The language of startups has become pervasive. It feels like it started with Eric Riesgreat book The Lean Startup when words like MVP and pivot started showing up in all conversations. Back then it was new, fresh, and focusing.

Today, there are hundreds of words that people throw around in the context of their startups. Many, like traction, are completely meaningless. If you need a dose of some of the language, just watch a few episodes of Silicon Valley.

Today, there are hundreds of words that people throw around in the context of their startups. Many, like traction, are completely meaningless. Tweet This Quote

Ive noticed something recently. For founders outside Silicon Valley, and even plenty within Silicon Valley, the language seems forced. Fake. Awkward. Uncomfortable. Words are used incorrectly. They are strung together in meaningless sentences. They are used to obscure reality or try to avoid the meat of a question.

Its not necessarily a cliche-ladened problem. Its also not a verbal tick issue. It feels like some people are trying to fake it without really knowing what they are saying. Dont try to fake it.

Lets wander away from startups for a moment and use the example of my fake philosophy expertise. Id use words and phrases to demonstrate my fake philosophy prowess such as existentialism, free will and determinism, philosophy of language, being and nothingness, nihilism, anthropotheism, and neonomianism. I barely know how to spell the last few words, let alone understand the philosophy behind them.

It feels like some people are trying to fake it without really knowing what they are saying. Don’t try to fake it. Tweet This Quote

I could give you a definition (e.g. anthropotheism is the belief that gods are only deified men), but I have no real concept of what underlies the word or the philosophy behind it or how it fits together with anything else. I can look it up on the web (thats where the definition came from) and if I didnt say I had no idea what it meant, it puts me in the fake smart category. But when I start a discussion with someone who has studied philosophy, either formally or informally, Im hosed and its quickly clear that Im faking it.

An easy example from my daily life is the founder who leads off talking about his business by saying weve got a lot of traction.He then goes on to say nothing about what this means, gives no metrics indicating traction(whatever that is), and generally stays vague about what the company does. When he takes a breath, I ask what do you mean by traction?After some nonsense tumbles out, I ask more precise questions about metrics and get answers that dont demonstrate any real, meaningful progress of any sort. I ask a few more questions to try to find leading indicators of progress and get qualitative descriptions of why people would want the product.

Then, there is the misused definition problem:

Founder: “We had $50k of MRR last month.”
Me: “How much MRR did you have the previous month?”
Founder: “$14k”
Me: How much MRR did you have the month before?”
Founder: “$27k”
Me: “Why did you have so much churn from the $27k month to the $14k month?”
Founder: “We didn’t – that was just how much we sold that month.”
Me: “What do you mean, that’s how much you sold that month?”
Founder: “Well – that’s how many $ of transactions went through our system.”
Me: “You realize that’s not MRR, but that’s Gross Sales?”
Founder: “What’s the difference?”
Me: “What percentage of each transaction do you keep in your marketplace?”
Founder: “5% – we are trying to grow market share.”
Me: “So your net revenue last month was only $2.5k, right?”
Founder: “Um, ok.”?

Don’t worry about loading up your discussion with cliches and trendy words. Focus on telling the story of your business. Tweet This Quote

If this happened every once in a while, that would be fine. But it happens every day. Sometimes its simply lack of understanding of what the words and metrics mean and how they work. But other times, its clearly an effort to demonstrate how much progress has been made by either avoiding the real metrics, obscuring what is going on, or trying to come up with a big number to get someones attention.

Dont worry about loading up your discussion with cliches and trendy words. Focus on telling the story of your business. And dont try to fake it.


This originally appeared on Brads blog.

Brad Feld

Author Brad Feld

Brad is a co-founder and Managing Director of Foundry Group and has been an early stage tech investor and entrepreneur since 1987. He also co-founded Mobius Venture Capital, Intensity Ventures, and TechStars. Brad has been active with several non-profit organizations and currently is chair of the National Center for Women & Information Technology, co-chair of Startup Colorado, and on the board of UP Global.

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