operator

Intermediate 🚀 Startup / VC

Definition

A VC or advisor who has actually built and run companies rather than just invested in them from the sidelines. The startup equivalent of a war veteran versus someone who just played Call of Duty.

Example Usage

We specifically wanted an operator on our board—someone who'd been in the trenches, not just written checks from Sand Hill Road.

Origin

Military terminology adopted by Silicon Valley in the 2010s to distinguish builders from pure financiers

Fun Fact

Operator VCs often command higher fees and better deal flow because founders believe they'll actually answer their 2am panic texts.

Source: Silicon Valley venture capital culture and terminology

Related Terms

Beginner

Founder

The person who started a company and will remind you of this fact in every meeting, email signature, and LinkedIn post until the heat death of the universe. They wear the title like a crown, even when the kingdom is a WeWork desk and two interns.

🚀 Startup / VC
Advanced

signaling

The information conveyed to the market by investor actions, such as who leads a round or whether insiders participate in follow-ons. In startup land, subtext is text.

🚀 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
Advanced

double trigger acceleration

Vesting acceleration that requires two events—typically an acquisition plus termination—before unvested shares become immediately vested. Single trigger's more reasonable younger sibling.

🚀 Startup / VC
Intermediate

Vesting

The process by which employees gradually earn their stock options over time, designed to keep people from taking the equity and running. It's a four-year golden handcuff that makes quitting feel like leaving money on the table, even when the money is imaginary.

🚀 Startup / VC
Beginner

proposition

The fancy business term for a proposal or offer, usually dressed up with adjectives like 'value' or 'unique' to make it sound more impressive than 'hey, wanna buy our stuff?' In startup pitch decks, the 'value proposition' is that one slide where founders explain why anyone should care about their idea, typically using a Venn diagram that doesn't quite make sense. A good proposition answers 'what's in it for me?' before the listener falls asleep.

🚀 Startup / VC

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