Dead Pool

Beginner 🚀 Startup / VC

Definition

The accumulating list of failed startups and failed startup founders—a real place we're all slowly joining.

Example Usage

Our original idea failed and we pivoted three times, so we're definitely on the venture dead pool watch list.

Origin

Informal startup slang; popularized in coverage of multiple venture downturns.

Fun Fact

CB Insights publishes an annual list of the largest 'unicorn' failures, some of which are legitimately surprising.

Source: Startup culture and venture capital terminology

Related Terms

Beginner

Seed Round

The first significant round of funding, where investors plant money in your startup like seeds in a garden, fully expecting that most gardens will produce nothing but weeds and regret. It's typically between $500K and $5M, which is a lot of money for a PowerPoint presentation.

🚀 Startup / VC
Intermediate

exit

In startup land, the glorious moment when founders and investors finally cash out, either through acquisition or IPO, turning years of ramen dinners and sleepless nights into actual money. It's the entrepreneurial equivalent of winning the lottery, except you had to build the lottery first. Every VC's favorite word and every founder's obsession after their Series A.

🚀 Startup / VC
Intermediate

co-sale rights

Also called tag-along rights, these allow minority shareholders to join a sale transaction if majority holders are selling their shares. The 'if you're abandoning ship, I'm coming too' clause.

🚀 Startup / VC
Advanced

synthetic exit

Restructuring that gives early investors and employees liquidity without selling the company, like a pressure release valve for cap table tension. An exit without the exit.

🚀 Startup / VC
Advanced

cram down

A financing round where new investors impose unfavorable terms on existing shareholders who lack the power to block it. Essentially a hostile takeover by people already inside your building.

🚀 Startup / VC
Advanced

earnout

A deferred payment structure in an acquisition where sellers receive additional money only if the business hits specific milestones post-sale. It's how acquirers say 'we believe your projections!' while quietly not paying for them upfront.

🚀 Startup / VC

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