Proof of Usefulness Report

Hive.co

Analysis completed on 1/23/2026

+456

Proof of Usefulness Score

Industry Mainstay

Hive.co is a verified Y Combinator (S14) company with estimated annual revenue of ~$8M and ~65 employees, positioning it as a strong player in the email/SMS marketing space. However, the submission quality is critically low, containing outdated descriptions (team of 14 vs 65), verifiable falsehoods ('most people have used my product'), and erroneous tags ('blockchain') likely confused with Hive Digital or the Hive blockchain. While the actual business fundamentals are strong (exceeding the calibration baseline), the score is significantly penalized due to the poor quality and inaccuracy of the provided data.

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Score Breakdown

Real World Utility+212.50

Audience Reach Impact+60.00

Technical Innovation+30.00

Evidence Of Traction+112.50

Market Timing Relevance+70.00

Functional Completeness+2.50

Subtotal+487.5

Usefulness Multiplierx0.935

Final Score+456

Project Details

Project URL

hive.co

Description

Hive is an email \u0026 SMS marketing CRM that helps brands sell more while keeping their customers happy and engaged. We make it easy for companies to segment and target their customers based on relevant attributes, automate email marketing campaigns, and send timely, high-converting emails.\n\nWe started our company inside a University of Waterloo computer lab in early 2014, graduated from Y Combinator that summer (S14 batch) and have been growing ever since. Originally based out of Kitchener, our remote team of 14 is now distributed all across Canada!

Algorithm Insights

Market Position

Strong market validation with clear user adoption patterns

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