Disrupting disruption with disruptive disruptions since 2010.
The phase between term sheet and closing where investors suddenly realize they haven't actually verified anything and demand 10,000 documents.
A down round combined with the departure of key executives or massive losses—essentially the startup equivalent of hitting rock bottom while the bank forecloses.
A company that conducts business primarily on the internet, or the era of internet-based business ventures in the 1990s. The term comes from the ".com" domain suffix used by commercial websites.
A technology or business model that destroys existing markets while making founders rich. Wall Street's favorite euphemism for 'we're breaking laws but we'll settle later.'
The special circle of Dante's Inferno where VCs ask increasingly absurd questions about your financial projections, customer concentration, and why your revenue is so lumpy.
When a supposedly legitimate startup fails vetting and is exposed as either fraudulent or fundamentally broken, usually discovered after the wire transfer clears.
Technology that claims to fundamentally change an industry, but often just means 'we have a different user interface and a VC believes in us.'
When a startup's problems compound faster than solutions can be implemented. The financial equivalent of a black hole with ping-pong tournaments.
PowerPoint presentations, called this because saying 'PowerPoint' sounds less impressive when pitching to investors who will only look at the conclusion anyway.
A company that will reach profitability with its current cash and revenue trajectory, without needing to raise more money. Paul Graham made the question popular, and it is a useful check against the comfort of an optimistic forecast.