cockroach startup

Definition

A resilient company that survives on minimal resources and refuses to die despite market conditions that would kill competitors. They're scrappy, resourceful, and nearly impossible to eliminate.

Example Usage

Despite the dot-com crash, the cockroach startup pivoted three times and eventually became profitable without additional funding.

Origin

Emerged during economic downturns when survival became more valued than rapid growth

Fun Fact

Cockroach startups often outlive better-funded competitors and sometimes become acquirers themselves when conditions improve.

Source: Startup survival and bootstrapping terminology

Related Terms

Advanced

pay-to-play provision

A punitive clause forcing existing investors to participate in future rounds or lose their special privileges—the venture capital equivalent of 'put up or shut up.' Popular after market downturns when companies need to separate real believers from fair-weather friends.

🚀 Startup / VC

Intermediate

tender offer

When a company or investor offers to buy shares from existing shareholders at a set price, providing liquidity without a full exit. A release valve for the equity pressure cooker.

🚀 Startup / VC

Intermediate

Acqui-Hire

When a company buys another company not for its product but for its employees, which is the corporate equivalent of buying a house just for the kitchen. The product gets quietly killed while the team gets quietly absorbed and quietly regrets everything.

🚀 Startup / VC

Intermediate

Moonshot

An ambitious, seemingly impossible project that aims to solve a massive problem, named after the Apollo missions because both require billions of dollars and a willingness to ignore the odds. For every actual moonshot, there are a thousand founders calling their food delivery app a moonshot.

🚀 Startup / VC

Advanced

trough of sorrow

The extended period after initial startup excitement fades when growth stalls and reality sets in, but you're too committed to quit. It's the emotional valley between 'we're going to change the world' and 'maybe we should get real jobs.'

🚀 Startup / VC

Beginner

feature creep

The continuous addition of new features to a product beyond its original scope, usually resulting in bloated, confusing software that pleases no one. The disease killing promising MVPs since software began.

🚀 Startup / VC

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