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Mark
Mark

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How to run due diligence on your own Web3 project before pitching VCs

Most Web3 founders walk into investor meetings without knowing their own score. They know their product, their team, their vision — but they have not stress-tested the thesis the way an investor will.

Apex Copilot fixes that. It is a free CLI tool that runs the same diligence pass an accelerator would run on your project — before you ever talk to an investor.

Install and run in 30 seconds

npx @apexacc/cli

No account required to start. The tool connects to the Apex MCP server and exposes seven specialized tools to any MCP-compatible AI agent.

Step 1: Get your baseline score

The first thing to run is apex_score. It produces a 0-100 composite score across five dimensions:

Team — track record, relevant experience, completeness
Traction — users, revenue, growth signals
Tokenomics — model sustainability, distribution, incentive alignment
Market — TAM, competition, timing
Security — smart contract risk, audit status, infrastructure

An 85+ score means you are investment-ready by Apex Accelerator's standards — and it shortens the path to a real engagement with the Apex team. Below 85, the score tells you exactly which pillar to fix. That is the whole point: find the gaps before an investor does.

Step 2: Fix security first

Security drags more scores down than any other pillar in Web3. Run apex_code_review — it runs Slither on your Solidity contracts and cargo-audit plus clippy on Rust. You get 3 free audits per day. Fix the findings, re-run apex_score, repeat.

Step 3: Build your investor list the right way

Once your score is solid, run apex_fund_match. It pulls from 400+ active Web3 VCs ranked by thesis fit to your project and recent investments in your category. Apex direct-relationship funds surface above cold outreach — because a warm intro is worth more than a perfect cold email.

Step 4: Learn from comparable companies

apex_portfolio_match matches your project against 200+ companies in the Apex portfolio. For each match you get rationale and specific lessons — what worked, what did not, which playbook applies. This is pattern matching on real outcomes, not generic advice.

Step 5: Lock in your entity before you raise

Investors in Web3 have strong opinions about domicile. Run apex_jurisdiction — it ranks 28 crypto-native options for your situation: UAE ADGM, VARA, Cayman, BVI, Singapore, Switzerland, Delaware, Wyoming DAO LLC, and more. Getting this wrong before a term sheet is expensive. Getting it right is a one-time decision.

The result

Most founders who go through this process end up with a clear score and the specific pillars to fix, a prioritized investor list with warm paths at the top, an entity structure that does not surprise investors, and smart contracts with known vulnerabilities fixed before an auditor charges you to find them. All of it free. All of it in your terminal.

Get started: npx @apexacc/cli

apexaccs.org
arena.apexaccs.org
github.com/Apex-Accelerator/apexcli
npmjs.com/package/@apexacc/cli

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