cap_table_casualty

The app that calls you in the middle of the night to tell you the thing you built is down. The ringtone haunts engineers for years.

Delay between your action and the game responding. The universal, dignified excuse for losing.

Showing an AI a couple of examples of what you want before asking, so it copies the format. The lazy person's training.

Raising money at a lower valuation than last time. Technically still good news. Nobody in the company is permitted to say the words out loud.

The funding round after seed where investors expect a real product and real revenue, not just vibes. Where a startup finds out whether it has Product-Market Fit or just good lighting.

A startup (or a person) in a clearly desperate state while insisting everything is fine. Closely related to Cope.

Dealing with a bad outcome by telling yourself it's actually fine. Online, used to dismiss someone's excuse in one word. Often spotted near a Down Round or a missed AGI prediction.