New to Scout? Learn the basics here
Ways to Use Scout
These are starting points. Scout builds on each prompt across turns, so you can keep refining as you go.
Build visualizations and market maps
"Find me AI infrastructure companies founded in the last 3 years that raised between $5M—$75M, build a market map by subvertical, and flag any with strong momentum signals like recent headcount spikes."
Portfolio analysis
"Look at my existing list and score every company based on traction signals in Harmonic and on the public web — tell me which I should be spending time with and why."
Do your diligence
"Create a DD report on @TargetCo. Include an executive summary, market potential, market size and growth, business model and defensibility, founder profiles, in- and out-of-network candidates for reference calls, and main risks."
What did we miss?
"I work at @[Fund]. Which deals did we miss out on in 2025 that #Top 50 VCs participated in, but are not in our #affinity list pipeline?"
Market map → stealth founder pipeline
Step 1: "Run a deep-dive on [sector]. Build a market map, segment by subvertical, show Series A/B rounds in the last 12 months, and identify top co-investors."
Step 2: "Now find all stealth founders or startups that have raised less than $5M where someone on the team worked at one of the companies from that market map."
Network sourcing
"I'm heading to NYC for a sourcing trip — find me startups in my team network in fashion, luxury goods, and collectibles I should meet with."
Analyze founder profiles
"Analyze founders of companies founded in the last five years who raised $50M+. Compare them to founders who raised less than $5M as a control group. Identify the strongest differentiators across prior company stage, functional background, prior founder experience, and hiring velocity."
Build on your decisions
"I'm an investor @YourFund focused on early stage. Based on my investments in the past 24 months, what AI themes should be on my radar? Include any relevant network connections for warm intros to the most exciting companies."
Find the right capital partners
"I'm raising a Series A for @YourCompany. Find 10 strong Series A investors that would be a fit for our stage and sector, and show who on my team is connected to them."
Talent discovery
"Find people who worked at companies acquired by Google, Apple, or Meta in the last 3 years, had 3+ years tenure, and are now based in SF or NYC — prioritize engineering and product leaders."
Custom scoring
Upload a pitch deck or scoring rubric with your specific criteria and ask Scout to evaluate companies against it
Saved searches & lists
Reference any existing list or saved search using # and build on top of it
Team sharing
Open any Scout thread, click the share icon, and toggle visibility between private and public. Copy the link to share with your team.
Need more prompt ideas? Use the chat support in the bottom right corner or email support@harmonic.ai.
Adding Scout insights to custom fields
Any structured insight Scout generates - summaries, tags, categories, scores, founder backgrounds - can be written directly into custom fields on a list, so you can sort, filter, and share them in Console.
From a new Scout thread
Ask Scout to find companies, then save the results with the insights as fields:
"Find sub-$20M companies with Forbes AI 50 alumni as founders""Save these to a new list and add custom fields for company summary and founder background"
Add to an existing list
Reference a list with # and have Scout score, tag, or analyze every company in it:
"For companies in my #Pipeline Q2 list, score each one 1-5 on product-market fit signals and write a one-line rationale""Add these as custom fields to the list"
View in Console
In the top-right of the list, click Display → Fields → Custom, select the fields you want, then click Apply.
Getting the Best Results
1. Brief Scout like a smart analyst Write your query the way you'd brief a sharp analyst — explain who you are, what you're trying to do, and what "good" looks like. No boolean logic or filters needed.
Instead of: "Tell me about fintech"
Try: "Create a table of the top 10 Series A fintech companies with name, total raised, headcount, key investors, and recent growth signals."
2. Reference specific companies or people directly using @ Using @ ensures Scout pulls the exact company or person you mean, avoiding confusion with similar names.
"Find companies similar to @Stripe in the payments space"
"Who from my network is connected to @company?"
3. Go deeper with follow-up questions Scout is most powerful across multiple turns. Start broad, then drill in — each follow-up builds on the previous context.
"Map the competitive landscape for AI-native legal tools."
"Now filter to US companies at Series A or earlier, founded after 2021."
"For the top 3, show warm paths through my network."
4. Ask for the output you need Specify the format upfront and Scout will structure results accordingly.
"Present this as a side-by-side comparison table."
"Break this down by region with key statistics."
"Create a one-pager I can share directly with my team."
5. Reference a saved search or list Pull in your existing work by referencing a saved search or list directly. Scout will use it as context for your query.
"Based on my fintech watchlist, which companies are most likely to raise in the next 6 months?"
"From my Series B pipeline search, who has the strongest founding team backgrounds?"