A start-up language start-up
By: Rob Edwards
Tags: Stories, Startup

Welcome back to the View from the Monolith! I’ve spent the last few years siloed in a monolithic organisation, but now I am adventuring in the world of start-ups. In this blog, I share the learning I glean along the way.

Every industry has its language: words or phrases that mean something specific in that culture which baffles outsiders who might stumble across them. The language of start-ups is a hybrid of business terms and technical ones, so depending on your background, some or all may already be familiar to you. But in today’s blog post, I thought I’d offer up some of my learning: phrases that were new to me (well, except one of them).

Almost have it…

Ideation. The creative process of forming ideas. Of “ideating”.

The concept this word embodies is exactly what I assumed it would be, but I was still surprised to discover it was a real word in the dictionary and everything. Apparently, it goes back to the 1820s, so perhaps I’m the only person who hasn’t encountered it before. Nevertheless, it seems it’s a common word around start-ups.

Incubator. An early-stage program, incubators provide a venue to develop and refine ideas.

Often established in a specific location, or focussing on one market, incubators help entrepreneurs at the very early stages, developing ideas into viable start-ups.

Loot!

Angel Investor. Provides the seed money to get the start-up moving.

They invest capital in the company, usually in exchange for an equity share. This generally happens before Venture Capitalists get involved, and Angels would typically be investing less money than a VC would.

Full disclosure, I had heard the term Angel Investor before, but I really wanted to draw an angel with a bag of money. I think she turned out quite well.

Accelerator. A program aimed at really getting a start-up moving.

Accelerators will provide seed money and a mentorship program which help start-ups accelerate their growth, generally for the fixed duration of the program. One of the most well-established accelerators is the Y-Combinator program.

Y-Combinator. The Y-Combinator program, often abbreviated to YC. Originating at Stanford University, it teaches entrepreneurship skills and provides seed investment for start-ups. Much of the training program is available online. For start-ups accepted into the program, YC acts as an accelerator.

Jack Attack!

Growth Hacking. Finding and using tactics to keep the start-up growing.

As a writer, words fascinate me, and ‘hacking’ is so interesting. Most of the older uses of the word are destructive or at least negative, viewed in that light, it’s easy to imagine growth hacking as undercutting growth. But, of course, that is not the case. In recent years, a ‘hack’ has come to mean a strategy, trick (or Shortcut!) to achieve something. So growth hacking becomes finding ways to keep your start-up growing; an essential element of success.

Runway. How long until the money runs out.

When I first heard this term, I had it the wrong way round. If your start-up has a runway of two months, that doesn’t mean two months to launch, it means that after two months your runway, and cash, runs out, and you’re not taking off at all!

Thanks for reading. I may revisit this idea as my own understanding of start-ups grow, but for now, time to move onto something practical. Join me next time when I share with you the advice we’ve received about recruitment at start-ups. And if you want to read this series from the start, check out the first View from the Monolith.