Disrupting disruption with disruptive disruptions since 2010.
When a startup's problems compound faster than solutions can be implemented. The financial equivalent of a black hole with ping-pong tournaments.
The startup maneuver of jumping into mobile app development because 'that's where all the users are,' often destroying a working web product in the process.
The pseudo-economic system of cryptocurrencies designed to convince people that worthless digital tokens have value. Often involves complex math that conveniently benefits the creators.
The first major institutional funding round where a startup trades away significant equity for the capital needed to scale, marking the point where things get complicated and lawyers get rich.
The total addressable opportunity that you will inevitably overestimate by 300% in your investor deck.
Business-to-Business (B2B) means selling to companies that have budgets and painful problems; B2C means selling to individuals who have wallets and abandon software at the slightest inconvenience.
A person who invests in cryptocurrency while claiming to understand blockchain technology and definitely not trying to scam anyone. Confidence without competence.
Spending investor money so quickly that your company will crash-land in months unless revenue magically appears or more funding materializes.
A startup valued at $1 billion or more—rarer than actual unicorns and equally mythical in terms of profitability. Most are 'unicorns' only in the venture capitalist's fever dreams.
When a startup realizes their original idea won't work and dramatically changes direction—either genius adaptation or admitting failure dressed up as strategy.
A 'Simple Agreement for Future Equity' that lets investors give you money today with the promise of equity later—it's simple until it gets complicated.
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.
Your plan for selling the product, which ranges from 'we'll figure it out' to 'we've reverse-engineered everyone else's channel strategy' depending on how prepared you are.
A business model where users interact directly with each other rather than with the company. It's appealing because network effects theoretically create moats, but achieving them is harder than VC partners admit.
The percentage of revenue retained from existing customers over a period, including expansion, downgrades, and churn. Above 100 percent means the customer base is growing even without new sales, which investors adore.
The event where founders finally get paid (or at least some of them do after preferred investors take their cut) and VCs hit return targets.
An investor at a VC firm who usually handles later-stage investments and board seats. Venture partners have less decision-making power than general partners but significantly more than your actual customers.
A company that has received venture capital funding. It's a stamp of credibility that makes customers pay attention and employees believe in equity compensation.
Founder ownership gradually vesting (often over 4 years) as a control mechanism for early departures. It's structured to make founders feel like they own 30% when they really own 0% until they've served their time.
A subsequent funding round after your initial Series A. It's when investors decide if they believe in your vision or think you're failing and want to cut losses proportionally.
The gradual or exponential increase in revenue over time—the metric VCs obsess over while ignoring profitability, customer satisfaction, and basic math.
An unpredictable, high-impact event (like a pandemic or 2008 financial crisis) that destroys startups with poor runway planning; basically 'God's RNG function running against you.'
In startup and manufacturing contexts, the obsessive drive to eliminate waste and optimize every process—think 'Lean Six Sigma' meets 'we're cutting everything including job security.' It's less about tilting and more about squeezing every ounce of efficiency out of your operation.