Disrupting disruption with disruptive disruptions since 2010.
A venture capitalist's way of asking 'why won't everyone else just copy your idea in six months?' Often answered with 'moat' or 'network effects,' which are sometimes real.
In startup circles, the delicate art of hand-holding your leads, customers, or portfolio companies through their developmental journey with strategic attention and resources—because apparently letting things grow naturally is for gardeners, not venture capitalists.
The person(s) running a VC fund who make investment decisions and get a slice of the profits. They're the ones who take credit for wins and explain away losses.
Getting covered in TechCrunch and experiencing viral growth you're completely unprepared for—basically media success transforming into operational failure.
A philosophy where you validate ideas quickly through experimentation rather than careful planning—basically expensive trial and error with a catchy name.
A small, usually temporary roadside stand operated by children selling homemade lemonade to passersby. It serves as an informal introduction to entrepreneurship, customer service, and money handling.
The process of convincing strangers to give you money based on PowerPoint slides and promises of future glory. It typically consumes 50% of a CEO's time and results in 30% dilution per round.
When secondary investors rely on a lead investor's due diligence rather than doing their own—lazy investing enabled by information asymmetry.
That entrepreneurial superpower where you see profit potential in literally everything, from spare time to random objects. It's viewing the entire world through a lens of 'how can I monetize this?'
A professional investor who gives large sums of money to startups in exchange for equity and a seat on the board. They're part advisor, part critic, part gambler.
Whether your business model can actually make money—a question founders tend to ask after they've already spent all the money.
Pre-money is the company's value before funding; post-money is the value after. The difference is the amount you're raising.
The collection of failed unicorns and heavily funded startups that shut down—a sobering reminder that money isn't the same as success.
Whether an investor believes the founder is capable of building the company they're pitching—basically an investor betting on your charisma and work ethic rather than your idea.
A new product or service that fundamentally changes how an industry operates—a term VCs use so often it's become meaningless.
Measurable signs that customers actually want your product—the startup equivalent of a pulse check.
A professional or personal metamorphosis where you adaptively transform yourself—shedding old habits, attitudes, or personas like a mermaid trading her tail for legs—to fit seamlessly into a new environment or role.
A VC fund or accelerator that has successfully backed multiple unicorns, earning them the right to be insufferably smug about their 'formula'.
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.
The periodic collapse of cryptocurrency valuations where billions in imaginary wealth evaporate and crypto bros go silent on social media for several months.
A funding round naming scheme that allows investors to pretend they understand what stage a company is at. Each round requires the company to promise even more revolutionary metrics.
Subsequent funding rounds for growing startups—each one supposedly easier to close than the last, yet somehow always takes longer.