Startup Sourcing for Venture Clienting PoCs: Landscapes, Benchmarks & Shortlists

Startup Sourcings

Once you’ve completed a solid needs assessment, it’s time to go hunting for startups. The goal of sourcing is simple: Find a list of startups that can realistically solve the challenge. Sounds easy? It’s not—especially in a world where over 1.3 million new startups are created every year. But done right, it can be one of the most impactful steps in Venture Clienting.

What’s the goal?

The aim of startup sourcing is to generate a shortlist of qualified, relevant startups that are capable of solving the specific problem you uncovered.

Ideally, you want to be confident that:

• You’ve searched widely and deeply
• You haven’t missed any obvious winners
• The startups you suggest are mature, credible, and ready to deliver

100% coverage is impossible. But your job is to get close and feel good about the recommendations you’re making.

Why professional sourcing is a game-changer

At GlassDollar, we rely on a dedicated intelligence team of ~40 professionals who do startup scouting all day, every day. They use our proprietary software (which aggregates data from all major databases) to search deeply and precisely.

And here’s the honest truth:

Professional sourcing makes a big difference.

It improves:

• The quality of the startups identified
• The likelihood that you’ll actually solve the problem
• The chance that a pilot becomes an implementation

Whether it’s GlassDollar or another expert - if you can, work with professionals. It saves time, improves outcomes, and makes your entire Venture Clienting initiative more credible.

Want to do it yourself? Here’s how.

If you don’t have access to a sourcing team or startup database (like Crunchbase, Pitchbook, Tracxn, etc.), you can still find strong startups. But it takes structure.

Here’s a DIY method:

1. Extract keywords and key phrases
2. Read through the challenge and write down the relevant search terms. Not just words, phrases too.
3. Make a sourcing tableCreate a spreadsheet where you track:
   • Keywords
   • Sources searched (Google, Reddit, Product Hunt, etc.)
   • Startups identified
   • Notes on relevance
4. Search smart
   • Google: Startups that show up here usually have some maturity (good SEO is a decent proxy for traction).
   • Reddit: Your secret weapon. Search subreddits like r/startups, r/saas, r/Entrepreneur or niche communities. Many people have asked similar questions before, and the replies are gold.
   • LinkedIn, Product Hunt, AngelList, and even YouTube can also surface good options.
5. Double-check your terms
6. The way people describe their problems isn’t always how the solution is labelled. So be ready to adjust your keywords as you learn.

Benchmarks vs. Landscapes

Understanding when to use a Landscape and when to use a Benchmark is essential in Venture Clienting. Both are tools to package startup solutions for stakeholders — but they serve different purposes depending on how clear the requirements are.

Benchmarks

Definition

• Used when there are clear objective criteria and requirements for making a decision.
• Stakeholder has a defined problem statement and expects a specific type of solution.
• Solutions can be compared one-to-one using well-defined decision-making criteria.

Example: Hiking Shoes 🥾

• Problem: “I need shoes for hiking.”
• Criteria: waterproof, grippy soles, ankle support, durable.
• Benchmark compares hiking shoes only — solutions with the same industrial application.

Key traits

• Narrow scope.
• Strong innovation pull (stakeholder knows what they need).
• Data-rich, decision-oriented.

Landscapes

Definition

• Explorative frameworks to capture a wide set of possible approaches to a challenge.
• Useful when the problem is less defined or multiple solution types could apply.
• Functions as a container for different categories of technologies.

Example: Shoes in General 🥾👟🥿👞👠🩴🩰👢👢

• Problem: “I want new shoes.”
• Categories: hiking, running, skateboarding, motorcycle boots.
• No ranking order — just a structured view of what’s out there.

Autonomous Driving Example

• Request: “Understand the ecosystem of autonomous driving software tools.”
• Categories might include:
  • Sensor fusion
  • Computer vision
  • Simulation & testing
  • Data annotation
• Landscape enables conversation and exploration before criteria are even defined.

Key traits

• Broad scope, casting a wide net.
• Great for sparking interest with stakeholders.
• Flexible container for categorizing technologies.
• No inherent ranking unless later converted into a benchmark.

Recommended Landscape Journey➡️ Landscape → Benchmark → Assessment

• Landscape: Explore broadly, show stakeholders what’s out there, cluster categories.
• Benchmark: Narrow down once requirements emerge; compare directly on objective criteria.
• Assessment: Select, test, and validate with stakeholders (e.g. via Demo Days, PoCs).

Additional Knowledge

• Landscapes and Benchmarks are not mutually exclusive.
• A Landscape can be the container that later produces multiple Benchmarks.
• Example:
  • Landscape: Precise measurement technologies (AR, LIDAR, photogrammetry).
  • Benchmark: Within AR measurement, compare top solutions against specific criteria (offline functionality, ±2 mm accuracy, reporting).

Landscapes allow discovery and categorization. Benchmarks allow decision-making.

Timelines & communication

If you’re working with a sourcing team (like GlassDollar’s), a typical sourcing cycle takes 5-10 business days.

To make this process smooth:

• Be transparent
• Share everything from the needs assessment
• Stay close to the team: ask for updates, answer follow-up questions, and clarify expectations

In the end, great sourcing = great PoC candidates. The better the fit, the higher the chance of a successful pilot and a happy stakeholder.