nursery

Definition

A startup incubator or venture capital term for an early-stage company breeding ground where fledgling ideas get fed, nurtured, and hopefully don't die under fluorescent lights. Think of it as the preschool for businesses that haven't figured out profitability yet.

Example Usage

TechCrunch called our accelerator program a nursery for the next generation of unicorns.

Source: Common startup terminology

Related Terms

Beginner

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.

🚀 Startup / VC

Intermediate

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.

🚀 Startup / VC

Advanced

participation rights

A clause letting preferred investors double-dip by getting their liquidation preference back AND participating in the remaining proceeds with common shareholders. It's having your cake, eating it too, and taking a slice of everyone else's.

🚀 Startup / VC

Beginner

go-to-market strategy

Your master plan for how you'll actually convince humans to exchange money for your product, typically involving buzzwords like 'omnichannel' and 'vertical integration.' It's the section of your pitch deck you update most frequently as each approach fails.

🚀 Startup / VC

Advanced

signaling risk

The danger that passing on an investment or accepting certain terms sends negative messages to future investors. In VC, optics matter as much as economics—sometimes you reject money because taking it would look desperate.

🚀 Startup / VC

Advanced

zombie round

A funding event that technically keeps a struggling startup alive but doesn't provide enough capital or momentum to actually succeed. Life support masquerading as investment.

🚀 Startup / VC

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