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The Corporate Jargon Library

Every buzzword Buzzkill catches in Gmail and LinkedIn, with a plain-English translation and a seniority rank from Intern to Executive. Search it, judge it, or just see how deep the rot goes. See the ranked Buzzword Index →

→ much bigger
Associate
Ten times better, or just a thing people say.
→ big picture
Vice President
To look at things from a macro perspective.
→ huge problem
Executive
An immensely large or difficult task.
→ brutal work hours
Managing Director
9am to 9pm, six days a week: a labor practice rebranded as a badge of honor.
→ too little, too late
Managing Director
Too little, too late.
→ very busy
Associate
To be extremely busy.
→ top performer
Vice President
A top performer, per whoever is talking.
→ someone senior's call
Associate
A task that is outside of your job position's functionality or a decision that requires senior-level approval.
→ top of the page
Vice President
The part of the page seen without scrolling.
→ earnings-boosting
Executive
A deal that adds to earnings.
→ backup advantage
Vice President
A hidden resource kept in reserve until needed.
→ buy a company for its people
Managing Director
Buying a company mostly to get its people.
→ task
Intern
A task that needs to be accomplished.
→ usable
Vice President
Something you can actually act on, supposedly.
→ useful takeaways
Managing Director
Findings you can act on, the consultant's holy grail.
→ a new user's first real win
Vice President
Getting a new signup to do the one thing that proves they'll stick.
→ as needed
Associate
A Latin phrase meaning "to this". To perform something for a specific purpose.
→ sharing so you see it
Vice President
Looping someone in purely so they can't claim ignorance.
→ looping you in
Associate
Dragging a new person into an email chain they will not read.
→ acts on its own
Managing Director
AI that supposedly acts on its own; the word you sprinkle on a deck to raise higher.
→ iterative
Vice President
A development method, and a word stretched far beyond it.
→ when the product clicks
Vice President
The instant a user supposedly 'gets it,' hunted for quarters at a time.
→ early
Vice President
Early to a trend.
→ AI at the core
Managing Director
AI at the center of everything, or at least at the center of the slide titles.
→ built around AI
Managing Director
Built around AI from day one, as opposed to bolting a chatbot onto last year's product.
→ agree
Associate
To get into agreement, the word that ate corporate English.
→ agree on what's next
Vice President
To agree on what happens after the meeting about the meeting.
→ in agreement
Associate
In agreement, supposedly.
→ agreement
Vice President
Agreement, as a noun to be 'driven'.
→ everyone helps
Managing Director
A situation that requires everyone's immediate attention and participation.
→ always be selling
Vice President
A sales mantra from a movie people quote too much.
→ any progress?
Intern
Where is the thing you owe me.
→ sorry this is late
Associate
The universal opener for a late reply.
→ a fair comparison
Associate
To make a comparison in similar terms.
→ an unfair comparison
Associate
An unfair or mismatched comparison.
→ yearly recurring revenue
Vice President
Acronym for annual recurring revenue.
→ as we covered
Associate
A reminder that this was, in fact, already discussed.
→ like we talked about
Vice President
Creating a paper trail of a verbal agreement.
→ small risk, big upside
Managing Director
Small possible loss, huge possible win; real underwriting, or a wild guess in a suit.
→ broadly
Vice President
Broadly, without the inconvenient details.
→ ultimately
Vice President
Ultimately, but with more syllables.
→ when you can
Managing Director
Now, but phrased to sound optional.
→ genuine
Associate
Carefully manufactured to look genuine.
→ rough first estimate
Vice President
The initial thought or formulation of an idea.
→ start over
Associate
When an idea or concept has been unsuccessful and a new one must be devised.
→ to-do list
Associate
The growing pile of things you'll get to eventually.
→ emergency rescue
Vice President
Assistance provided to a dying business concept.
→ built in
Vice President
Already included or assumed.
→ it's your move
Associate
When it is someone else's turn to take action.
→ rough estimate
Associate
A rough estimate.
→ rough number
Associate
A rough number.
→ time / capacity
Associate
The extent of your capacity to handle a certain workload.
→ finance person
Vice President
A dismissive term for a finance person.
→ extra features
Associate
Attractive features used to entice clients or employees.
→ cost cutting
Managing Director
Cost cutting, made to sound shared.
→ custom
Managing Director
Custom, but more expensive-sounding.
→ top quality
Vice President
A product or business that is superior to the competition.
→ the recommended way
Associate
Procedures or protocols that are generally accepted as being correct or most effective.
→ top of its category
Managing Director
The top option in its category.
→ newest tech
Managing Director
So new it might cut you.
→ grow fast at all costs
Managing Director
To grow recklessly fast and worry about it later.
→ reserve time
Associate
To defensively reserve calendar space.
→ what's stopping us
Associate
The thing stopping progress.
→ the basics
Managing Director
The basic skills needed to be competent in a job.
→ big-picture ideas
Vice President
Creative thinking that is not bound by what is currently possible.
→ simplify
Associate
To reduce something to its essentials.
→ try to do too much at once
Managing Director
To undertake an impossible task or make things unnecessarily difficult.
→ standard legal language
Associate
Standardized, formal legal language in a contract or document.
→ client list
Vice President
A salesperson's roster of accounts.
→ people on site
Managing Director
Actual people doing work in person.
→ self-fund
Intern
To accomplish a task or finance a project using your own resources.
→ profit
Vice President
Profit, or the final point of an argument.
→ ready to buy
Vice President
Prospects who are nearly ready to buy.
→ think up ideas
Intern
To be in deep thought with the hopes of coming up with an idea.
→ name recognition
Associate
How many people have heard of you.
→ brand value
Managing Director
The intangible value of a brand name.
→ short-term funding to reach the next round
Vice President
A small raise to reach the next round. Sometimes a bridge, sometimes a plank.
→ offer
Associate
To provide a skill or resource.
→ do your best work
Managing Director
To contribute your best work or attitude.
→ be yourself
Vice President
Be authentic, within approved limits.
→ focus
Vice President
To work in a focused and meaningful manner with no distractions.
→ sharing progress openly
Vice President
Sharing your metrics and failures live, half transparency and half marketing funnel.
→ resurfacing this
Associate
Pushing an old email back to the top of your inbox.
→ cash lost
Vice President
The cash a company loses each period.
→ how fast cash goes
Vice President
How fast a company sets its cash on fire each month.
→ working late
Vice President
To work late into the night.
→ agreement
Vice President
Agreement from the people who matter.
→ schedule
Vice President
How often a recurring thing recurs.
→ criticize the work
Managing Director
To criticize someone else's work.
→ the button
Associate
The thing you want the reader to click.
→ ownership spreadsheet
Managing Director
The spreadsheet of who owns how much.
→ capital spending
Managing Director
Capital expenses, the big one-time costs.
→ does a lot with little money
Managing Director
Doing a lot without burning much cash, also a polite way to say you couldn't raise much.
→ cash infusion
Managing Director
An influx of money, typically to prolong the life of a business.
→ doing things out of order
Managing Director
To do things in the wrong order.
→ pass down
Managing Director
To pass information down through the ranks.
→ bringing in more than we spend
Vice President
Bringing in more cash than going out.
→ first of its kind
Managing Director
What every startup claims to be, which by definition almost none are.
→ expert team
Executive
A team named to sound more important than it is.
→ lead
Vice President
To take the lead and responsibility on a project or task.
→ helping people adapt
Managing Director
The art of getting people to accept a new way.
→ meet the requirement
Associate
To meet a certain criteria or standard.
→ customers leaving
Associate
Customers leaving, the silent killer of subscriptions.
→ follow up later
Intern
To revisit at a later point in time.
→ rally together
Vice President
To rally defensively around a problem.
→ regroup
Associate
To gather the group, cousin of 'circle back'.
→ share the call details
Vice President
To share the phone dial-in number with people who are involved in a meeting.
→ get promoted
Managing Director
To work your way up the corporate job structure.
→ win the sale
Associate
To finally get the signature.
→ wrapping this up
Associate
Wrapping up a conversation so it can finally die.
→ end of day
Associate
Acronym for 'close of business', i.e. end of the workday.
→ earn your place
Managing Director
A phrase used to let someone know that they have to earn their place or respect.
→ tracking users by signup date
Vice President
Grouping users by when they joined, invoked to sound rigorous.
→ unsolicited call
Intern
Phoning a stranger who didn't ask.
→ unsolicited messages
Associate
Messaging strangers at scale.
→ link it together
Associate
To link separate facts into a conclusion.
→ feedback
Associate
Criticism wearing a helmet.
→ good content matters most
Vice President
A truism repeated in every marketing deck.
→ sign-ups or sales
Associate
When a browser becomes a buyer.
→ strong belief in the deal
Managing Director
An investor dressing up a gut feeling as foresight.
→ main strength
Vice President
A person or company's skill or attribute that distinguishes them from the competition.
→ non-revenue team
Managing Director
A team that spends money rather than makes it.
→ tradeoff analysis
Vice President
Weighing what you spend against what you get.
→ be thorough
Associate
To be thorough.
→ the best
Unranked
The best of the best.
→ share ideas across teams
Executive
To bring different people together, allowing their knowledge and skills to influence each other.
→ sell a related product
Associate
To sell a customer a related product.
→ beat the target
Vice President
To beat the sales target.
→ brings something new
Vice President
The newer, nicer version of 'culture fit'.
→ fits in with the team
Associate
Whether someone resembles the people already there.
→ hand-picked
Vice President
Selected, said about everything from playlists to snacks.
→ how things work now
Vice President
How things work today, before the deck fixes them.
→ focused on customers
Associate
An approach to doing business that focuses on providing a positive customer experience.
→ focused on customers
Vice President
Caring about customers, turned up to eleven.
→ latest
Vice President
The latest and greatest, allegedly.
→ offer an incentive
Vice President
To entice someone to do something by placing a reward in front of them.
→ based on data
Vice President
Claiming the data made you do it.
→ reduce risk
Managing Director
To reduce the risk of something.
→ recap
Vice President
A meeting to discuss the meeting that happened.
→ the person who decides
Associate
The person who can actually say yes.
→ slides
Associate
A slide presentation.
→ focused, uninterrupted time
Vice President
Cal Newport's focus time, invoked to justify ignoring Slack for six hours.
→ profitable without more funding
Managing Director
Profitable enough to survive without more funding.
→ what's due
Vice President
A term that is used to describe the goods or services that must be delivered upon completion of a project.
→ retire
Vice President
To officially retire a feature.
→ earnings-reducing
Executive
A deal that reduces earnings per share.
→ shrinking gains
Managing Director
When an additional factor of production results in a smaller increase in output.
→ try it cautiously
Vice President
To dabble in something with uncertainty as to whether or not it will be successful.
→ roughly right
Managing Director
Roughly right, precisely wrong.
→ intro call
Associate
The first call, where you pretend to just be curious.
→ check with the team
Associate
To discuss with your coworkers in the absence of any external partners.
→ shake up
Vice President
To upend an industry, or claim you will.
→ industry-changing
Vice President
Describing something that supposedly upends an industry.
→ work harder with less
Managing Director
The same work, fewer people, no extra pay.
→ handle it
Managing Director
Please handle the obvious thing I won't specify.
→ using our own product
Vice President
Using your own product before customers do.
→ scheduled twice at once
Associate
Scheduled for two things at once.
→ dig into that
Unranked
To dig deeper into a point (a cursed metaphor borrowed from a mouse).
→ lower-valuation raise
Managing Director
Raising money at a lower valuation than before. Ouch.
→ the owner
Managing Director
Directly responsible individual, the one to blame.
→ look closer
Vice President
To look further into something.
→ take in a flood of info
Unranked
To be overwhelmed with information all at once.
→ buying in completely
Managing Director
To have a cult-like belief in a business philosophy.
→ hold people responsible
Managing Director
To make sure someone can be blamed.
→ cut costs
Managing Director
To cut costs while sounding productive.
→ get interaction
Vice President
To get people to click and comment.
→ make it clear
Vice President
To state something in a very forceful and effective manner.
→ miss something
Associate
To make a mistake.
→ steady rhythm
Managing Director
A steady rhythm of updates or communications.
→ cash reserves
Managing Director
Cash reserves kept on hand by a company to meet future obligations, purchase assets, or make acquisitions.
→ get organized
Vice President
To be prepared or organized.
→ flexible
Associate
A do-nothing adjective meaning 'changes'.
→ first user
Associate
A person who begins using a technology or product before it becomes mainstream.
→ free press coverage
Vice President
Coverage you got without paying for it.
→ operating profit
Managing Director
Earnings before all the expenses that make it look bad.
→ budget holder
Managing Director
The one holding the budget.
→ savings from size
Managing Director
Cost savings achieved by an increased level of production.
→ network
Associate
The entire network of organizations within a particular business segment.
→ rare case
Associate
The rare situation that breaks everything.
→ savings
Vice President
Savings, usually meaning fewer resources.
→ all in on one bet
Associate
To go all-in on one thing.
→ the obvious problem
Managing Director
A looming issue that everyone is acutely aware of but does not want to discuss.
→ 30-second pitch
Associate
Your pitch in the time of an elevator ride.
→ enable
Associate
To give someone additional authority, strength, or capability.
→ likes and comments
Associate
Likes, clicks, and comments dressed up as meaning.
→ end of day
Associate
Acronym for 'end of business', the same as COB but spelled to confuse.
→ end of day
Intern
Acronym for "end of day".
→ always relevant
Vice President
Content that stays relevant over time.
→ sharing
Intern
See 'thrilled to announce'.
→ short overview
Associate
A brief overview of a project of opportunity.
→ more revenue from existing customers
Managing Director
More money from customers you already have, since new ones got expensive.
→ look at our choices
Associate
To gather all information to make a decision, evaluating all options.
→ viewers
Vice President
Human attention, described like cargo.
→ in person
Intern
To address in-person.
→ learn quickly from mistakes
Vice President
Make mistakes quickly so you learn quickly.
→ schedule something
Intern
To locate a slot in two impossible calendars.
→ up to date
Vice President
To be aware of the latest trends or industry news.
→ sudden scramble
Vice President
An unexpected, hurried, and chaotic task, activity, or situation.
→ from the ground up
Managing Director
Reasoning from scratch, usually said by someone who read about it once.
→ head start
Vice President
A strategy in which a service or product gains a competitive advantage by being the first to market.
→ pointing this out
Associate
Pointing at something so you can't say you missed it.
→ add detail
Associate
To provide more substance or details.
→ self-reinforcing loop
Managing Director
A loop where each part makes the next part stronger.
→ small first win
Associate
A small first win that opens bigger ones.
→ speed things up
Vice President
To suddenly increase the speed and resources devoted to a task.
→ so you're aware
Vice President
Cc'ing you so blame can be distributed later.
→ FYI
Vice President
FYI, but wearing a blazer.
→ a big boost
Managing Director
Something that makes everything else more effective.
→ hands-on leadership
Managing Director
A vague philosophy of hands-on leadership.
→ the founder doing the selling
Managing Director
The founder closing the first deals because nobody else can fake the conviction yet.
→ why you're right for this problem
Managing Director
The claim that this founder was born to solve this exact problem.
→ structured approach
Vice President
A two-by-two that makes a slide look smart.
→ effortless
Vice President
Effortless, in theory.
→ reminder
Associate
See 'gentle reminder'.
→ honestly
Managing Director
About to say something they'd rather you not repeat.
→ how things will work after
Vice President
How things will supposedly work after the project.
→ built to last
Vice President
Built to survive whatever comes next, hopefully.
→ start working
Intern
To obtain forward momentum or progress.
→ a big improvement
Vice President
Describing a minor feature like it's the moon landing.
→ major shift
Associate
An idea so revolutionary that it changes consumer behavior or alters the way in which business is conducted.
→ what's missing
Vice President
A study of the difference between now and the goal.
→ decision-maker
Intern
Someone who is the guardian of a particular resource, typically a secretary or assistant.
→ see who's interested
Associate
To measure levels of intent or interest.
→ once-in-a-generation company
Managing Director
A business so important it comes along once a generation, said roughly four times a week.
→ reminder
Associate
A reminder that is rarely as gentle as it claims.
→ focus on the basics
Managing Director
To focus on the essentials.
→ join early
Vice President
To get involved at an early stage.
→ schedule a meeting
Intern
To book a call or meeting.
→ get started
Intern
To get started on a task or project.
→ spark ideas
Intern
To inspire creative thinking.
→ misunderstand each other
Vice President
When two parties communicate with failure to understand each other.
→ do more
Associate
To do more than required.
→ spread rapidly
Intern
To spread rapidly across the population.
→ ambitious
Associate
An ambitious person, in recruiter language.
→ launch plan
Vice President
The plan for how a product reaches customers.
→ from now on
Intern
An overused term to talk about next steps or something in the future.
→ do you have a minute?
Intern
An ambush disguised as a question.
→ detailed
Vice President
Down in the fine details.
→ other options look better
Associate
When things elsewhere look better when compared to your current situation or position.
→ smooth the way
Managing Director
To bribe one's way into making a process run more smoothly.
→ approval
Intern
To give approval or sign-off on something.
→ fresh start
Managing Director
A fresh start with no legacy baggage.
→ hustle mentality
Associate
Treating relentless overwork as a personality, sponsored by 5am cold plunges.
→ quick growth tactic
Vice President
A hidden tactic used to accelerate business growth.
→ willing to learn
Vice President
Believing you can improve, now a hiring buzzword.
→ rough guess
Associate
A guess wearing a lab coat.
→ forecast
Managing Director
A company's forecast to investors.
→ a markdown
Managing Director
A reduction in value, said casually about losing money.
→ not fully committed
Managing Director
To not be fully committed.
→ wishful listening
Vice President
Hearing a 'yes' that isn't really there.
→ good morning
Intern
A greeting used by individuals on Friday mornings that subtly implies that they are not happy five days out of the week.
→ the ideal case
Vice President
The ideal flow where nothing goes wrong.
→ let's talk
Intern
An offer to schedule yet another conversation.
→ glad to
Intern
A pleasantry that may or may not reflect actual happiness.
→ firm end time
Managing Director
A non-negotiable time you must leave.
→ firm end time
Vice President
A non-negotiable end time to a call or meeting.
→ has real potential
Vice President
When an opportunity shows strong upside potential.
→ getting by
Associate
To manage or attempt to get by - usually financially.
→ number of staff
Vice President
People, counted as a budget line.
→ focused on the work
Vice President
So deep in execution you won't reply to anything. Doubles as a polite brush-off.
→ FYI
Intern
A warning, a courtesy, or a soft threat depending on context.
→ obstacles
Managing Director
Situations or conditions that make business growth more difficult.
→ following the crowd
Vice President
To be influenced by the actions or beliefs of others.
→ managing chaos
Managing Director
Trying to coordinate the uncoordinatable.
→ takes initiative
Managing Director
Making things happen without waiting for permission; now a personality VCs screen for.
→ start fast
Associate
To start a project and move forward at full speed.
→ sudden rapid growth
Managing Director
Sudden and extreme growth, resulting in a graph that looks like a hockey stick.
→ complete
Vice President
Considering the whole thing, said with a straight face.
→ have a quick call
Intern
To, literally, just have a phone call.
→ hi
Associate
The opening line that means nothing and warms up no one.
→ just released
Vice President
Breaking news.
→ people
Managing Director
People, described as a balance-sheet item.
→ honored
Vice President
A humblebrag in four words.
→ very focused
Vice President
Very focused, with a prefix for emphasis.
→ very fast growth
Managing Director
Growth so fast it breaks things.
→ assumption-first
Managing Director
Starting with an answer and finding data to fit.
→ brainstorm
Unranked
To brainstorm, but said by someone in a vest.
→ views
Associate
Times something was technically seen.
→ in progress
Vice President
Currently in progress.
→ honestly
Associate
To act upon something in complete trust.
→ internally
Intern
To use internal resources or labor to conduct an activity or operation.
→ profitable
Vice President
Profitable.
→ in control
Vice President
To be in charge of a situation or take control of an analyst's mouse and keyboard.
→ queued up
Vice President
To have something prepared or ready to go.
→ informed
Associate
Kept informed about something.
→ coming up
Intern
An upcoming opportunity or pending deal.
→ losing money
Vice President
Losing money.
→ doing the hard work
Vice President
A situation that requires very difficult work.
→ stuck in details
Associate
To be immersed or entangled in the details of a project.
→ creative
Associate
The most common word for 'we changed something'.
→ both sides need to act
Managing Director
A phrase used when action is required by both parties in order to make something work.
→ very easy
Executive
To describe something easy to do.
→ improve in rounds
Associate
To improve in repeated small rounds.
→ walk away
Associate
To quickly abandon a task, idea, or organization.
→ act too early
Intern
To do something too soon or with haste.
→ any update?
Intern
A polite nudge that really means 'why haven't you replied'.
→ following up
Intern
A second nudge, slightly less polite.
→ continuous improvement
Executive
A business philosophy focusing on continuous improvement.
→ keep me informed
Associate
Don't make a decision without me.
→ main lessons
Managing Director
The important lessons, per the wrap-up slide.
→ main factors
Managing Director
The few factors that move the outcome.
→ full control
Managing Director
To handover possession of a business or important resource.
→ start
Intern
To start a project, often with a meeting about it.
→ keep delaying
Vice President
To continuously postpone or avoid a difficult decision or situation.
→ please
Vice President
A word that makes a demand sound polite.
→ do great
Associate
To perform exceptionally well.
→ know the subject well
Managing Director
To be very knowledgeable about a particular subject.
→ key metric
Vice President
An acronym for "Key Performance Indicator", a type of performance measurement.
→ win a big-name client
Managing Director
To win a recognizable brand as a customer.
→ start small, then grow it
Vice President
Sell something small, then grow the account.
→ very focused
Associate
To be extremely focused on one task.
→ commit more
Vice President
To engage more fully, a phrase that had its moment.
→ lessons
Vice President
Lessons, but pluralized into a noun nobody asked for.
→ fired
Vice President
A soft phrase for 'fired'.
→ what do you think?
Intern
Please react so I have cover for the decision.
→ let's start
Intern
Meeting-speak for 'let's start'.
→ let's start
Intern
See 'let's dive in'.
→ let's come back to this
Associate
A phrase typically used by upper management to discuss a topic or project at later point in time.
→ let's check in
Associate
To follow-up or get in contact.
→ get aligned
Unranked
To get everyone aligned on the same baseline understanding.
→ factor to pull
Vice President
A factor you can pull to change a result.
→ use
Associate
To take advantage of a certain resource or have the upper hand in a situation.
→ push them to act
Managing Director
To forcefully motivate a group through fear.
→ relentless
Managing Director
To be fixated or extremely persistent.
→ hard limit
Managing Director
A point establishing the limit in which someone will proceed.
→ clear view
Associate
To have clear vision of an objective or goal.
→ a cosmetic fix
Managing Director
Futile efforts to disguise something undesirable.
→ focused
Associate
Claiming total focus, usually typed into a group chat instead of working.
→ the main bottleneck
Executive
The one item or person holding everything together.
→ include
Intern
To involve another individual in a conversation.
→ many components to manage
Associate
A project or situation with many working components to manage.
→ the easy wins
Managing Director
The easiest work that can be done first and produce results with minimal effort.
→ easy
Vice President
Easy, as in the easy options.
→ customer value vs. cost to win
Managing Director
What a customer is worth versus what they cost; everyone quotes 3:1 and nobody agrees how it's calculated.
→ significant
Managing Director
Big enough to matter, in finance and legal terms.
→ talking points
Associate
The words a company decides to repeat.
→ key step
Intern
An event or achievement marking a significant change or stage in development.
→ attention
Managing Director
How much room you occupy in someone's head.
→ first working version
Associate
A bare-bones version of a new product that is enough to satisfy customers while allowing feedback for future product development.
→ essential
Vice President
A system or procedure that is essential to the survival of a business.
→ purpose-focused
Vice President
Motivated by a purpose, printed on the wall.
→ lasting advantage
Managing Director
A lasting advantage competitors can't easily copy.
→ huge bet
Managing Director
An enormous, improbable bet.
→ ship quickly, fix later
Vice President
A motto that aged poorly.
→ proceed
Intern
To proceed, the most common filler verb in business.
→ achieve the impossible
Vice President
To accomplish something against the odds.
→ change the target
Vice President
To change the target after work has started.
→ make a real difference
Vice President
To take action that results in incremental improvement.
→ monthly recurring revenue
Vice President
Acronym for monthly recurring revenue.
→ required
Associate
Non-negotiable, supposedly.
→ I'm available anytime
Managing Director
A phrase typically used by upper management to let an employee know that they are always available for guidance, support, or assistance.
→ need more detail
Vice President
To provide further clarification on a particular subject.
→ summarize
Managing Director
To boil it down to the conclusion.
→ brand new
Vice President
Genuinely additional, not recycled.
→ good overall
Vice President
Good on balance, after the bad parts.
→ how much existing customers grow or shrink
Managing Director
Whether last year's customers spend more this year; the metric VCs now worship.
→ the bottom line
Managing Director
After everything, the bottom line.
→ value from more users
Vice President
When a product gets better the more people use it.
→ what's next
Intern
The action items nobody will own.
→ newer
Vice President
The newer version of whatever this is.
→ much better
Associate
Better, with no detail attached.
→ optional
Associate
Optional, the first thing cut.
→ quick to adapt
Vice President
Able to change quickly, said by slow companies.
→ expert
Vice President
A self-proclaimed title that makes someone sound more accomplished than reality.
→ no conditions
Vice President
No bullshit attached.
→ guiding goal
Managing Director
A guiding business goal or philosophy.
→ unlikely
Vice President
When something is not likely to happen.
→ understood
Associate
A one-word reply that may mean agreement, or war.
→ stay in touch
Associate
To stay in touch with a lead until they buy.
→ basics
Intern
The small components that make up a larger element.
→ addressing pushback
Vice President
Having a rehearsed answer for every 'no'.
→ unprepared
Vice President
An impulsive response or action without preparation.
→ wrap up a departure
Vice President
To process someone on their way out.
→ separately
Vice President
Anywhere that is not this meeting.
→ everywhere at once
Managing Director
Being annoying across every channel at once.
→ on my list
Intern
To be aware of something but it is not currently a priority.
→ on call
Vice President
To have at your disposal.
→ deprioritized
Associate
Deprioritized, possibly forever.
→ in agreement
Associate
To be in agreement or have aligned interests.
→ fits the brand
Associate
Consistent with the brand's image.
→ get started
Associate
To bring a new hire (or client) into the fold.
→ share the details
Executive
To disclose confidential information in the spirit of transparency.
→ create more problems
Associate
To create additional problems in an attempt to resolve another.
→ how the business runs
Managing Director
How a business is actually run.
→ put into practice
Unranked
To turn an idea into an actual repeatable process.
→ operating costs
Managing Director
Operating expenses, the day-to-day costs.
→ improvement
Intern
To make the most effective use of a resource or opportunity.
→ ballpark scale
Managing Director
A factor of ten, used to sound rigorous.
→ natural growth
Associate
Growth achieved by enhancing output internally, as opposed to making partnerships or acquisitions.
→ unpaid reach
Vice President
The audience you reach without paying.
→ lost to nothing
Executive
To disappear into nothing.
→ not included
Associate
Not part of what we agreed to do.
→ not informed
Associate
Not kept informed.
→ unreachable
Managing Director
To be out-of-office and only available by cell phone.
→ creatively
Associate
To strategize in a way that challenges traditional thinking.
→ hire out
Associate
To utilize goods or services from an outside or foreign supplier.
→ more demand than space in the round
Vice President
More investor demand than there was room for, announced loudly and verified never.
→ take responsibility
Associate
To take full responsibility for something.
→ be accountable
Vice President
To be fully accountable for the result.
→ problem
Intern
A specific problem encountered by a business or its customers.
→ model
Executive
A model or pattern, used to sound profound.
→ a big change
Executive
A big change, described as a seismic event.
→ set aside for later
Vice President
Where good ideas go to be forgotten 'for later'.
→ a way ahead
Vice President
A plan for what to do next.
→ clearing the path
Vice President
To create a clear path for future success or growth.
→ examine in layers
Unranked
To examine something layer by layer.
→ tentatively schedule
Associate
To tentatively schedule something.
→ see below
Vice President
A pointer downward, often passive-aggressive.
→ as I said before
Vice President
A phrase loosely translated to "clearly, you didn't read my last email".
→ missed calls back and forth
Intern
To call someone back and forth without connecting.
→ sell the tools, not the product
Managing Director
Selling tools to the gold rush instead of panning; the contrarian bet everyone makes in unison.
→ unrealistic idea
Vice President
An unrealistic yet ideal thought or idea.
→ message me
Associate
To check-in or send a quick message.
→ performance warning
Vice President
A performance improvement plan, often the last step before the door.
→ deal check-in
Vice President
The meeting where deals get poked at.
→ change direction
Intern
To change business direction.
→ introduce the idea
Associate
To put an idea into someone's head.
→ game plan
Vice President
A reusable plan for a recurring situation.
→ let me know what to do
Managing Director
A phrase used when an individual would like someone else to address or solve their problem.
→ the lead
Associate
The single person responsible for a thing.
→ how it's framed
Vice President
How a product is framed against alternatives.
→ accusing someone of what you do yourself
Executive
To accuse someone of something you, yourself, are guilty of.
→ get lost
Managing Director
To tell someone to get lost.
→ your most active users
Vice President
The small core who use it hardest and forgive the most. Also your worst sample bias.
→ reading sent ahead
Vice President
Material sent before a meeting that no one reads.
→ challenge it
Managing Director
To challenge an idea to find its weak spots.
→ growth through the product itself
Vice President
Letting the product do the selling.
→ people actually want it
Vice President
Proof that someone actually wants the thing you built.
→ training
Associate
Training, framed as a perk.
→ feeling safe to speak up
Managing Director
Feeling safe to speak up, when it actually exists.
→ move up
Managing Director
To move future activity earlier.
→ remove the risk
Executive
To remove the risk from taking an action.
→ shut it down
Vice President
To instantly discountinue
→ decide / commit
Associate
To take action or move forward with a decision.
→ pay attention
Managing Director
A phrase used to encourage someone to pay attention or to stop acting like an idiot.
→ outperform our size
Managing Director
To outperform what our size suggests.
→ values-focused
Vice President
See 'mission-driven'.
→ go live
Associate
To put code live.
→ set aside for now
Managing Director
To save something for later.
→ gauge interest
Associate
To gauge interest.
→ deal with emergencies
Associate
To resolve problems or urgent matters.
→ make a good impression
Associate
To make a good first impression.
→ be upfront
Vice President
To be open about your intentions, revealing everything.
→ vetted prospect
Associate
A prospect deemed worth chasing.
→ end of the quarter
Associate
The end of a three-month period.
→ rough but fast
Vice President
To do something hastily and without thought.
→ short meeting
Associate
A meeting that is rarely quick.
→ easy win
Associate
An easy result to show early progress.
→ doing the bare minimum
Associate
Doing exactly the job and nothing more.
→ sales target
Associate
The number a salesperson must hit or else.
→ flag a concern
Associate
To call attention to a concern.
→ get funding
Vice President
To collect investor money in exchange for ownership.
→ set a higher standard
Associate
To set a higher standard.
→ covering basic living costs
Vice President
Earning just enough to cover instant-noodle living costs, worn as a badge.
→ get up to speed
Associate
To get up to speed on something.
→ contact
Intern
To contact someone, the corporate default verb.
→ summary
Vice President
A summary presented back to a group.
→ reorganize
Vice President
To reorganize people and reporting lines.
→ bureaucracy
Associate
Excessive bureaucracy that leads to delays in getting anything done.
→ layoffs
Executive
Corporate for layoffs.
→ clean up the code
Associate
To clean up code without changing what it does.
→ meet again
Associate
To meet again because the first meeting solved nothing.
→ redo what exists
Associate
To recreate something that is already tried and true.
→ retrain
Vice President
To retrain people for different work.
→ reorganize
Managing Director
Reorganize, frequently with layoffs attached.
→ focused on results
Associate
To make decisions solely focused on the end result.
→ review
Associate
A meeting to discuss what went wrong last sprint.
→ reply
Vice President
Redundantly, to reply.
→ cutting staff
Managing Director
A gentle word for cutting staff.
→ start the workday
Associate
A 5am hustle greeting, now mostly said ironically.
→ reliable
Vice President
Reliable, said about things that often aren't.
→ fast-growing
Vice President
A startup growing fast, said with stars in the eyes.
→ return
Associate
Acronym for "return on investment".
→ combine
Vice President
To combine smaller things (or numbers) into one.
→ get input from
Unranked
To get someone's opinion or approval on something.
→ get sign-off
Associate
To share a concept with upper management to get approval.
→ lead
Vice President
To be the lead person on a task.
→ projected annual pace
Vice President
Current performance projected forward.
→ do the math
Associate
To conduct quantitative analysis on an opportunity.
→ go ahead with it
Associate
To take an idea and proceed independently.
→ closing deals fast
Managing Director
Closing deals at a rapid pace.
→ months of cash left
Vice President
How many months until the money runs out.
→ aligned
Managing Director
To be aligned.
→ lowballing the forecast
Managing Director
Lowballing a forecast so you can beat it.
→ double-check
Associate
A quick check that something isn't obviously wrong.
→ able to grow
Vice President
Able to grow without falling over.
→ growing requirements
Vice President
Requirements quietly growing past the plan.
→ resourceful
Associate
Doing a lot with very little, worn as a badge.
→ mess up badly
Managing Director
To mess up or make an egregious error.
→ daily standup process
Vice President
An agile ritual involving daily standing around.
→ smooth
Vice President
Smooth, the most-promised and least-delivered adjective.
→ read below
Intern
Scroll down for the part I actually want you to read.
→ works independently
Associate
Someone who needs no supervision, per the job post.
→ supporting your team
Managing Director
Leading by serving the team, in theory.
→ come back with a better offer
Vice President
To produce a more compelling or competitive offer.
→ put it on hold
Vice President
To put something on indefinite hold.
→ change the approach
Executive
To drastically change the way people think about something or perform a process.
→ release
Intern
To release a product or feature.
→ release it
Intern
Release the thing already.
→ everything fell apart
Managing Director
A point in which things suddenly take a turn for the worse.
→ email me
Associate
To, literally, just send an email.
→ winging it
Executive
To speak quickly without thinking carefully beforehand.
→ making things harder
Associate
To make a situation or task more difficult than it has to be.
→ quick side chat
Vice President
A quick side conversation pulled out of the main one.
→ the one official source
Vice President
The one place the real answer lives.
→ easy targets
Vice President
To be an easy target or in a vulnerable position.
→ a real stake
Vice President
To have a personal stake or investment in a business venture in order to promote alignment of interests.
→ no ceiling
Intern
To have unlimited upside potential.
→ swamped
Intern
To be occupied by an overwhelming amount of work.
→ cold calling
Associate
To make non-stop phone calls.
→ misleading
Vice President
To hide the truth or reality by using misleading information.
→ float this around
Unranked
To informally float an idea around before making it official.
→ authoritative reference
Vice President
The authoritative reference for something.
→ lead
Associate
To take lead.
→ rush recklessly
Executive
To act with haste or excessive urgency.
→ start up
Associate
To start up a service or effort.
→ mass outreach and hope
Vice President
Mass outreach with no targeting, hoping something sticks.
→ work cycle
Associate
A short, fixed work cycle.
→ getting everyone on board
Managing Director
Getting the important people to nod along.
→ recurring meeting
Associate
A recurring meeting nobody remembers agreeing to.
→ daily check-in
Associate
A short daily status meeting.
→ start over
Vice President
To start from the beginning.
→ current status
Managing Director
The current status of a business or project.
→ kept quiet
Vice President
A startup pretending to be secretive.
→ how often users return
Vice President
A soft word doing a hard metric's job: how often people come back.
→ limit further losses
Managing Director
When a business is struggling and action must be taken to prevent further loss or damage.
→ telling the story
Vice President
Marketing's favorite word for 'explaining things'.
→ top priorities
Managing Director
The handful of things that supposedly matter most.
→ simplify
Vice President
To simplify, often by removing people.
→ test under pressure
Vice President
To push something hard to see if it breaks.
→ act now
Managing Director
To take advantage of a situation or invest in an opportunity when there is forward momentum.
→ phase out
Vice President
To gradually phase something out.
→ excited
Intern
The mandatory emotion of a product launch.
→ unpaid work
Vice President
Unpaid effort that goes into a task or project.
→ hide
Managing Director
To hide a problem and pretend it didn't happen.
→ ideal balance
Intern
The point at which a procedure or policy provides the optimal balance of cost and benefits.
→ area of responsibility
Unranked
A defined area of responsibility so people don't overlap.
→ stop by
Intern
To drop in casually.
→ meet
Associate
To have a meeting, but make it sound brief.
→ overlaps that help
Managing Director
Plural magic where two things combine for a bonus.
→ working together
Managing Director
Adjective form of the word everyone loves to hate.
→ work together
Vice President
To work together to create a result that is greater than the sum of the results achieved separately.
→ working well together
Unranked
The magical 1+1=3 that justifies most mergers.
→ pull together
Vice President
To pull scattered findings into one story.
→ the bare minimum
Unranked
The bare minimum required just to be in the game.
→ set this aside
Vice President
To set something aside for later (or never).
→ advantages
Managing Director
Situations or conditions that make business growth easier.
→ look into it more
Associate
To examine something in-depth.
→ reconsider
Associate
To stop and reconsider the whole thing.
→ do the unwanted task
Intern
To take on additional workload for the benefit of your department or company.
→ own it
Associate
To be responsible for an outcome.
→ lead it
Associate
To be the one in charge of something.
→ discourage me
Managing Director
To cause someone to lose interest or confidence in an idea.
→ discuss this separately
Vice President
To discuss a specific matter outside of the current conversation to avoid going off on a tangent.
→ main point
Intern
A key fact or point to be remembered.
→ needs many people
Vice President
When several different parties are required to complete a particular task.
→ interview your customers
Vice President
YC's most-repeated commandment, quoted constantly and followed occasionally.
→ core audience
Intern
The core audience.
→ cooperative
Intern
Someone who won't make a fuss.
→ cleanup owed later
Vice President
Shortcuts in code you'll pay for later.
→ set it up
Vice President
To set up something, paving the way for future success.
→ deal outline
Vice President
The non-binding outline of an investment deal.
→ please do
Associate
A meaningless phrase used after a request to make the ask seem positive & eliminate the opportunity for rebuttal from the receiving part.
→ here's the issue
Intern
A phrase used when someone is about to point out the obvious or piggyback off something that was just said.
→ actually
Vice President
A phrase used to dismiss what someone just said.
→ a minor factor driving the whole thing
Executive
When the least important factor of a situation has too much influence.
→ expert opinions
Managing Director
Insight provided by an individual who is an expert in their field.
→ announcing
Associate
The opening line of every LinkedIn post.
→ surprise
Associate
To encounter something unexpected.
→ make a last-ditch attempt
Associate
A last-ditch, extreme effort to accomplish a goal even though it is likely to fail.
→ disrupt things
Vice President
An obstacle that prevents an operation from occurring smoothly.
→ try everything and see what sticks
Vice President
To try everything and see what sticks.
→ take the blame
Managing Director
To have someone else take the fall in order to save yourself.
→ blame someone else
Vice President
To place blame upon someone else.
→ thanks
Vice President
An often meaningless, abbreviated form of the word "thanks" that is typically used following a long & complex request.
→ task force
Managing Director
A small group assembled to attack one problem.
→ cut costs
Vice President
To cut spending.
→ how fast onboarding pays off
Vice President
How fast a new user gets something useful, abbreviated so it sounds urgent.
→ urgent
Associate
A label applied to make you reply before lunch.
→ set a time limit
Vice President
To put a strict time limit on a discussion.
→ honestly
Intern
A preface implying the rest of the time you weren't.
→ honestly
Vice President
A signal that what follows is blunt.
→ to add to that
Associate
To add on to something that was previously stated.
→ hand off
Vice President
To hand off to someone else.
→ overvalue
Vice President
To make something seemingly more important than it is or should be.
→ too many people involved
Managing Director
When too many parties are involved, causing complications.
→ overcommitted
Managing Director
Undertaking too many tasks or responsibilities at once.
→ revenue
Vice President
Revenue, the number at the top of the statement.
→ early prospects
Vice President
The earliest, least-committed prospects.
→ the best people
Vice President
The best people, allegedly.
→ first thing they think of
Vice President
The first brand someone thinks of.
→ total market size
Managing Director
The biggest number a founder can justify on a slide.
→ check-in
Vice President
A scheduled moment of contact.
→ all-staff meeting
Vice President
A company-wide meeting with curated questions.
→ cut costs
Managing Director
To make reductions or cuts for expense purposes.
→ guiding goal
Managing Director
The guiding goal everything points toward.
→ get past the hard part
Associate
To pass a critical point that results in increased momentum.
→ ready to use
Managing Director
Ready to use right out of the box.
→ opinion
Intern
A term used for "one's opinion"
→ remove the obstacle
Associate
To clear whatever is in the way.
→ billion-dollar startup
Vice President
A startup valued at over a billion dollars.
→ per-sale profitability
Managing Director
Whether each sale actually makes money.
→ create value
Managing Director
To release value that was supposedly trapped.
→ break down
Vice President
To break a topic down, said in meetings about feelings and roadmaps alike.
→ improve
Vice President
To move up in status.
→ sell more
Associate
To sell an existing customer something pricier.
→ learn new skills
Vice President
To learn new skills for the same job.
→ creating value
Managing Director
Consultant-speak for making something worth more.
→ what creates value
Managing Director
A factor that creates value, per the deck.
→ the pitch
Associate
The reason anyone should care.
→ the extra benefit
Unranked
The extra benefit something provides (often used to justify its existence).
→ market segment
Associate
A particular business segment.
→ coding by prompting AI
Associate
Describing what you want to an AI and shipping whatever it spits out.
→ explain
Associate
To explain something step by step.
→ crisis room
Managing Director
A room, real or virtual, for crisis work.
→ intro through a mutual contact
Vice President
The only acceptable way to reach a VC whose inbox is supposedly always open.
→ interested prospect
Associate
A prospect who has shown some interest.
→ a boring task
Vice President
To watch something that has no movement or describe a boring task.
→ a plan
Vice President
See 'path forward'.
→ we're a workplace
Vice President
A phrase that should make you check the exits.
→ the printer is out of ink
Vice President
When the office printer runs out of ink... again.
→ do a bit of everything
Associate
To be in a role that requires a variety of job functions or skills.
→ huge client
Vice President
A potential client big enough to change the quarter.
→ area of strength
Vice President
Your area of strength.
→ when you have a moment
Intern
A request that pretends to be small.
→ in practice
Executive
The point in which a theory or idea becomes reality.
→ untapped area
Managing Director
An untapped opportunity or gap in the market.
→ I'll get back to you
Managing Director
British-corporate for 'I'll get back to you'.
→ good for both sides
Intern
A scenario in which both parties benefit.
→ limited chance
Vice President
An opportunity that is only available for a finite amount of time.
→ time outside work
Associate
A benefit promised in the listing, rarely in the job.
→ excellent
Managing Director
Excellent, according to the people selling it.
→ building something new
Managing Director
Building something genuinely new.
→ focus on the details
Associate
To focus on the details.
→ look at the big picture
Associate
To look at the bigger picture.

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