diluted

Definition

The soul-crushing moment when a founder's ownership percentage shrinks because the company issued more shares to new investors. It's weaker coffee, but for equity—you still own shares, they're just worth relatively less of the pie. Every funding round brings this special joy, where you simultaneously celebrate getting money and mourn losing control.

Example Usage

After the Series B, Maria's stake was diluted from 25% to 8%, but hey, 8% of something is better than 25% of nothing, right?

Source: Common finance and startup terminology

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