valuing

Definition

The process of slapping a number on something that probably doesn't have a real value. In venture capital, it's educated guessing dressed up as financial analysis—your startup is worth $100M because we feel like it is, and also because everyone else paid way too much for similar companies.

Example Usage

We're valuing the company at $50 million despite zero revenue, because innovation.

Source: Venture capital and startup terminology

Related Terms

Beginner

Runway

The amount of time a startup has before it runs out of money and crashes, much like an actual runway but with more crying. It's measured in months and discussed in board meetings with the same energy as a doctor delivering a terminal diagnosis.

🚀 Startup / VC

Beginner

limited partner

The actual money behind venture capital—pension funds, endowments, and rich people who give VCs money to invest and hope they know what they're doing. They're 'limited' because they can't tell the GP how to do their job.

🚀 Startup / VC

Advanced

participating preferred

Preferred stock that gets both its money back first AND participates in remaining proceeds with common stockholders. The 'have your cake and eat it too' of liquidation preferences.

🚀 Startup / VC

Intermediate

trademark velocity

The speed at which a startup moves from inception to market dominance within its category. The term is sometimes used when discussing execution speed and competitive moats simultaneously.

🚀 Startup / VC

Intermediate

lock-up period

A contractual restriction preventing insiders from selling shares after an IPO, typically 90-180 days. Because letting founders dump all their stock on day one would be honest but catastrophic for stock price.

🚀 Startup / VC

Intermediate

triple down

When a VC aggressively increases their investment in a portfolio company across multiple rounds, betting their career on being right. Conviction investing taken to its logical extreme.

🚀 Startup / VC

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