Coin Canary isn't a mining company. Operatr is a forum member that used to run a list like this. You might want to take a look at it.
On a scale from 1-100, 1 being the worst and 100 being the best, is there a company out there right now that would rate a 100? Maybe we take the qualities of a 100 company and work backwards.
There are a lot of scams out there. You said earlier something to the effect of people are getting out their pitchforks and going after companies before they have a chance to prove their selves.
Innocent until proven guilty and all that, but with bitcoin mining equipment you can go after a company hard. If they are found to be clean it only helps them. You don't see scams last very long here because the community watches so closely. Unfortunately they only have to make a few coins per scam to be worthwhile. The quicker one is taken down the better, otherwise it just encourages them to do more.
The number system isn't a bad idea, though. Each category could be worth 5-10 points
Can they prove they are the people they say they are, and their experience? This can be checked with Linkedin profiles, and other social media. Once it's confirmed that this person is real, it's also a good idea to have someone call up the companies they have worked for to see if they have the experience they say.
Do their product pictures (or profiles) come up on an image search? Often people steal pictures and modify them. This isn't necessarily illegal, or even immoral unless they contend that they made the picture, or that their product looks like this. Often people hire graphic designers who will just rip pictures, so this doesn't automatically make a company a scam.
Is their company located where they say? Google earth helps here, occasionally just looking at a spot is enough to cast a potential business as questionable.
Is this location a real business, a home address, a PO box, or a hole in the wall that many businesses use?
Do they post here to allow the community to check them? One of the most common practices is to hope that random people will stop in and spend a few thousand dollars before people call them out.
In addition to the above, are they working with any of the programmers to ensure their equipment will run the protocols properly?
Do they have contracts with a foundry, or a chip design company? If there is a legitimate company lending it's credibility to a new start up it is very likely they are the real thing. Of course the connection has to be checked. Once I emailed Global Foundries about a new company and they disappeared that day.
Are they registered as a business in the company of origin? If you can't get to this information it's unlikely they are going anywhere, since such a large endeavor is going to quickly draw the attention of local bureaucrats and the police force pretty quickly if they aren't in compliance.
Do they have employees that can be checked on? It's hard to start a company that just has a couple engineers to do everything.
Are they funded by a known group? This connection needs to be checked of course.
Does their website look like it took a little work to make? Many legit companies have failed here, breaking on the order page and whatnot, but it's still worthwhile to check.
Preorders? If they aren't taking preorders, then they aren't a normal company in this space. Still it should be a red flag that they are making their customers into investors. This requires diligence in other areas.
Any of these points can have exceptions. For instance Bitfury came out of nowhere defying the first point and probably others. In the end, though, even if a company is listed as being a likely scam all they have to do is show up with a product (video, or samples sent to programmers) with an internally consistent story and people will flock to them.
Unfortunately, as it has been mentioned, even if a company rates highly here it is no assurance they will deliver a product. It should make it very likely that they at least intend to do so, though.
