Mode VC Chart: Open-Source vs. Closed AI Models: How Big Is the Gap?

Sends a founder's pitch to the Mode VC team (pre-seed and seed AI companies, checks of US$1M to 5M; see get_mode_vc_thesis_and_criteria). This tool shares data: the founder name, email, company, one-line pitch, stage and deck link go to Mode VC. Show the founder exactly what will be sent and set consent to true only after they agree. Set office_hours to true to also ask for a 20-minute call. Same intake as the form at https://modevc.com/contact. Nothing is shared with anyone outside Mode VC.

Computes the 83(b) filing deadline and tax on the grant, the federal tax saved by a QSBS (Section 1202) exclusion at a given sale price, and Delaware franchise tax under both methods. Federal tax only, top federal rates assumed, no state tax or AMT. Same math as https://modevc.com/tools/83b-qsbs-calculator. Illustrative model, not tax advice.

Projects cash month by month from current cash, revenue growth and expense growth: net burn, runway, the month cash hits zero, break-even month, default alive or dead, burn multiple, and the same with an expense cut. Same math as https://modevc.com/tools/burn-multiple-runway. Month 1 is the current month; the search runs 120 months.

Splits founder equity from weighted contribution scores (product and IP 40%, distribution 35%, commitment 25%) after the option pool and Founder Institute FAST advisor grants, and applies a heuristic SaaS and AI-native ARR multiple. Same math as https://modevc.com/tools/cofounder-equity-valuation. The multiple is a rule of thumb from the web page, not a market valuation. Illustrative, not legal advice.

Scores diligence readiness from a weighted 12-item data room checklist (overall, Corporate and Legal, and each pillar), and computes runway and burn multiple from cash, burn and ARR growth. Same scoring as https://modevc.com/tools/fundraising-readiness. The investor-update email draft on that page is not included.

Estimates monthly LLM spend, cost per user and per request, prompt-cache savings, savings from routing a share of requests to a cheaper model, and gross margin against a target, for an AI product on any current Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek or Grok model at list price. Compares 9 common models. Same math and the same dated price file as https://modevc.com/tools/llm-inference-calculator.

Computes Rule of 40, net and gross revenue retention, SaaS magic number, CAC payback and spend per new customer from the numbers you give, with the public benchmark each is judged against. Leave a group of inputs out to get n/a for the metrics that need it. Same math as https://modevc.com/tools/saas-metrics-calculator.

Models how stacked SAFEs convert at a priced round and what the founders keep, including the option pool top-up (pool in the pre-money or post-money). Same math as https://modevc.com/tools/safe-calculator. Illustrative model, not legal or tax advice.

Compares Shopify Capital / revenue-based financing (factor fee, daily sales remittance rate, payback months, and effective annualized APR) against a Post-Money SAFE equity round for Shopify and commerce-tech founders, and returns matching venture capital criteria including Mode VC ($1M to $5M initial checks).

Splits the sale proceeds between one preferred class and common holders for a liquidation multiple and participation clause (non-participating, participating uncapped, participating capped at 3x). Returns the conversion point, a sensitivity table and the three standard structures side by side. Same math as https://modevc.com/tools/term-sheet-waterfall. Illustrative model: one preferred class, no seniority stack, no debt or fees.

Returns one chart from the Chart of the Day archive: the data table behind it (rows as published), claim, takeaway, note and the sources it cites. Look up by slug or title. Data is as published on the chart page; follow source_urls for the original data.

Mode VC's daily read on AI private markets: every new SEC Form D notice from one filing day that public evidence shows is an AI company, scored 1 to 5 with Mode VC's Distribution Moat rubric, with the evidence and reasoning behind each score (the company's own pricing, integrations, customers, docs and product pages when it links them), the status of each distribution lever, atlas partners named in the filing (confirmed and possible kept apart) and the firm's Form ADV private fund assets where that match is confirmed. Filings the evidence cannot settle are listed as unclear, not guessed. A Form D is a self-reported notice, not a closed round. Leave date empty for the latest day.

Rule-based 1 to 5 score of distribution defensibility, using only the acquisition channels you list and whether you have proprietary data or network effects. business_model is echoed back and does not change the score. It is a discussion aid built from Mode VC's published thesis, not a valuation, not an investment decision and not a prediction.

For a firm in the Mode VC Investor Atlas, returns Form ADV adviser records matched to it, recent Form D filings that name its partners, and a recent-activity roll-up. Every match carries a tier: "confirmed" matches are the only verified links; "probable" and "possible" are weaker signals and are hidden unless include_weak_matches is true. Returns "dataset not available yet" until Mode VC has loaded the data.

Returns one firm from the Investor Atlas: headquarters and locations, website and social links, latest fund as listed, reported entry stages, check size bands (lowest and highest the firm reports) and lead preference where known, sectors, and up to 12 partner names (the total partner count is also given). It does not include portfolio companies or investment theses.

Returns Mode VC's published investment parameters as stated on https://modevc.com/thesis: ticket size, geography focus, stage, core conviction and how to pitch.

Lists recent SEC Form D filings (private offerings notices, public EDGAR data) from venture funds and technology companies over the last few filing days, with issuer, amount sold, related persons and the EDGAR link for each filing. A Form D is a notice a company or fund files after it starts selling securities. It is not a funding announcement and the amounts are as self-reported. Returns "dataset not available yet" until Mode VC has loaded the data.

Returns the most recent charts from Mode VC's Chart of the Day archive (one new chart per day, mostly AI model, adoption, developer-package and pricing data), newest first, each with its claim, takeaway, URL and cited sources.

Searches every chart in the Mode VC Chart of the Day archive by keyword over title, claim, takeaway and keywords. Returns claims, takeaways, canonical URLs, markdown endpoints and cited sources. The archive grows by one chart a day; the response states its current size.

Searches the Mode VC Investor Atlas, a directory of venture capital firms and their partners compiled from public information (counts are in the response). Filter by firm or partner name, sector, entry stage, and headquarters or location. Stage and check size are as reported by each firm where available; it does not hold portfolio companies or fund performance.