 

This model uniquely intertwines three critical dimensions of venture growth: Customer Readiness, Funding Readiness and Technology Readiness.

Customer Readiness: For both Mission and Commercial – progress through well-defined stages, from initial market hypothesis to achieving widespread customer adoption. Our model guides ventures in understanding market needs, establishing customer relationships, and scaling their customer base, aligning each step with the venture’s developmental phase.

Funding Readiness: For both Mission and Commercial – parallel to customer development, navigate the intricate world of startup financing and procurement process. The model outlines a clear pathway from early-stage commercial funding exploration, through seed and Series A rounds, to later-stage investments, as well as the journey through government and defense non-dilutive funding.  It provides a strategic roadmap for securing necessary funds in alignment with the venture’s growth and market milestones.

The Dual-Use Readiness Model serves as a beacon, ensuring that startups don’t just advance technologically, but also build robust dual-use market connections and secure the right funding at the right time. It’s an essential tool for any venture aiming for sustainable growth and success in today’s dynamic business landscape

Evaluation based on Founder and Advisor subjective assessment

We believe “Readiness” is not an appropriate way to determine the evolution of startups teams; team formation and evaluation does not run on a linear scale.  Each Founder and Advisor must go through this section individually, creating a subjective assessment of the team:

Further evaluation based on quantifiable criteria:

$$ Revenue Generated – Revenue generated through sales, services or other earned streams

$$ Funding Raised and Proportions of Dual-use Funding – All capital raised (seed, venture, gov’t grants)

# Secured Formal Relationships with Mission Customer – Number of contracts, MOUs etc. secured

# Secured Formal Relationships with Commercial Customer – Number of contracts, POs etc. secured

# of Mission Users or Sponsors Engaged – Customer discovery is a key indicator of progresses and determining market fit

# Team Growth and Diversity – Number of employees, founders and other team members; general diversity of team

Subjective Assessment of “difficulty of dual-use” – On a scale, how comfortable are you in navigating a dual-use strategy

For later-stage startups:

# Scalability – does your business model allow for increased sales without significantly increasing costs?

Rate your scalability:

1.Increasing sales significantly increases costs

2.Increasing sales moderately increases costs

3.Sales can increase without much impact on costs

4.Sales can significantly increase with minimal cost increase

5.Sales can increase exponentially with very little increase in costs

# Supply Chain Resilience – do you have alternative suppliers or solutions for your key components?

Rate your supply chain resilience:

1.No alternative suppliers or solutions

2.One alternative for some key components, but it’s not reliable or cost-effective

3.At least one alternative for all key components

4.Multiple alternatives for all key components, but not all are reliable or cost effective

5.Multiple reliable and cost-effective alternatives for all key components