Hosted MCP server is down for maintenance at this time. We will update when it is back online.
We released the first version of Standard Metrics’ MCP last month, giving our team and customers a look at what’s possible when Standard Metrics data is leveraged in LLMs.
VC firms can ask Claude Desktop, for instance, questions about their portfolio companies (“List the top five SaaS companies in my portfolio by revenue growth”) and get quick answers, without having to build reports. They can layer online search capabilities into analysis (“Who are the biggest competitors to these companies right now?”) to take reporting a step further, without needing to open up a browser. VCs can also utilize LLM functionality beyond question-and-answer (”Write a summary of these five companies’ performance for internal portfolio review”) to nail portfolio reviews, without having to manually review data across spreadsheets, email, and documents.
We immediately set out to onboard all of the firms we support to unlock this functionality. However, local MCPs have two shortcomings which made this process difficult:
- Demanding setup: Local MCPs require a technical setup process that involves Terminal window installations, code, and JSON configuration changes.
- Manual maintenance: Local MCPs require creating and actively managing developer keys, which makes uninterrupted MCP use difficult across stakeholders.
Given these limitations and customer demand, we decided to invest in a new and improved MCP. Today, we’re proud to share what that looks like.
What’s new: Standard Metrics’ hosted MCP server
Our new hosted MCP helps all the firms on Standard Metrics use their data in any MCP-compatible tool, regardless of technical ability, and to implement it in seconds, no code required. Prior to this update, our customers connected with tools like Cursor and Anthropic’s GPT, Claude, and now it’s even easier.
Our new MCP also makes the credentials process easier and more secure. Users no longer need to create API keys, save them in a secure location, and then bring them into a JSON config file to be able to use the MCP. Instead, they are now pre-authenticated through their Standard Metrics login.
We’ve focused initial customer migration to Claude Desktop given its robust connector capabilities, and filmed a Loom video and updated our developer docs with instructions to help our customers get started. However, we’re also able to help firms connect to other MCP-compatible tools and encourage our customers to reach out to their CS representatives with questions. Some LLM clients ChatGPT require additional tools that are not yet supported in the Standard Metrics MCP.
By eliminating these friction points, we’re delivering on our commitment to interoperability in the private markets, empowering every one of our customers with the ability to pull and analyze portfolio data efficiently. With accessibility solved, we’d like to re-highlight what’s possible with MCPs, and why we’re encouraging every one of our customers to set up the one we’ve built.
Why we’re investing more in our MCP
As our last blog post explained, MCPs enable compatible LLMs to pull, analyze, synthesize, and update data across compatible tools. Since VCs often manage data across systems, we knew investing here would help more customers save time and frustration when it comes to portfolio analysis. We’ve assembled a few videos below to showcase what this looks like in practice. These videos should serve as inspiration for what MCPs can unlock.
Example 1: Portfolio Analysis and Benchmarking
Required tools:
– Claude Desktop and Standard Metrics
Additional data sources / tools:
– PDF-version of Emergence Capital’s benchmarking report
What did Claude achieve?
– Claude pulls quarterly ARR data for AI companies on Standard Metrics, computes 2024 ARR growth, and ranks their performance with additional insights. It then parses Emergence Capital’s report to select the right benchmark and outputs a color-coded performance chart to visualize how each company stacks up.
Example 2: Board Meeting Prep
Required tools:
– Claude Desktop, Standard Metrics, Google Calendar Connector, Notion Connector
What did Claude achieve?
– Claude searches Google Calendar for board meetings happening next week, matches those meetings to companies on Standard Metrics, synthesizes how each are performing, then drafts what should be covered in each company’s board meeting. It then updates the right Notion database with all this info.
Example 3: Portfolio Company Reporting
Required tools:
– Claude Desktop and Standard Metrics
What did Claude achieve?
– Claude identifies the company in question in Standard Metrics, pulls the latest budget vs. actuals data, and analyzes performance versus plan with supporting internal notes. It also uses web search to explain the regulatory change driving the outperformance.
To figure out other ways our MCP can be leveraged, simply determine if the end output involves data that’s accessible via one of our API endpoints, and if Claude will be able to understand the ask as one that Standard Metrics data can help answer. Tip: if you’re trying to make a tool call, use Standard Metrics nomenclature when prompting (e.g. “AI sector companies” vs “AI companies”) to help Claude efficiently and accurately pinpoint what data to reference for analysis. Using generic language risks confusing Claude, prolonging analysis.
Customers can elevate portfolio analysis a step further by connecting Claude Desktop to Gmail, Google Drive, iMessage, AirTable, and dozens of other compatible tools not leveraged in the above examples. For a comprehensive list of MCP-compatible tools, see here.
Looking ahead
In summary, our hosted MCP server solves the two core problems that limited adoption of our first release. Setup now takes seconds instead of hours, and authentication/credentials are handled more automatically, improving accessibility and usability.
As more software platforms adopt the Model Context Protocol, Standard Metrics data will be able to flow across even more tools without investors having to manually copy-paste data between systems. The examples we show above (benchmarking, board prep, budgets vs actuals) are just the beginning of what’s possible.
We built Standard Metrics to give VCs better data infrastructure and we’re thrilled to release this new and improved MCP version to the market. Get set up today by following the instructions in our developer docs and let us know how you’re using it by tagging Standard Metrics on LinkedIn.
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