"Tellstone helped validate some of our instincts and showed us characteristics of founder teams we didn't necessarily see during the interview process. Very valuable."
Max Frischman, Program Manager (Accelerator), Purdue InnovatesOverview
Purdue Innovates used Tellstone in the final round of accelerator selection to evaluate founder teams still under consideration for the last cohort spots. Tellstone helped validate existing instincts, surface blind spots not obvious in interviews, and add a more structured lens on team dynamics before final decisions were made.
The challenge
Accelerator programs face one of the hardest selection problems in venture building. They have to choose between qualified founder teams when the differences aren't obvious. Interviews reveal passion, communication skills, and domain knowledge, but they rarely surface how a founding team will actually work together under pressure, where their blind spots are, or what capabilities they're missing.
When Purdue Innovates reached their final round of selection, they had strong teams competing for the last spots. The decision came down to close calls, the kind where gut instinct alone leaves too much on the table.
How Tellstone helped
Purdue Innovates found Tellstone especially useful in three areas:
Validated instincts they already had
Tellstone helped confirm patterns the team was already sensing during interviews, while adding another layer of confidence in close selection decisions.
Surfaced traits and dynamics not visible in interviews
The analysis highlighted characteristics and team dynamics that were not always obvious in the interview process alone, giving the selection team a more complete picture.
Identified where teams may need more support
The co-founder-level breakdown with the broader team view provided visibility into potential blind spots and missing capabilities that may need to be added over time.
Two specific catches
Beyond validating instincts, two moments stood out, both cases where the analysis surfaced something concrete the selection team could check against what they already knew.
The role swap. On one team, the founder roles had been entered one way, but Tellstone flagged a "Shadow CEO Standoff". The listed CEO and COO profiles fit each other's seats, a role overlap it said had to resolve before the team could effectively sell. The model had detected the mismatch from the founders' profiles alone. The reaction was immediate.
"No, they are — swap them... That's actually really cool."
Doug Applegate, Associate Director, Incubator, Purdue Innovates. Confirming Tellstone had detected a reversed CEO/COO fit from the profiles aloneThe smooth-over. The analysis also helped the team identify a couple of people who "may have been trying to finesse or smooth things over in their in-person presentations", exactly the kind of impression management interviews tend to reward and structured measurement is built to see past.
Thirteen weeks later
Months after selection, the people who saw these teams every day graded the assessments retrospectively. The reports were "pretty close to what we're seeing as far as team dynamics... where are their strengths and who's doing what, that matched up," including founders whose weak points were "getting exposed" precisely where the analysis had flagged them. As the program summed it up, there had "been no surprises either."
"I don't think there was any major thing where it was like, this person is an extrovert and in reality they're about as introverted as could be. I think it was great."
Max Frischman, Program Manager (Accelerator), Purdue InnovatesOutcome
Tellstone gave Purdue Innovates an additional decision lens for final-round founder teams. It helped the team make closer calls with more confidence, while giving them a clearer view of each team's strengths, blind spots, and development needs.
Purdue Innovates also expects ongoing value from Tellstone through follow-on reports during the accelerator, helping them track how founders and teams develop over the course of the program.
Why this matters for early team formation
Programs, accelerators, venture studios, and other venture-building organizations make high-stakes team decisions early. Before advancing a founder team, committing operating support, or making bigger team-building commitments, they need confidence not just in the idea, but in how the team is likely to work together.
The Purdue Innovates case shows how Tellstone can support those decisions by adding an extra data layer on founder dynamics, surfacing blind spots interviews may miss, and helping operators identify hidden team risk before bigger commitments are made.