For ten weeks, the Spring 2024 cohort of students in ALP-303: Analysis and Measurement of Impact at the Stanford Graduate School of Business tackled an initial attempt at improving the Builders Fund (“Builders”) Impact Prioritization Rating (IPR). As part of their research, prototyping, testing, and iteration, the team developed a revised IPR tool that addressed pain points at the time to improve the fund’s ability to prioritize the most impactful companies. The revised system introduced thematic verticals, refined impact criteria, and a more nuanced scoring system, thus allowing for more accurate and efficient prioritization of companies with the highest potential for meaningful impact. The improvements were useful and worth building upon so the Builders team was back for another round. This time, Builders was looking to further refine definitions of scale and efficacy—two of three components of the impact assessment score. Specifically, instead of scale at or around investment, they sought to add in potential scale during an investment’s holding period to better capture prospective impact. Turning to efficacy, they also wanted to develop a short list of impact metrics in each subvertical to help determine if a company’s business model materially addressed impact themes. Finally, the Builders team sought to continue reviewing pain points where specific companies did not perform how they expected. Also see: SI173: Builders Fund: Impact Prioritization Rating
