Secondary Offering

Definition

When existing shareholders sell their shares publicly without the company itself receiving any money—basically using the company as a cash machine.

Example Usage

Our CEO exercised secondary offerings worth $50 million, which made employees wonder why we're still burning cash.

Origin

Securities market terminology

Fun Fact

Secondary offerings became controversial in the 2020s as a way for founders to cash out before company maturity

Source: Public markets terminology

Related Terms

Beginner

Angel Investor

A wealthy individual who gives money to startups in exchange for equity and the warm feeling of watching their investment evaporate. They're called angels because they appear from heaven with cash and then watch helplessly as you fly straight into the ground.

🚀 Startup / VC

Beginner

portfolio company

A startup that a VC firm has invested in, now living in their collection like a Pokémon card. Each firm has dozens, knowing most will fail but hoping one becomes a legendary holographic Charizard.

🚀 Startup / VC

Advanced

Rule of 40

A metric suggesting that growth rate + profit margin should equal 40% for a healthy software company—8% growth with 32% margin, or 35% growth with 5% margin, both equal 40.

🚀 Startup / VC

Intermediate

Brownfield Project

Developing within existing codebase and systems, guaranteed to be slower and more frustrating than greenfield development but somehow more realistic about constraints.

🚀 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

Beginner

Bootstrapping

Building a company using nothing but your own savings, credit cards, and an alarming tolerance for ramen noodles. It's the startup equivalent of performing surgery on yourself -- theoretically possible, but everyone watching is deeply uncomfortable.

🚀 Startup / VC

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