Disrupting disruption with disruptive disruptions since 2010.
A handshake agreement between friends to keep something confidential—no lawyers, no paperwork, just mutual trust and the vague hope nobody steals your million-dollar idea. It's an NDA for people too broke to afford an actual NDA.
The phase between seed funding and Series A where many startups run out of money and crash; basically startup purgatory.
To forcefully resurrect a dead project, company, or relationship using emergency measures and borrowed energy. Like CPR but for your failing startup's momentum.
Acronym for product-market fit, used by people too busy crushing it to say three whole words. It's the startup world's obsession with abbreviations meeting their obsession with the only metric that actually matters.
A sudden, catastrophic drop in value, performance, or viability—the moment your startup's growth chart becomes a ski slope in the wrong direction. Often used in VC circles to describe what happens when a company hits its scaling limit without a parachute.
The startup founder's obsession—that magical unicorn metric combining customer benefit, market size, and the ability to eventually turn a profit (someday, maybe). Investors worship at this altar; users actually experience it.
To launch a startup or project with minimal external funding by leveraging existing resources and sweat equity. The term originates from computing (where an OS loads itself into memory) but has become startup gospel—basically, pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps while investors watch from the sidelines.
Simple Agreement for Future Tokens—a legal instrument for investing in future cryptocurrency tokens, for when you want equity but make it crypto.
The mythical center where everything important supposedly happens, whether it's a transportation network, a startup ecosystem, or your company's Slack workspace. Every city with a coworking space now claims to be 'the next innovation hub,' conveniently ignoring that actual hubs require more than overpriced lattes and motivational wall decals. In practice, it's where resources flow in, get distributed inefficiently, and occasionally produce something useful.
The early-internet ideology that all digital content and services should be freely available to everyone, or at least subsidized by someone else willing to foot the bill. A utopian dream that helped kill the dot-com bubble.
A governing body that theoretically oversees your startup but mostly just attends meetings and questions your decisions, led by the investors who own significant stakes.
Monthly Recurring Revenue—the predictable revenue generated each month from subscription customers, the metric that makes investors weep with joy.
A half-baked version of your product with just enough features to validate whether customers actually want it—or to prove they don't.
Your strategy for acquiring customers—ranging from 'extremely detailed 50-page document' to 'hope LinkedIn organic works' depending on your VC's patience.
A theoretical timeline for when a company will stop losing money and become self-sustaining; usually a fictional document written for investors.
In startup culture, to gradually earn ownership rights to company equity over time (usually 4 years), ensuring employees don't just grab the cash and run.
A provision that adjusts an investor's ownership if future funding rounds happen at lower valuations. Basically a rich person's insurance policy.
Startups built on fundamental scientific breakthroughs rather than clever software—the kind of company that requires physics PhDs and takes 10 years to become profitable, beloved by investors who want long-term moonshots.
A startup incubator or venture capital term for an early-stage company breeding ground where fledgling ideas get fed, nurtured, and hopefully don't die under fluorescent lights. Think of it as the preschool for businesses that haven't figured out profitability yet.
Shaping materials with specialized equipment, or—in startup-speak—'getting the factory ready before we realize we can't afford it.' The expensive setup phase nobody budgets correctly for.
Net Promoter Score—a survey asking customers how likely they are to recommend you (0-10). Mostly used to confirm whatever founders already believe about customer satisfaction.
A professional investor who manages large funds and makes risky bets on startups—essentially a gambler with better PR.
Interest on convertible notes that automatically converts to equity at future rounds, making the note holders richer for waiting.
A startup's dream scenario where it becomes a public company and founders finally get to sell their stock—statistically less likely than winning the lottery.