Brownfield Project

Definition

Developing within existing codebase and systems, guaranteed to be slower and more frustrating than greenfield development but somehow more realistic about constraints.

Example Usage

We decided to build on the existing brownfield rather than start fresh, which means moving at the speed of legacy code and bad architectural decisions.

Origin

Construction industry term for building on previously used land, adapted for software development.

Fun Fact

Most successful startup scaling actually involves sophisticated brownfield development, despite nobody's preference for it.

Source: Software development terminology

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reserve allocation

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moated

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runway fumes

The terrifying state of having mere weeks of cash remaining, when every expense is scrutinized and founders start drafting layoff announcements. The financial equivalent of flying on empty while the engine sputters.

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power law

The mathematical reality that in venture capital, one or two investments generate nearly all the returns while the rest are mediocre or dead. Why VCs can lose money on 90% of their portfolio and still return 3x the fund.

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priced equity round

A funding round where the company valuation is explicitly set and shares are sold at a specific price per share, unlike convertible instruments that defer pricing. It's the grown-up version of fundraising, with actual valuations and everything.

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