Definition

A Silicon Valley term for marketing on a budget, dressed up to sound like you're breaking into a mainframe. In practice, it usually means spamming people on LinkedIn and calling it a strategy.

Example Usage

"Our growth hacker increased signups by 300% using one weird trick: making the unsubscribe button invisible on mobile."

Related Terms

Advanced

note tsunami

The overwhelming wave of convertible notes and SAFEs that convert to equity during a priced round, often revealing a far more complex cap table than founders realized. The moment when chickens come home to roost, except the chickens are financial instruments.

🚀 Startup / VC
Intermediate

venturer

A fancy term for someone who invests in or undertakes risky business ventures, particularly in the startup ecosystem where optimism meets capitalism. These bold souls throw money and energy at unproven business ideas, hoping to strike gold before bankruptcy strikes them. It's like being an explorer, except instead of discovering new lands, you're discovering new ways to burn through Series A funding.

🚀 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
Beginner

accelerating

To speed something up faster than its natural pace—the startup equivalent of hitting the gas pedal on your growth metrics. Often used by VCs who want their portfolio companies to move at warp speed regardless of whether the infrastructure can handle it.

🚀 Startup / VC
Advanced

Real-Time Bidding (RTB)

Automatic auction for ad impressions in milliseconds, where advertisers compete and the highest bidder's ad shows. It's the stock market, but faster and for eyeballs.

📣 Marketing / Advertising
Advanced

Series 409A Valuation

An independent appraisal of your private company's value for tax purposes—made by third parties specifically so the IRS can't argue your strike price was fraudulently low.

🚀 Startup / VC

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Intermediate

coattails effect

When a popular candidate at the top of the ticket (usually president or governor) boosts down-ballot candidates from the...