micro-VC

Definition

A venture fund typically under $50M that invests small checks in very early-stage startups. They offer founder-friendly terms and actual attention, mainly because they can't afford fancy offices or ignore their investments.

Example Usage

We took $250K from a micro-VC who actually responds to emails, unlike the mega-fund that ghosted us after three partner meetings.

Origin

Venture capital industry terminology, emerged in 2000s as angel investors formalized into small funds

Fun Fact

Micro-VCs often outperform larger funds percentage-wise but can't deploy enough capital to generate huge absolute returns—they're victims of their own success.

Source: Venture capital industry classification

Related Terms

Intermediate

commercialization

The process of taking an idea, product, or technology and transforming it into something that actually makes money, because apparently innovation for its own sake doesn't pay the bills. It's the startup world's coming-of-age ceremony, where brilliant concepts either become profitable products or expensive lessons. Essentially, it's the bridge between "we built something cool" and "people are actually buying it."

🚀 Startup / VC

Beginner

Freemium

A business model where the basic product is free but all the useful features cost money, like a restaurant that gives you a free plate but charges for the food. It's the startup equivalent of a drug dealer's first-one's-free strategy, but legal and with worse margins.

🚀 Startup / VC

Beginner

SaaS

Software as a Service -- a business model where customers pay monthly to rent software they'll never own, like a never-ending apartment lease for your data. It's the tech industry's greatest invention: turning a one-time purchase into a lifetime of recurring payments.

🚀 Startup / VC

Intermediate

first-mover advantage

The theoretical benefit of being first to market, used to justify rushing out half-baked products. History suggests fast-follower advantage is more valuable, but that doesn't sound as impressive in pitch decks.

🚀 Startup / VC

Advanced

qualifying transaction

A financing or exit event that triggers specific contractual provisions in a term sheet, such as conversion of convertible notes or acceleration of vesting. The legal trip-wire that determines when various startup agreements activate.

🚀 Startup / VC

Beginner

GP

General Partner, the VC fund managers who make investment decisions and carry legal liability for the fund's operations. They're the ones whose names are on the door and whose reputations are on the line.

🚀 Startup / VC

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