innovate

Beginner 🚀 Startup / VC

Definition

The corporate buzzword for 'doing something new' that appears in every mission statement and keynote presentation. To innovate is to revolutionize or introduce novelty, though in practice it often means adding an app to something that worked fine without one. Companies that claim to innovate daily are usually just iterating on someone else's idea with a slightly different shade of blue.

Example Usage

The startup promised to innovate the taxi industry by creating an app that connects drivers with passengers—wait, hasn't this been done?

Source: Business and startup terminology

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boomerang founder

An entrepreneur who returns to start another company after their previous venture was acquired or failed. They're either gluttons for punishment or genuinely addicted to the startup lifestyle.

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breaking the syndicate

When a startup seeks a lead investor for their next round who isn't part of their existing investor group, potentially signaling problems or a desire for fresh perspectives. It's the venture capital equivalent of changing friend groups.

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land grab

Aggressively pursuing market share and user growth at the expense of profitability or unit economics, betting that dominance now will create a moat later. It's monopoly thinking fueled by venture capital.

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Go-to-Market

The strategy for launching a product to customers, which in startup land typically involves a 90-slide deck, a Slack channel called launch-war-room, and a blog post nobody reads. It's called go-to-market because go-to-three-customers-who-are-your-friends doesn't sound as impressive.

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Accelerator

A fixed-term program that accelerates startup growth through mentorship, resources, and the crushing pressure of a demo day deadline. It's like a pressure cooker for companies -- some come out perfectly cooked, and some just explode.

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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

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