Disrupting disruption with disruptive disruptions since 2010.
The collection of failed unicorns and heavily funded startups that shut down—a sobering reminder that money isn't the same as success.
A growing trend of founders rejecting venture capital in favor of bootstrapping, arguing that VC funding is more constraint than catalyst.
Subsequent funding rounds for growing startups—each one supposedly easier to close than the last, yet somehow always takes longer.
A funding round naming scheme that allows investors to pretend they understand what stage a company is at. Each round requires the company to promise even more revolutionary metrics.
The special shares VCs get that have extra rights and protections—the VIP section of the cap table.
Raising money primarily because everyone else is doing it and you're afraid of missing out, rather than because you actually need it. The startup equivalent of peer pressure at a middle school dance.
Companies created in cohorts through accelerator programs like Y Combinator, characterized by shared learning and networking within their cohort group.
A legally separate entity created to hold investments or structure deals, often used to bundle small investors into a single shareholder to simplify cap tables.
A valuation method that multiplies annual revenue by an industry-standard multiple (e.g., 5x revenue) to estimate company value. It's less scientific than it sounds, mostly vibes-based.
The number of months required for a customer to generate enough profit to pay back their acquisition cost. If it's over 12 months, your unit economics are questionable.
The phenomenon where association with prestigious VCs or successful investors increases a startup's perceived credibility and ability to raise follow-on funding.
Optimizing your funding round structure to maximize returns on investor capital through preferred stock terms. It's when the finance side of VCs gets really, really aggressive.
Lifetime Value divided by Customer Acquisition Cost, measuring whether a customer is profitable over their lifetime. If it's under 3:1, you're losing money on every sale.
A product so bare-bones it barely qualifies as a product, but you call it an 'MVP' to sound legitimate. Usually features a landing page and nothing else.