Moat

Definition

A competitive advantage so strong that rivals can't easily replicate your business, borrowed from medieval castle terminology because startup founders fancy themselves as kings defending their kingdoms. Most startup moats are about as deep as a puddle.

Example Usage

"Our moat is our proprietary algorithm, which we developed in-house and is definitely not just three if-statements and a for-loop wrapped in a machine learning press release."

Related Terms

Intermediate

rolling close

A fundraising approach where a startup accepts investor commitments and transfers shares on multiple dates instead of a single closing. It's like a progressive dinner party for term sheets.

🚀 Startup / VC

Beginner

lead investor

The VC firm that sets the terms and does the heavy lifting in a funding round, while other investors gratefully follow along. Someone has to negotiate while everyone else free-rides.

🚀 Startup / VC

Beginner

grayhair

An experienced executive or advisor brought into a startup to add operational credibility and grown-up supervision to a young founding team. Think adult daycare, but for unicorn hopefuls.

🚀 Startup / VC

Beginner

crowdfunding

The modern equivalent of passing the hat, except the hat is a slick website and you're asking thousands of strangers on the internet to fund your dream project, questionable invention, or potato salad. It's democratized investing meets collective optimism meets occasional fraud.

🚀 Startup / VC

Intermediate

runway fumes

The terrifying state of having mere weeks of cash remaining, when every expense is scrutinized and founders start drafting layoff announcements. The financial equivalent of flying on empty while the engine sputters.

🚀 Startup / VC

Advanced

captive VC

A venture capital fund owned and operated by a larger corporation to invest in strategically relevant startups. They bring money and potential acquisition interest, but everyone knows who they're really working for.

🚀 Startup / VC

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