[apsurd]

  has_traction? 
  has_ability_to_get_traction?

Sure these are jobs in and of themselves but I'd think those would be the primary things everyone should be gunning for.

It's pretty clear that the "checklist" boils down to sizing up the founders (clear leader?) and sizing up the founders persistence. Persistent leaders usually end up getting traction some way with some product. So that would be my 2 classifiers.