Every deal on The Docket carries a score from 0 to 100. The score is a conviction signal — not a return projection, not a recommendation to invest or not invest. It reflects a structured judgment about how much of the available evidence supports taking a deal seriously.
This page explains exactly how that judgment is made.
Three pillars. Fixed weights. Applied to every deal the same way.
| Pillar / Weight | Rationale |
|---|---|
|
Deal Structure
40 pts
|
Terms, capital stack, investor protections, fee clarity. The most verifiable variable — a deal either discloses its terms or it does not. Opacity in structure is itself a signal. |
|
Operator Track Record
35 pts
|
Verified exits, asset class experience, transparency. The strongest predictor of outcome in private markets. A first-time operator is not automatically disqualified — but the score reflects elevated execution risk honestly. |
|
Market Conditions
25 pts
|
Supply/demand dynamics, rate environment, cycle timing. The variable subscribers are most capable of assessing independently. The Docket adds less marginal value on macro judgment than on deal-specific analysis. |
Every score maps to one of three tiers. Each tier determines what gets published and how.
| Score / Status | What It Means |
|---|---|
|
65–100
On the Docket
|
Clears the bar. Sourced, screened against the automatic disqualifiers, and scored across all three pillars — Deal Structure (40), Operator Track Record (35), Market Conditions (25). Published as a full entry with the complete scoring breakdown and sourcing disclosed. |
|
50–64
Worth Watching
|
Below the bar, but not dismissed. A real business, operator, or structure held down by a specific, identifiable gap — undisclosed real estate value, single-customer concentration. Published with the score and explicit caveats that name the gap. |
|
0–49
Not Cleared
|
Reviewed and did not pass. Published as a transparency signal — what The Docket examined, rejected, and why. Not every sub-50 deal is logged; only those where the reasoning is instructive. The bar exists only if you can see what falls below it. |
The Dossier is The Docket's gated deep-dive — the full workup on a deal: capital stack, operator review, and complete scoring rationale. It is a format, not a tier. A deal earns one when it's worth the closer look — most weeks the highest scorer, sometimes more than one, sometimes a lower-scored deal with something specific worth examining. Every Dossier shows the deal's score.
Deals are filtered before scoring. A deal that triggers any of the following conditions is not scored, not published, and does not appear in the Not Cleared log. Silence is the correct signal for deals that fail basic standards.
| Automatic Disqualifiers | |
|---|---|
| — | Operator cannot be verified by name, entity, or prior filing |
| — | No disclosure of fee structure whatsoever |
| — | Minimum investment above $250,000 |
| — | Active regulatory action or litigation against the operator or named principals |
| — | Deal is already closed to new investors |
| — | Use of proceeds includes repayment of existing operator debt as a primary allocation |
| — | Non-accredited investors already admitted to the offering |
An operator clears The Docket's verification threshold when at least two of the following four points can be independently established. One source alone is not sufficient.
| Verification Standard — 2 of 4 Required | |
|---|---|
| 01 | Legal entity name on the filing matches the operator's disclosed legal name |
| 02 | Same principal or entity has filed at least one prior SEC Form D on EDGAR |
| 03 | Operator maintains a website with deal history, team bios, or prior project documentation |
| 04 | A named principal has a verifiable LinkedIn profile and traceable professional background in the relevant asset class |
The score is precise about what it measures. It is equally precise about what it does not.
| The Score Is Not | What That Means |
|---|---|
| A return projection | The score does not predict what an investment will return. It does not account for information The Docket cannot access — undisclosed liabilities, internal operator financials, or future market conditions. |
| A recommendation | Every subscriber makes their own investment decisions independently. The Docket is not a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, or fund manager. Nothing published constitutes investment advice. |
| Permanent | A deal scored today reflects conditions today. The Docket does not update scores after publication. |
Most scoring systems only publish what passes. We publish what doesn't — selectively.
A Not Cleared entry proves the bar exists. It shows subscribers exactly what fell short and why. Over time, the pattern of rejections is itself a signal — it tells subscribers what The Docket considers disqualifying, and it builds confidence that what does make the docket has actually been tested.
Not every sub-50 deal receives a Not Cleared note. Only those where the reasoning is instructive — or where the deal had enough public visibility that a response is warranted.
Private deals. Otherwise invisible.
Scored, sourced, and delivered every week. Real estate syndications, business acquisitions, private credit, emerging funds — reviewed independently, with the rationale shown.
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The Docket's scoring represents independent editorial judgment based on publicly available information at the time of review. Scores are not investment advice, recommendations to invest or not invest, projections of future returns, or representations about the accuracy of any sponsor's disclosures. All investment decisions are the sole responsibility of the subscriber. The Docket is not a registered investment advisor, broker-dealer, or fund manager.
Methodology — getthedocket.com