Day 4: README freshness

The cheapest leading indicator — a README rewrite is a pre-pitch.

Yesterday

Yesterday's dependents reading told you whether anyone uses the code. Today's tells you whether the team thinks anyone is about to.

Why this signal matters

The README is the public-facing pitch. Teams that are actively positioning for a fundraise update it. Teams that aren't, don't. A substantive README diff in the last 60 days is a tell.

The 5-minute exercise

1Open the org's flagship repo.
2On the README file, click the file name to open it as a file.
3Click History. Look at the last commit to the README.
4Was it in the last 30 days? 60 days? Or 6+ months ago?

What you’re filtering for

A README updated in the last 60 days, with the diff being substantive (rewritten positioning, new screenshots, updated install instructions, new 'Used by' section) rather than a typo fix.

Edge case

Some teams keep their README short and a separate /docs site is the real pitch surface. Check docs.* subdomains via the repo's Pages settings or the org website footer.

Bonus

A 'Funding' or 'Investors' section that just appeared. Founders who are mid-raise often add this to make outreach easier — it's a near-explicit fundraise signal.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow: new repo creation rate — the platform-buildout tell most useful at Series A and B.

Curriculum: /challenge · Methodology: /methodology · Paper: ssrn.com/abstract=6606558