founder-friendly

Definition

A marketing term VCs use to describe their approach, supposedly indicating fair terms and supportive behavior. In practice, it often means 'we won't screw you quite as hard as the other guys.'

Example Usage

Their deck claimed they were the most founder-friendly firm on Sand Hill Road, right before proposing a 3x liquidation preference.

Origin

Emerged in the 2010s as competition for hot deals intensified

Fun Fact

Every VC firm claims to be founder-friendly, making the term virtually meaningless—it's the participation trophy of venture capital.

Source: Venture capital marketing and startup financing culture

Related Terms

Beginner

Unicorn

A startup valued at over one billion dollars, named after a mythical creature because the valuation is equally imaginary. For every unicorn, there are ten thousand startups that are just regular horses with traffic cones taped to their heads.

🚀 Startup / VC

Intermediate

Venture Capital

Money given to startups by firms who expect most of their investments to fail spectacularly, banking on one unicorn to pay for all the donkeys. VCs will fund almost anything if you put AI in the pitch deck and promise to disrupt something.

💰 Finance / Accounting🚀 Startup / VC

Advanced

zombie VC

A venture capital firm that's functionally dead but still managing old funds, unable to raise new capital but too undead to fully shut down. They're not investing in new companies but still collecting management fees from their limited partners.

🚀 Startup / VC

Beginner

proposition

The fancy business term for a proposal or offer, usually dressed up with adjectives like 'value' or 'unique' to make it sound more impressive than 'hey, wanna buy our stuff?' In startup pitch decks, the 'value proposition' is that one slide where founders explain why anyone should care about their idea, typically using a Venn diagram that doesn't quite make sense. A good proposition answers 'what's in it for me?' before the listener falls asleep.

🚀 Startup / VC

Beginner

logo collecting

When a startup prioritizes acquiring recognizable brand-name customers purely for credibility, even if those deals are unprofitable or unsustainable. It's the corporate equivalent of name-dropping at parties.

🚀 Startup / VC

Intermediate

churning

The unethical practice where brokers excessively trade in a client's account primarily to generate commissions rather than profits, essentially treating your portfolio like a butter-making operation. In SaaS, it refers to the rate at which customers cancel their subscriptions, making it the metric that haunts every startup founder's dreams. Either way, it's excessive activity that benefits someone other than you.

🚀 Startup / VC

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