Definition

The speed at which a startup spends its investors' money, measured in dollars per month and panic attacks per quarter. It's called burn rate because watching your cash evaporate feels exactly like watching something on fire.

Example Usage

"Our burn rate is $200K per month, which means we have exactly six months before we discover whether this is a business or an elaborate bonfire."

Related Terms

Beginner

side hustle

A secondary job or income stream employees pursue outside their primary employment, ranging from Uber driving to freelance consulting. It's what used to be called 'having two jobs' before we rebranded poverty as entrepreneurship.

👥 Human Resources
Advanced

protective provisions

Veto rights that let preferred shareholders block certain major decisions like selling the company or raising more money. Democracy in theory, oligarchy in practice.

🚀 Startup / VC
Advanced

reserve ratio

The percentage of a VC fund set aside for follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies. The math that determines whether your investor can actually support you in the next round or just awkwardly watch.

🚀 Startup / VC
Intermediate

victimization

The process of being made into a victim through exploitation, oppression, or discrimination, often systematically and repeatedly. In HR and legal contexts, it refers to someone being treated unfairly or punished for asserting their rights, like reporting harassment and then mysteriously being excluded from meetings. It's the term that acknowledges harm has been done and someone needs to answer for it.

👥 Human Resources
Beginner

recruitment

The fine art of convincing qualified humans to join your organization, or convincing yourself that unqualified ones are actually hidden gems. This mystical process involves everything from posting job ads that require 10 years of experience in a 3-year-old technology to desperately scrolling LinkedIn at 2 AM. In the military context, it's the same thing but with better benefits and significantly more push-ups.

👥 Human Resources
Intermediate

elephant hunting

A sales or fundraising strategy focused exclusively on landing enormous clients or investors rather than building up smaller ones. It's high-risk, high-reward betting where you either feast or starve.

🚀 Startup / VC

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Intermediate

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