THE SILICON VALLEY DICTIONARY
How much valley
do you speak?
75 words you will hear in Silicon Valley, and what they actually mean.
ALL 75 TERMS A → Z
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01 10x engineer/ˌtɛn ˌɛks ˌɛndʒəˈnɪɹ/
Engineer claimed to produce far more than average.
They searched for a mythical 10x engineer for the team.
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02 30 under 30/ˌθɝti ˌʌndɝ ˈθɝti/
Forbes's list of young founders, now a joke about how many honorees were later charged with fraud.
She made 30 under 30, and her friends asked when the indictment was due.
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03 acqui-hire/ˈækwiˌhaɪɹ/
Buying a company for its team.
The tech giant did an acqui-hire for the talent.
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04 adderall/ˈædɝˌɔl/
A prescription stimulant taken off-label as a focus drug to power through long work sessions.
She took adderall to finish her project before midnight.
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05 agentic workflow/əˈdʒɛntɪk ˈwɝkˌfloʊ/
AI agents operate without much human help.
The project utilized an agentic workflow for efficiency.
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06 AGI/ˌeɪ ˌdʒi ˈaɪ/
A type of AI that mimics human intelligence.
Researchers aim to develop true AGI in the future.
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07 ai wrapper/ˌeɪ ˈaɪ ˈɹæpɚ/
Product that is a thin interface over another model.
They launched an AI wrapper that lacked originality.
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08 alignment/əˈlaɪnmənt/
Matching AI behavior with human expectations.
The team focused on alignment to improve safety.
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09 arr/ˌeɪ ˌɑɹ ˈɑɹ/
Yearly revenue from active subscriptions.
The company reached a million in ARR this year.
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10 backseat investor/ˌbækˈsit ɪnˈvɛstɝ/
An investor who interferes without running the company.
The backseat investor questioned every decision the founder made.
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11 based/ˈbeɪst/
A term praising independent thinkers.
Her opinions are based, earning her many followers.
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12 bikeshedding/ˈbaɪkˌʃɛdɪŋ/
Arguing about trivial details while ignoring important decisions.
The team spent hours bikeshedding over color choices.
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13 bootstrap/ˈbutˌstɹæp/
Funding a startup with your own pocket money.
She decided to bootstrap her business from scratch.
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14 burn rate/ˈbɝn ˌɹeɪt/
The speed a company spends cash.
Their burn rate alarmed investors last quarter.
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15 cap table/ˈkæp ˌteɪbəl/
List showing ownership shares in a company.
The investors reviewed the cap table before investing.
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16 churn rate/ˈtʃɝn ˌɹeɪt/
The rate of losing customers over time.
The churn rate increased after the price hike.
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17 cluely/ˈkluːli/
A startup that makes an undetectable desktop app meant to help you "cheat on everything".
She used Cluely during her important job interview.
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18 context window/ˈkɑntɛkst ˌwɪndoʊ/
How much text a model can hold at once.
The context window limits the model's understanding.
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19 convertible note/kənˈvɝtəbəl ˈnoʊt/
Short-term loan turning into shares later.
He funded the startup with a convertible note.
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20 cracked/ˈkɹækt/
Highly skilled, especially in coding.
The team needed a cracked engineer for the project.
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21 crushing it/ˈkɹʌʃɪŋ ˌɪt/
Achieving exceptional success with something.
He is crushing it in his new business venture.
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22 decel/ˈdiˌsɛl/
Short for "decelerationist," used to describe someone who opposes rapid technological progress, particularly in AI.
He is known as a decel in the tech community.
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23 delaware c-corp/ˈdɛləˌwɛɹ ˈsi kɔɹp/
A corporation registered in Delaware for startups.
They formed a Delaware c-corp to attract investors.
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24 demo day/ˈdɛmoʊ ˌdeɪ/
Event where startups pitch to investors.
Founders nervously presented their ideas at demo day.
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25 dilution/daɪˈluʃən/
Shrinking ownership share due to new shares.
He faced dilution when the company issued more stock.
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26 dogfooding/ˈdɔɡˌfudɪŋ/
Using your own product for validation.
The team practiced dogfooding to improve their app.
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27 down round/ˈdaʊn ˌɹaʊnd/
Raising funds at a lower company valuation.
They had to accept a down round to secure funding.
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28 dry powder/ˈdɹaɪ ˌpaʊdɚ/
Money a fund has raised but not yet invested.
The venture capital firm has plenty of dry powder.
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29 duck syndrome/ˈdʌk ˈsɪnˌdɹoʊm/
Appearing calm while struggling underneath.
He displayed duck syndrome during exam week stress.
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30 evals/ˈivælz/
Repeatable tests that measure model output quality.
The team ran evals to check the model's accuracy.
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31 exit/ˈɛgzɪt/
Event where founders and investors cash out.
The startup's exit made everyone wealthy overnight.
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32 flywheel/ˈflaɪˌwil/
Self-reinforcing loop that drives growth.
The company's flywheel kept gaining momentum each year.
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33 fomo/ˈfoʊmoʊ/
Fear of missing out on investment opportunities.
His fomo kicked in during the hot funding round.
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34 founder mode/ˈfaʊndɝ ˌmoʊd/
Founder running the company hands-on and involved.
She switched to founder mode to solve the crisis.
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35 fuck you money/ˌfʌk ˈju ˌmʌni/
Enough money to do whatever you want.
She sold her startup and now has fuck you money.
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36 golden handcuffs/ˈgoʊldən ˈhændˌkʌfs/
Financial incentives that bind employees.
His golden handcuffs made him stay at the job.
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37 hallucinate/həˈlusəˌneɪt/
AI stating false facts as if true.
The model began to hallucinate details about the event.
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38 high agency/ˈhaɪ ˈeɪdʒənsi/
The ability to take initiative and shape outcomes rather than being passively shaped by them.
Her high agency led to impressive project results.
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39 hockey stick growth/ˈhɑki ˌstɪk ˈgɹoʊθ/
Growth that suddenly increases after a flat period.
The company experienced hockey stick growth last quarter.
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40 liquidation preference/ˌlɪkwəˈdeɪʃən ˈpɹɛfɝəns/
Right to be paid first in company sale.
Investors have liquidation preference over the founders.
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41 locked in/ˌlɑkt ˈɪn/
Intensely focused and working with total concentration.
She was locked in while writing her final paper.
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42 making the world a better place/ˈmeɪkɪŋ ðə ˈwɝld ə ˈbɛtɝ ˌpleɪs/
The stock pitch-deck mission line, said with a straight face however small the product is.
The startup claimed it was making the world a better place.
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43 microdosing/ˈmaɪkɹoʊˌdoʊsɪŋ/
Taking small doses for subtle effects, usually psychedelics.
He started microdosing to enhance his creativity.
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44 moats/ˈmoʊts/
Defensive advantages against competitors.
Their strong brand created effective moats in the market.
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45 npc/ˌɛn ˌpi ˈsi/
People lacking independent thought. Short for "nonplayer character," a term borrowed from gaming that has become Elon Musk’s favorite insult.
He joked that his friend was acting like an NPC.
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46 p-doom/ˈpi ˌdum/
Probability that advanced AI causes human extinction.
His p-doom estimate worried the rest of the group.
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47 pg/ˌpi ˈdʒi/
Paul Graham, the Y Combinator co-founder whose essays founders quote by his initials.
The team discussed ideas from pg's latest essay.
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48 pip/ˈpɪp/
A formal warning for poor work performance.
She received a pip after missing multiple deadlines.
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49 pivot/ˈpɪvət/
Change direction after realizing the original plan failed.
The startup decided to pivot to a new product line.
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50 postmortem/ˌpoʊstˈmɔɹtəm/
Review after an outage focusing on causes.
The team held a postmortem to analyze the server crash.
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51 pro rata/ˌpɹoʊ ˈɹɑtə/
Option to keep ownership percentage in future rounds.
Investors love their pro rata rights during fundraising.
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52 product-market fit/ˈpɹɑdəkt ˈmɑɹkɪt ˌfɪt/
Point where product satisfies real market demand.
The team celebrated achieving product-market fit last quarter.
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53 ramen profitable/ˈɹɑmən ˈpɹɑfɪtəbl̩/
Making enough money to cover basic expenses.
The startup became ramen profitable last quarter.
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54 rest and vest/ˌɹɛst ənd ˈvɛst/
Staying at a job while stock grants pay out.
He enjoyed his rest and vest arrangement at work.
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55 runway/ˈɹʌnˌweɪ/
Time left before a company runs out of cash.
The startup has a six-month runway to reach profitability.
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56 safe note/ˌseɪf ˈnoʊt/
Contract for future shares in a startup.
He signed a safe note to invest in the company.
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57 seed round/ˌsid ˈɹaʊnd/
First meaningful round of outside investment raised.
The startup closed its seed round last month.
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58 ship/ˈʃɪp/
Release software work to actual users.
They plan to ship the update by the end of week.
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59 slop/ˈslɑp/
Low-quality content generated in bulk by AI.
The report was filled with slop from the AI tool.
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60 sprint/ˈspɹɪnt/
Short, intense work period for a team.
The developers planned a sprint to finish the app.
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61 stack/stæk/
A mix of technologies for building services.
The team chose a robust stack for the app.
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62 stealth mode/ˌstɛlθ ˈmoʊd/
Company keeping its plans secret until launch.
The startup is in stealth mode until its big reveal.
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63 sticky/ˈstɪki/
A product that users keep returning to.
The app's sticky features kept users engaged daily.
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64 tech debt/ˌtɛk ˈdɛt/
Future work from choosing quick fixes over proper ones.
The developers acknowledged their growing tech debt.
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65 term sheet/ˈtɝm ˌʃit/
Document outlining main terms of an investment.
They reviewed the term sheet before signing the deal.
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66 title promotion/ˈtaɪtəl pɹəˈmoʊʃən/
A job title upgrade without new responsibilities.
She received a title promotion but no salary increase.
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67 token/ˈtoʊkən/
Small text unit read by a language model.
The model processes each token to create responses.
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68 unicorn/ˈjunɪˌkɔɹn/
A startup valued over $1 billion.
That company became a unicorn within three years.
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69 value add/ˈvælju ˈæd/
Help beyond money that an investor provides.
Her introductions were a significant value add to the startup.
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70 vanity metrics/ˈvænɪti ˈmɛtɹɪks/
Useless data that looks good but does not necessarily correlate real success.
The report showed vanity metrics that misled the team.
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71 vesting cliff/ˈvɛstɪŋ ˌklɪf/
Date before stock grant becomes yours, usually a year.
She eagerly awaited the vesting cliff to receive shares.
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72 vibe coding/ˈvaɪb ˌkoʊdɪŋ/
Writing code by using AI prompts.
She was vibe coding and trusted the AI's output.
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73 waterloo/ˈwɔtɝˌlu/
University of Waterloo known for engineering talent.
He graduated from Waterloo and moved to Silicon Valley.
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74 yak shaving/ˈjæk ˌʃeɪvɪŋ/
Doing unrelated tasks that block the real task.
He found himself yak shaving instead of coding.
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75 zombie startup/ˈzɑmbi ˈstɑɹtˌʌp/
A stalled VC-funded company not growing.
Their zombie startup struggles to stay afloat each month.
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