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> pre-revenue consumer play So, translating that into English, you were losing money giving something to individual people, but hoped you could do... what? St

> pre-revenue consumer play So, translating that into English, you were losing money giving something to individual people, but hoped you could do... what? Start charging money? Harvest data? Get bought before you ran out of VC money? This sort of "founder" bafflegab is annoying.

nemothekid 8y ago
He could have done any of those things, but it's not relevant to the story. In this case what 'pre-revenue consumer play' means they were a company focused on showing user growth before generating revenue, and the VC they pitched had more experience e-commerce companies (which usually have some revenue).
mindgam3 8y ago
Lol. By all means, make fun of this strategy now, I do it myself, but you have to understand what it was like in silicon valley back in those days, 2010-2011. Facebook was the game in town, and these were the days when for the true believers, myself included, it was going to deliver us from evil (yeah, I know). The “smart money” either were Facebook insiders or wished they were, ie everyone knew that to insist on meaningful revenue before writing a seed stage check meant missing out on the next Facebook. I was a first time founder who started out as a build engineer, then engineer, tech lead, and PM. I’d been bootstrapping for two years and needed to raise. I didn’t know shit about business or venture capital other than that it’s apparently how dreams get made. So I figured out how to position the company to get funded, and got it done. Did I have a proven revenue model? No, but I had a few plausible directions, and that was enough to get to the next phase, so I didn’t sweat it. Would I pitch a pre-revenue startup on Sand Hill in 2019? Unlikely. Maybe that’s obvious to everyone now. But it’s a lot easier to be on the outside making fun of failed projects than to actually forego the cushy salary and go for it as a founder.
- username223 8y ago
  I wasn't commenting on the strategy (which I agree is less than great) as much as the language. "Pre-revenue" as a euphemism for "we're losing money," "play" as one for "likely-to-fail business," etc. I could have called it "VC jargon," but "bafflegab" seemed appropriate, or maybe "Newspeak." Still, thanks for the explanation. I'm just an outsider looking in.
  - thoughtstheseus 8y ago
    Pre-revenue is a widely accepted term to describe a company, and usually an accurate one.

nemothekid 8y ago

He could have done any of those things, but it's not relevant to the story. In this case what 'pre-revenue consumer play' means they were a company focused on showing user growth before generating revenue, and the VC they pitched had more experience e-commerce companies (which usually have some revenue).

mindgam3 8y ago

Lol. By all means, make fun of this strategy now, I do it myself, but you have to understand what it was like in silicon valley back in those days, 2010-2011. Facebook was the game in town, and these were the days when for the true believers, myself included, it was going to deliver us from evil (yeah, I know). The “smart money” either were Facebook insiders or wished they were, ie everyone knew that to insist on meaningful revenue before writing a seed stage check meant missing out on the next Facebook. I was a first time founder who started out as a build engineer, then engineer, tech lead, and PM. I’d been bootstrapping for two years and needed to raise. I didn’t know shit about business or venture capital other than that it’s apparently how dreams get made. So I figured out how to position the company to get funded, and got it done. Did I have a proven revenue model? No, but I had a few plausible directions, and that was enough to get to the next phase, so I didn’t sweat it. Would I pitch a pre-revenue startup on Sand Hill in 2019? Unlikely. Maybe that’s obvious to everyone now. But it’s a lot easier to be on the outside making fun of failed projects than to actually forego the cushy salary and go for it as a founder.

username223 8y ago
I wasn't commenting on the strategy (which I agree is less than great) as much as the language. "Pre-revenue" as a euphemism for "we're losing money," "play" as one for "likely-to-fail business," etc. I could have called it "VC jargon," but "bafflegab" seemed appropriate, or maybe "Newspeak." Still, thanks for the explanation. I'm just an outsider looking in.
- thoughtstheseus 8y ago
  Pre-revenue is a widely accepted term to describe a company, and usually an accurate one.