Startup Leaderboard

How the leaderboard works

Every startup listed on 100xFounder has a 100X Meter on its page. Readers push it with a single tap when they think the startup could go a hundred times bigger. Each reader gets one tap per startup per day. This leaderboard simply sorts those taps, so you can see which launches people here are most excited about.

This week ranks startups by the number of taps in the last seven days. It moves fastest and is the best place to spot something new. This month ranks by taps in the last 30 days, which is also what sets each startup’s meter level from 0X to 100X. All time adds up every tap a startup has had since the meter began. Launch day is different: it ranks by upvotes on Product Hunt, as Product Hunt reported them for the launch. We show that number as Product Hunt’s data, never as our own.

The small arrow next to a level shows how far it has moved since the week began. We save each startup’s level once a week, and the arrow is the difference. A green ▲ means more readers have been backing it lately; a ▼ means older taps have aged out of the 30-day window faster than new ones arrived.

Buzz, not quality

A high place on this board means many of our readers backed a startup recently. It doesn’t mean the product is better, the company is healthier or that it is a good investment. Small teams with loyal communities often rank above much larger companies, and that’s fine: the board is a snapshot of attention, not a verdict. Before you sign up for, buy or invest in anything, read the startup’s profile, its sources and its visitor reviews.

For the same reason, the leaderboard is not a rating. The star rating on a startup page comes only from visitors’ own votes. Taps never appear in ratings or in the data we give search engines.

The stages

Each row shows a stage that matches the bands of our founder quiz: Early below 30X, Traction from 30X, Scaling from 60X and Breakout from 85X. The scale is gentle at the top. A single tap lifts a new listing to about 11X, but reaching 100X takes 500 taps from readers within 30 days.

Keeping it fair

Taps are checked on our server, one per reader per startup per day. Every tap carries a signed token from the page we served, crawlers and automated tools are ignored, our own editors can’t tap, and each connection is limited to a set number of taps an hour. We never seed the board, add taps by hand or sell positions on it. Sponsored listings get no extra taps, and a startup can’t pay to move up.

Back a startup from here

Tap the ⚡ on any row to back that startup without leaving the page. It counts exactly like the button on the startup page, and it is added to your 100X list, which stays in your browser. Founders can show their live level on their own site with the badge on their listing. Read more in What is the 100X Meter?