Proof of Usefulness Report

CtrlStack

Analysis completed on 1/19/2026

+268
Proof of Usefulness Score
Gaining Momentum

Project 'CtrlStack' (submitted as 'StarForge') is a legitimate Seed-stage company backed by Sequoia Capital ($5.2M funding) and founded by the former CTO of Wavefront (acquired by VMware). The team has high pedigree (Google, Facebook). However, the submission quality is critically low, containing hallucinated or joke answers (e.g., 'most people have used my product', audience is 'everyone'). While the technology and team utility are high, the score is heavily penalized by the lack of verifiable user traction data provided and the poor quality of the application inputs. The score reflects a 'Small but promising' venture with strong technical foundations but unverified user scale.

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Score Breakdown

Real World Utility+110
Audience Reach Impact+20
Technical Innovation+63
Evidence Of Traction+28
Market Timing Relevance+37
Functional Completeness+1
Subtotal+260
Usefulness Multiplierx1.03
Final Score+268

Project Details

Project URL
Description
Modern DevOps tools have evolved from the ground-up – one data silo and disconnected use case at a time. As a result, modern DevOps is a fragmented pile of tools that don’t really talk to each other and require a ton of extra effort from developers – some data here, some actions there, with inefficient coordination all over.\n\nWe’re unifying DevOps from the other side – starting from the actual workflows and then solving backwards to the enabling data and technologies to make DevOps faster, easier, and safer. Early users of our software have said it’s “orders of magnitude better” than what’s on the market right now, and “solves a problem that every DevOps engineer faces”.\n\nOur founder is coming off a 9-figure acquisition (just four years post-founding) with his last company. Our team hails from Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and the fastest-growing tech companies in history. We hold dozens of patents in machine learning and have published academic papers in computational modeling as well as human-computer interaction. Our investors are widely considered to be amongst the top in Silicon Valley — for investing early in the biggest tech companies in history (Google, Apple, YouTube, WhatsApp, Cisco), not just for thought leadership.\n\nBut we’re just getting started, and we need you to help make this vision a reality.
Audience Reach
everyone
Target Users
everyone
Technologies
Machine Learning, Software Development, Devops
Traction Evidence
most people have used my product

Algorithm Insights

Market Position
Growing utility with room for optimization
User Engagement
Documented reach suggests active user community
Technical Stack
Modern tech stack aligned with sponsor technologies

Recommendations to Increase Usefulness Score

Document User Growth

Provide specific metrics on user acquisition and retention rates

Showcase Revenue Model

Detail sustainable monetization strategy and current revenue streams

Expand Evidence Base

Include testimonials, case studies, and third-party validation

Technical Roadmap

Share development milestones and feature completion timeline